Danbury M post the best start to a CDTTL season since 2015
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 quintet of Steve Martin (5 wins), Oliver Martin, Peter Harverson, David Smith and Graham Naggs (all three wins) have posted the best record through the first two weeks of a CDTTL season since 2015 when the Danbury A trio of Gary Young, Ben Warner and Mindaugas Sinkus started with a perfect 20-0 record. Danbury M next face the unbeaten Writtle F in week 3 where their record will no doubt be put to the test.
Division 1
An 8-2 win for Danbury B consigned Galleywood A to their second defeat of the season after week one’s 10-0 loss to Chelmsford A. Dan Anderson was undefeated with three wins and he was well supported by Sam Lowman and Daniel Piggott. Peter Barrett scored a double for Galleywood and fought back from 2-0 down against Anderson only to lose out in the decider. Chelmsford A beat their clubmates Chelmsford B 7-3 with another hat-trick for both Josh Bickles and Gary Young. Aidan Lees and Nikita Tkachuk shared a close contest with Tkachuk rallying from 2-0 down to square the match before Lees clinched the fifth game. Defending champions OCA A were at full strength this week and they registered a comprehensive 10-0 victory over Writtle A. Mark Mulley, Paul Lucas and Matthew Mulley made relatively quick work of Writtle A though Lee McHugh had led Matthew Mulley by two games to one. The ‘Danbury derby’ ended in a 7-3 win to the C team thanks to trebles from Trevor Lloyd and Paul Davison. Danbury A’s Eric Green, Babul McLeod and Dave Richardson all won a game apiece, with Green and McLeod losing out to Lloyd and Davison in the doubles.
Division 2
Chelmsford C remain undefeated this season and are tied with division 2 leaders Hatfield Peverel on points after this 8-2 win over clubmates Chelmsford D. Victor Chan and Harrison Hill were undefeated while Kelvin Felix and Mike Johnston were on target for Chelmsford D. While Dusan Doszkoty didn’t register a win, all three of his matches not only went to five games but were decided by a mere two points - this follows two five game losses in week one. Writtle C beat Danbury E 7-3 in a match which saw Danbury only able to field two players. Gary Ward of Writtle went undefeated in his two singles and doubles, while Danbury’s Neil Want won two and narrowly lost out to Ward in 5 games. Sanjay Saptarshi won three and was well assisted by David Meah and Peter Chastin (2 wins each) as Danbury D beat OCA B 8-2. David Meah’s two victories were both earned in five games against Rob Burton and Berti Makolli. Meah and Saptarshi had to come from behind to beat Mick Richardson and Burton in the double 3-2. Richardson’s two wins were both 3-0. Danbury G and Writtle B contested a 5-5 draw meaning neither team has seen a win so far this season. Richard Storey hit a hat-trick for Writtle B and he was backed up by Trevor Carter who won two. Denis Crapnell won two matches for Danbury - a straight game win against Carter and a five game tussle with Matthew Brown. Storey and Denis Balic contested the closest match of the night which was won 13-11 in the decider by the Writtle player after Balic had battled back from 2 games down. Hatfield Peverel A took top spot in division 2 with a 6-4 victory at Danbury F thanks to three wins by Martin Archie. Archie beat Chris Buer and Steve Buer in straight games but was made to work much harder by Gus Heath who pulled Archie back from 2-0 to level. Chris Buer won two matches - both were decided in four games against Julie Johnson and Neil Freeman.
Division 3
Having played in some tight matches last week but failing to register a win, Tom Barker earned three singles wins to keep his OCA C team unbeaten this season. Luke Richardson and Richard Upson both won two matches apiece with Upson just missing out in his five game battle with Dave Powell. Richardson beat Alan Dadswell in five despite Dadswell taking a 2-0 lead. Danbury J registered their first win of the season in a match which was affected by time issues. Omar Wasi continued his strong start to the season with another two wins - one of which a 3-1 win over Gordon Gatheral who himself registered two wins by a 3-0 scoreline. Match of the night was Pav Srunuvasmurthy versus Louis Gunn which was finally won 15-13 by Gunn in the fifth. The spoils were shared between Hatfield Peverel B and Danbury H with Neil Freeman the star of the show for the second successive week. Freeman was again made to work hard for his treble with matches against Tim Pulham and Alan Scammell going the distance as well as a tightly contested 3-1 with Ken Sheard. Sheard was the pick of the Danbury players with a 3-1 victory over Paul Mulley and a 3-0 win over Richard Drozd. Galleywood B made it two wins out of two with this 8-2 victory over Writtle D. John Holland was undefeated for the second successive week in both singles and doubles and he was ably assisted by Ben Page and Mark Glenister with two wins each. Page showed his fighting qualities by coming back from 2-0 down in matches with Trevor Collin and Malcolm Henstock. His match with Bob Garson also went the distance but Garson was able to take the win. Chelmsford E posted their first win of the season with an emphatic 9-1 victory over Writtle E - Rev Matthews and Alesha Ellis-Austin earned three victories each. Matthews dropped one game in each of his wins while Ellis-Austin dropped one game less during the evening. James Grimston won two matches and just missed out to Neil Thompson in a match which Thompson won 12-10 in the fifth game.
Division 4
Galleywood C remain unbeaten this season as they beat the two players of OCA D 6-4. Will Goodchild beat Russell Hall in three straight games but had to resist a David Newman fightback in order to win a close encounter in five. Newman himself showed grit when winning from 2-0 down to Steve Peacock and 2-1 down against Nathan Blore. Danbury L rang the changes after last week’s loss to Buttsbury and it paid off in spectacular style with a 9-1 victory over Hatfield Peverel E. Roy Gandy and Peter Hance hit trebles with both players overturning losing positions. Gandy was down 2-0 to Kath Little and 2-1 to Phillip West before he rallied for his wins, while Hance was behind 2-1 against Chris Rolinson. Buttsbury B earned their second victory in two outings with a 6-4 win over Highwood A. Alex Ware earned three points with 3-0 victories over Roger Patient, Keith Fitz-John and David Cockrell. Patient won from losing positions in five game battles with both Caroline Cole and Kevin Willis.
Division 5
Danbury M stormed to the top of division with a 10-0 victory over Hatfield Peverel though they didn’t have it all their own way with each Hatfield player taking their opposition to five games on one occasion each. Graham Naggs was involved in the match of the night with Jackie Treacy, narrowly coming through 10-12, 13-11, 10-12, 11-8. 11-8. Chelmsford’s H and J teams now hold identical records of one win, one loss, 10 SF, 10 SA after Mark Nolan led the J team to victory with a hat trick and Shweta Lees chipped in with a double. Lees came from behind in both her victories having trailed 2-1 against both Jacqui Smith and Shengbing Zhu. Nolan and Lees joined forces to win a see-saw doubles match against Smith and Zhu in five. OCA E kicked off their campaign with a 5-5 draw at home to Galleywood D - who themselves remain unbeaten. Two players on each team hit braces with Suzanne Shaw earning a 3-2 win over Rob Salton - the last two games incredibly tight affairs at 13-11. 12-10. Matthew Porter and Wayne Smithies were involved in a ding-dong battle which also went the distance - Porter winning 11-9 in the final game. Both teams remain undefeated after this battle ended in a 5-5 draw. Kym Eames and Ross Wheeler earned two wins apiece for Maldon while Jo Hart and Ron Tam did likewise for Writtle. Tam and Paul Aarons teamed up to narrowly beat Eames and Shirley Carroll over five games in the doubles. Martin Goddard scored a fine treble as Highwood B won 6-4 and inflicted a second consecutive narrow defeat for Buttsbury C. Goddard found his form to storm back from a 2-1 deficit to beat Jenne Seibolt, and Seibolt later overturned the same scoreline in his 5 game win over Nicola Pippen.
Chelmsford Junior League division 1A
CTTC Cougars stormed to a 5-0 victory over CTTC Tigers. Amir Chetitah and Sami Osman dropped just a set each in their two victories, with the duo winning the doubles match in three tightly contested games against Ben Robinson and Jayden Bandari.
CTTC Eagles overwhelmed Danbury Dragons 5-0 thanks to two wins apiece for Aryan Pradeep and Grace Liu. Pradeep was made to work hard with his victory over Peter Harverson going the full distance. Liu won both her matches 3-0 against Oscar Whyman and Harverson. Pradeep and Liu also won the doubles 3-0 dropping just 13 points over the three games.
Chelmsford Junior League division 1B
The CTTC Jaguars clinched a 3-2 win against the CTTC Leopards with a victory in the decisive doubles match. Ryan Peiris rallied from 2-0 down to beat Sean Kwan and completed his second win with a 3-1 victory over George Gregory. Gregory and Kwan took the match victory with a 3-0 doubles win despite the first game against Peiris and George Matthews going to deuce.
Chelmsford Junior League division 1C
The CTTC Lions and the CTTC Pumas faced off in the first fixture of the season in division 1C and it was the Lions who took the victory 3-2. Theo Peiris was undefeated with victories over Max Locke-Wheaton and Archie Spurrier, while teammate Georgiana Major won 3-1 over Locke-Wheaton. After two closely contested opening games, Locke-Wheaton and Spurrier took the win in the doubles match 3-1.
Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issued 24 September 2023
Young inspires youth as Chelmsford A set down early marker
Division 1
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. Young failed to drop a single game in the contest while Ben Page was the pick of the Galleywood trio, not only narrowly losing in two of his three games with Young but also taking Chivers to five games. Writtle A brushed aside Chelmsford B by a scoreline of 8-2 in a match which saw the league’s number 1 ranked player Duncan Taylor score a hat trick of 3-0 wins and in doing so conceding a miserly 4 points or less in seven of the games. Lee McHugh also went undefeated, dropping just one game on the night. Danbury A and B teams battled to draw with Sam Lowman the only player undefeated, Chris Penrose came back from 2-1 down to edge out Sanjay
Saptarshi with the doubles match also decided in the 5th game - Penrose and Eric Green claiming the point from Lowman and Ian Wall. Last season’s division 1 champions OCA A could only field two players against Danbury C. #14 ranked Paul Davison pulled off a fine win over #4 Paul Lucas after Lucas had edged out Keith Adams in five games. Lucas and Mark Mulley fought back from 2-0 down to beat Keith Adams and Davison in five but it was not enough to prevent a 6-4 loss on the night.
Division 2
Maldon A and Hatfield Peverel A were the two big winners in week one of division 2 both securing 7-3 home wins. Lloyd Bennett-Smith hit a treble for Maldon dropping just one game in doing so, with Hamish Innes and Dawn Baldry both earning two wins apiece. Innes had to dig deep for his two wins - his match with Dusan Doszkoty was an entertaining 14-12, 6-11, 11-7, 12-14, 14-12 scoreline, with his victory over Keith Martin also
going the distance. Alastair Piper went undefeated for Hatfield Peverel A in their fixture with Writtle C dropping just a set in each of his matches, the doubles saw Martin Archie and Neil Freeman recover from two games down to beat John Parodi and Gary Ward. OCA B got the better of Danbury G by a 6-4 scoreline with Mick Richardson claiming three straight 3-0 wins over Denis Balic, Mervyn Perriman and Robin Armstrong.
Michael Hayes joined Richardson to narrowly beat Balic and Armstrong 3-2 in the doubles. Writtle B and Danbury F contested a 5-5 draw with Steve Buer edging Richard Storey in four tightly contested games. John Tendler registered two 3-0 victories thoughwas beaten 3-1 by Storey who made up for his earlier disappointment against Buer. Chelmsford C and Danbury D drew five apiece with Harrison Hill notching three wins. Hill was made to work hard though with wins over Sanjay Saptarshi and David Gatheral both in five. Earlier, Saptarshi also went the distance in his triumph over Waseem Qureshi.
Division 3
Last season's Div 4 champions Buttsbury A started life in Div 3 by claiming an emphatic 9-1 win over Danbury J with a hat trick apiece for Jamie Elliot (89% win average last season) and Paul Sturton. Elliot fought back against Danbury’s Gordon Gatheral who had held a 2-0 lead. Neil Freeman earned three points for his Hatfield Peverel B side in their 5-5 draw with Writtle E. Freeman impressively rallied from 2-0 down against Neil Thompson and also got the better of Ian Hockley in a tight contest. Hockley himself had earlier come from 2-0 down to beat Paul Mulley. Richard Baxter scored a treble in OCA C’s 6-4 win over Chelmsford E though in the opening contest found himself 2-1 down against Alesha Ellis-Austin. The second match of the night saw Rev Matthews overturn a 2-0 deficit to beat Tom Barker. Richard Upson earned two wins - his second of which
was from a losing position of 2-1 against Ellis-Austin. Galleywood B beat Chelmsford F 6-4 with John Holland losing just 2 games in his three victories against Pav Srinivasamurthy, Omar Wasi and Atharv Gupta. Wasi and Srinivasamurthy won two matches apiece with Wasi coming from 1–0 down to win 3-1 in both of his victories. Bryn Thomas and Srinivasamurthy played out the only match which went to five games - Srinivasamurthy being the victor. The Writtle D team of Pete Layzell, Malcolm Henstock and Trevor Collin all won twice in a 7-3 win at Danbury H. Danbury’s Peter Lucraft also secured two wins on the night, overturning a 2-1 deficit to oust Layzell. Henstock overcame the disappointment of a 19-17 first game loss against Lucraft to rally 3-1.
Division 4
Buttsbury B started life in Division 4 with a hard fought 7-3 victory on the road at Danbury L. A remarkable 8 of the 10 matches went to five sets with Oscar Hutt and Greg Cooper both involved in four apiece. Jenne Seibolt scored a fine hat-trick, the second win of which was a tightly contested affair with Cooper (11-9, 19-17, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6). Alex Wilson didn’t register a win however he was involved in two five setters - Oscar Hutt
producing a fine comeback in their encounter (11-13. 4-11, 13-11, 13-11. 12-10). Galleywood C won 7-3 at Chelmsford G with Bryn Thomas winning all three of his matches without dropping a game, Will Goodchild narrowly missed out on a treble when losing his opener 11-9 in the fifth against Salih Salim. Peter Mortensen’s efforts were not enough to prevent his Hatfield Peverel D side from losing 6-4 at OCA D. Mortenson came back from 2-1 down to beat Farooq Ahmed in five after also rallying from a losing position against David Newman in his 3-1 win. Newman himself had recovered from 2-0 down to get the better of Bob Hills - the second of Hills’ five set losses on the night after Russell Hall overturned a 2-1 deficit.
Division 5
Danbury M were the biggest winners of the week in division 5 with a 9-1 win over Highwood B. Oliver Martin and Peter Harverson both scored three wins, with Steve Martin chipping in with two. Oliver Martin fought back from 2-1 down against Martin Goddard to take the decider 13-11, and later came from 2-0 down against Ketih Pallett to win the decider 16-14. Ron Salton dropped just one game as he hit a treble for Galleywood D as they beat Buttsbury C 6-4. Francesca Hart shone for Buttsbury C winning two matches from 2-1 down. Douglas Bawuah won three matches for ARU despite their 6-4 loss to Chelmsford H - all three of Bawuah’s wins being in the deciding set. Jason Clark, Jacqui Smith and Shengbing Zhu all won two matches for Chelmsford. It was a long night for Bawuah who was also involved in a five set thriller with partner Santiago Rubio against Smith and Clark. Hatfield Peverel F and Maldon C drew five apiece with Alastair Brown having to work hard - all three of his wins completed in the fifth set. Brown battled back from 2-1 down against James Raymond and 2-0 down to Kym Eames. Jackie Treacy also performed well with two 3-0 wins. Martin Brunker
earned three wins for his Chelmsford J team despite their 6-4 loss at Writtle F. Brunker held his nerve in tight contests with Michael Anthony and Ron Tam. Shweta Lees earned a victory on debut with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Jo Hart.
Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League
