Junior league titles for Bees and Leopards
Vivaan Babbar and Joshua Freeman acquired the two points required by the Buttsbury Bees to lift Chelmsford Junior League (CJL) division 1A despite a 3-2 loss against the Chelmsford Lions. With just one loss from 10 fixtures, the Bees have been the outstanding team in the division though they were pushed hard by the second placed Hutton Hawks who had occupied top spot for seven of the ten weeks of the season. In CJL division 1B, the Chelmsford Leopards earned the three points needed to snatch the title from the second-placed Buttsbury Bears. Despite Archie Spurrier’s opening game loss the Leopards cruised through the remaining four matches of the fixture to finish the 10-game season on 34 points - two ahead of the Bears.
Chelmsford A moved to the top of division one with a comprehensive 10-0 home victory over the two-man team of Galleywood A thanks to unblemished evenings from Josh Bickles, Saul Chivers and Felix Reeve. Chelmsford will be feeling the heat from the two Danbury teams hot on their heels who both have the benefit of a game in hand over the leaders. Second-placed Danbury C could only manage a 5-5 draw with fourth-placed clubmates Danbury B, B’s Sam Lowman earned player of the match honours with wins over Gary Young and Keith Adams though let slip a 2-1 lead against Trevor Lloyd for his only defeat. B’s Matthew Stringer enjoyed three five-gamers, claiming wins over Adams and Lloyd - despite trailing 2-1 in both - but losing out to Young 12-10 in the pivotal fifth game of their encounter. Bruce Kettle and Eric Green won three apiece in third-placed Danbury A’s 8-2 home victory over Chelmsford B. Saul Chivers put up the most resistance for the visitors when narrowly losing out to Green 3-2 prior to a 3-1 success over Dave Richardson.
Buttsbury A made it eight consecutive weeks at the top of division two with a 9-1 away win at seventh-placed Writtle B, Jamie Elliott and Evie Knaapen won three matches each while David Gatheral won two. Gatheral’s treble was denied by a come-from-behind victory for Writtle’s Trevor Carter who had trailed Gatheral 2-1. Maldon A remain seven points back in second position having also posted a 9-1 victory, this time at home to Danbury F. Chris Hancox and Colin Napper won three singles matches each though Danbury’s Alan Scammell took a wild opener against Lloyd Bennett-Smith 7-11, 14-12, 1-11, 15-13, 11-9 to deny the Maldon man a treble also. Scammell also pushed Napper close, only going down in a fifth-game decider while Bennett-Smith managed to find a way past Ken Sheard having been 2-0 down. There was a third appearance of the week for Saul Chivers as he joined Chelmsford C for their 8-2 home win over Danbury D. Chivers and Simon Jarvis both went undefeated and earned good wins over Sanjay Saptarshi and Dan Patynski - though the latter took both players to a fifth-game decider. Gary Ward fired a fifth hat-trick of the season as his Writtle C side moved up one place to seventh position with a 6-4 away victory over fifth-placed Hatfield Peverel A. Ward’s teammate John Webber would have won three had it not been for Alastair Piper’s recovery from 2-1 down. Having sat in tenth place as recently as week 10, Danbury E continue their upward trajectory as three wins for Tim Cramphorn and two each for Dick Wyman and Neil Want saw them to a 7-3 win at Galleywood B. Galleywood’s John Holland won once but lost out in deciding games against both Wyman and Cramphorn.
Chelmsford D are three points clear at the top of division three following a 9-1 home win over Hatfield Peverel B with closest rivals Buttsbury B earning a ‘lesser’ 8-2 victory over Writtle E. Adi Kamma and Christopher Denyer hit trebles for Chelmsford while Paul Sturton won all three for Buttsbury, Writtle D moved up one place to fourth following a 6-4 away win over 10th placed Danbury J thanks to another treble for Matthew Brown, while Cleon Fernandes made it back-to-back hat-tricks for Chelmsford F in their 6-4 win at Danbury G. Scott Perry was in action for the first time since week eight and he showed no signs of rust though his three victories were in vain as Danbury H lost 6-4 at Old Chelmsfordians C.
There were further victories for the two outstanding division four teams - Hutton A and Maldon B, just eight points separate the two with the two Buttsbury teams trying to keep within touching distance. Maldon B blitzed Danbury M 10-0 with Chris Ravenhill, Marty Englander and Brian Riedling filling their Christmas stockings with full compliments of wins - the deadly trio have now fired trebles in each of the last three Maldon B fixtures which is an identical statistic to that of Hutton A’s Alex Ware and Oladapo Owolabi who both unbeaten in the 7-3 away win at OCA D. There were wins for both Buttsbury teams who sit in third and fourth - third placed Buttsbury D earned an 8-2 home win over Danbury K, in his first appearance of the season Gary Carr won all three of his singles matches while Alex Wilson earned two wins for the visitors. Frances Hutt dropped just one game as she fired a treble as fourth-placed Buttsbury C won 6-4 on the road at Galleywood D. Galleywood’s Nick Rounce won the only five-gamer of the evening though the fixture was delicately poised at 4 matches apiece before Oscar Hutt then Frances Hutt won the last two matches of the night. Following four defeats in their last five matches, Hatfield Peverel C were back to winning ways with a 6-4 home win over Chelmsford G in a match which featured a first treble of the season for Samuel White. White’s first hat-trick was certainly no ‘gimme’ as he had to come through fifth game deciders against both Mark Nolan and David Parker. Something had to give in the fixture between Danbury L and Highwood A with both teams going into the clash on the back of four consecutive defeats. Unfortunately Highwood went into the fixture a player down though ace Melanie Bonnett won all three of her matches and was the sole point scorer for the visitors as Danbury ran out 7-3 victors.
There is no change for the top three teams in division five as leaders Hutton B, second placed Buttsbury E and third placed Maldon C all earned home wins. There were three wins apiece for Vicente Beco and Gheorghe Nita as well as two for Jago Ware as Hutton B cruised to a 9-1 victory over Highwood B while Shirley Carroll and James Raymond were unbeaten in Maldon C’s 9-1 home success over the two-person Hatfield Peverel F team. Lyndon Bubb fired a fourth hat-trick of the season as Buttsbury E were given a tough time by Galleywood E before securing a 6-4 home win. Bubb had to recover from 2-0 down against Wayne Smithies and also saw a 2-0 lead against Darren Wright disappear before securing fifth-game deciders. Hatfield Peverel D remain fourth and Writtle F fifth following a 5-5 draw between the two sides which saw two wins apiece for Writtle’s Michael Anthony and Ron Tam as well as Peverel’s Andy Simmonds and Bruce Wickham. Match of the night was Simmonds beating Tam by an epic-looking 11-9, 15-17, 14-16, 11-6, 18-16. Following five straight defeats, OCA E are now unbeaten in their last three fixtures following a 7-3 victory over Anglia Ruskin. ARU’s Douglas Bawuah was again the shining star as he beat Stuart Wintle in three, Suzanne Shaw in four and edged Matthew Potter in five (9-11, 11-2, 9-11, 15-13, 12-10). There was a first treble of the season for Jacqui Smith in Chelmsford H’s 9-1 away win at Hatfield Peverel E. Smith had to recover from 2-1 down against Alastair Brown while teammate James Grindlay dropped just one game for his three wins in what was his first treble since week one against the same opposition.
Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League
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Issued on 9 December 2024
Chelmsford A defeated by Danbury C despite Harry Chivers treble
Harry Chivers was back in action and fired a hat-trick as his Chelmsford A team fell to a 6-4 away defeat to Danbury C who moved one point clear at the top of division one. John Poysden and Keith Adams won twice apiece for the hosts with Poysden doing well to overcome Aidan Lees over five games in a see-saw battle. There were trebles for Arron Chandler and Matthew Stringer in Danbury B’s 8-2 victory over Chelmsford B. Chelmsford’s Waseem Qureshi proved a tough nut to crack, he beat Dan Anderson in three, took Chandler to four and was 2-1 up against Matthew Stringer before the fightback. The two-person team of Duncan Taylor and Kevin Read went undefeated for Writtle A in their 7-3 success at Galleywood A.
Dawn Baldry and Chris Hancox were on top form with three wins apiece as Maldon A earned a fine 8-2 win at last year’s division two runners up Hatfield Peverel A. Baldry was in a relentless mood, dropping just one game across her three victories while teammate Lloyd Bennett-Smith threw away winning positions in five game losses to both Alastair Piper and Martin Archie. Maldon continue to sit in second position, now seven points behind leaders Buttsbury A and seven points ahead of third-placed Danbury D with all three sides through ten fixtures of the season. Danbury D’s position is very much thanks to Sanjay Saptarshi who fired his fifth treble of the season (three more than any teammate) in a 7-3 away win at Galleywood B. Saptarshi didn’t lose a game while teammate Peter Chastin did well to recover from 2-0 down against Robin Armstrong for the first of his two wins. Another key player for their team - Simon Jarvis - fired his sixth hat-trick of the season (five more than any teammate) in Chelmsford C’s 8-2 home win against Old Chelmsfordians B. Dusan Doszkoty joined Jarvis with three wins (his first of the season) though he had to come through a tight opener with Mick Richardson: 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 10-12, 16-14. Despite mixed results this season in division three Peter Hance made his first appearance of the season in division two and won all three in Danbury F’s 5-5 draw at Writtle B. Hance beat Phil Smith in three, Trevor Collin in four and recovered from 0-2 to beat Trevor Carter, the defeat to Hance was the only loss of the night for both Collin and Smith. There were three wins for Tim Cramphorn and two each for Neil Want and Tony Forster as Danbury E earned an 8-2 win on the road at Writtle C. Writtle’s John Webber won twice but lost out to Cramphorn by a 15-13 scoreline in the decider with Danbury continuing their progress up the table up to sixth position from tenth two weeks ago.
The top three positions in division three are separated by just four points with this division still waiting to be taken by the scruff of the neck by one of the teams, Writtle D in fifth position have lost fewer games than two of the top three sides and hold a game in hand so may make their move shortly. Chelmsford D lead the way on 72 points from 11 matches and they earned a 7-3 home win over clubmates Chelmsford F despite a first treble since week four for F’s Cleon Fernandes. Fernandes beat Chris Denyer in three, Adi Kamma in four and Keith Martin in five. Simon Quelch capped his first appearance of the season with a hat-trick as his Hatfield Peverel B trio drew 5-5 on the road at Buttsbury B. Buttsbury’s Oscar Hutt posted a fine 3–2 win over Neil Freeman and was one game up against Quelch before going down in four. There were three wins for Matthew Brown in Writtle D’s 7-3 home win over Writtle while Danbury G’s Denis Balic and Denis Crapnell won two apiece in an entertaining looking home fixture with Galleywood C which ended 6-4 to the hosts.
Hutton A earned themselves some breathing space at the top of division four with another 10-0 victory, this time against Buttsbury D who slip from third to fifth in the table. While the father/son tandem of Alex and Charlie Ware had relatively straightforward evenings, teammate Oladapo Owolabi did extremely well to hold his nerve in tight five-game matches with Caroline Cole and Jenne Seibolt. Maldon B remain second following a 9-1 away win at Highwood B while Danbury K find themselves in a season high third position as three wins from Dave Hancox and two from Dave Oxley-Goody saw off Hatfield Peverel C in a 7-3 scoreline. There was a first appearance of the season for Farooq Ahmed who won all three in OCA D’s 7-3 away success at Danbury L. Ahmed beat both Ken Wilding and Roy Gandy in four with his match against John Manning being the only to go the distance. There was a fourth treble of the season for Buttsbury C’s Oscar Hutt in his sides 9-1 away victory at winless Danbury M - Frances Hutt and Lucy Elliott also went undefeated. Galleywood D’s Stewart Ireland fired his first hat-trick since week four as his team edged out Chelmsford G 6-4. Ireland recovered from 2-1 down against Mark Nolan in the opener with Nolan later fighting back from 2-0 down against Lewis Armstrong only for Armstrong to take the decider.
Trebles from Gheorghe Nita and Lee Vallis extended Hutton B’s lead at the top of division five to 14 points in a 7-3 home win over Writtle F. Writtle fell to their second successive defeat having gone unbeaten in their first eight matches. There was a 5-5 draw for Maldon C despite a third successive treble for Garry Eames against fourth placed Hatfield Peverel D who remain just a point back. David Cockrell won all three as his Highwood B moved from eighth to a season-high position of sixth with an 8-2 home win over Chelmsford H. Highwood are now unbeaten in four having lost their previous five matches. OCA E and Galleywood E shared the spoils in a 5-5 draw with OCA now unbeaten in two matches having lost five on the bounce, Galleywood E have now just one loss in their last six fixtures. Douglas Bawuah’s second hat-trick in his last three appearances wasn't enough to prevent ARU from their tenth straight defeat this season. Bawuah has earned 16 of ARU’s 25 points to date and he dropped just one game in ARU’s 6-4 loss to Hatfield Peverel E.
The 2024/2025 C&DTTL Tournament will take place between the 3rd and 5th January 2025 at Mildmay Hall, Anglia Ruskin University. Please find details and entry form here: https://www.tabletennis365.com/chelmsford
Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League
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Issued on 2 December 2024
Top Three in Division One Separated By One Point
Excitement mounts as just one point currently separates Chelmsford A, Danbury A and Danbury C at the top end of division one though the latter hold a game in hand advantage. Writtle A’s Ryan Pitt went solo for the second time this season in a 10-0 loss to Danbury C, Chris Penrose and Bruce Kettle won three each as Danbury A beat the two-person team of Galleywood A 7-3, and Josh Bickles fired another treble in Chelmsford A’s 6-4 home win over Danbury B.
Rob Burton, David Gatheral and Evie Knaapen all went undefeated as Buttsbury A increased their lead at the top of division two with a 10-0 home win over Chelmsford C. Undefeated Maldon A lost ground though remain second in the table following a tough 6-4 win over Writtle B, Dawn Baldry and Lloyd Bennett-Smith won two matches apiece for the hosts while Phil Smith and Richard Storey did likewise for the visitors. There was a fourth division two treble of the season for Sanjay Saptarshi in Danbury D’s 5-5 draw with Writtle C, Gary Ward and John Webber won two each for Writtle in a fixture which saw five five-gamers. Neil Want fired his first treble for Danbury E this season but his team were pegged back by a pair of wins from Hatfield Peverel A’s Martin Archie and Julie Johnson in a 5-5 draw, with the Old Chelmsfordians B-Galleywood B fixture also throwing up the same scoreline with no player unbeaten among a fabulous seven five-gamers.
The top three teams in division three are separated by just five points though third-placed Buttsbury B hold a game in hand over leaders Chelmsford D and second-placed Danbury G. The father-daughter combo of Wudong and Grace Liu went unbeaten in singles competition as Buttsbury B narrowly beat Chelmsford F 6-4 on Monday night. Alex Tkachuk and Christopher Denyer fired trebles as Chelmsford D stayed in the hunt with an 8-2 win at Galleywood C who tasted defeat for the first time since week three. Denis Balic and Merv Perriman also went undefeated as Danbury G moved to no loss in six fixtures with an 8-2 win over Danbury H who have now been defeated in their last four. Writtle D’s Matthew Brown was yet again unbeaten as his side beat the two-person team from Hatfield Peverel B 6-4, while OCA C remain winless as a James Grimston treble saw Chelmsford E back to winning ways with an 8-2 away victory. There was a second treble of the season for Dave Moles as Writtle E tasted success for the first time this season in a 6-4 home win over Danbury J who have now lost their last four fixtures.
Division four leaders Hutton A took maximum points as they cruised to a 10-0 home win against Hatfield Peverel C who slip from eighth to tenth, Maldon B stayed in touch with an identical scoreline over seventh placed Danbury L, and third placed Buttsbury D lost ground on the top two as they were held to a 5-5 draw with ninth placed OCA D in a match which saw a first treble of the season for OC’s Russell Hall. Elsewhere, Dave Hancock won three and Dave Powell two as Danbury K made it three wins in a row as they beat Galleywood D 7-3 - Galleywood have now lost their last five fixtures. Doubles for Martin Brunker, Atharv Gupta and Mark Nolan gave Chelmsford G a 7-3 home win over rock-bottom Danbury M, and three wins for Oscar Hutt and two apiece for Frances Hutt and Caroline Cole made it four successive victories for fifth-placed Buttsbury C with a 8-2 triumph over Highwood A who have now lost three in a row. Hutt junior now has three trebles in his last five matches while Highwood’s Roger Patient failed to score two or more points for the first time this season.
Hutton B remain top of division five following a 7-3 away win at Chelmsford H, Hutton’s Gheorge Nita was the sole undefeated player though he needed to successfully navigate a fifth game decider to get past James Grindlay. Trebles from Torsten Greenan and Lyndon Bubb ensured second-placed Buttsbury E were back to winning ways as they closed the gap on the leaders with a 9-1 victory at Hatfield Peverel E, Bruce Wickham posed the most problems for Greenan when taking a 2-1 lead only for Greenan to ease through games four and five. Tim Huxtable won all three on debut for Maldon C as they inflicted a first loss of the season on Writtle F by a 7-3 scoreline. The legend who is Steve Peacock chipped in with his fourth treble of the season for Galleywood E in their 8-2 home win over Hatfield Peverel E. Darren Wright and Tomas Ratinas won two matches each for the hosts though Galleywood stay in seventh position. David Cockrelll and Martin Goddard won three matches each as Highwood B inflicted more pain on bottom of the table Anglia Ruskin with a 9-1 victory. Eight-placed Highwood are now unbeaten in three following a run of five straight defeats.
The 2024/2025 C&DTTL Tournament will take place between the 3rd and 5th January 2025 at Mildmay Hall, Anglia Ruskin University. Please find details and entry form here: https://www.tabletennis365.com/chelmsford
Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League
