Tournament Preview

C&DTTL ANNUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS THURSDAY 4TH JANUARY - SUNDAY 7TH JANUARY 2024

TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

Whilst the winners of many events will be decided over the four-day tournament, there is a ‘Finals Night’ scheduled for seven of the events on Monday 15th January 2024 at Old Chelmsfordians Association, Lawford Lane, Roxwell Road, Chelmsford, CM1 2NS. Below is a preview of some of the events that will be taking place during the tournament

Thursday 4th January 2024 (17:30 - 22:00)

Defending Veteran singles champion Duncan Taylor is the number one seed with last year’s beaten finalist Keith Adams predicted to join him in the final with the second seeding. 2023’s beaten semi finalist Kevin Read is seeded three with Gary Young seeded four. A group match to look out for is the clash between Danbury clubmates Paul Davison (#6) and Babul McLeod – only four ranking places separate the two with Davison winning both of their C&DTTL matches this season by a 3-1 scoreline. Seventh seed Eric Green and Andrew Dosher have been drawn in the same group and with just seven positions separating them in the rankings - it should be an intriguing match.

In the Veteran doubles, Kevin Read and Keith Adams join forces once again and will hope to repeat last year’s success from the number one seed position. 2023’s losing finalists Duncan Taylor and Babul McLeod have new partners - Taylor teaming with Paul Davison to form the second seeds while Eric Green joins McLeod as third seeds. Green & McLeod will meet the dangerous-looking fifth seeds Andrew Dosher & Gary Young in their group.

The Under 13 singles should be a tightly contested event with all four seeds having experience in national competitions. Last year's finalist Charlie Ware is the number one seed though it will be intriguing to see how hard he is pressed by last year's semi-finalist Joshua Freeman (#2) as well as the ever-improving Grace Liu (#3) and Adhuna Das (#4).

Ware is also top seed for the Under 15 event though second seed Sami Osman will be hunting him down - Osman has recently impressed with his performances in the National Cadet League. Freeman and Liu are third and fourth seeds while fifth seed Amir Chetitah had a fine Chelmsford Junior League season with 10 wins from 12 matches.

Under 40s singles number one seed Ian Wall will be looking to repeat his 2023 success but is certain to be well tested by a field headed by Sam Lowman (#2). Just eight ranking places separate the top two seeds with no recent meetings to give an indication as to who might reign should the two meet. Lowman will be going into the tournament in good form having won 18 of his last 20 matches since late November across three local leagues. Matthew Stringer (#3) and Saul Chivers (#4) will be leading the chasing pack hoping to cause an early tournament shock.

Wall and Stringer are number one seeds in the Under 40 doubles and will be looking to unseat the defending champions Sam Lowman and Dan Anderson. The duo of Paul Sturton and Saul Chivers are very capable of upsetting the seeds.

Friday 5th January 2024 (17:30 - 22:00)

Last year’s finalists Frances Hutt and Paul Sturton will be looking to go one better in the mixed doubles event but will have to successfully navigate a field which contains the seeded pairings of Andrea Alleyne & Rob Burton and Evie Knaapen & Jamie Elliott. Even outside the aforementioned trio of seedings the pairings of Dan Anderson & Ella Sach and Alesha Ellis-Austin & Pav Srinivasamurthy will be quietly fancying their chances if they can get the chemistry going with the format for this event being round-robin.

Saturday 6th January 2024 (08:30 - 22:00)

Defending champion Harry Chivers leads a seventeen strong Junior Boys field with fellow Essex Junior representative James Donald (#2) posing the biggest threat to his title. C&DTTL division one regulars Aidan Lees (#3), Joshua Bickles (#4) and Nikita Tkachuk (#5) will be looking to put pressure on Chivers and Donald but one would think it would take a big upset for the two not to book a meeting on finals night.

Evie Knaapen goes into the Junior Girls event as the number one seed though defending champion and number two seed Alesha Ellis-Austin is certain not to give up her title without a fight. The ever-improving Grace Liu (#3) and Adhuna Das are both likely to put pressure on the top two seeds with Amelie Lucas, Francesca Hart and Freya Hart performing well in this year's league.

Josh Bickles and Harry Chivers are the number one seeds in the Junior doubles with one half of last year’s winners - James Donald seeded second with new partner Aidan Lees. Evie Knaapen - who has seen national success in doubles competition is seeded third with Harrison Hill but don’t discount upsets along the way with Felix Reeve & Jamie Elliott, Cleon Fernandes & Joshua Freeman and Alesha Ellis-Austin & Grace Liu all looking interesting partnerships.

Defending Women’s singles champion Dawn Baldry is the top seed in this year’s event but she is likely to have to fend off a serious challenge from #2 seed Evie Knaapen. Last year’s runner up Andrea Alleyne takes third seed while the 2023 Junior Girls champion Alesha Ellis-Austin is fourth. Ellis-Austin will first have to advance from a group which contains Lucy Elliott and Ella Sach.

2023 Women’s doubles champions Dawn Baldry and Andrea Alleyne have new partners for this years event - Baldry is joined by Shirley Carroll and take number one seeding, whilst Alleyne partners Ella Sach and are seeded third. Grace Liu & Alesha Ellis-Austin form an exciting looking duo who first have to navigate a group which contains the duos of Francesca & Freya Hart as well as Jackie Treacy & Kath Little.

Defending champion Keith Adams is the number one seed in this year's Men’s singles event with second seed Duncan Taylor looking to join him on finals night. Last year’s beaten finalist Lee McHugh is seeded tenth while beaten semi-finalists Kevin Read (#3) and Saul Chivers will be looking to go all the way. The entries of Mark Mulley (#5) and Matthew Mulley (#7) from league-leading Old Chelmsfordians make the event even more competitive with Matthew’s run of 66 league matches undefeated including two wins over the event’s number one seed. Some interesting matchups to look out for at the group stage: Gary Young (#6) to face Keiran Lally - Lally has beat a top ten seed Young lost to this season, as well as Keith Adams (#1) versus James Donald - Donald has beaten two top ten seeds in division one this season. Where might a shock come from this year? Some of the top seeds may be wanting to avoid Harry Chivers and Aidan Lees who have been paired in a group together, while Saul Chivers will be looking to repeat his heroics from last year and the aforementioned Donald will be gunning for scalps.

The Men’s doubles promises to be one of the more exciting and hard-fought events of the tournament with all of the nine seeded pairings having a good argument as to why it might be their year. One half of last year’s winning duo - Paul Davison - has teamed up with James Donald to form the number one seeded team but they will have to fend of last year’s finalists and previous winners Bruce Kettle & Trevor Lloyd (#4), as well as last years beaten semi-finalists and fearsome looking Duncan Taylor & Kevin Read (#2). The Mulley brothers - Mark and Matthew - seeded third will no doubt be a tough nut to crack for any prospective winners and will potentially be the favourites in the eyes of the keen C&DTTL observers.

Defending champion Keith Adams goes into the Over 50’s event as the number one seed followed by Gary Young (#2) and last year’s beaten finalist Trevor Lloyd (#3). 2023 semi-finalists Bruce Kettle and Babul McLeod are seeded fifth and sixth respectively while Eric Green is seeded in fourth.

The 2023 Over 60’s winner Bruce Kettle is the number one seed followed by last year’s semi-finalist Trevor Lloyd. Eric Green (#3) reached the semi-finals last time out with fourth seed Babul McLeod the runner up to Kettle. Lloyd holds wins over Green and McLeod so far this season with the last league meeting between Kettle and Lloyd back in October 2022 going in the favour of Lloyd by a 3-0 scoreline.

Defending Over 70’s champion Ian Whiteside is the number one seed in this years event but he will have to see off the challenges of Hamish Innes (#2) and Dick Wyman (#3). Wyman holds a 3-1 win over Innes this season though Innes has a higher win rate in division two.

Sunday 7th January 2024 (08:30 - 18:00)

Sanjay Saptarshi is the top seed for the second successive year in the division two singles but his narrow five-game loss to the eventual winner in last year’s event gives hope to the chasing pack led by Stephen Heard (#2), Chris Buer (#3) and Ian Whiteside (#4). Saptarshi hasn’t been seen in league action since early November so it’s not clear what form he’ll be carrying into the tournament but having a C&DTTL ranking of 21 should mean he’s a cut above the rest of the field. Buer will be looking to add to last year’s success in the division three singles event while Whiteside was the beaten finalist in this event last year. Juniors Jamie Elliott (who won the division four singles last year) and Harrison Hill (#6) are capable of upsetting some higher ranked players - Elliott has 23 wins from 23 matches in division three this season whilst Hill has won 22 of 24 in division two.

The top seed in the division three singles Ian Whiteside recovered from 2-0 down to beat second seed Ryan Pitt in a December league match between Writtle A and Danbury C and also holds a victory this season over a top 25 ranked player so on paper should be head and shoulders above the field in the division 3 singles. Jamie Elliott (#5) will be looking for a run to the latter stages while Evie Knaapen (#6) is ranked #7 in her age group in England, has regular tournament experience and holds a recent 3-0 C&DTTL victory over a player ranked near Whiteside.

Colin Blore is the number one seed in the division four singles though this event looks to be tighter than his near 200 point ranking advantage over number two seed Will Goodchild suggests. Last year's semi-finalists Cleon Fernandes (#3) and Alex Ware (#5) are more than capable of another run into the latter stages while Alex Wilson (#7) is a real danger having recently earned league victories over players ranked higher than Blore. Ultra competitive groups to keep an eye include #4 Frances Hutt paired with Dion Fernandes and Shenbing Zhu as well as #5 Alex Ware with Ella Sach and Peter Davenport.

The division five singles top seed Richard Pond holds wins over #2 seed Oscar Hutt and #4 seed Peter Davenport but seeds #5 and #6 could pose the biggest threats. Anglia Ruskin University’s Ifeanyi Edeh (#5) and Douglas Bawuah (#6) have found some fine league form in recent months and may benefit from the familiar surroundings to them. Edeh first needs to find a way out of a tough looking group alongside Adhuna Das and Shweta Lees, whilst Bawuah will hope to avenge his 3-1 league loss to James Raymond when they meet in their clash.

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Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League

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Author: via Chelmsford Table Tennis League
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