Summer League 19 - 2nd REPORT

2nd REPORT

Division 1 Report

Division 1 of the Southend Table Tennis Summer League is now in full flow with some great matches as players, keen to be ready for the winter campaign, keep their hand in with some competitive games. There was a very close game between Basildon A and Hadleigh Forum A which saw Basildon run out 6-3 victors. Five of the games went to 5 ends and Basildon A were lucky that 4 of them were won by them, otherwise it could have been a very different result.

Rawreth A have now picked up after their slow start to the season with three good wins in the recent week. They had two 8-1 wins over Invicta A and Hockley A followed by a 7-2 win over Stanford A. Steve Maltby the star of the latter one with two singles wins and a doubles win with Charles Sweeny. The Hockley A v Rawreth A game saw some great tussles despite the scoreline with the best of the lot an amazing game between Sweeny and Chris Ballard which saw some amazing rallies in front of our league Chairman who came to watch the match.

There was a realy close battle between Warehouse v Stanford with Warehouse winning the game 5-4 in the 5th set of the final game, Ryan Sutcliffe and Harry Small on fine form and unbeaten in the singles on the night.

Canvey A have been delighted to have signed Harry Keys for the summer league and he had another good night to maintain his unbeaten summer season while Joanne Hills got her first win. For their opponents Hadleigh Forum, John Tendler had 1 win and 2 doubles wins which helped Hadleigh to sneak a well-deserved victory.

Overall it is Warehouse that lead the table at this time but coming up on the rails are the favourites Lentern A who are only 7 points behind, with two games in hand.

 Report from Duncan Taylor

Division 2 Week 2

RESSC built on their good start to the Summer, handing out a 9 – 0 pasting to visitors Canvey B. Richard Gill took the POM award, but both Ron Coutts and Rob Skews were unbeaten.

Hadleigh Forum B look they will challenge RESSC, recording a comfortable 7 – 2 victory over the youngsters of Hullbridge C. Colin Barham’s maximum made him Forum’s star, with Anthon Ranjit-Singh winning one singles and two doubles and Satwant Gill a single and a doubles. Toby Zeffie was the visitors’ star, winning both his singles.

Despite being unbeaten in both his singles and winning a doubles, Dmitry Kisil ended up on the losing side when his Runnymede side entertained Wakering. One singles win each for the visitors’ Stewart Mills, Paul England and Nigel Cook, together with success in two doubles, gave Wakering a 5 – 4 away win.

An experienced Stanford B side were too strong for the home side Rawreth B and recorded a 6 – 3 success. An unbeaten evening for POM Chris Crooks was the foundation for Stanford’s win, with a singles victory each for Peter Moxham and John Handscombe. Cho Chak Man and Charlie Boothby won a single each for the home side.

Division 2 Week 3

Surprise of the week came when the experienced RESSC team of Ron Coutts, Mike Worship and Rob Skews went down 5 – 4 away to Hullbridge C. However, Hullbridge were able to reinforce their ranks with the inclusion of Sid Dorm who has played at higher levels. Sid was unbeaten, whilst Toby Zeffie recorded an excellent win over Ron.

Wakering were caught out by a strong Hockley B team, going down 3 – 6 at home. Keith Abbott was unbeaten to take the POM award, whilst Stuart Adshead chipped in with a single and two doubles.  Wakering’s three wins were shared equally between Paul England, Zac England and Andy Deadman.

Canvey B’s Summer has not been the brightest, losing their third match 9 – 0 at home to Stanford B. The visitor’s trio of Martin Winter, John Handscombe and Chris Crooks were far too strong for the home side.

Runnymede’s Barry Edgar starred with an unbeaten record for his side in a 7 -2 away win at Warehouse B. Barbara Shead won two singles and a doubles and Jim Nariel a single and a doubles. Saurabh Mohal was Warehouse’s best player winning a single and a doubles.

Division 2 Week 4

Stanford B came a cropper this week at home to Hullbridge C.  Harrison Sadler was Hullbridge’s jewel in the crown, winning two singles and a doubles. James Goddard and Joe Buscombe each won a single in a 5 – 4 away win. Chris Crooks was again Stanford’s best player, taking a single and two doubles, with Dave Hancox getting a single.

No such problems for Hadleigh Forum B who overcame Wakering 8 – 1 at home. A family effort from Paul and Zac England in the first doubles of the evening gave Wakering hope, but it proved to be their only success. Forum’s Mick Tappenden was Forum’s best player, but he was pushed by Anthon Ranjit-Singh and Colin Barham for the POM award.

Playing his first match of the summer, Harry Crawford took the accolades in his Hockley B’s 8 – 1 home demolition of Warehouse B with an unbeaten night. Paul Strutt was also unbeaten and Dennis Squirrell chipped in with a couple, but couldn’t get the better of Warehouse’s Saurabh Mohal.  

Reports from David Barnes

Division 3 Week 6 Report

Basildon B don’t really need a helping hand in this Division but they got one this week when Customs B could only provide a two man team as opposition. Needless to say Basildon ran out easy 9-0 winners without dropping a set. Jenne Seibolt, Lindsay Johnson-Farge and Richard Riebold made up the Basildon team whilst Richard Kidd and Eddie Huen battled vainly for Customs.

It was a little closer in the Stanford derby between the D and C teams but in the end experience prevailed as the D team of Mark Farley, Mandy Till and Mark Downey ran out 8-1 winners. One bright spot for the youngsters of the C team was Ben Clow’s straight sets win against Mandy.

Two teams of youngsters met when Hullbridge D took on Stanford E but it was Hullbridge who held the upper hand throughout eventually running out 7-2 winners. Joey Page and Daniel Mansfield were in fine form for Hullbridge winning all their singles and doubles matches while Oliver Monk and Louie Mailey of Stanford both managed wins against Charlie Bartlett. Louie’s win only coming after five hard fought sets Charlie twice coming back to level from 1-0 and 2-1 down before losing 11/5 in the final set.

Division 3 Week 7 Report

On their day Customs B have the players to put themselves up at the top of this division and they proved it against second in the table Stanford D by clinching a narrow 5-4 win in the last match of the evening with a tremendous come back in the doubles.

In fact, this match had pretty nearly everything, five matches going to five sets, three matches with winning comebacks from 2-0 down, and an injury robbing Customs of a vital point.

Apart from the first  doubles which went the way of Stanford in a five setter, Customs always had the edge in this match levelling at 1-1 and then leading 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, and 4-3. Richard Kidd won both his singles and Dean Johnson and Amar Al-Soufi one each but Amar had to concede his second match through injury which brought the score level at 4-4 on the night.

Richard and Dean then took on Mark Downey and Peter Moxham and made a disastrous start losing the first two sets 5/11 7/11. A pivotal third set, however, swung the match Customs way. Winning 12/10 they took the next two sets 11/6 11/7 to clinch the game and the match.

Only a second win of the season for Customs but surely with the promise of more.

The clash between Invicta B and Hockley C produced another close finish with Hockley running out 5-4 winners thanks to some fine singles performances from Andrew Strutt and Ron Rogerson. They both won all their singles and combined to win their doubles whilst Jason Stringer had to console himself with one doubles win alongside Ron.

Three matches went to five sets and four matches to four sets and it proved to be a long but entertaining evening. John Golding, Dave Youngman and Keith Baxter made up the Invicta team.

Runaway leaders Basildon B had a bad result against Stanford E only winning 7-2 their worst result of the season! Young Sami Hughes was the thorn in their side winning both his singles against Richard Riebold (his first defeat of the season) and Lindsay Johnson-Farge, but otherwise it was plain sailing for Basildon who are now 17 points clear at the top.

Rawreth C appear to be having problems fielding a side and had to concede all nine points to WarehouseC.

Reports from Paul Strutt

Author: via Southend Table Tennis League
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