Minda Sinkus – on top form for Maldon B

With several sides having currently fallen behind on their fixtures, the match between Maldon B and Writtle A took on the role of the top of the table clash in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League.

Fittingly, it was a hard fought match and it ended with a 5-5 draw. Maldon’s hard-hitting Minda Sinkus took top billing and he recorded a hat-trick of wins over Peter Radford, Paul Cuming and Bruce Kettle.

OCs A turned out their top three players against ECC B and it was Brandon Crouchman, David Cole and Terry Dowsett who ran out 8-2 winners. Rik James won twice for the ECC side beating both Brandon Crouchman and Terry Dowsett in five ends.

Danbury D made it five wins out of six in Division Two by beating Hatfield Peverel B 8-2. The 2012 M&G Investments Chelmsford Closed Tournament Division Two Singles Champion Andrew Halling picked up a hat-trick and he was well supported by Gus Heath and Chris Buer who both won twice. Hatfield Peverel’s Neil Freeman impressed by beating Buer 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 12-10).

ECC C edged out Danbury C 6-4. James Hicks won his three singles for ECC but he had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Dave Richardson 3-2 (11-7, 5-11, 4-11, 11-7, 12-10) in the opening game of the evening.

Chelmsford A beat Danbury B 6-4. However, none of their players – Waseem Qureshi, Julie Johnson or Mike Johnston were able to get the better of an impressive Glenn Laing who remained undefeated.

In Division Three Elmtree Excalibur V were bolstered by the inclusion of the renowned ‘stonewall defender’ John Tendler in their match against Danbury F- who was making his debut in the Chelmsford League.

On this occasion he won twice, succumbing to Gordon Gatherall whilst Bill Smith picked up a trio of wins as Elmtee Excalibur ran out 7-3 winners. Danbury E made it five wins out of five by beating ECC D 7-3.

Herbie Smith was their match-winner, and he followed up a narrow 3-2 (7-11, 11-6, 8-11 11-7, 12-10) opening game success against Neil Thompson with wins over Malcolm and Richard Storey.

The match between Danbury F and Rawreth finished all square, tied at 5-5. Mike Worship sealed a draw for Rawreth by beating Chris Hancox 3-1 (11-9, 12-10, 6-11, 11-6) in the last game. A determined Gordon Gatherall had earlier seen off the challenge of Worship by a last gasp 3-2 (11-13, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9) margin.

The Division Four match between Maldon C and Hatfield Peverel D featured four players with experience of playing at a much higher level, the Maldon duo of Tom Elder and Brian Riedling and the Hatfield Peverel pairing of Ray Eldridge and Dave Carter.

It was ‘ace defender’ Ray Eldridge who came out on top, but he had to pull out all the stops to do so. Eldridge beat Tom Elder 3-1 and Brian Riedling 3-2 (7-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 12-10). If that wasn’t testing enough he then had to dig really deep to overcome Dawn Baldry 3-2 (11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9). Hatfield Peverel eventually ran out 6-4 winners.

Maldon C also drew 5-5 with OCs C. The hard-hitting Dave Porter went for broke against Brian Riedling and it paid off. He won 3-0 (11-9, 11-3, 13-11) in the last game of the match to earn his side a share of the points.

Highwood beat Chelmsford G 6-4 in Division Five. Martin Goddard was their match-winner with a trio of wins over Adam Kirchel, Jacqui Smith and Jenny Crapnell.

All players are reminded that the closing date for entering the 2012/13 M&G Investments Chelmsford Closed Championships is 05 December 2012. This year’s Championships take place at Anglia Ruskin University, Mildmay Sports Hall, Bishops Hall Lane, Rivermead Campus, over the weekend of Friday 18 to Sunday 20 January 2013. Entry forms are in the centre of the League Handbook.

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League