Leaders ECC D took a major step towards winning the division three title in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League by beating Danbury D 7-3. James Hicks and Bryn Thomas were both undefeated although Thomas had to pull out all the stops to get the better of League Chairman Norman Smith. Bryn won 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9. Third placed Danbury B faltered by losing 6-4 to Bocking B. Bocking’s Richard Jennings scored an excellent hat-trick which he completed by beating Neil Want 12-10, 11-9, 12-10. Elmtree Excalibur C were the week’s big winners and they overwhelmed OCs B 10-0. Phil Smith, Mark Smith and Steve Munday were all unbeaten.
In the first division the leaders Bocking A extended their lead to a commanding 15 points by beating Writtle A 8-2. Rik James was unbeaten for Bocking whilst Paul Cuming again impressed for the losers. He scored two excellent wins over Peter Hayden and Kevin Gowlett. Maldon B’s 9-1 win over Danbury A enabled them to surge clear of the relegation zone. Paul Stephens and Alex Abbott were both unbeaten for Maldon whilst Hamish Innes won twice, only missing out against Eric Green. Alex Abbott certainly didn’t have it all his won way against Ian Whiteside and he finally prevailed 11-4, 6-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9.
Two big wins have seen Liberal climb to joint second place in division two. Fielding a settled team of Steve Pennell, Barry Pritchard and Robin Armstrong in both games they hammered Chelmsford C 9-1 and they also beat Writtle B 8-2. Barry Pritchard remained undefeated in both games whilst Writtle’s Trevor Carter also impressed. He came close to pulling off what would have been a very impressive hat-trick. Carter beat Steve Pennell in five ends (3-11, 9-11, 11-8, 15-13, 11-6) and Robin Armstrong (3-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-2) and he only missed out against Barry Pritchard by a tantalising 14-16, 11-13, 10-12 margin. Chelmsford A lead the table by 14 points and look to be in no danger of being hauled in. They beat Hatfield Peverel B 8-2 after Beadley Hudgell had won his three singles and Waseem Qureshi and Peter Barrett both won twice. Peverel’s two wins here were hard earned. John Parodi just saw off Peter Barett 11-6, 5-11, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10 whilst John Webber fought back from two games down to get the better of Waseem Qureshi 9-11, 8-11, 13-11, 12-10, 14-12.
Chelmsford A also did well to draw against their B team without Hudgell in their line-up. Waseem Qureshi and Peter Barrett both won twice for the A side whereas Adrian Pitt and Julie Vansertima picked up two wins for the B team. Adrian Pitt certainly spent a long time at the table. In his opening game he beat Peter Barrett 6-11, 12-10, 7-11, 13-11, 13-11 whilst in his second game he had to pull out all the stops to get the better of reserve Robert Shrimpton 11-7, 10-12, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9. However, he wasn‘t able to complete his hat-trick. Adrian missed out 9-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 10-12 to Waseem Qureshi in the last
game of the night, a result that preserved Chelmsford A’s record of not having lost a match.
There were no fewer than three draws in division four. ECC E did well to draw with third placed Elmtree Excalibur D despite the fact that it was Elmtree’s Richard Hiskey who stayed unbeaten. Danbury G also impressed by holding second placed OCs A in a match where no single player stayed undefeated. Peter Orriss won twice for Danbury whilst Sue Hickman and David Porter both picked up two wins for Old Chelmsfordians. Danbury G also shared the points against their F team colleagues. Lee McHugh who only won once against OCs returned to winning ways with a hat-trick. Dave Marsh and John Robinson both picked up two wins for the F side with John getting the better of Chris Hancox 11-9, 8-11, 10-12, 11-5, 12-10 in the closest game of the night. Danbury F just shaded it 6-4 against ECC E. Dave Marsh’s hat-trick swung it their way.
In division five Chelmsford E combined well as a team to beat EPHQ 7-3. Adam Pitt, Paul Nicol and Bob Francis all won twice, a result which sees Chelmsford E jump into second-place. Danbury K and Hatfield Peverel E shared the points. Peverel’s Dave Carter won his three singles.
The division six match between Elmtree Excalibur F and Chelmsford G finished level. Keith Fitzjohn won his three singles for Elmtree Excalibur which included a hard-fought 11-13, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-9 win over Daniel Thomas who won twice for the Chelmsford team. Hylands B beat Chelmsford G 6-4. Tom Barker ‘s full-house was the difference between the sides and he had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Oliver Hicks after taking the first two games easily. He eventually pulled through 11-2, 11-3, 7-11, 7-11, 12-10.
OCs G appear to be the team to beat in the CLICK League, and George Mastin was undefeated as they beat Chelmsford L 4-1. OCs H were even more dominant as they beat ECC G 5-0. Charlie Mariner and Daniel Berry carried all before them. Chelmsford J picked up nine points with three 3-2 victories and in each case it was Ryan Gooday who was the king-pin. He picked up all six singles as Chelmsford J beat Chelmsford L, Black Notley and Writtle E.
Steve Kerns
Press & Publicity Officer
Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League