As many of you may have noticed, some of the Chelmsford League club's venues may be caught by the Government's new rules requiring that they close at 10.00pm.

For matches played at any such venue the following rules will apply.

1. Where possible the home club should explore the possibility of starting the match earlier, at 7.00pm or 7.15pm. This will not apply for matches in the week beginning 28/09/20 as there will not be enough time to notify the teams involved. If start times can be brought forward then the details will be emailed to all Chelmsford League members and also appear on the Chelmsford League website.
   
2. If possible, play should take place on two tables if it is clear that the match will not finish by the 10.00pm deadline. If this happens then both tables must comply with Covid-19 playing regulations.
   
3. Best of 3 game matches are not allowed and the normal best of 5 game matches should apply.
   
4. Where a set remains incomplete at the 10pm cut-off or has not been played at all, then this set will be treated as void and the point for each such set will be shared between the two competing teams.
   
5. To illustrate the void set rule - if a match stands at 4-3 and the 8th set is in progress and can't be finished prior to he 10.00pm deadline, then the final result of the match would be 5-4 (eg. 1/2 point each awarded to each team for sets 8 & 9).

If anyone has any queries about the implementation of this rule then please let me know.

David Porter
Chairman
Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League