“It is with immense sorrow that we report of the recent passing of John Monk. He sadly passed away on the 9th December after a long battle with illness.

Weekly Reports for SDTTL Winter League 24/25 Season
DIV 1: Weeks 8-12,
DIV 2: Weeks 9-13
DIV 3: Weeks 9-13

The match between Hadleigh Forum B and visitors Mapledene was actually a lot closer than the 3 – 6 final score reflects. There were five contests that all went to five sets. Any of these could have swung the other way and the result would have been entirely different. As it was, the visitor’s Dawn Baldry took the POM accolade with three wins. Team mate Charles Yeung got two and Andy Seaman one. For Forum Tony Jacks got two and Paul Fawell one.

On Sunday 3rd November we held our Under 17 Open tournament at BATTS. Another successful and fast-moving competition involving 48 players from 32 different clubs and 14 different counties. It was hugely satisfying to see that every player expected arrived in good time. Thanks to the parents and others for their efforts in transporting the youngsters.

After the first three weeks of the season the Southend & District Table Tennis League Premier Division is starting to take shape. A familiar look at the top as two of the favourites in Rawreth A and Thorpe Bay A have started with three wins each, with Rawreth currently sneaking into a 1 point lead.

Ken's message to all SDTTL friends and family:

“A big thank you to all those involved in my Surprise 85th Birthday Celebrations at Rawreth on Sunday 01 Sep by the Southend & District Table Tennis League.

There were three rearranged matches played this week to complete the fixtures for this year’s Summer League. Two games each for Invicta and Wakering and one each for Hockley B and Stanford. Pleasing to see all the fixtures completed despite one or two postponements and appropriate to mention at this stage some stand-out performances.

We are pleased to announce two new tournaments, one for juniors under the age of 18, and one for juniors still at the development stage of their table tennis careers. Both tournaments will run a singles competition, a plate competition for first-round losers, and a doubles competition. There will be trophies and medals to win for ALL those taking part.

It is with great sadness that I advise you of the passing of our former Member, Don Baker.
Don played for many years in both the Southend & Basildon Leagues. Don always made sure that all present, had a good evening. Don’s wife Ivy and son Gary, were also very good players.

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.

Offer to Table Tennis Players
We are able to offer personalised Table tennis clothing such as the Just cool Polyester Polo which comes in a variety of colours and sizes. Along with Performance T-Shirts from various brands such as Spiro and AWD'is.

Rawreth have set out their stall early in Division 1 following up last week’s 8-1 win against Wakering with a 9-0 demolition of Hadleigh Forum A. A completely different line up to the previous week saw Deborah Auvache, Peter Barrett and Kevin Read pick up the mantle and they had little difficulty overcoming their opponents only one game going the distance.

There seems to be just no stopping Stanford Le Hope A’s Mitchell Jones. Another week goes by, and yet again it is another maximum without a set being dropped. This week’s opponents were Brand Identity B. However, a special mention should be made for Brand’s Adam Jackman. He very nearly took a game off Mitchell, eventually losing it 11 - 8. Believe me, this is an outstanding effort and represents the nearest anyone has got to unnerving the Stanford man so far this season!

Mitchell Jones & Jamie Elliott star in Sdttl’s 2024 Annual Closed Championships. Full Report and Photo Galleries.

BILL SMITH'S ?? HARD BAT?? TOURNAMENT 2??0??2??4??

Held on 27th January 2024 at Riverside Primary School,
Photos provided by Debbie O'Neill

Thorpe Bay A extended their lead at the top of the Southend & District Table Tennis Premier Division this week with an 8-1 win over Brand Identity A. John Poysden and Paul Sayer unbeaten on the night backed up by Mark Stones with two wins over David Jacob and Steve Muth with the single win for Brand coming from Richard Jackman over Stones.

Three results from week 15 of the Premier Division to bring you and we start with the leaders Thorpe Bay A as brushed past a two man Rayleigh Mill side 9-0. Mark Stones, Paul Sayer and John Poysden nearly went through the evening without dropping a set until Steve Sayer managed to take one from Stones in a 3-1 defeat.

Three results from the Premier Division this week to bring you and the first two resulted in 7-2 wins for Rayleigh Mill and Brand Identity A. In a somewhat surprising scoreline the Millers overcame title hopefuls Rawreth A who were without a few of their regular players but were still able to field a strong team of Liam Squirrell, Mike Hayes and Kim Shead.

Advertising Corner

It is with great sadness that we advise our Members, of the passing of our good Table Tennis friend Bill Chester.
Bill would always greet you with a smile and we can’t remember any time that he did not have a cheery appearance, which made him a very popular teammate and opponent.