Issued on 28 October 2024
A dominating week for Danbury in division one
The three Danbury teams in division one enjoyed an excellent week as the A team won 9-1 at Writtle, the B team won 10-0 at home to Galleywood A, and the C team posted the same result at home to Chelmsford B.
Division 1
There were three dominant victories for the Danbury teams in division one as Danbury A moved equal on points with leaders Chelmsford A thanks to a 9-1 win at Writtle A. While it was Penrose’s third treble of the season, McLeod chipped in with a first and Cramphorn would have been pleased with of the two victories given his slow start to the season in division two for Danbury E. Danbury C are in third position just a point off the top two following a 10-0 win over Chelmsford B - Danbury’s strength in depth again showing by the reappearance of John Poysden alongside Reece Seddon and Liam Squirrell - a fearsome threesome to face anyone in the county. Having previously slipped from third position to fifth, Danbury B moved up to fourth place with a 10-0 success over Galleywood A - Lowman, Anderson and Wall firing trebles together for the first time this season.
Standings div 1: 1: Chelmsford A 35 points (from 5 matches), 2: Danbury A 35 points (5 matches), 3: Danbury C 34 points (5 matches).
Division 2
A 6-4 away win by Hatfield Peverel A at Old Chelmsfordians B was enough to move them to the top of division two, Martin Archie and Alastair Piper fired trebles in the same fixture for the first time this season. Maldon A continue to maintain a challenge at the top following an 8-2 home win over Writtle C. Hamish Innes reminded us that Maldon’s success this season will not only depend on Lloyd Bennett-Smith and Derek Balding, by firing the only treble of the contest. Gary Ward was once again the toughest nut to crack in the Writtle C lineup - he won two of his three matches. Writtle B were the biggest movers in the division this week despite being held to a 5-5 draw at home by Galleywood B. Writtle’s Trevor Carter won two matches but was beaten in five by Mark Taylor who won all three of his. Taylor had taken a 2-0 lead before the Carter fight back to square the match only for Taylor to take the decider 12-10. A second treble of the season for Ian Whiteside and doubles for Ken Sheard and Alan Scammell were enough for Danbury F to see off their clubmates Danbury E 7-3, Neil Want was the only player to see success for the E side - denied a treble by Whiteside in the fifth.
Standings div 2: 1: Hatfield Peverel A 37 points (6 matches), 2: Buttsbury A 36 points (from 5 matches), 3: Maldon A 32 points (5 matches).
Division 3
To date, no team has taken control of division three this season with the top seven teams separated by only five points at the end of week six. Just one of those seven sides remain undefeated this season - Writtle D - who sit in fifth having played a fixture less than those around them. Chelmsford D currently sit top of the division despite being held to a 5-5 draw with sixth placed Danbury G. Danbury’s Denis Balic was the only undefeated player though it was no easy night for him as both Adi Kamma and Mike Johnston took him to five games. Buttsbury B occupy second place following trebles from Harry Sawford and Wudong Liu in a 9-1 win at Chelmsford E. Things are not always as they seem in table tennis results and a look at the match detai suggests the scoreline may have been closer had the hosts been able to get their noses over the line in some if not all of the four five-game matches they found themselves on the losing end of. There was a fourth treble of the season for Gary Copsey in Galleywood C’s 5-5 home draw with Hatfield Peverel B. Peverel’s Neil Freeman had an unexpectedly quiet night with just one win though he was denied a second by win-machine Copsey who took their deciding game 15-13. Gareth Davies looked good for Peverel with another two wins but went down 3-1 to Copsey in the evening’s opener. A third 5-5 draw this week in division three to report on is Chelmsford F’s home clash with Danbury J, there were no flawless performances though Danbury’s Terry Hyland took ‘player of the match’ honours for his two wins - it could have been better for Hyland had he not conceded a 2-1 lead against Dion Fernandes. A second treble of the season for Gus Heath boosted Danbury H to a 7-3 win over Writtle E. Heath was untouchable in winning his three matches - failing to drop a game.
Standings div 3: 1: Chelmsford D 37 points (6 matches), 2: Buttsbury B 36 points (6 matches) 3: Galleywood C 35 points (from 6 matches),
Division 4
A second treble by Roger Patient in as many weeks wasn’t enough to see victory for his Highwood A side who fell to a 6-4 loss at the hands of Old Chelmsfordians D. Russell Hall and David Newman both won two matches for the hosts but Patient dropped just one game in his encounters with the OCA duo. David Bishop gave Patient his biggest test of the evening - only succumbing to the Highwood ace in the deciding game. Like Patient, Neil Wood fired a back-to-back hat-trick as Hatfield Peverel C edged out Galleywood D 6-4. Lewis Armstrong won two for Galleywood, his second a 3-2 win over Samuel White which saw a tense 21-19 fourth game go the way of White. John Manning scored yet another double for Danbury L in their 6-4 away win at Chelmsford G. Chelmsford’s Atharv Gupta won twice for Chelmsford and handed Manning his only loss of the night in the evening’s opener.
Standings div 4: 1: Hutton A 36 points (from 5 matches), 2: Maldon B 35 points (5 matches), 3: Danbury L 31 points (6 matches).
Division 5
Having had to wait 568 days for a win, Hatfield Peverel F secured their second successive victory via a 6-4 scoreline at Anglia Ruskin. There was no hat-trick hero David Benstead in the line-up this week, perhaps still basking in last week’s glory, but Peter Hughes, Barbara Kirby and Alastair Brown all won two apiece to keep the party going for at least another week. Douglas Bawuah won all three of his matches for hosts ARU. Joshua Freeman won both of his matches as leaders Buttsbury E beat the two-person team of OCA E 7-3 at home. OCA E’s ‘Forfeit’ lost all three of their matches for the fourth fixture in row…! Hutton B are hot on the heels of Buttsbury with the luxury of a game in hand following their 10-0 demolition of Galleywood E. Lee Vallis, Charlie Gould and Peter Moxham did the damage - Vallis without dropping a game. Maldon C are third in the table following a 7-3 home win over Hatfield Peverel E, James Raymond fired treble number three for the season as Shirley Carroll and Brian Dixon chipped in with wins. Andy Simmons was back in action for Hatfield Peverel D as his treble contributed to his side’s 6-4 home win over Chelmsford H. Writtle F beat Highwood B 7-3 thanks to a third Michael Anthony hat-trick of the season and two wins apiece for Paul Aarons and Ron Tam. Tam hit a double for the fourth successive match.
Standings div 5: 1: Buttsbury E 48 points (from 6 matches), 2: Hutton B 40 points (5 matches). 3: Maldon C 37 points (6 matches),
Chelmsford Junior League division 1A
Two wins apiece for Noah Middleton and Jago Ware were enough for the Hutton Hawks to re-take top spot from the Buttsbury Bees in a 5-0 victory over the Hutton Harriers. Middleton moves to three victories from six this season while Ware has won four from six.
Standings div 1A: 1: Hutton Hawks 21 points (from 6 matches), 2: Buttsbury Bees 18 points (5 matches), 2: 3: Chelmsford Lions 13 points (5 matches).
Chelmsford Junior League division 1B
There were another two victories for Theo Rugg though his Hutton Hammers lost out 3-2 at home to the Buttsbury Bears. The contest came down to the all-important doubles matchup with Rugg and Leon Smith getting back on level terms against Zac Berry and Ethan Ferris having found themselves 2-0 down, only for Berry and Ferris to take the decider.
Standings div 1B: 1: Hutton Hyenas 19 points (6 matches), 2: Chelmsford Leopards 16 points (from 5 matches), 3: Chelmsford Jaguars 13 points (5 matches).
Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League
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Issued on 21 October 2024
Benstead the hero as Hatfield Peverel F break long winless run
David Benstead fired a hat-trick, his first since January 2023, as Hatfield Peverel F earned their first league win in 568 days.
Division 1
Josh Bickles won all three of his matches but ‘Chiversless’ Chelmsford A failed to win for the first time this season in division one as they were held to a 5-5 draw with Galleywood A. The treble was Bickles’ third of the season while doubles from James Hicks and Peter Barrett halted Galleywood’s two-match losing run. Danbury A consigned Chelmsford B to their fourth successive defeat of the season in a 9-1 away win which saw trebles from Eric Green and Bruce Kettle. Danbury’s record moved to three wins from four matches this season though Waseem Qureshi prevented the 10-0 scoreline with a 3-1 win over Dave Richardson. Trevor Lloyd, the only ever-present Danbury C player this season, fired a hat-trick as the C’s beat Danbury B 9-1. Liam Squirrell also hit a treble, his second in two appearances, dropping just one game in the process. Reece Seddon was involved in two match of the night contenders, the first a 3-2 victory over Sam Lowman: 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, with the second an equally as tight 9-11, 10-12, 11-7, 14-12, 11-9 against Dan Anderson.
Standings div 1: 1: Chelmsford A 35 points (from 5 matches), 2: Danbury A 26 points (4 matches), 3: Writtle A 25 points (4 matches).
Division 2
The big match in division two this week was the meeting between second-placed Hatfield Peverel A and Chelmsford C who sat just one place behind them. It was the team from Chelmsford who left with a 6-4 victory as Simon Jarvis produced his fourth treble in four matches this season though he had to recover from a 2-0 deficit in the evening’s opener against Julie Johnson. Johnson went on to beat Dusan Doszkoty and Adi Kamma following Kamma’s 3-2 win over Gareth Davies. Peverel were once again without Alastair Piper who had won seven of his first nine singles matches this season. Buttsbury A extended their lead at the top with an 8-2 win at Old Chelmsfordians B, Rob Burton followed last week’s fine double with a treble and he was well backed up by two wins each for David Gatheral and Evie Knaapen. Mick Richardson was back to being the pick of OCA’s players with another two wins though he could only muster 10 points against the in-form Burton. Gary Ward was back in action for the first time since week two and he picked up where he left off with another hat-trick as Writtle C beat Writtle B 6-4. Dave Moles made his first appearance of the season for the B side and earned two wins - his second victory went to a deciding game and prevented John Webber from a treble of his own. Fourth placed Maldon A look like they will be a handful for anyone this season, especially if they can field the tandem of Lloyd Bennett-Smith and Derek Balding who both won three each in a 6-4 away win at Danbury E. Danbury’s Neil Want pushed both Bennett-Smith and Balding to fifth game deciders having earlier beaten Hamish Innes. Bennett-Smith also had five-gamers with Tim Cramphorn and Dick Wyman. There was another treble for Sanjay Saptarshi in Danbury D’s 7-3 win over Danbury F though Peter Chastin joined the ‘Saptarshi party’ with three wins of his own.
Standings div 2: 1: Buttsbury A 36 points (from 5 matches), 2: Hatfield Peverel A 31 points (5 matches), 3: Chelmsford C 30 points (5 matches).
Division 3
Division three’s marquee matchup this week was the clash between leaders Chelmsford E and second-placed Writtle D which resulted in a change at the top as a Matthew Brown treble helped secure a 7-3 home win for Writtle. Brown dropped just one game as he took his record this season to 14 singles victories from 15 matches, teammate Malcolm Henstock played in three five-gamers but was denied his first treble of the season by Rev Matthews. After two lean weeks by his standards, Mike Johnston was back in form as he registered a third hat-trick of the season in Chelmsford D’s 7-3 victory at Danbury J. Johnson was well supported with two wins by Dusan Doszkoty as the Chelmsford D side moved up to second in the table. After hitting the headlines last week, Neil Freeman was in action again though he could ‘only’ muster two wins as his Hatfield Peverel B side drew 5-5 with Danbury H. Freeman was all set for more headlines until Danbury’s Scott Perry eked out a win over five games. With a fourth successive double this season it won’t be long until Perry fires a hat-trick. There was no Gary Copsey for Galleywood C this week but Bryn Thomas and Colin Blore were able to pick up the baton with three wins apiece in an 8-2 away victory against Chelmsford F. Chelmsford remain bottom of the division while Galleywood move up to fourth with the experts wondering what kind of damage a Copsey/Thomas/Blore partnership might do when selected. A two week hiatus seems to have done OCA C’s Tom Barker the world of good as he bagged three victories in the 5-5 draw at Writtle E. Writtle’s Malcolm Storey and OCA’s Luke Richardson had a right old ‘ding-dong’ which ended 3-1 to Richardson: 12-10, 13-11, 9-11, 14-12. Danbury G continued their rollercoaster ride of a season to date with a 6-4 win at Buttsbury B, a result which meant the hosts tasted defeat for the first time this season. There were three wins for the third time in four matches this season for Harry Sawford though he had to dig deep when finding himself two down to Denis Crapnell. Crapnell won two matches himself as did teammate Denis Balic. Regardless of the results, both teams are well placed to mount a title challenge - just five points from the top.
Standings div 3: 1: Writtle D 32 points (5 matches), 2: Chelmsford D 32 points (5 matches), 3: Chelmsford E 31 points (from 5 matches),
Division 4
Hutton A remain top despite failing to see victory for the first time this season as they were held to 5-5 draw by Buttsbury C in a match which saw Oscar Hutt fire a hat-trick. There was a first treble of the season for Dave Oxley-Goody in Danbury K’s 7-3 win at Chelmsford G. Atharv Gupta gave Oxley-Goody the biggest test of the evening in an encounter which went the distance, Richard Allen and Dave Powell won two apiece for Danbury while Chelmsford’s Mark Nolan also saw two victories. Neil Wood’s three wins in his first appearance of the season boosted Hatfield Peverel C to a 6-4 away win at Danbury M. Danbury’s David Smith fought back from 2-0 against Bob Hillis but lost in five to Wood. A treble for Roger Patient wasn’t enough for his Highwood A team as they lost 6-4 at home to a Buttsbury D side who are now unbeaten in four matches and sit in third position. Danbury L slipped from fourth position to sixth following a 6-4 home defeat against Galleywood D. Lewis Armstrong and Nick Rounce won two games each for Galleywood as teammate Ron Salton played in the evening’s longest matches - winning 3-2 against Ken Wilding before losing by the same scoreline in his clash with John Manning.
Standings div 4: 1: Hutton A 36 points (from 5 matches), 2: Maldon B 30 points (4 matches), 3: Buttsbury D 29 points (5 matches).
Division 5
Division five is shaping up to be one of the more interesting divisions in the C&DTTL with the three teams at the top all holding unbeaten records. Buttsbury E lead the way with five wins from five followed by Hutton B with four wins from four and Writtle F holding an unbeaten record of three wins and a draw. Buttsbury E cruised to a 10-0 victory at Hatfield Peverel E, more trebles for Joshua Freeman and Torsten Greenan and a first for Lyndon Bubb. OCA E fielded two players for the third time this season but unlike previous weeks they fell to a 6-4 defeat at the hands of Hutton B. ‘Steady’ Stuart Wintle won two of his matches for the fourth successive time this season, while Suzanne Shaw also won twice. The closest match of the night was Wintle’s 3-2 win over Lee Vallis. There was a first hat-trick of the season for Richard Drozd in Hatfield Peverels D’s 8-2 win over ARU. Teammates Andy Whiley and Barbara Kirkby won two apiece, both falling to ARU’s Douglas Bawuah. And lastly, the good news story of the week - 568 days had passed since Hatfield Peverel F’s last win but that all ended on Wednesday night in the Galleywood Scout Hut as David Benstead, Alastair Brown and Peter Hughes all contributed to a famous Peverel success. A doubles win for Peverel’s Brown and Benstead in the seventh contest of the night put the visitors ahead in the fixture for the very first time, with that result followed by teammate Hughes holding his nerve to see off a Tomas Ratinas recovery from 2-0 down. Doug Blaber then beat Brown and when Galleywood’s Steve Peacock looked like he would prevent a Hatfield win when going 2-1 up, an inspired Benstead with the whole of Hatfield Peverel behind him dug deep to take a 3-2 win.
Standings div 5: 1: Buttsbury E 41 points (from 5 matches), 2: Hutton B 30 points (4 matches). 3: Writtle F 26 points (4 matches),
Chelmsford Junior League division 1A
The Buttsbury Bees took top spot in division 1A from opponents Hutton Hawks with a 4-1 away victory in a match which saw Joshua Freeman win both of his matches 3-0. The Chelmsford Lions moved into third place with a 5-0 win at Hutton Harriers, Ben Robinson and Amir Chetitah winning twice apiece. William Guilloux was the lone representative for the Chelmsford Tigers in a 3-2 loss at the Buttsbury Bats though Guilloux won both of his matches.
Standings div 1A: 1: Buttsbury Bees 18 points (5 matches), 2: Hutton Hawks 16 points (from 5 matches), 3: Chelmsford Lions 13 points (5 matches).
Chelmsford Junior League division 1B
The Chelmsford Leopards remain top of junior division 1B following a 3-2 win over Chelmsford Jaguars however it may have been a different story had the Jaguars been able to field two players. Sean Kwan performed admirably as he took on both Leopards single-handedly and beat both Sai Suresh and Atharv Srivastava with a 3-2 scoreline. The Hutton Hyenas took advantage of the first and second placed teams going into week five playing each other by moving into second place with a 4-1 win over the Hutton Hammers. Theo Rugg won twice for the Hyenas with both victories by a 3-0 scoreline, while teammate Henry Willingdale earned his first victory in the CJL.
Standings div 1B: 1: Chelmsford Leopards 16 points (from 5 matches), 2: Hutton Hyenas 14 points (5 matches), 3: Chelmsford Jaguars 13 points (4 matches)
Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League
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Issued on 14 October 2024
Title hopefuls Buttsbury frustrated by In-form Freeman
Neil Freeman fired two hat-tricks in four days - the second of which was in the top of the table clash between Buttsbury A and Hatfield Peverel A in division two.
Division 1
Chelmsford A remain at the top of division one following an emphatic 9-1 home win over Danbury C. Both Josh Bickles and Harry Chivers fired trebles - both have won eight of their last nine league matches. Trevor Lloyd had the best night from a Danbury perspective, he took both Bickles and Aidan Lees to five games - with a win over the latter. After a tough first appearance of the season in week three there were first hat-tricks for Duncan Taylor and Kevin Read as Writtle A turned on the style to beat Galleywood A 10-0. Galleywood’s Alistair Hill fought back from 2-0 down against Read only to lose out in the decider, the result sees Writtle move up to second and Galleywood remain sixth. Yet another one-sided contest to wrap up division one this week as Danbury B beat bottom of the table Chelmsford B 9-1. Sam Lowman, Ian Wall and Arron Chandler were undefeated in singles action though Chelmsford did ensure the Danbury team remained winless in doubles contests this season (0 wins from 4 games). The victory sees Danbury B move from fifth position to third, six points behind Writtle A and 11 points behind leaders Chelmsford A.
Standings div 1: 1: Chelmsford A 30 points (from 4 matches), 2: Writtle A 25 points (4 matches), 3: Danbury B 19 points (4 matches).
Division 2
Buttsbury A moved to the top of division two with a hard-fought 6-4 win over the leaders going into week four, Hatfield Peverel A. Neil Freeman was the star of the show winning all three of his individual matches though David Gatheral and Rob Burton won two apiece for Buttsbury with the duo also taking the double match 11-9 in the decider. Chelmsford C remain third in the table thanks to trebles from Simon Jarvis and Felix Reeve in their 8-2 home win over Danbury E. The match result could have been closer - there were two five-gamers in the contest which both went in favour of the hosts. Colin Napper made his first appearance of the season and he took player of the match honours in Maldon A’s 6-4 win over Danbury D. Peter Chastin prevented Napper’s treble with Danbury’s Eamon Hall repeating last week’s comebacks with a victory over Lloyd Bennett-Smith having trailed 2-1. Trevor Collin’s hat-trick wasn’t enough for Writtle B as they drew 5-5 with Danbury E. Collin earned his third win with victory over Neil Want who won two matches himself - Collin had trailed 2-1 but took the fifth 11-9. There was a first treble of the season for Ian Whiteside in Danbury F’s 7-3 home win over OCA B in a contest which saw four five-gamers and four four-gamers. Whiteside fought-back from 2-1 down to beat David Porter who himself had won from a losing position when trailing Alan Scammell 2-0.
Standings div 2: 1: Buttsbury A 28 points (from 4 matches), 2: Hatfield Peverel A 27 points (4 matches), 3: Chelmsford C 24 points (4 matches).
Division 3
Chelmsford D and Chelmsford E were joint leaders of division three going into week four but Chelmsford D’s 5-5 home draw with Buttsbury B resulted in them dropping to third place. After two successive hat-tricks, Buttsbury’s Harry Sawford won two games but experienced defeat for the first time this season - Sawford was one of Alex Tkachuk’s two victims. There were no slip-ups for Chelmsford E as Kelvin Edeh and James Grimston won three matches apiece in an 8-2 win over Writtle E. Edeh did well to hold his nerve against Malcolm Storey in a match which went the distance. A second treble of the season for Cleon Fernandes wasn’t enough for his Chelmsford F side to get past a resolute Danbury H - Fernandes won a tight opener with Scott Perry over five games, Danbury’s Perry earned a double for the third time this season with teammate Gus Heath following last week’s treble with two more victories. Neil Freeman took the honours as Hatfield Peverel B beat OCA C despite only fielding two players. Freeman dropped just two games in his three matches while teammate Gareth Davies played two five-gamers - winning and losing one. A third treble of the season for Matthew Brown helped Writtle D to a 6-4 away win at Danbury G. Denis Crapnell proved a difficult opponent for Brown to see off, the Writtle man only getting over the line in the fifth game after Crapnell had fought back from two games down. Gary Copsey took his record to 11 wins from 12 this season as he led Galleywood C to a 7-3 home win over Danbury J. Copsey’s closest match of the night was his opener with Peter Hance which went all the way.
Standings div 3: 1: Chelmsford E 28 points (from 4 matches), 2: Writtle D 25 points (4 matches), 3: Chelmsford D 25 points (4 matches).
Division 4
An 8-2 home win was enough to see Hutton A move clear at the top of division four with Charlie Ware and David Thammadi winning three apiece. The opening contest was the closest of the night with Chelmsford G’s Mark Nolan recovering from 2-1 down to beat Alex Ware - this was Ware’s first defeat of the season having pocketed three previous trebles. Maldon B slipped to second position in the league table following a 5-5 away draw with Buttsbury D. Buttsbury’s Joshua Freeman won all three matches though was well tested by Brian Reidling who only went in the fifth by a 12-10 scoreline. Lyndon Bubb won two on debut in division four but was beaten by Chris Ravenhill in three - Ravenhill has won 10 from 12 so far this season. There were three wins from Dave Marsh and two each for Richard Allen and Dave Oxley-Goody in Danbury K’s 7-3 win over Danbury L. The scoreline may have been very different as the first three matches of the night went the distance with Oxley-Goody, Marsh and Allen coming out on top. Lucy Elliott and Oscar Hutt won three games each as Buttsbury C won 8-2 at OCA D, and Steve Ireland hit a treble in Galleywood D’s 5-5 home draw with Danbury M.
Standings div 4: 1: Hutton A 31 points (from 4 matches), 2: Maldon B 30 points (4 matches), 3: Buttsbury D 23 points (4 matches).
Division 5
A second successive hat-trick for Vivaan Babbar in a 7-3 win over Highpoint E elevated Buttsbury E to the top of division five. Freya Hart and Torsten Greenan both won twice but tasted defeat at the hands of Martin Goddard, Babbar fought back from 2-0 down to beat Goddard in an entertaining-looking 12-14, 4-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9. There were first trebles of the season for Chelmsford H’s Shengbing Zhu and Peter Davenport in Chelmsford H’s 8-2 win at Maldon C while debutant Fin Fell fired a hat-trick as the two-player team of ARU fell 6-4 at home to Writtle F. Another two-player team in action in division five this week was OCA E though the deadly duo of Stuart Wintle (three wins) and Matthew Porter (two) were able to make up for the disadvantage with a 6-4 home win against Hatfield Peverel E. Wintle needed five games to see off Peverel’s Alastair Brown.
Standings div 5: 1: Buttsbury E 31 points (from 4 matches), 2: Writtle F 26 points (4 matches), 3: Hutton B 24 points (3 matches).
Chelmsford Junior League division 1A
The Hutton Hawks soared to the top of division 1A thanks to fine performances by Billy Andrews and Martis Heyes who went undefeated in a 5-0 away win at the Chelmsford Lions. Both players needed five games to see off Amir Chetitah with Andrews getting the better of a 8-11, 15-13, 11-8, 11-13, 17-15 scoreline. Chetitah was on ‘double-duty’ and won twice as the Chelmsford Tigers beat the Hutton Harriers 4-1. Vicente Beco pushed Chetitah to five ends before William Guilloux joined Chetitah in recovering from 2-1 down to take the doubles.
Standings div 1A: 1: Hutton Hawks 15 points (from 5 matches), 2: Buttsbury Bees 14 points (4 matches), 3: Chelmsford Tigers 9 points (3 matches).
Chelmsford Junior League division 1B
The Chelmsford Leopards remain top of junior division 1B despite having to concede their away game at Hutton Hyenas. The Chelmsford Jaguars remain in second place after a 3-2 home loss against the Buttsbury Bears. Sean Kwan won twice for the hosts before Zac Berry and Ethan Ferris held off a Chelmsford fightback from 2-0 down in the doubles contest to take the all-important fifth..
Standings div 1B: 1: Chelmsford Leopards 13 points (from 4 matches), 2: Chelmsford Jaguars 11 points (4 matches), 3: Hutton Hyenas 10 points (4 matches).
Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League
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Issued on 7 October 2024
Squirrell and Seddon star as Danbury C put early marker down
There were three wins for Liam Squirrell and two for Reece Seddon on their return to Chelmsford & District League action after a five year absence.
Division 1
Chelmsford A lead the way in division one with three wins from three fixtures and while Danbury A are just four points back it is Chelmsford’s week four opponents Danbury C, last year’s runners-up, who will no doubt provide their biggest test to date. Harry Chivers fired his second hat-trick of the season in Chelmsford A’s 6-4 away win at Danbury B. Liam Squirrell and Reece Seddon were in action for Danbury C as they won a tight encounter with Writtle A 6-4. Squirrell won all three, dropping just one game, while Seddon’s only loss was at the hands of Kevin Read who claimed the nail-biting decider 16-14. There was a treble for Eric Green in his first appearance of the season as his Danbury A side won 8-2 at Galleywood A. Green’s toughest match was with Alistair Hill who had held a 2-1 lead before Green stormed through.
Division 2
Hatfield Peverel A lead the way in division two following an 8-2 home win against Galleywood B. Martin Archie fired his second treble of the season with two wins apiece for Julie Johnson and Alastair Piper - both players undone by Galleywood’s Mark Glenister. Peverel’s toughest challenge may yet come from Buttsbury A who they face in Week 4 off the back of an 8-2 victory over Danbury F in week three. Maldon A were without last week’s hat-trick hero Lloyd Bennett-Smith but Derek Balding made his first appearance of the season and took the player-of-the-match honours with three victories in Maldon’s 7-3 win at OCA B. Hamish Innes and Dawn Baldry supported Balding with two wins apiece but both fell at the hands of Mick Richardson - Innes having led 2-1.
There was no Gary Ward for Writtle C but the three John’s - Webber, Gagg and Parodi claimed a 5-5 draw with Chelmsford C in his absence. Webber fired his first treble of the season while teammate Gagg pulled off an eye-catching win over Felix Reeve. The great Sanjay Saptarshi won all three of his matches as Danbury D beat Writtle B 7-3. In his first league match of the new season, Eamonn Hall backed Saptarshi up with two wins - losing out to Writtle’s Phil Smith who won two of his own. Hall showed his never-say-die attitude by successfully overcoming a 0-2 deficit against both Trevor Collin and Trevor Carter.
Division 3
The only two unbeaten sides in division three - Writtle D and Buttsbury B - sit in third and fourth positions respectively as Chelmsford D lead the way followed by clubmates Chelmsford E. Andy Swales and Kelvin Edeh hit three wins apiece as the leaders Chelmsford E beat Hatfield Peverel B 9-1. Having played in division five over the past few seasons, Edeh’s improvement is apparent and showed his recovery powers when trailing Paul Mulley 2-0. Matthew Brown hit his second treble of the season in Writtle D’s 8-2 demolition job of leaders Chelmsford D, Malcolm Henstock and Bob Garson both won twice for the hosts as Chelmsford’s Adi Kamma stood firm with wins against both opponents. Three wins for Grace Liu and two each for Caroline Cole and Frances Hutt saw Buttsbury B win 7-3 at Danbury J. An inspired Gus Heath hat-trick helped Danbury H to a 6-4 away win at Galleywood C, Heath consigned Galleywood’s Gary Copsey to his first defeat of the season over five games. Denis Ballic was undefeated as Danbury G won 6-4 on the road at Writtle E. Ballic beat Dave Moles over five games after Moles had beaten Danbury’s Louis Gunn by the same 3-2 scoreline.
Division 4
Maldon B and Hutton A look to be the two outstanding teams in division four at the moment with both sides displaying a perfect three wins from three fixtures going into week four. Brian Riedling and Chris Ravenhill won three apiece as Maldon B beat Hatfield Peverel C 7-3 while Alex Ware fired his third hat-trick of the season in Hutton A’s 7-3 away win at Danbury K. Mark Nolan was in action for the second time this season and promptly served up his second treble as Chelmsford G beat OCA D 6-4. Peter Harverson won three with teammates John Manning and Roy Gandy winning two each in Danbury L’s 8-2 win over Danbury M. M team’s Oliver Martin prevented Manning and Gandy winning three - Martin fought back from 2-0 down in both matches. Roger Patient and David Cockrell hit trebles in Highwood A’s 8-2 win over Galleywood D. Highwood’s Keith Fitz-John’s two wins were both five-gamers but Galleywood’s Lewis Armstrong prevented his hat-trick. Jenne Seibolt won all three as Buttsbury D beat clubmates Buttsbury C 7-3, Seibolt gave Oscar Hutt his only defeat of the night in a competitive 11-13, 13-11, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9 triumph.
Division 5
Hutton B sit proudly top of division five with three wins from three, Writtle F and Maldon C sit four points back while Buttsbury E could be serious challengers having won both of their fixtures. Hutton B’s are showing a strength in depth having used eight different players for their three victories - Peter Moxham won all three matches on his first appearance with two victories for Charlie Gould. Galleywood E’s Steve Peacock fired his second treble of the season in Galleywood E’s 5-5 draw with Writtle F. Ron Tam won twice for Writtle though missed out in five at the hands of Peacock, Tam had earlier recovered from 2-0 down against Doug Blaber, Blaber staged a 0-2 recovery of his own against Michael Anthony in a close encounter which ended 12-14, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-9.
The Maldon C trio of James Raymond, Kym Eames and Arthur Shadforth won seven of their nine singles matches for the second time this season in their 8-2 away win at Anglia Ruskin University, Shadforth scored the hat-trick this time for Maldon while teammate Raymond missed out on a treble of his own when falling 3-2 to Connor Casey. There were first trebles of the season for Bruce Wickham, Andy Whiley and Andy Simmons in Hatfield Peverel D’s 10-0 win against Hatfield Peverel F.
Chelmsford Junior League division 1A
The Buttsbury Bees are top of junior division 1A with three wins from four fixtures as Vivaan Babbar and Joshua Freeman won all of their singles matches against Hutton Hawks and Hutton Harriers. Adhuna Das won twice for the Chelmsford Lions in their 3-2 home win over the Chelmsford Tigers, while Charlie Gould and Billy Andrews were unbeaten as the Hawks beat the Buttsbury Bats 5-0.
Chelmsford Junior League division 1B
The Chelmsford Leopards look like the dominant force at this early stage of junior league division 1B though they were unable to keep their run of 5-0 wins going as they beat the Hutton Hammers 3-2. Sai Suresh of the Leopards took his record to six individual wins out of six so far this season though he had to recover from 2-1 down against Michael Bradshaw. Another undefeated player this season is Zac Berry who took his tally of individual wins to four from four as the Buttsbury Bears beat the Hutton Hyenas 4-1. Theo Rugg of the Hyenas earned a last gasp win against Shay Coughlan with a 12-10 scoreline in the decider. The Chelmsford Jaguars dropped just two games in their 5-0 away win at the Buttsbury Bulldogs - Bernard and Damon Chow doing the damage this week. The Jaguars move into second position with two wins from two.
Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League
