Newcomer Darren Richardson made his mark on his debut in the first week of the 2011-12 Season in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. Richardson won his three singles which enabled promoted Chelmsford A to beat Elmtree Excalibur A 6-4 in Division One. Richardson disposed of Elmtree’s top player Gary Young impressively 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9. Last year’s Champions Maldon A made a successful  start to their season by beating OCs B 6-4. New signing Keith Adams and Minda Sinkus both won twice for Maldon but neither of them were able to beat OCs new signing – Dave Cole. David  beat Minda Sinkus 11-1, 5-11, 7-11,11-9, 12-10 in an exciting and widely fluctuating match.  A new look Bocking side also made a good start beating Writtle A 8-2. Paul Davison won his three singles for the Braintree team and he received good backing from Kevin Gowlett and Nikki  Kennard whilst Kevin Worthington excelled for Writtle, winning twice. Worthington beat Kevin Gowlett 16-14, 9-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6. ECC A were fortunate to meet a Danbury side who were without Antony Greenwood and Michael Andrews and they took full advantage. Lucy Wang and Steve Kerns were both undefeated as they ran out 8-2 winners.

Hatfield Peverel B are the early leaders in Division Two.  Andrew Halling, Clive Allenby and Chris Buer were all undefeated as they disposed of Hatfield Peverel C 10-0.  Chelmsford B also made a good start.  Julie Vansertima and Mike Johnston were both undefeated as they beat Elmtree Exclaibur B 9-1. Gary Cattermole picked up Elmtree’s sole win. He beat Neil Gooday 10-12, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9 in a very closely fought encounter. ECC C  had James Hicks undefeated as they beat Elmtree Excalibur B 7-3. Bill Smith with two wins was the best of the Elmtree players. Hatfield Peverel A beat Elmtree Excalibur C 7- 3. John Gagg and Dave Calleja both won twice although neither of them were able to get the better of Nigel Lamb. Lamb completed his hat-trick by fighting back from 2-0 down to get the better of Dave Calleja 5-11, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10, 11-8.

In Division Three Danbury B did well to beat OCs C 8-2. Glen Laing and Neil Want both scored hat-tricks. OCs D also made a successful start and they defeated Danbury D 6-4. David Porter was their match-winner whilst Herbie Smith picked up two wins for Danbury. Teamwork saw Chelmsford D through to a 6-4 victory against promoted Rawreth. Dave Parker, John Barrett and Paul Nicol all won twice whilst Paul Churn picked up two wins for Rawreth. Excalibur D will be pleased with their 7-3 win over Danbury C. Steve Cheesman scored a superb hat-trick of wins and he received support from Rod Maclennan who beat both Iavan Chaplin and Mo Hardy.

The “Sun” shone brightly in Division Four for ECC’s Peter Sun whose hat-trick enabled ECC F to beat Elmtree Excalibur E 6-4. Mohammad Mohseni won twice for ECC which included a 11-8, 4-11, 11-7, 11-7 victory over Melanie Bonnett in the last game – the match clinching win. Danbury J beat Hatfield Peverel E 7-3 with Ken Sheard, Chris Hancox and Kevin Willis all winning twice. Dave Carter remained undefeated for Hatfield Peverel E. ECC E had Allan Thompson to thank as they saw off Elmtree Excalibur E 8-2. Thompson beat all three Elmtree players – Steve Mundy, Melanie Bonnett and Keith Fitzjohn.

This year the League has lost it’s sixth division and consequently some of the players taking part in Division Five appear to be very strong. Chelmsford F made a storming start.  Mark Brown, Richard Upson and Mike Pitt carried all before the as they ran out 10-0 winners over Chelmsford H. Excalibur  F were also 10-0 winners. Keith Pallett, Wictor Delimat and Keith Fitzjohn dominated against OCs G. In a much more evenly fought  match Danbury K and OCs H drew 5-5. Sue Hickman, who is very experienced for this level stayed undefeated for the OCs side. OCs F made a successful start as well, beating Danbury K 7-3. Nat Ravlic, another player who would appear to be very strong at this level won his three singles for OCs. OCs E had Tom Adam and  Farooq Ahmed undefeated as they beat Chelmsford H 6-4 whilst Chelmsford C’s Ian Austin and Sarah Austin both won their three singles in their side’s 7-3 win over Elmtree Excalibur F.

Writtle D made a successful start to their CLICK League campaign. Peter Wenpley won both of his singles as they beat OCs J 4-1. ECC G edged out  OCs J 3-2. Ben Clifford beat both Harvey Russell and Stephen Turner.

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League