Matthew Mulley took his record to 66 division one matches undefeated in the C&DTTL as league leaders Old Chelmsfordians A drew at unbeaten Chelmsford A.

With half a season played, Chelmsford A (division 1) and Galleywood C (division 4) are the sole undefeated teams in the C&DTTL as Danbury M’s perfect start to the season finally ended (see division 5 section below). Chelmsford A’s record of 10 matches unbeaten is under serious threat on Monday night as they host division 1 leaders Old Chelmsfordians A at Chelmsford Sports and Athletics Centre.

Matthew Mulley and Harry Chivers fired hat-tricks for their respective teams as the division 1 heavyweights continue to trade blows during this 2023/2024 CDTTL season. Old Chelmsfordians could go top on Tuesday when they play their match in hand against Chelmsford B.

Douglas Bawuah and Kelvin Edeh both hit trebles for the second successive week as ARU moved up to fifth position in division five having sat bottom in week three after three losses to start the season. Please see the division five section for more details.

Two teams from Hutton and a team from Chelmsford were crowned winners of their respective Chelmsford Junior League divisions this week with all three having won all of their fixtures so far this season and taking unassailable leads with two weeks of action remaining.

Ian Wall fired a hat-trick as his Danbury B team recovered from a 4-1 deficit to earn a 5-5 draw against clubmates Danbury A. Two of Wall’s three victories were fifth game deciders - he resisted a Bruce Kettle fightback from 2-0 down to win 11-9 in game five, and saw Dave Richardson respond twice before he was finally able to seal the victory.

In cruising to their third 10-0 home win of the season, division one leaders OCA A stretched their record to 16 matches and two calendar years since their last CDTTL home loss - a 6-4 defeat against Danbury B on 09/11/2021. They next face third placed Danbury C at home on Tuesday.

Week seven saw Hatfield Peverel A victorious again but they hold just a two point lead over Chelmsford C in division two where the top six teams are separated by a mere seven points.

All three Chelmsford teams who were active this week in round one of the handicap cup won through to the second round. Omar Wasi (F team) and Mark Nolan (J team) both won three out of three matches in their respective fixtures while Jacqui Smith, Jamie Grindlay and Shengbing Zhu produced a stunning fightback to secure progress for the H team.

Following impressive wins in Week 4 and recent exceptional performances by fellow junior players Aidan Lees and James Donald, Chelmsford A's Harry Chivers added more names to the list of top ranked players who have been upset by a junior player so far this 2023/2024 season.

While the Galleywood A team continue to acclimatize to life in division 1, Galleywood B & C teams sit at the summit of divisions 3 & 4 with perfect records of four wins!

Chelmsford B’s Aidan Lees produced the first stunning upsets of the 2023/2024 CDTTL season with victories over OCA A’s Paul Lucas and Mark Mulley. 15-year-old Lees ranked #67 going into week three of the CDTTL earned a 3-1 win over #5 ranked Paul Lucas and a 3-2 win over #6 Mark Mulley.

Division 5’s Danbury M team have started the 2023/2024 CDTTL season in scintillating form dropping just one of their 20 individual/doubles matches within the first two weeks.

The Chelmsford A trio of Gary Young, Josh Bickles and Saul Chivers started the new
season in fine form as they posted a dominant 10-0 home win over last season’s division
2 champions Galleywood A.

Some pre-season information from the League's Divisional Secretary, Gordon Gatheral

The AGM of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League will take place at 7.30pm on Thursday 25 May 2023 at the Old Chelmsfordians Sports & Social Club, Lawford Lane, Chelmsford CM1 2NS. Below you will find the Agenda and other documents relevant for this meeting.

The AGM of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League will take place at 7.30pm on Thursday 25 May 2023 at the Old Chelmsfordians Sports & Social Club, Lawford Lane, Chelmsford CM1 2NS.

Danbury F, runaway winners of division three of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League added the division three Knock Out Cup to their trophy haul with a 5-0 win over division three runners-up Danbury K. Chris Buer, Gus Heath and Steve Buer carried all before them.

Maldon are the 2023 Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League Ladies Knock Out Cup Champions. However, their 3-2 victory over Chelmsford was extremely hard-fought with the hard-hitting Alesha Ellis-Austin winning both her singles.

Highwood B won four singles in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League division five Knock Out Cup Final, and on most occasions that would have been sufficient for them to capture the title. Not this time. It was the doubles prowess of Highwood A’s Melanie Bonnett, Keith Fitz-John and Nicola Pippen which won the day.

The 2022/3 Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League Season is fast approaching it’s end. Some teams have completed their fixtures. Division one Champions OCA A recorded two 6-4 wins. In both cases that was despite being a player short. Mark Mulley and Paul Lucas came out on top against Danbury B where the standout result was the fine (13-11, 11-7, 11-9) win for Sam Lowman over Paul Lucas.

OCA C produced a strong performance in division two of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League to beat Galleywood B 8-2, a result that sees Galleywood B enter the relegation zone. OCA B’s top player Mick Richardson was joined by League Chairman David Porter in staying undefeated.

It has been a very busy week for Writtle’s prolific Duncan Taylor who played a major part in Writtle’s 5-4 win over Chelmsford A in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League Open Knock Out Cup Semi-Final; as well as taking part in the Burnham League Finals Night, and best of all, being an integral part of the Essex Veterans first team who have won promotion to the Table Tennis England Premier division of the County Championships.

First faced second in division two of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League with both teams still evenly poised in the battle for the top honours. On the night Danbury D and Galleywood A could not be separated and a hotly contested match finished tied at 5-5.

It’s that time in the Season when teams in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League take stock of how their Season is going. Is a final push for promotion required or is a slight but achievable improvement needed to avoid relegation ?

Chelmsford A produced a strong performance to beat the higher placed Danbury C 8-2 in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. Rising star Harry Chivers led the way with a hat-trick, beating Paul Davison (11-4, 12-10, 13-11), Eamon Hall (11-5, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6) and Trevor Lloyd (11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9).

Chris Penrose - new to the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League first division and better known as one of the leading players in the Romford League produced a performance which will make everyone sit up and take notice. He scored a superb hat-trick of wins as Danbury A lost 7-3 to the “champions elect” – OCA A

This week’s action in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League revolves around KO Cup matches. Danbury A and Chelmsford A both progressed to the next round of the Open KO Cup with 5-0 wins. Danbury A beat Chelmsford C in a match which featured a titanic battle between Bruce Kettle and Rob Shrimpton.

OCA A, the outstanding side in division one of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League moved another step closer to the title by beating a strong Chelmsford A team 7-3. They lead the way with 95 points from 13 games.

The Rosebery/Pope & Smith Award is made annually in recognition of service to Table Tennis in Chelmsford during the current season. Nominations for the award should be submitted in writing before the end of February 2023 to the League General Secretary, Dave Moles.

Three of this week’s four scorecards in division one of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League produced 6-4 scorelines. Simon Jarvis was on great form for Chelmsford B against Danbury C but it was Danbury C who shaded a close match 6-4. Jarvis beat Sanjay Saptarshi (22-20, 11-4, 11-6), David Gatheral (12-10, 11-3, 5-11, 11-5) and Ian Whiteside (11-6, 11-9, 11-5).

Danbury D have hit a rich vein of form in division two of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. They returned to the top of the table by beating Danbury E 9-1. Sanjay Saptarshi and Sam Phillips were both undefeated although Sanjay had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Neil Want (3-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-4, 14-12).

The division two knock out cup clash between division three leaders Danbury F and division two’s Writtle B looked to be a match to savour. However, it was Writtle B who came out on top 5-0, a scoreline few people would have predicted. Mathew Brown gave Writtle an important 2-0 lead by beating Chris Buer (6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9) and Paul Sturton made it 3-0 by beating Gus Heath (18-16, 11-6, 11-3).

Danbury’s Keith Adams was crowned the 2023 Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League Mens Singles Champion at Old Chelmsfordians Association on Monday 16 January 2023. His game is based around a hugely effective forehand loop and an equally good block, on both the forehand and backhand. No matter how powerful his opponent attacks Keith has the ability to stay in the rally, often with his forehand block and to then unleash his own powerful attacking shots.

Attached is the Programme for Finals Night which will be held this evening at the Old Chelmsfordians. The first match will start at 7.30pm.

Division two of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League saw two players produce standout performances this week. Galleywood B’s League stalwart Gary Copsey excelled by taking a hat-trick against Hatfield Peverel A although it was Hatfield Peverel A who ran out 7-3 winners. Gary Copsey beat Gareth Davies (11-6, 11-6, 11-2), Alastair Piper (11-9, 11-4, 20-18) and he completed a memorable treble with a (14-12, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10) win over Martin Archie.

The Mens Singles Semi-Finals in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League will feature two relatively young players and two more mature campaigners on Monday 16 January 2023. The venue will be Old Chelmfordians Association, Lawford Lane, Roxwell Road, Chelmsford, CM1 2NS starting at 19.30 hours.

Links to the daily event and players schedules for the tournament together with Steve Kerns' tournament preview can be found here

It’s that time of year again. The Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League Annual Championships are taking place. It’s slightly earlier in the Season this year and it’s back at the plush Anglia Ruskin University, Mildmay Hall, Alan Cherry Drive, Chelmsford, CM1 1QT from Friday 06 January 2022 to Sunday 08 January 2022.