A convincing 9-1 victory for Chelmsford A over Danbury E mean they hold a massive 20-point lead over Liberal at the top of the second division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. What’s more, they also have a game in hand.
Mike Johnston and Waseem Qureshi were both undefeated whilst Tony Forster showed up well for Danbury E by beating Ryan Gooday.
A solid team-effort saw Elmtree Excalibur B beat Galley wood B 7-3. Ryan Pitt, Richard Storey and Peter Layzell all won twice. Ryan Pitt set the Elmtree team on their way by getting the better of James Hicks 3-2 (11-6, 4-11, 12-10, 8-11, 12-10) in the opening game of the evening.
Daniel Berry was undefeated as OCs C beat Hatfield Peverel B 7-3. Berry scored three good wins over Peter Brownlow (3-1), John Gagg (3-0) and John Parodi (3-1).
Bottom side Hatfield Peverel continue to battle on but they made little impact against Danbury D and lost 9-1. The Danbury side – Steve Buer, Chris Buer and Matthew Brown won all nine singles.
The first division produced two hard-fought 5-5 draws. Alex Abbott was undefeated as Maldon A shared the points with Galleywood A. Lucy Wang won twice for Galleywood which included a superbly executed 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-5) victory over John Poysden. Bottom side Elmtree Excalibur A drew with second placed Bocking A. Keiran Lally was undefeated for Bocking whilst Simon Webber and Alistair Hill both impressed for Elmtree by getting the better of Garry Cattermole.
There was an upset of sorts in division three when Maldon B beat the leaders Elmtree Excalibur C 7-3 who weren’t the same force without their top player Phil Smith. 2016 M&G Investments Chelmsford Closed Tournament Ladies Singles’ champion Dawn Baldry was undefeated and Tom Elder won twice.
Maldon C ran out 6-4 winners over Danbury F. No single player stayed undefeated and Danbury’s Dave Marsh and Maldon’s Colin Napper and Mervyn Perriman all won twice.
Chelmsford C did well to beat OCs D 6-4 despite the fact that Nat Ravlic won his three encounters for the Old Chelmsfordians team. Bob Francis fought back from 2-0 down to get the better of Tom Barker 3-2 (7-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-4, 12-10).
In division four, Galleywood C ran out 6-4 winners over Elmtree Excalibur D. David Gatherall led the way with a hat-trick for the Galleywood team whilst Scott Perry defeated Steve Siggs 3-2 (11-9, 10-12, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10) in the closest game of the evening.
Nicola Pippen hit top form for Elmtree Excalibur E in division five and she notched up a superb hat-trick of wins to hold the leaders Writtle to a draw. Nicola beat Brian Steward (3-0), Frank Neill (3-1) and Andy Fox (3-2) – an excellent trio of wins.
The match between Hatfield Peverel E and OCs H also finished as a 5-5 draw. Tanishq Kotwal won his three singles for the OCs side.
Maldon D were bolstered by the inclusion of Jan Fuller in their line-up. Rather uniquely she had played for Maldon A in division one the night before and she won her three singles as Maldon beat Galleywood D 8-2.
OCs J were the big winners in the CLICK Handicap Competition this week and they beat Buttsbury B 5-0. Adam Chalk (playing off a Handicap of 24 and Harry Rogers playing off a Handicap of 20) were both undefeated.
Black Notley ran out 4-1 winners after Ewan Phillipson and Lawrence Granthamm had come out on top against Buttsbury A (James Hughes and Tom Picton) whilst Chelmsford H (Callum Day and Harry Matthews) ran out 3-2 winners over Buttsbury B.