Press Report - Issued 29 August 2021

Brand Identity are crowned Champions

Brand Identity made it six wins out of six by beating Cold Norton 13-7 to capture the Central Essex Summer Table Tennis League first division title with 86 points. Simon Jacob, who has been the League’s outstanding player was again undefeated beating Dan Anderson 5-0 and Sam Lowman over five fluctuating ends 3-2;  (11-6, 10-12, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6). Simon Jacob finished his campaign with 11 wins out of 12. His one defeat was against Chelmsford A’s Gary Young who was undefeated in his four games. Rayne and Chelmsford A fought out a tantalising 10-10 draw. Chelmsford A edged the first two games 3-2 and Rayne fought back to take the last two games by the same score. Ian Whiteside beat Wiktor Delimat 9-11, 11-13, 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 to earn Rayne their draw. Danbury A have a match outstanding and they beat Chelmsford B 12-8. Eric Green gave them the ascendancy with 4-1 wins over wins over Harry Buckle and Shirish Basant Rai.

Ramsden Rockets ran out 12-8 winners against Danbury B in division two. Arron Chandler gave Ramsden the edge with two 3-2 wins. He beat Chris Buer (12-10, 11-7, 4-11,11-8, 7-11) and Steve Buer (12-10, 8-11, 11-5,  8-11, 11-5). Similar sets of scores although the two games didn’t follow the same pattern.

Danbury F are the division three Champions with 84 points. They captured the title with a 14-6 win over OCs B. Sanjay Saptarshi (10 wins out of 10) led the way with two commanding 5-0 wins over Richard Baxter and Richard Upson. Danbury E finished second on 70 points. They defeated Danbury G 14-6 as well. Ken Sheard and Tim Pulham won all four games against Denis Crapnell and Dave Marsh.  Tim Pulham set them on their way with a 7-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 victory against Dave Marsh.   Chelmsford D did well to beat the higher placed OCs C 13-7. Sudheep Kamma scored two 4-1 wins with his 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 12-10, 11-7 victory against Mick Hayes looking to be the pick of the night’s action.     

Sudheep Kamma was also in action for Chelmsford G in division four. He scored 4-1 wins over Peter Wright and Dave Hancox as Chelmsford G defeated Cold Norton C 13-7. For those who look out for  the unusual, Sudheep’s win over Peter Wright offered a slightly unusual score line – 11-7, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7, 11-7 – the first time a player has won four games by the same score.

OCs E ended their season in division five with a handsome 17-3 win over Danbury H to finish second. Dave Newman and Russ Hall were both on good form with Dave Newman concluding proceedings with a 5-0 (11-8, 11-3, 11-5, 11-4, 11-3) victory against Ken Wilding. Hockley B are the Champions of this division and they made it five wins out of five by beating Danbury H 16-4. Jorg Poeschus (six wins out of six) and Brian Bissenden (four wins out of four) carried all before them.  Jorg Poecshus ramped up the pressure by beating Paul Thirkettle (5-0) 11-4,11-8, 11-8, 11-3, 11-5.

Division six isn’t decided yet. Buttsbury C have 49 points from four games but Chelmsford Leopards with 42 points from three games have them firmly in their sights. Buttsbury C were clear cut 16-4 winners over Buttsbury B. Jamie Elliott and Jacob Lawrence were both undefeated. Ironically the one game which was decided 5-0 produced the closest set of scores with Jacob Lawrence beating George Standish 12-10, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7.

Congratulations to Kent’s Will Bayley for taking the runners-up medal in the class seven Men’s category in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo where he lost in the Final 3-1 to World no. one Yan Shuo. Bayley who soared to national attention after appearing on TV’s Strictly come Dancing where he suffered a very bad injury would surely have missed the Tokyo Games had they not been rescheduled. He had been Champion in Rio in 2016 as well as runner up in London in 2012.

Steve Kerns

Press Officer - Central Essex Summer Table Tennis League

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Press Report - Issued 15 August 2021

Simon Jacob setting a hot pace for Brand Identity

Brand Identity have been the outstanding team in the first division of the Central Essex Summer League and their record of 73 points out of 100 is testimony to that. This week they beat Chelmsford B 13-7 after Simon Jacob won both of his games. With 9 wins out of 10 Simon Jacob has proved to be the player to beat. Josh Bickles impressed for the losers with a 11-9, 11-2, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9 win over David Jacob whilst David atoned for this loss with a fine 11-8, 11-8, 11-9, 11-3, 11-8 victory against Shirish Basant Rai. Cold Norton B (Dan Anderson and Sam Lowman) impressed this week with a 16-4 win over Chelmsford A. All matches were won 4-1, the first time this has happened. The smooth flowing Sam Lowman excelled by stopping Victor Chan 11-4, 11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7. Hockley A have climbed into second place. Matt Stringer dominated proceedings as they beat Danbury A 14-6. Stringer scored 4-1 wins over both Babul McLeod and Bruce Kettle. Ian Wall made his mark with a fine 11-13, 11-8, 13-11,  11-5, 11-3 win over Bruce Kettle. Hockley A also beat Rayne 13-7, although Rayne were a player short. Ian Whiteside made his mark with a 4-1 victory over Dan Patynski and a 3-2 success against Tim Pang.

There is everything still to play for in division two. Chelmsford C lead the way with 61 points from five matches whilst Cold Norton A have 60 points from five matches and Danbury C have 52 points from four matches. Danbury C fared best this week. They beat Writtle A 16-4. Gus Heath and Sanjay Saptarsh were both undefeated. Sanjay Saptarsh gave Danbury a winning start with a fluctuating 11-9, 10-12, 11-1, 11-5, 9-11 victory against Ryan Pitt.   Cold Norton also did well, beating Danbury B 12-8. Tim Cramphorn who had beaten Steve Buer 4-1 came through a real hum-dinger of a fourth game against Chris Buer (9-11, 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 12-10).  Danbury B in turn ran out 14-6 winners against OCs A. Charles Yeung was on target for the losers with a 8-11. 9-11. 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 win over Steve Buer. Further down the table Ramsden A beat Writtle A 13-7. Arron Chandler and Trevor Collin won all four games, three of them by 3-2 margins.

In division three the leaders Danbury F were 15-5 winners against Chelmsford D. Sanjay Saptarsh  was undefeated whilst Sudheep Kamma was on target for the losers with a 4-1 win over Eamon Hall. Danbury E also won, with Ken Sheard scoring 4-1 wins over David Meah and Mervyn Perriman as they saw off the higher placed Danbury D 13-7.

Drawn matches have been pretty rare, although that was the result of the division four clash between the leaders OCs D and Ramsden A. Mick Richardson retained his 100 % record for the Old Chelmsfordians side whilst Dave Carter earned his side a share of the spoils by beating Luke Richardson 5-0 in the last game. The scores here, 11-9, 18-16, 11-8,  12-10, 13-11 denote just how well contested that game was. Cold Norton C scored their second win, beating Buttsbury A 13-7. Dave Hancox scored 4-1 wins over both Kevin Willis and Tomasz Krolikowski. Cold Norton C were also on the wrong end of a 17-3 setback against Chelmsford F. Saul Chivers and Harry Chivers called the shots here.

In division five Danbury H beat Maldon A 12-8, good going as Marty Englander was undefeated for Maldon A . He beat Ken Wilding 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10, 10-12 and David Smith 7-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-7. Marty Englander was also in action for Maldon B against OCs E, but it was the OCs team who powered home 18-2. Russell Hall and Farooq Ahmed dominated.    

In division seven there was a first win for Writtle Racoons. They beat Chelmsford Panthers 12-8, with Luv Goel dominating proceedings. Goel defeated Lotte Mills 14-12, 9-11, 11-9, 16-14, 11-9 in a hotly contested opening encounter.

Steve Kerns

Press Officer - Central Essex Summer Table Tennis League

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Press Report - Issued 8 August 2021

Two impressive wins for Gus Heath

Chelmsford C, leaders of division two of the Central Essex Summer League tasted defeat for the first time, losing 12-8 to Danbury C. Gus Heath caused them the most problems with 4-1 wins over Wiktor Delimat and Rajeev Mejta. Rajeev Mehta won once, a really hard fought 9-11, 11-8, 16-18, 14-12, 12-10 victory against Sanjay Saptarshi.

It was honours even in the first division with Cold Norton drawing 10-10 with Chelmsford B. Chelmsford’s fast improving Harry Buckle scored a fine 11-9, 11-5, 11-8, 11-7, 8-11 win over Dan Anderson although Anderson hit back with a really hard fought 15-13, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 victory against Shirith Basant Rai. Danbury A were impressive 15-5 winners against Rayne A. Danbury finished the match strongly with Babul McLeod beating Steve Pennell 4-1 and Eric Green seeing off Ian Whiteside 5-0. Chelmsford A were a player short against Hockley A and the 5-15 scoreline reflected that. Chelmsford’s new signing Kim Shead was on target with a 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 win over Dave Chenery. Shead was beaten 11-2, 11-7, 12-10, 13-15, 11-3 by an impressive Ian Wall.

Danbury F top the division three table and they surged to 18-2 win over OCs C. Alan Scammell had to work hard to beat Tom Barker 3-2 in the opening game but it was Scammell and Sanjay Saptarshi who dominated the next three games with three 5-0 wins. The match between Danbury E and OCS B was much closer with Danbury shading it 11-9. All four players won once, with Richard Baxter’s hard fought 5-11, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9 win over Ken Sheard perhaps representing the pick of the action.  There was a first win for Chelmsford D, who beat Danbury G 13-7. Keith Martin beat both Dave Meah and Dave Marsh 3-2.

Chelmsford G rocketed up the table in division four and into second place by beating Buttsbury A 20-0. Nikita Tkachuk and Sudheep Kamma dominated the action.  Ramsden Rockets also won impressively, beating Chelmsford F 15-5. Colin Barham won twice, and this included a fluctuating 6-11, 11-7, 1-11, 11-7, 11-6 success against Harry Chivers. Chelmsford E secured their second win, a 14-6 victory against Buttsbury A. Adi Kamma and Alex Tkachuk came out on top although Kamma missed out 11-5, 14-12, 11-13, 6-11, 6-11 against Kevin Willis. Chelmsford E also lost 12-8 to Cold Norton C.  Three of the four games were decided 3-2, and in that context the 5-0 win for Dave Hancox against Alex Tkachuk proved decisive. Hancox came through 11-8. 11-7, 11-8, 11-7, 11-4.

Hockley B lead the way in division five with 57 points out of 80 and Brian Bissenden scored two 4-1 wins as they beat OCs E 15-5.

Writtle Rattlesnakes shaded their match 11-9 against Buttsbury B, in division six.  Elliot Gardiner stood out with a 5-0 win over George Standish and a 5-0 victory against George Hagland. Rattlesnakes found it harder against the leaders Chelmsford Leopards and were despatched 16-4. Dion Fernandez and Cleon Fernandez dominated proceedings. Luv Goel came close against Cleon Fernandez, racing into a 2-0 lead before being pegged back and losing 11-9, 11-7, 3-11, 4-11, 8-11.

Chelmsford Pumas scored their first win in division seven. Malachi O’Leary and Pankil Sharma won decisively 17-3, against Writtle Racoons.  although Blake Webster did will to beat Pankil Sharma 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9. A very well contested game. Buttsbury D ran out 13-7 winners against Writtle Racoons. Jamie Elliott was the difference between the two sides with 5-0 wins over both Luv Goel and Kush Goel.  Chelmsford Wildcats are well clear and they made it four wins out of four by beating Chelmsford Panthers 16-4. Harrison Hill and Alesha Ellis Austin were both undefeated. Alesha had to work hard to beat Lotte Mills 11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-4.  

Steve Kerns

Press Officer - Central Essex Summer Table Tennis League

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Press Report - Issued 1 August 2021

Brand Identity make it four wins out of four

Brand Identity, runaway leaders of the first division of the Central Essex Sumer League powered their way to a 14-6 win over Rayne, their fourth win of the Season. Simon Jacob was on top form for Brand Identity, beating Ian Whiteside (5-0) and Steve Pennell (4-1). Ian Whiteside was on target for the losers with a strange looking 11-3, 11-7, 2-11, 11-7, 12-10 win over David Jacob. Second placed Danbury A impressed by defeating Chelmsford A 15-5. Eric Green was at his best defeating both Victor Chan and Kim Shead 5-0. Kim Shead made his mark with an excellent 13-11, 11-6, 13-15, 13-11, 11 -3 victory against Bruce Kettle. Rayne A were in action again, against Chelmsford B and Chelmsford B ran out narrow 11-9 winners.  Harry Buckle was outstanding beating both Steve Pennell and Ian Whiteside 4-1.

Chelmsford C who top the division two table were on the wrong end of a 11-9 defeat against Danbury B. Danbury won the last two games 3-2 to secure the victory.  Chris Buer beat Paul Nicol, his second win (11-9, 6-11, 9-11, 11-4, 13-11) and Steve Buer defeated Wiktor Delimat (11-9, 11-4 6-11, 11-6, 6-11) to give them the victory. The match between Ramsden A and Cold Norton finished all square at 10-10, the first draw of the Season. Cold Norton’s Dick Wyman and Tim Cramphorn won three of the four encounters 3-2 but Aaron Chandler’s 4-1 win over Dick Wyman was equally important. It balanced the books. Chandler came through 13-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9, 6-11.

Danbury G defeated the higher placed OCs B 11-9 in division three. Richard Storey won twice for the OCs team.  He beat David Marsh (11-7, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7) and David Gatheral (12-14. 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-5). Well played.  Without David Gatheral Danbury G were beaten 14-6 by Danbury F. Alan Scammell and Sanjay Saptarsh won all four encounters. Alan Scammell concluded proceedings by beating Dave Marsh 7-11, 15-13, 11-4, 11-3, 9-11. Danbury D appear to be the team to beat and they made it four wins out of four, by defeating Chelmsford D 16-4. Tony Forster was on commanding form, beating both Keith Martin and Dave Parker 5-0.

Just one result in division four, and Ramsden B defeated Cold Norton C 14-6. Bryn Thomas won twice for the Ramsden B side whilst Dave Hancox was on target for Cold Norton with a hard-fought 5-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-6, 15-13 win over Dave Carter.

OCs E ran out 16-4 winners over Maldon A in division five. David Newman and Richard Upson were both undefeated with David Newman’s 10-12, 11-3, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9 win over Andrea Aleyne looking to be the pick of the action.  

Chelmsford Tigers impressed in division six. Aarav Mehta and Soumil Jain ran out 14-6 winners against Writtle Rattlesnakes. Aarav Mehta had to dig deep to beat Archie Pummell 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-10, 9-11. Cleon Fernandez starred as Chelmsford Leopards beat Buttsbury C 13-7. Ben Brown rescued five games for Buttsbury by defeating Dion Fernandez 5-0 in the last game of the match.

Chelmsford Wildcats are well clear in division seven. Emilie Guilloux and Alesha Ellis Austin powered their way to a 17-3 win over Buttsbury D. Allesha lost the first end against George Hagland but stormed through to win 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-3, 11-6. The Wildcats then beat Writtle Racoons 20-0, with Alesha Ellis-Austin and Emilie Guilloux dominating proceedings. Luv Goel came closest and pushed Emile Guilloux before succumbing 4-11, 5-11, 9-11, 16-18, 7-11. Writtle Racoons in turn did well to beat Chelmsford Panthers 12-8. Luv Goel beat Lotte Mills 14-12, 9-11, 11-9, 16-14, 11-19 in a really well contested opening encounter.

Steve Kerns

Press Officer - Central Essex Summer Table Tennis League

Press Report - Issued 25 July 2021

Different scoring system in Central Essex Summer Table Tennis League

Table Tennis has returned to Chelmsford and it has done so with a very different scoring system. The Central Essex Summer League features two a side matches but the doubles set has been dropped due to social distancing requirements. Instead, all four singles are played out over the full five ends instead of the best of five ends. Every single end contributes towards the final match result and therefore matches feature 20 scoring ends. Interestingly, so far, not one match has resulted in a 20-0 or 19-1 score line. Reporting matches isn’t as straight forward as usual as this scoring format isn’t compatible with the Table Tennis 365 system which the League uses.

Newcomers Brand ID (Simon Jacob and David Jacob) are the early leaders in division one and they impressed greatly by beating Hockley (17-3), Danbury A (17-3) and Chelmsford A (12-8). The 17-3 win over Danbury A was certainly emphatic with Eric Green and Bruce Kettle unable to make any headway. Simon Jacob set the ball rolling with a superb 5-0 win over Eric Green whilst David Jacob scored excellent 4-1 wins over both Bruce Kettle and Eric Green. The 12-8 victory against Chelmsford A was achieved despite Chelmsford Veterans Champions Gary Young being in the Chelmsford line-up. Young had to battle hard to beat Simon Jacob (9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8) and David Jacob (12-10, 5-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-4). Danbury A did better against Cold Norton, and ran out 13-7 winners. Bruce Kettle gave little away and he powered his way to a 4-1 win over Sam Lowman and a 5-0 victory against Dan Anderson.  Rayne were narrow 11-9 winners against Cold Norton B. Steve Pennell gave Rayne a winning start with a fine 9-11, 11-6, 3-11, 11-8, 11-7 success against Sam Lowman. Ian Whiteside did well to beat Dan Anderson 11-8, 11-5, 11-8, 11-9, 6-11. Cold Norton B in turn beat Hockley 11-9. Dan Anderson gave them their narrow ascendency by beating Matt Stringer (11-6, 7-11, 11-4, 11-9, 10-12) and Aariyan Vatsa (5-0).

Chelmsford C have made a strong start in division two.  Rajeev Mehta and Wiktor Delimat defeated Ramsden A 15-5. Rajeev Mehta came good against Neil Freeman over five ends (11-9, 11-13, 11-9, 5-11, 11-5) and with Paul Nicol replacing Rajeev Mehta they beat OCs A 15-5. Paul Nicol beat Rob Burton 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 15-13. Quite a battle. Danbury B had two contrasting results. Steve Buer and Chris Buer scored a fine 14-6 win over Writtle A, with Steve Buer doing well to beat Phil Smith 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5. However, they were on the wrong end of a 15-5 defeat against Danbury C. Gus Heath impressed greatly, beating Chris Buer 13-11, 4-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-4 and Steve Buer 11-13, 11-5, 14-12, 11-2, 11-5. Danbury C also beat Cold Norton A 11-9. Gus Heath was again the architect of this victory, with 4-1 wins over Dick Wyman and Tim Cramphorn.

Division three features four Danbury sides. Tony Forster was unbeaten as Danbury D beat Danbury F 11-9. He saw off Dave Marsh 3-2 and Alan Scammell 4-1. Dave Marsh hit back by defeating David Meah 5-0. Dave Marsh was also in action for Danbury G a week later against the same team - Danbury D, and this time it was David Meah who came out on top 3-2 in their clash.  Tony Forster was on top form for Danbury D. He beat Ben Porter (5-0) and Dave Marsh (4-1) as Danbury D ran out 12-8 winners. OCs B (Richard Upson and Richard Baxter) were 15-5 winners against Chelmsford D. Richard Baxter was on good form, downing the challenges of Dave Parker (5-0) and Keith Martin (4-1). Danbury F were 14-6 winners against Danbury E. Tim Pulham beat Eamon Hall 11-6, 5-11, 11-9, 8-11, 15-13 in the opening game but thereafter Danbury F asserted themselves and Eamon Hall and Sanjay Saptarshi won the next three games 4-1. Danbury E were also 14-6 winners. David Gatheral gave nothing away, (literally nothing) beating Dave Parker and Keith Martin (both 5-0).

OCs D top the table in division four. Father / son duo Mick and Luke Richardson were 16-4 winners against Cold Norton C.  Chelmsford F won by the same score line. Joachim Mapes and Saul Chivers came out on top against Buttsbury A. Kevin Willis was on target for Buttsbury, beating Joachim Mapes 11-13, 11-6, 11-5, 5-11 11-6. Bryn Thomas won twice for Ramsden B as they came out on top 12-8 against Chelmsford E. Thomas defeated Alex Thachuk (3-2) and Adi Kamma (4-1). Cold Norton C complete the results for this division. Dave Hancox won twice and Roy Gandy, once, as they beat Buttsbury A 13-7. Kevin Willis was on target for the losers with a 4-1 victory against Roy Gandy.

Division five looks evenly matched. Just one point separates three teams after two matches. Highlights included a 12-8 win for Chelmsford H against Maldon B. Rob Sach was undefeated for Maldon with 3-2 wins over both Khalid Davis and Shengbing Zhu but on this occasion it was the Chelmsford side who came out on top. Danbury H were more emphatic 17-3 winners against Maldon B. Paul Thirkettle and Ken Wilding dominated proceedings although Marty Englander pushed Ken Wilding before succumbing 3-2. Chelmsford H ran out narrow 11-9 winners against Hockley B. In a close game where all four players picked up wins the Chelmsford duo of Jacqueline Smith and Shengbing Zhu just came out on top against Joeg Poeschus and Alwine Jarvis.  Hockley B were narrow 11-9 winners against Maldon A. In another match where all four players picked up wins it was the 4-1 win for Oliver George against Kim Eames which gave Hockley the ascendancy.   

Buttsbury C have made a very strong start in division six. Jacob Lawrence and Ben Brown were 18-2 winners against Writtle Rattlesnakes. Ben Brown won both of his games 5-0. Chelmsford Tigers have also started well. They beat Buttsbury B 12-8. Aaarav Mehta was undefeated beating George Standish 3-2 and George Hagland 5-0. George Hagland will consider himself unlucky not to have taken an end here as he succumbed 8-11, 7-11, 10-12, 10-12, 11-13.

Chelmsford Wildcats are the early leaders in division seven. Malachi O’Leary and Alesha Ellis-Austin beat Chelmsford Pumas 16-4. Pratham Raut was on target for the Pumas with a hard-fought 4-1 win over Malachi O'Leary but thereafter the Wildcats dominated this fixture. Buttsbury D (Harry Hart and Henry Gothard) have also made a good start. They beat Chelmsford Panthers 15-5. Francesca Hart was on target for the Panthers with a hard-fought 14-12, 17-15, 11-8, 11-8, 14-12 win over Henry Gothard. It won’t be easy to find a tighter 5-0 result than that game.

Steve Kerns

Press Officer - Central Essex Summer Table Tennis League