SAUNDERS INSPIRES HUTTON TO 3-2 WIN OVER HULLBRIDGE

Hutton A's 3-2 victory over Hullbridge A has thrown the first division of the Central Essex Summer Table Tennis League wide open. It was also Hullbridge's first Summer League defeat for three seasons. It was Hutton's Peter Saunders who took the starring role as he downed both George Pavitt and Nigel Lamb in his singles and shared in a match deciding doubles with Derek Lloyd.  Hutton then added another four points to their total with a 4-1 win over OCs A. This time Derek Lloyd was undefeated with the OCs success coming from newcomer Sundar Balakrishnan who got the better of Peter Saunders 11-7 in the fifth set. The Hutton pairing just came out on top of a titanic doubles encounter against Balakrishnan and Rob Burton 10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10. OCs went on to record their third win of the Summer as they beat Danbury A 3-2. Adrian North and Roy Moore both won once although neither of them were able to get the better of Malcolm Jacobs. Hullbridge charged into a 3-0 lead against Danbury A but had to settle for a 3-2 victory. Hullbridge's Tim Pang won both of his singles whilst Danbury's Malcolm Jacobs stopped the rot as he came out on top against Linda Murray.

Baddow Village top the division two table with 20 points out of a maximum 25. They had to rely on a win in the final Doubles to see off Danbury B 3-2 after Danbury's Janet Pannell and Mark Wheeler and Baddow Village's Frank Neill and Mike Johnson had all won one singles. They are joined on 20  points by Excalibur A who have played a game more. Excalibur played three more games over this period and they won twice. This included a narrow 3-2 success against Danbury B and a 2-3 defeat against Hatfield Peverel B. However, their  5-0 victory over Danbury C was possibly the most dramatic match of the season. It was certainly the longest played so far as all five games went to a fifth end and amazingly Excalbur won the lot. Danbury's Ken Sheard came closest to nicking a victory just succumbing 13-11 in the fifth end against Steve Cheesman. Mike Rostoft was Exclaibur's most successful player over these three games with five singles wins out of six. His only defeat came against Hatfield Peverel's Neil Freeman. Hatfield Peverel B fielded a different line-up of the Father and Son combination Martyn and Greg Green against Danbury C and they certainly made their mark, sealing a comprehensive 5-0 victory, taking four of the five games three straight. In another 5-0 result Excalibur B made no mistake as they beat Mountnessing 5-0. Dave Moles and Ian Butler appear to have been in charge throughout this time.

Leaders West Maldon went a long way towards claiming the division three title by beating second placed Hatfield Peverel 4-1. West Maldon's Glen Laing was undefeated and Tim Huxtable only missed out once, narrowly 11-9, 12-14, 7-11, 7-11 against Michael Bard. With OCs B only managing to field one player - Nigel Parmenter West Maldon made no mistake in winning 5-0. Tim Huxtable had his hands full but nevertheless came past Parmenter 11-7, 12-14, 7-11, 13-11, 11-7. Baddow Village C in turn held on to second place by beating Baddow Village B 4-1. Laura Pyman impressed with her 3-1 victory over Andy Simmonds. OCs B completed this week's results with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Excalibur D. Richard Hiskey predictably won his two singles for Excalibur downing David Porter 3-2 and Nigel Parmenter 3-1. But the OCs players hit back by both beating Michael Wood and in a thrilling final Doubles encounter OCs just came out on top 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 7-11, 13-11 having trailed 10-7 in the final set.