Maldon are the 2018 winners of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League Ladies Knock Out Cup Final. Their team of Dawn Baldry, Kelly Yuenyongpknan and Shirley Carroll ran out 5-2 winners against Chelmsford.

The big games here were the 3-2 (5-11, 11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8) win for Baldry against Jan Fuller and a superb 3-0 victory for Dawn and Kelly against Julie Johnson and Fuller in the middle doubles. Dawn and Kelly barely put a foot wrong as they won 11-9, 11-8, 11-7.

Maldon led 4-2 and Yuenyongpknan sealed their success with a 3-1 (11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5) win over Jacqui Smith.

The Open KO Cup final will be between Danbury A and Chelmsford A. Both sides turned in dominant displays in their semi-finals. Danbury A (Gary Young, Eric Green and Steve Whiteley) beat Chelmsford B 5-0 whilst Chelmsford A (Eddie Ogbebor, Wal Bada and Ryan Gooday) disposed of Danbury B 5-0.

Chelmsford J and Chelmsford B both won their quarter-finals in the Handicap KO Cup with something to spare. The Chelmsford J side of Luke Richardson (handicap of 46), Jamie Dowsett (45) and Peter Davenport (43) beat Chelmsford G 5-1.

Davenport fashioned the win with an opening game success against John Wickens (handicap of 46) (15-21, 21-15, 21-17) and Richardson completed the task with a 22-20, 21-9 victory against Ian Austin (48).

Chelmsford B – Rob Shrimpton (66), Victor Chan (64) and Wiktor Delimat (58) were even more dominant and they raced to a 5-0 win over Writtle Excalibur B.

Division two Champions Writtle Excalibur A were pushed all the way to beat Danbury C 5-4 in the Division two Knock Out Cup quarter-final. A compelling match could not have been closer and the Writtle pairing of Matthew Brown and Peter Layzell finally secured victory 3-2 (8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10) in the deciding doubles against Sam Lowman and George Ashley.

Lowman impressed here for the losers. He scored two fine wins, downing the challenges of Matthew Brown 3-1 (11-3, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4) and Lee McHugh 3-1 (12-10, 11-6, 3-11, 12-10). He looks worthy of a first division place on that form.

Hatfield Peverel A also won 5-4, defeating Maldon A . This time it was Gary Ward and John Parodi who came good in the final doubles defeating Steve Scholz and Dawn Baldry 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10).

Ciaran Whelan gave every indication that he too could hold his own in division one. He powered to a 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-6) win over John Gagg and an even better 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 win over Ward. Parodi made his mark with a very hard fought 3-2 (11-9, 11-13, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9) win against Scholz.

Danbury A (Neil Want, Glen Laing and Tony Forster) ran out 5-2 winners against Danbury B. Tony Forster made his mark with a fine 3-0 (16-14, 11-1, 11-7) success against Steve Buer.

OCs B have finished the season strongly. Their good run continued as they beat Chelmsford B 5-3. Kevin Worthington was their match-winner. He beat Ali Piper 3-1 (11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 11-4) and Michael Johnston 3-1 (11-7, 11-4, 4-11, 11-7) and he shared in a really hard-fought doubles success as he and Steve Northcott finally disposed of Johnston and Piper 3-2 (12-14, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10).

Writtle Excalibur A, Danbury A and OCs A all progressed to the semi-finals in the Division Three Knock Out Cup. Writtle A (Phil Smith, Louis Brown and Rod Maclennan) ran out 5-3 winners against Hatfield Peverel A. Dave Fiddeman scored a fine 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8) victory over Phi Smith but it was Smith who played a very significant role in deciding the match. He powered to a 11-6, 11-7, 11-3 victory against Neil Freeman to secure the Writtle victory.

Danbury A ran out 7-2 winners against Chelmsford A. Ken Sheard struck an early blow for Danbury by beating Gordon Fairchild 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-4) whilst Gordon Gatheral made his mark by defeating Dave Parker 3-1 (11-2, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5).

OCs A are also through to the next round. It was Mick Richardson, David Porter and Mick Hayes who beat Danbury B 5-2. Porter clinched the victory with a 3-1 (11-3, 11-2, 9-11, 11-7) win over John Robinson.

In the Division Four Knock Out Cup Danbury A won’t be repeating their success in winning the League. They lost 5-4 to Danbury C. Nicky Reece-Ford won twice for Danbury A but it wasn’t enough. Dave Hancox and Allan Steel took control in the deciding doubles to beat Norman Smith and Ivan Chaplin 11-3, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5 and secure victory.

OCs A were more straightforward winners. Bob Francis, Adam Yardley and David Newman ran out 5-0 winners against OCs C. Yardley beat Tanishq Kotwal 3-0 (11-9, 12-10, 11-9) in the closest singles encounter of the match.

Writtle Excalibur trailed 2-1 against OCs B but eventually won 5-3. Farooq Ahmed beat Dave Moles 3-2 (11-2, 11-7, 14-15, 4-11, 12-10) but Moles had the final say in deciding the outcome of the match, beating Russell Hall 3-1 (11-2, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6) to secure the Writtle win.

Danbury C played their semi-final and the same side – Dave Hancox, Eamon Hall and Allan Steel duly beat Danbury B 5-2 to make it through to the final. Hall secured their victory by getting the better of Brian Ellis 3-1 (11-1, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9) whilst Steel won twice. He beat Brian 3-1 (9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4) and Richard Allen 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-9).

Chelmsford A (Dusan Doszkoty, John Wickins and Harry Buckle) advanced to the semi-finals of the Division Five Knock Out Cup. They beat OCs A 5-2. Stuart Wintle was on target for the OCs team with a 3-1 (11-4, 11-1, 10-12, 12-10) win over John Wickins. However, it was league stalwart Wickins who eventually clinched the Chelmsford victory by beating Suzanne Shaw 3-0 (14-12, 11-9, 11-7).

Liberal A and OCs A completed their fixtures in Division One with Liberal winning 8-2. Gary Cattermole was unbeaten for Liberal which included a four-game win over Terry Dowsett but Dowsett made his mark with two last gasp wins, good ones as well. He beat Dave Cole 3-2 (8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7,14-12) and 2018 M&G Investments Chelmsford Ladies’ Singles champion Gracie Edwards 3-2 (12-10, 11-13, 7-11, 11-5, 11-9).