2nd Report - Summer League

DIVISION 1 REPORTS from Paul Strutt

Week 8 report 

League leaders Rawreth have now fielded 11 players in their summer league campaign so far and this week it was the turn of Paul Brown to pull on the Rawreth shirt for the first time. He responded with a POTM performance just edging team mates Keith Adams and Russell Mills as they, somewhat predictably, recorded yet another 9-0 victory against bottom of the table and winless Hockley B. He also succeeded in perfecting the Tomahawk smash to the amazement of his team mates! The Hockley boys can take two crumbs of comfort from the match. Firstly they took a set off Rawreth in each of the doubles and secondly, Paul Strutt won more points against Adams than any other player has done so far this season! Gary Beck and Nischal Chugh made up their team.

Basildon A also turned in a 9-0 result at the expense of Wakering who, admittedly, were without their talisman Callum Turner. The Basildon boys made surprisingly quick work in disposing of the opposition only losing two sets all night. Zac England got one against Rob Burton and combining with Andrew Deadman in the doubles they took a set against Burton and Les Hoey. Tony Ayliffe made up the winning team and took the POTM award.

Brand Identity sit third in the table after an 8-1win against Stanford A. Brothers Simon and David Jacob were in unbeatable form winning all their games without dropping a set and Richard Jackman won his games too although he was taken the distance by Pat White. In a strange game the match see sawed finishing 11/8 5/11 11/0 13/15 11/4 in favour of Jackman. Stanford had to wait until the final game of the evening before chalking up their consolation point White and Peter Weatherall beating Jackman and Simon Jacob in four sets.

There were two close finishes in the league this week with firstly Basildon B edging out Hadleigh A 5-4. It was a case of ‘girl power’ proving to be the difference for Basildon as Dawn Baldry turned in a POTM performance beating Dave Woolmer and Satwant Gill although she was pushed close by team mate Arun Joy who also beat Gill and then convincingly beat Mick Tappenden. Basildon lost the first doubles of the evening but stayed in front after that Baldry’s win against Gill taking them to a match winning 5-3 lead before Tappenden and Gill beat Joy and Ashokkumar Sivanandam in the final doubles. Tappenden and Woolmer both beat Sivanandam in the singles for Hadleigh’s other points.

The other close finish saw Hockley A come back from 4-3 down to snatch a 5-4 victory against Invicta A. This match also saw a summer league debut for the globetrotting Tim Pang returning from yet another holiday to win both his singles against Paul Sims and Lee Marson. Pang had to pull out all the stops against Marson after losing the first two sets he fought back to win the last three 11/5 11/6 12/10. Player of the match however was currently unbeaten Sanjay Saptarshi, who beat Marson and Keith Willet both in straight sets and then teamed up with Pang to beat Marson and Sims in the final doubles and clinch the match. Hockley’s Eamon Hall found the going a little bit too strong losing to Willet and Sims in straight sets.  

Player of the Week – Rawreth’s Paul ‘Tomahawk’ Brown

Week 7 report

 Hanging on the coat tails of leaders Rawreth are second and third placed Basildon A and Brand Identity and they came head to head in this week’s Division 1 matches.

Surprisingly it was fairly straight forward for Basildon as, apart from two singles defeats for Kim Shead and Les Hoey, they won fairly comfortably no matches going beyond four sets. Ian Wall was in fine form for the ‘New Towners’ winning both his singles although Richard Jackman kept him to four close sets, and he continued his form into the doubles winning both his games. Shead and Hoey had already given the home side the lead with the first doubles of the evening and giving them a clean sweep. Brand’s singles successes were surprisingly convincing with Shead losing to Jackman 11/3 11/2 11/2 and Hoey losing to David Jacob 11/5 11/4 11/4. Shead beat Jacob and Hoey beat Dale Gutteridge to complete the scoring.

Leaders Rawreth finally came up against some opposition this week as Invicta A managed to contain them to a 6-3 victory and they also had the unfortunate advantage of being given the final doubles as Anthon Ranjit Singh had to pull out with a serious injury. A ruptured tendon estimated to keep him out for six weeks. Ranjit-Singh and Lee Marson actually started the evening well for Invicta comfortably beating Caroline Cole and Keith Adams in straight sets and this plus further wins for Marson and Paul Sims against Cole gave Invicta their points. Andrew Halling and Adams both won their singles but Halling was pushed all the way by Sims who fought back from two sets down only to lose 11/6 in the deciding fifth set.

Joseph Odegbami enjoyed the perfect evening in Hockley A’s 6-3 win away at Stanford A. Two singles and two doubles wins formed the bedrock of Hockley’s win, Keith Abbott beating Pat White to give them five points and then combining with Stuart Adshead to make it six in the final doubles of the evening. Odegbami made short work of beating Pat White and Russell Bright both in straight sets but team mate Adshead was easily beaten by both Bright and Peter Weatherall to keep Stanford in touch. Weatherall also defeated Abbott in straight sets so the match score was actually level at 3-3 before Hockley clinched the last three games.

By far the closest game of the week, and probably the longest, was Wakering’s thrilling 5-4 win away at Basildon B. Leading 3-1 at one stage Wakering were hauled back to 3-3, level again at 4-4, before clinching the win with the final doubles game of the evening. No less than five games went to five sets so no early nights for these two teams. Callum Turner was again the star for Wakering winning both singles and doubles but he was pushed all the way by Lin Roff who fought back from two sets down before losing 11/6 in the fifth set. Team mate Zac England went to five sets in all but one of his matches which included a great comeback against Ashokkumar Sivanandam. He was two sets down then won the third 11/9, a titanic fourth 16/14, and then cruised through 11/1 in the fifth. Basildon kept it tight throughout Jenne Seibolt beating Paul England in five sets, Roff beating Zac England also in five and Sivanandam beating Paul England. Zac England  and Turner won the final crucial doubles in straight sets against Sivanandam and Roff.

 Player of the Week – Joseph Odegbami of Hockley A

Week 6 Report

League leaders Rawreth were in imperious form as they head towards the Division 1 title annihilating Stanford A 9-0 and losing just two sets all night. The Stanford trio of Peter Weatherall, Pat White and Derrick Pearson couldn’t really get close to their opponents for whom Keith Adams again took the POTM award although team mates Arron Chandler and Kevin Read were only marginally behind him in terms of performance. This was Stanford’s biggest defeat of the season so far but can probably be forgiven against such an impressive side.

Another side enduring a comprehensive 9-0 defeat were Hockley B, still without a win this season, and now outplayed by Invicta A. Keith Willett made his first appearance of the season for Invicta and easily won his games and the POTM award, and team mate Lee Marson also completed a perfect night unbeaten. Anthon Ranjit-Singh conceded the only set of the night to Hockley debutant Nischal Chugh who performed well despite the overall result and offered a crumb of consolation for the home team.

Brand Identity kept up their pursuit of Rawreth beating Basildon B 8-1 with Richard Jackman and Simon Jacob picking up maximums and Dale Gutteridge winning one of his singles but went down in straight sets to Dawn Baldry to give Basildon their consolation point. Lin Roff almost added a second win, also against Gutteridge, but was eventually edged out 11/9 in the fifth set. Basildon remain with just one win to their name this season.

In the closest game of the week Hockley A went down to Basildon A 6-3 thanks to Ian Wall returning to his old stomping ground and showing Hockley what they have been missing. The evening started off closely however and wins were exchanged in equal measure until the score reached 3-3. At that point Basildon put their foot down on the accelerator and won the final three games conceding just one set in the doubles. Wall’s performance was backed up by a singles win for Kim Shead and, more importantly, three doubles victories for the ‘New Towners’. Hockley equalled their opponents in the singles Sanjay Saptarshi beating Les Hoey in straight sets, and then Kim Shead in a close five set match coming back from 2-1 down to win 11-8 in the deciding set. Joseph Odegbami also beat Hoey in three sets but couldn’t repeat that success against Wall. Shead beat Eamonn Hall to add to Wall’s two wins. This was Basildon’s fourth win of the season their only defeat coming against Rawreth.

 Player of the Week – hard not to choose Keith Adams, yet to drop a set this season.

Week 4

There were more big wins in the division this week with Brand Identity and Basildon A recording 9-0 victories and Rawreth just behind, winning 8-1. Closest game of the week was Invicta A’s thrilling 5-4 win against Stanford A.

Brand Identity chalked up a 9-0 win for the second week running when they demolished Hadleigh A. The home team of the Jacob brothers, Simon and David, and Steve Muth, conceded only three sets all night against the very experienced trio of David Woolmer, Tony Jacks and Colin Barham. Brand were particularly impressive in the doubles not conceding a single set.

Basildon A made it a hat trick of wins as they demolished Hockley B 9-0. This was another very one-sided match with Basildon losing just two sets on the night. Kim Shead, Rob Burton and Tony Ayliffe took the honours.

Rawreth chalked up their hat trick of wins as they beat Basildon B 8-1. Just three games played but nine players already have worn the Rawreth shirt and one wonders just how many more players they can call on! Arron Chandler, Deborah Auvache and Norbert Fullerton stepped out this week and were devastating in the doubles not dropping a set, but there was some resistance in the singles where Fullerton and Chandler both conceded sets and Arun Joy of Basildon claimed their consolation point in a tight five set match against Auvache eventually winning 11/7 in the deciding set.

Doubles can play a significant part in these Summer League matches and so it proved in the see-saw clash between Invicta A and Stanford A. Paul Sims fought a lone battle for Invicta in the singles beating Ian Sangster and Derrick Pearson but team mates Lee Marson and Anthon Ranjit-Singh couldn’t repeat that success losing to Sangster, Pearson and Peter Weatherall. This meant that an early Invicta 2-0 lead had turned into a 4-3 deficit with two games to go. Step up Sims to make it 4-4 and he then combined with Ranjit-Singh to clinch the match 5-4.

With two clean sweep singles wins and two doubles wins Paul Sims gets my Player of the Week award.

Week 3

Brand Identity and Basildon B were the big winners in Division 1 this week both teams winning 9-0 against Wakering and Hockley B respectively.

Brand Identity fielded a strong side in David Jacob and Adam and Richard Jackman and Wakering just could not compete only managing to win two individual sets all night. Richard Jackman took the POTM award and even chalked up an 11-0 whitewash of Paul England.

If Wakering thought they had a bad night then they might spare a thought for Hockley B who were totally whitewashed not managing to win one set against Basildon B. Ashokkumar Sivanandam, Arun Joy and Jenne Seibolt eased their way to victory against a comparatively inexperienced Hockley side.

Basildon’s A team were also winners this week overcoming Invicta A 7-2 but it was Invicta’s Paul Sims who took the POTM award winning both his singles against Rob Burton and Tony Ayliffe. Kim Shead won both his singles for Basildon against Lee Marson and Anthon Ranjit-Singh and thanks to a hat trick of wins in the doubles the home team came out on top. They have now won both their opening games.

The final game of the week turned out to be the closest with Hadleigh A just edging home 5-4 against Hockley A. Jim Stait, Colin Barham and Berti Makoli all managed one singles win although two of those wins came against Ron Rogerson who had stepped up from the B team on the night. Those wins plus two in the doubles gave Hadleigh the edge but Hockley had the consolation of Stuart Adshead taking the POTM award with two singles wins. Tarun Goel won one of his singles.

Paul Sims of Invicta A takes the Player of the Week award.