The Central Essex Summer Table Tennis League has proved to be really popular this year with six divisions – a sizeable increase.

Rayne A are the early leaders in division one. Ian Whiteside and Steve Pennell excelled to beat Danbury A (Chris and Steve Buer) 5-0, a match that on paper looked pretty closely matched. Rayne won the three five-setters which undoubtedly gave them a real lift.

Writtle A emerged as 3-2 winners against Old Chelmsfordians A. The real surprise here were the two exceptional wins that Richard Baxter achieved. He beat both Ryan Pitt 3-2 (5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 12-10) and Richard Storey 3-2 (6-11, 11-7, 8-11, 13-11, 11-8).

Chelmsford A beat Ramsden A 4-1. Edward Ogbebor was undefeated for Chelmsford whilst Peter Barrett was on target for Chelmsford. He defeated newcomer Casey Cross 3-0 (12-10, 11-4, 11-3).
Writtle Excalibur B (Paul Sturton and Lin Roff) impressed in division two by beating Old Chelmsfordians C 5-0. Lin Roff beat Frank Hodge 3-1 (5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 12-10) in the opening encounter and they never looked back after that.

Cold Norton also made a good start. Tim Cramphorn was undefeated as they beat OCs B 4-1. Charles Yeung made his mark with a fine 3-2 (7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 13-11) victory against Dick Wyman.

The stand-out result in division three took place when Danbury B beat Chelmsford D 3-2. Gordon Gatheral won twice for Danbury and this included a superb 3-1 (11-7, 11-13, 11-8, 11-9) win over Ryan Gooday.

Old Chelmsfordians E impressed by beating Writtle C 5-0 – a match which was unique for the fact that every single game was decided in the fifth end. Dave Newman gave the Old Chelmsfordians side an edge by beating Dave Moles 11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 3-11, 13-11 in the first game and they went on to secure a very impressive victory.

Danbury C (Dan Anderson and Dave Marsh) look set to do well in this division and they beat Chelmsford C 5-0. Dan Anderson did well to beat Dave Parker 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-8).
Ramsden D are the early leaders in division four. Colin Barham and Kevin Smart ran out 5-0 winners over Chelmsford E.

Cold Norton were indebted to Peter Lucraft. He was undefeated as they beat Old Chelmsfordians F 3-2. He had to fight hard against Farooq Ahmed and eventually won 3-0 (11-7, 12-10, 11-9).

Danbury D emerged as 3-2 winners against Chelmsford E in a match where all four players won one singles. Ben Jackson struggled against Richard Gardiner, losing 3-0 (7-11, 7-11, 6-11) but he fought back with a vengeance in his second singles, beating David Gatheral 3-2 (11-6, 9-11, 1-11, 11-9, 11-8).

Father and son combination – Mick and Luke Richardson (representing Old Chelmsfordians G) have made a great start in division five. Luke set them on their way with a five-game win over Ron Salton (6-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6) and they never looked back after that.

Danbury E were 3-2 winners against Chelmsford G. Ben Porter dominated proceedings beating Adi Kamma 3-1 (11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4) and Vineeth Kamma 3-1 (10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4).

Maldon also won 3-2, defeating Chelmsford Pumas. Rob Sach was the difference between the two sides. He beat Joachim Mapes 3-1 (11-8, 2-11, 11-5, 11-4) and Saul Chivers 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-7).