Early leaders Rayne A scored their third win of the season in the top division of the Central Essex Summer Table Tennis League.
Although Ian Whiteside and Adam Buxton sailed through the four singles they came up short in the doubles losing 3-2 (11-8, 12-10, 6-11, 7-11, 7-11) to Writtle A’s Ryan Pitt and Matthew Brown.
Perhaps the performance of the week was the excellent 5-0 win for Ramsden A against OCs A. Bryn Thomas and Dave Calleja carried all before them with Bryn Thomas defeating Daniel Berry in what was arguably the pick of the night’s action 3-2 (5-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9).
Danbury A ran out 3-2 winners against Cold Norton. Steve Buer excelled and he beat Dick Wyman 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-4) and Tim Cramphorn 3-0 (13-11, 11-5, 11-4).
Another of the fancied teams, Chelmsford A, had Ryan Gooday to thank as they beat Writtle A 3-2. Peter Windley came out on top in the closest game of the night beating Mike Johnston (4-11, 11-7, 10-12, 12-10, 11-9).
Ramsden C have had a productive couple of weeks in division two. John Parodi and Dave Carter gave nothing away as they beat Chelmsford B 5-0. Carter started the ball rolling with a 3-2 (5-11, 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5) victory over Jaroslav Pietraszuk and they never looked back after that. With John Gagg replacing Carter they defeated Danbury B 4-1. Gagg fought back strongly from a first game mauling to beat David Gatheral 3-2 (1-11, 14-12, 7-11, 11-9, 14-12).
Danbury B did better against Writtle B and won 3-2 although neither Ken Sheard nor Tony Forster were able to get the better of Richard Storey.
Ramsden B had Neil Freeman to thank as they beat OCs B 3-2. Freeman defeated Nat Ravlic 3-0 (11-8, 11-1, 11-8) and David Porter 3-1 (11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8).
OCs C impressed in division three. Tom Barker and Mick Hayes ran out 4-1 winners over Danbury C. Dave Marsh beat Mick Hayes 3-0 (12-10, 11-4, 11-4) for the one that slipped away.
Writtle beat South Woodham Ferrers A 5-0. It wasn‘t as easy as it sounds with Dave Moles having to dig deep to beat Scott Perry 3-2 (11-7, 11-2, 7-11, 10-12,11-9) and Moles and Lin Roffe coming through in the doubles against Perry and Vince Gurney by a last gasp 3-2 (8-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-7, 13-11) margin.
Chelmsford C defeated Ramsden D 4-1. Dave Parker led the way with wins over Trevor Collin by 3-1 (10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6) and Peter Mortensen 3-1 (5-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-5).
Chelmsford C weren’t quite as successful against their D team colleagues. The D team ran out 3-2 winners with Wiktor Delimat defeating Dave Parker 3-2 (7-11, 11-5, 6-11, 12-10, 11-8) in the pick of the night’s action.
In division four Rayne B led by Steve Noble were 4-1 winners over Chelmsford E whilst another of the fancied teams, Danbury D, ran out 3-2 winners over South Woodham B. Dan Anderson dominated proceedings, beating Vince Gurney 3-0 (11-2, 11-8, 11-9) and Scott Perry 3-1 (11-1, 11-13, 11-3, 11-8).
Rayne B also beat Writtle D 3-2. Steve Noble was again undefeated whilst Tom Griffiths made his mark with a hard-fought 3-2 (9-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7, 11-9) victory over Kelly Yuenyongpknan.
Division five produced three clear-cut wins. Buttsbury C (Jason Yeh and Zach Antonio) ran out 5-0 winners over Chelmsford H. Antonio was involved in the closest match of the night and he held off Peter Davenport 3-2 (5-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8).
OCs D (Farooq Ahmed and Dave Newman) beat Chelmsford G 5-0 whilst Writtle E (Bob Garson and Adam Garson) were 4-1 winners against Chelmsford G. Ben Jackson did well to beat Adam Garson 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-9).