The English Leagues Cup Competition has this season had its best entry for many years and some of the most competitive and close matches there have been in a long while.

The teams in the Wilmott Cup, JM Rose Bowl and Carter Cup are worthy qualifiers for the finals and although there were insufficient entries in the Bromfield Trophy to play any qualifying matches, it looks as if there will be some tough matches for the girls in the finals.

These are to be held at Westfield Table Tennis Club, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire on June 13 and 14, the Wilmott Cup and JM Rose Bowl on Saturday and the junior events, Carter Cup and Bromfield Trophy on Sunday.

Wilmott Cup

Zone 1
A tremendous tussle between Leeds, Lincoln, Chesterfield and Nottingham saw Leeds (Simon Pugh and Richard Smith) through to the finals, just, due to their win over Lincoln as they were equal on points. Similarly, Nottingham had the edge on Chesterfield as a result of their 3-2 win as they also finished equal on points.

Results
Leeds 3 Nottingham 2
Leeds 4 Lincoln 1
Leeds 2 Chesterfield 3
Lincoln 4 Nottingham 1
Lincoln 3 Chesterfield 2
Nottingham 3 Chesterfield 2

Zone 2
Several close run matches saw Sheffield win the group remaining undefeated throughout the day with Chester/Ellesmere Port in a close second place. Warren Li Kam Wa was Sheffield’s star player, winning all his four singles matches, ably backed up by Mike Fraser and David Thompson.

Results
Sheffield 3 Chester/Ellesmere Port 2
Sheffield 4 Hull 1
Sheffield 5 Worksop 0
Hull 2 Chester/Ellesmere Port 3
Chester/Ellesmere Port 5 Worksop 0
Hull 5 Worksop 0

Zone 3
Bristol ended up as winners of this group following a close 3-2 win over Worcester, who finished in second position. This sees a Bristol team, Martin Gunn and Dave Reeves, in the finals the first time in many years.

Results
Bristol 5 Birmingham 0
Bristol 5 Malvern 2 0
Bristol 3 Worcester 2
Birmingham 5 Malvern 2 0
Worcester 4 Birmingham 1
Worcester 5 Malvern 2 0

Zone 4
The Reading team of Hari Gehlot, Daniel Moses and Federico Viterbo were the outstanding team, winning all their matches 5-0. Wembley & Harrow finished second with Watford third, Aylesbury 4th and Bracknell & Wokingham 5th.

Results
Watford 4 Bracknell & Wokingham 1
Wembley & Harrow 4 Aylesbury 1
Wembley & Harrow 5 Bracknell & Wokingham 0
Reading 5 Aylesbury 0
Reading 5 Bracknell & Wokingham 0
Wembley & Harrow 4 Watford 1
Reading 5 Watford 0
Aylesbury 3 Bracknell & Wokingham 2
Watford 3 Aylesbury 2
Reading 5 Wembley & Harrow 0

Zone 5
Central London III came out top of this group, although an injury to John Robinson of Guildford 2 in the first match and his subsequent withdrawal may have affected the overall result. The winning team’s players were Fabien Mauroy, Joshua Nashed and Javier Sanchez. Southampton finished in second position.

Results
Crawley/Horsham 4 Guildford II 1
Central London III 5 Guildford II 0
Southampton 5 Guildford II 0
Central London III 4 Crawley/Horsham 1
Central London III 4 Southampton 1
Southampton 4 Crawley/Horsham 1

Zone 6
The Guildford team of Chris Bush and Adam Laws saw their team safely through to the finals winning all their matches 5 -0. Crawley/Horsham 2 finished second.

Results
Crawley/Horsham II 4 Central London 1
Crawley/Horsham II 4 Brighton 1
Guildford 5 Crawley/Horsham II 0
Guildford 5 Central London 0
Central London 5 Brighton 0
Guildford 5 Brighton 0

Zone 7
Some exceedingly close matches in this group but the Leamington Spa team of Matt Outhwaite and James Ward came out as the eventual victors, with Tamworth in second place.

Results
Leamington Spa 3 Tamworth 2
Leicester 3 Malvern 2
Tamworth 4 Leicester 1
Leamington Spa 3 Malvern 2
Leamington Spa 5 Leicester 0
Tamworth 4 Malvern 1

Zone 8
Central London II (Andreas Pusch and Kevin Kan) won this group which means the current holders, North Herts, will not be defending their title at this year’s finals. However, it was a very close-run thing with Andreas Pusch just clinching the win in the fifth game against Luke Walsh 13-11 in the fifth match.

Results
North Herts 4 North Middlesex 1
Central London II 3 Cambridge 2
Central London II 4 North Middlesex 1
Central London II 3 North Herts 2
North Herts 3 Cambridge 2
Cambridge 5 North Middlesex 0

Finalists

• Bristol
• Central London II
• Central London III
• Guildford
• Leamington Spa
• Leeds
• Reading
• Sheffield

J M Rose Bowl

There were four groups in the JM Rose Bowl and the top two teams in each group qualified for the finals.

Zone 1
The Leeds duo of Zoe Cheesman and Joanna Roberts won all their matches to top the group, with Warrington ladies, Rachel Baker and Annie Hudson, in second place. Hull were third and Chester/Ellesmere Port fourth.

Results
Leeds 4 Chester/Ellesmere Port 1
Leeds 5 Hull 0
Leeds 4 Warrington 1
Hull 3 Chester/Ellesmere Port 2
Warrington 5 Chester/Ellesmere Port 0Warrington 4 Hull 1

Zone 2
A three-team group resulted in the Bristol players, Michele Reeves, Emma Rose and Emily Standing, finishing in first position with Tamworth, Dawn Sagoo and Di St Ledger, second and Malvern third. After some close matches, the decider for second position was just clinched by Di St Ledger’s win over Ann Barnes in the fifth match.

Results
Bristol 4 Tamworth 1
Bristol 3 Malvern 2
Tamworth 3 Malvern 2

Zone 3
This proved an interesting group following Bournemouth ladies’ withdrawal due to their top player being on international duty at the World Championships. The Brighton pair of Sally Hughes and Rebecca George finished top thanks to a win in the doubles against the Guildford partnership of Sally Cimiotti and Sarah Horsnell, the singles going two apiece. In third place were host team Crawley/Horsham.

Results
Brighton 3 Guildford 2
Brighton 4 Crawley/Horsham 1
Guildford 5 Crawley/Horsham 0

Zone 4
Two previous winners of the JM Rose Bowl qualified for the finals with North Herts sisters, Sandra Harper and Janice Laing winning the group and Leicester’s Jessica Birbeck and Karen Smith finishing second. Cambridge were in third position.

Results
North Herts 3 Leicester 2
North Herts 5 Cambridge 0
Leicester 5 Cambridge 0

Finalists

• Brighton
• Bristol
• Guildford
• Leeds
• Leicester
• North Herts
• Tamworth
• Warrington

Carter Cup

The number of entries resulted in two groups of four, with two teams going through to the finals, and four groups of three from which one team qualified.

Zone 1
A strong pairing of Erin Gozcu and Karim Khassal for Wembley & Harrow II saw them win this group and thereby again qualifying for the finals. A close match against Watford, medallists last year, clinched the finals place for them. The doubles win was the match that turned the tide.

Results
Watford 5 Aylesbury 0
Wembley & Harrow II 3 Watford 2
Wembley & Harrow II 5 Aylesbury 0

Zone 2
A group of four saw the two university cities of Oxford and Cambridge qualify for the finals. The win by Cambridge team of Pierre Bernard, Adam Jepson and James Kelly over Oxford’s Reece Chamdal and Erik Wahlgren gave them the victory.

Results
Wembley & Harrow 4 Watford II 1
Cambridge 4 Oxford 1
Oxford 4 Watford II 1
Cambridge 4 Wembley & Harrow 1
Cambridge 5 Watford II 0
Oxford 4 Wembley & Harrow 1

Zone 3
Due to Manchester’s withdrawal from this group it was a straight race between Nottingham and Chesterfield for the finals place. Naphat Boonyaprapa and Tim Denby of Nottingham defeated Chesterfield by 4-1 and so will be in Wellingborough in June.

Zone 4
A three-way fixture between Hull, Stockton and Darlington resulted in Hull’s team of Addi Duhan and William Ibbitson gaining first place.

Results
Hull 5 Darlington 0
Hull 5 Stockton 0
Stockton 5 Darlington 0

Zone 5
In first place was Southampton’s Artur Caltabiano and Matthew Daish, despite George Hazell of Crawley/Horsham winning all his singles matches on the day. The difference came down to the doubles, where Southampton’s pair won 3-2 against George and his partner Ben Worley.

Results
Crawley/Horsham 5 Guildford 0
Crawley/Horsham 5 Bournemouth 0
Southampton 5 Bournemouth 0
Southampton 5 Guildford 0
Southampton 3 Crawley/Horsham 2
Guildford 3 Bournemouth 2

Zone 6
The final zone saw Birmingham, Michael Bree and Sam Henderson, defeat Leamington Spa by 5-0. Leicester withdrew and so it was a zone where only the one match was played.

Finalists

• Birmingham
• Cambridge
• Crawley/Horsham
• Hull
• Nottingham
• Oxford
• Southampton
• Wembley & Harrow II

Bromfield Trophy

This was the only competition where the entries were disappointing. There were eight and, as eight teams play in the finals, all those who entered automatically qualified without having to play any matches.

Finalists

• Bournemouth
• Crawley/Horsham
• Darlington
• Derby
• Hull
• Kettering
• Leamington Spa
• North Middlesex

I would like to express my appreciation to all those leagues who supported the competition this year and all who hosted zonal rounds. Without the co-operation of leagues arranging the venues, the competition could not run. Thanks also to Zach Ferris at Table Tennis England for his help and support.

Diane Webb (ELCC Administrator)
May 19, 2015