Press Report

Four players taking part in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League's Finals Night at the Old Chelmsfordians Club House, Lawford Lane on Thursday 03 February 2005 have a chance of capturing three or more titles in what should be a great night's Table Tennis. Three of those players - David Cole, Vytas Rybakas and John Holland will be taking part in the mens semi-finals whilst Julie Vansertima who will be bidding for an unprecedented fourteenth ladies singles crown will also be hoping to win the mixed doubles title to go with the ladies doubles title she won at the weekend. Relative newcomer Kevin Read marked his arrival as one of the very best players in the league by reaching the mens singles semi-final for the first time as well as the mens doubles final.

There wasn't a huge field in the blue riband event, the mens singles but there were shocks at every stage of the action. Three seeded players crashed out in the second round. Hamish Innes went down to Jon Hill (3-0), Charles Sweeney to Waseem Qureshi (3-1) and perhaps most surprising of all Steve Joslin lost to Ian Whiteside (3-2), having led 2-0. At the quarter final stage fifth seeded Kevin Read produced a storming performance to beat the no. 4 seed Paul Davison 3-0 and he will face the top seed Vytas Rybakas in the semi-final. Vytas didn't have it all his own way but he came safely past Peter Barrett (3-1) and Jon Hill (3-1). In the bottom half of the draw David Cole did enough to see off Paul Grant and Ian Whiteside both 3-0 and he will meet John Holland in the semi-final. Holland, last year's runner-up came through comfortably enough against Waseem Qureshi (3-0) although a round previously he had been in all sorts of trouble against Richard Hiskey trailing 2-0 and only catching his opponent at 7-7 in the third game after a massive upset had seemed on the cards.

Julie Vansertima dominated the ladies singles and saw off Lorna Staff fairly comfortably 3-0 in the semi-final. Lorna had impressed with her battling 3-2 victory over Melanie Bonnett in the quarter-final but she wasn't able to seriously challenge Julie. In the other half of the draw Jean Chasmer beat Nicola Pippen 3-1 just edging through 12-10 in a very close fourth end, but she had to give second best to Linda Murray in the semi-final. Linda came through a tense three ender 13-11, 11-4, 11-9.

Top seeds David Cole and John Holland dominated the top half of the mens doubles as they fought their way through to the final without dropping an end. Peter Ballard and Hamish Innes were the unlucky pair to meet them in the semi-final and they put up a brave showing before losing 11-8, 12-10, 11-4. The bottom half of the draw produced an upset as second seeds Paul Davison and Steve Joslin advanced smartly to the semi-final with 3-0 wins over Adrian Pitt/Neil Gooday and Charles Sweeney/Paul Grant. However, they found themselves well beaten 3-0 by scratch pairing Ian Whiteside/Kevin Read, seemingly a case of meeting two players who were both in genuinely inspired form all weekend.

David Cole and Julie Vansertima will be heavy favourites to retain their mixed doubles title but they didn't have an easy ride in booking their finals night appearance. Ian Whiteside and Nicola Pippen had the temerity to take a 2-1 lead against them and David and Julie had to endure a tense deciding set before they eventually won 16-14, 10-12, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7. The bottom half of the draw was equally unpredictable. Paul Davison and Jean Chasmer just came out on top 15-13 in the fifth end against Neil Want/Janet Pannell and it was only marginally easier 11-3, 13-11, 6-11, 11-9 when they beat John Holland/Melanie Bonnett in the semi-final. Julie and Jean teamed up to retain their ladies doubles title and it was good that the county junior pairing of Lorna Staff and Laura Pyman were the pair who pushed them closest. Lorna and Laura only missed out 7-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-13.

As expected John Holland dominated the veterans events picking up the over 50s and over 60s titles as well as making the over 40s final. But, this year it was a hard slog all the way for Holland. In the over 40s quarter-final he met an inspired Ian Whiteside who seemed to be retrieving the ball from all over Chelmsford and he was very relieved to come through 3-2, although he looked more comfortable in beating Hamish Innes 3-0 a round later. Peter Ballard upset the seedings in the other half of the draw as he ousted no. three seed George Reeves 12-10 in the fifth end although he was unable to repeat his heroics against second seed Steve Kerns in the semi-final. Julie Vansertima also had a good run in the over 40s singles. She beat club-mate Adrian Pitt 3-2 and followed this up with an excellent 3-1 win over John Cleasby before giving Hamish Innes a good run for his money despite losing 9-11, 8-11, 9-11. Ballard also upset the seedings in the over 50s singles as he beat Hamish Innes 3-1 and he could hardly have come closer to causing an even bigger upset against John Holland in the final. Ballard led 2-1 before Holland managed to level at 2-2. What was already a great match suddenly became an unforgettable one as Ballard moved smartly into a 10-6 lead. Surely there was no way back even for a player of Holland's never-say-die spirit ? Amazingly there was, as John playing safe and controlled table tennis managed to take the next six points to record a stunning victory. The over 60s final played a day earlier proved equally disappointing for the battling Ballard who hit superbly off the bounce in the first two ends to build up a 2-0 lead. Again Holland managed to keep his nerve when many players would have resorted to playing more flamboyant and bigger shots and he fought his way back to win 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-3, 12-10. Two absolutely fantastic matches between two of the best over 60s players in the country.

With Vytas Rybakas taking part in the junior events it was never realistic that the player ranked no. 12 in England wouldn't dominate and although he didn't have matters all his own way he was never seriously troubled. Alistair Hill took the third game off him in the under 21 semi-final before Vytas triumphed 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7. Vytas will face left-hander Simon Webber in the final. Simon booked his place with a none too easy 11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8 semi-final win over Ryan Pitt. Vytas also claimed the under 18 boys title where his opponent was Greg Green. County junior player Greg played well as he got the better of a whole line of junior players who have developed their talents locally at the Melbourne Athletics Centre sessions. Greg saw off Tommy O'Donnell (3-0), Haydn Upson (3-0), Rykki Vansertima (3-1) and Tom Hill (3-0). Vytas proved a different matter in the final but a scoreline of 8-11, 8-11, 8-11 shows just how well Greg played. The same two players battled out the final of the under 16 singles and this time Greg pinched the first end. Although Vytas moved up a couple of gears in the second and third ends Greg came back into the match and was unlucky not to take the match to a decider. To lose 11-9, 2-11, 4-11, 9-11 was no mean performance. Greg also had a massive tussle in the semi-final with Tom Hill. This game really could have gone either way although Greg eventally scraped home 11-9, 7-11, 5-11, 13-11, 12-10, one of the closest matches of the weekend.

Rykki Vansertima became the first winner of the under 14 singles, after the junior age groups were altered to fall in line with new international rules. Rykki beat Sam Pitt 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 14-12 in the semi-final and the final also produced a cracking match before Rykki saw off team-mate Haydn Upson 6-11, 12-10, 11-6, 9-11, 11-2 after a match that ebbed in favour of both players. The under 18 doubles event paired two players together who had played such a close match in the under 16 singles. Top seeds Tom Hill and Greg Green had a tough fight on their hands but came through safely 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9 against Haydn Upson/Rykki Vasnsertima in the penultimate round. Their final opponents were brothers Tommy and William O'Donnell who had beaten James Gatherall and Matthew Standen 3-1 a round earlier. And in an event where upsets appeared to have been the normal course of business James and Matthew had scored a very impressive 3-0 win over second seeds Lorna Staff/Laura Payman.. The junior handicap singles always seems to provide plenty of surprises and this year was no exception. Bradley Hudgell (playing off a handicap of minus three) clearly enjoyed himself and scored a series of excellent wins on his way to taking the title. Step aside Tom Hill, Haydn Upson, Tom Lee, Alex Stone and in the final Dacre Pell. We hadn't heard the last of Bradley for the weekend either !.

The 2 down singles with a large entry and a top-quality field dominated Sunday's play and it was the Baddow Village players who came out on top. Number one seed Peter Barrett, a player that most first divison players are particularly wary of dominated the event as he left a trail of top players scattered behind. Out went Guy McKenzie (3-0), Martyn Green (3-1), Steve Northcott (3-0), Alistair Hill (3-0) and his final opponent was another player who had an excellent tournament - Waseem Qureshi. Peter came through 11-5, 11-7, 13-11 a sign of just how well he was playing. Waseem had a much tougher run making it through to the final. It was touch and go all the way as he saw off Adrian Pitt 11-13, 6-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 and Neil Gooday 11-4, 11-8, 5-11, 7-11, 11-9.

Like the 2 down singles the 4 down singles was also dominated by the seeded players. Matthew Brown made it through to his third successive final but this time he had to pay second fiddle to Martyn Green. In the process Matthew became the first player to take a game off Martyn and in a hotly contested final Martyn came out on top 12-14, 11-9, 11-8, 11-6.

The 6-down singles produced one of the best performances of the weekend and in little known Bradley Hudgell the League may have unearthed a new star player. Bradley has clearly made excellent progress this year but nothing had suggested that he would be capable of producing a performance of this magnitude. In his wake he beat Andrew Orme (3-0), Matthew Skeoch (3-0) and Hannah Pitt (3-0). In the other half of the draw Sam Pitt was an excellent 10-12, 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11 winner over top seeded Rykki Vansertima but he was unable to deny the inform Bradley his moment of glory. Bradley took the final 11-4, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8.

Kevin Smart was a very impressive winner of the handicap singles event which had by and large been dominated by the younger players. On the way to the final he had two really tough battles - against James Stapley where he eventually triumphed 11-21, 21-19, 21-19 and against Alex Stone where he crossed the line 21-14, 19-21, 21-18. Greg Green, one of the busiest players of the weekend fittingly fought his way through to the final where Kevin came through 21-14, 13-21. 21-16. The handicap doubles is jokingly called the Tournament's "fun-event" but in reality it is very hotly contested and after many close battles it was the hard-hitting "go-for-their-shots and let the opponents worry about it" approach of Mike Rostoft and Richard Storey which won the day. They always had a slight edge against Peter Barrett/Kevin Smart in the final where they won 21-13, 21-19.