Press Report

Come to Melbourne Athletic Stadium, Salerno Way, Chelmsford - courtesy of Baddow Village Table Tennis Club - on Friday evenings. Anyone can come and "Pay & Play" for a fee, payable on the night to the Club, of just £3. Play is from 7 - 10 p.m. and will be on up to 10 tables, 18 tables after 9.15. Enquiries to Adrian or Diane Pitt (01245 250710).

PICTURES

A selection of Tournament pictures can be found through Picture Index on the News Features page

GOOD WIN FOR MALDON B

Bottom side Maldon B have clearly not given up hope of avoiding relegation from the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League if this week's result is anything to go by. With an undefeated Ray Murray leading the way they did well to beat Hatfield Peverel A 7-3, their second victory of the season. Dave Basset added vital wins over John Parodi and Dave Carter and Cathy Eakin played her part with a success against John Parodi. Elsewhere Danbury B have suddenly found themselves in trouble and two four-point defeats - 8-2 against Maldon A and 10-0 to Elmtree Graphics A has seen them slump into the second relegation position. Ian Whiteside carried the Danbury challenge against Maldon with excellent wins over Barry Mays and Hamish Innes. Elmtree's performance was notable for the fact that Paul Lucas returned to the fray and the former Essex Under 21 Champion looked sharp in taking his three singles. Leaders ECC A also performed well and their 8-2 win over Rawreth A represented a two-point improvement on their performance in the first half of the season. Matt Staines warmed up for the M & G Chelmsford Closed Tournament with a narrow five-game victory over close-rival and friend Tony Halling. Danbury A moved into second place as they took all four points off Billericay with Kevin Read and Stuart Gibbs both staying undefeated in their 8-2 victory.

In division two Gary Ward was another who gave a precursor of what was to follow at the Closed Tournament as he took his three singles in Writtle's excellent 7-3 victory over second-placed Excalibur A. This result sees Writtle move into third place. Bottom team Danbury D also excelled as they overcame a flagging Maldon C 6-4. Undefeated League stalwart Peter Hance was their match-winner with wins over Marilyn Bawden and Jenny Harrison. In another match that didn't go strictly to the form book ECC B did well to hold Danbury C to a draw. Gary Brignall turned in his best performance of the season with a great hat-trick of wins over the Danbury trio of Colin Barrell, Dave Finlayson and Gordon Gatheral.

Hatfield Peverel B retained their grip on division three with a 6-4 victory over Bocking. Kevin Gowlett dispelled any remaining doubts that he is the top player in this division as he produced a sparkling performance that saw him beat all three Peverel players - Eric Green, Neil Freeman and Guy McKenzie. OCs B moved into second place by beating Excalibur B 6-4. Roy Moore was their match-winner although Linda Murray's superb win over Robbie Burton really caught the eye. ECC F are level with OCs B on 26 points and they also managed to secure a three-point victory this week. Gary Copsey, Russell Forde and Andy Hanlon all won twice as they beat Danbury E 7-3. ECC E's draw with OCs A owed a lot to Peter Layzell's fine unbeaten performance. Layzell's toughest encounter came against Trevor Palmer where he was pushed all the way to 11-8 in the fifth end.

Second-placed Danbury H's challenge for the division four title looks to have subsided. Without their regular line-up they were no match for Hatfield Peverel C and were beaten 7-3 whilst their 5-5 draw with second-to-bottom side ECC G was definitely not the result they were looking for. ECC's Jeff Lewington produced some vintage play to take his three singles. Excalibur C are hot on Danbury H's heels now and they just squeezed past Danbury G 6-4. The improving Mike Rostoft took his three singles and Ian Butler's narrowest of victories - over Dave Powell at 13-11 in the fifth end were enough to earn Excalibur their success. Bottom side Elmtree Graphics are still without a win but they did well to earn their third draw of the season, against Hatfield Peverel D. Their leading player Tony Vassallo returned to winning ways by staying undefeated. The match between Writtle B and Danbury F started in dramatic fashion as the first two games were decided at 13-11 in the fifth end with Danbury taking both of them. Malcolm Jacobs saw off Matt Brown and Paul Durrands got the better of Chris Hibbitt to give Danbury a great start. Writtle did well to hit back and earn a draw as Brown made no mistake in the last match with a 3-0 victory over Durrands.

In division five the top three sides all won this week. Writtle C were the most successful hammering their D team 9-1 and Baddow Village F 8-2, as the leaders OCs C overcame ECC J 7-3 and third-placed EPHQ beat ECC H 6-4. Writtle's Andy Fox, Tony Lambert and Roger Wilson, Gerard Esser from OCs and Ian Hockley (EPHQ) were all undefeated in their respective matches. Further down the table Hatfield Peverel D did well to hold Danbury K to a draw. With Martin Green in their line-up Peverel's improvement has been dramatic and he held them together on this occasion as he remained undefeated.

A 9-1 result in division six isn't that startling, there does tend to be quite a high number of four-point wins in this division. However, Maldon Borough's four point win over third-placed OCs D was anything other than expected. As with Gary Ward in division two, Graham Pryke gave an early indication of what was going to take place at the Closed Tournament as he took his three singles, and with Tony Reece-Ford following suit Boro raced away to a 9-1 victory. Hatfield Peverel E could only beat the young Baddow Village K side 7-3 as they dropped back to second. New Chelmsford Junior Girls Champion Laura Pyman with two singles wins was the most successful of the Baddow players. ECC K did well to come out on top 6-4 against Baddow Village J as Lorna Staff and Tom Hill both took their three singles. Six games went to a decider and these were shared 3-3 which suggests that this match was a good one. Fourth-placed Writtle E also squeezed home 6-4, against Excalibur D the team immediately below them in the table. Mark Ghafor who stayed undefeated was their match-winner.

Although they are not leading the CLICK League at present Ingatestone Boys Club A are probably in the best position to take the top honours. Their three man side of James Dale, Johnny Crisp and Michael Wood made short work of Ingatestone C as they raced home 5-0. Even better from their view-point the two teams above them in the table both struggled. Leaders Baddow Village N were only able to beat second-to-bottom ECC M 3-2. Dacre Pell got the better of Shaun Hurrell and Dacre and Stevie Pell scored a fine five-game doubles win over Mark and Shaun Hurrell. Second-placed Baddow Village M were also restricted to a 3-2 success in getting the better of Excalibur Knights. Adam Pitt took both of his singles but Stewart Hiskey and Chris Butler hit back as they both got the better of Hannah Pitt. OCs E versus Ingatestone Boys Club B was always going to be a close game, as the two teams were tied on 23 points going into their match. It was OCs who just shaded it 3-2 as Peter Myall and Alessandro Sidor did well to retrieve a 2-0 deficit to take the all-important deciding doubles 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-3.

All players and spectators are reminded that the M&G Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League Finals Night takes place on Monday 16 February 2004 at 19.30 hours at the Old Chelmsfordians Club, Lawford Lane, Chelmsford at 19.30 hours. Admission is free and trophies will be presented for all events.