Press Report

Cup Competitions tend to follow the same pattern in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League every season. Not a lot of action up to Christmas and come the new year there is suddenly a major increase in activity.This year has been no different and a following a slow start to the season there has been a great deal of activity in the last month or so.

Last year's Mens and Mixed KO Cup Champions are safely into the next round of their Competitions after both teams negotiated tricky ties against Danbury sides. Mens Champions ECC A represented by Dave Cole, Steve Kerns and Steve Joslin only dropped one end in disposing of Danbury B 5-0 whilst Elmtree Graphics A, Mixed KO Cup Champions for the last two years overcame Danbury A 5-0. This match featured one of the tightest clashes of the season with Paul Lucas just prevailing 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 19-17 against the evergreen Ian Whiteside who really does seem to be playing better than ever. Tony Forster also gave an excellent account of himself against Vytas Rybakas before succumbing 8-11, 10-12, 15-13, 4-11 whilst Nicola Pippen did well to beat Janet Pannell 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8.

Danbury D's clash against ECC produced the tie of the round in the 4-down KO Cup. ECC moved into a 4-3 lead but couldn't press home their advantage. In the battle of the number ones Jeff Lewington missed out 11-3, 11-6, 5-11, 10-12, 7-11 after a cliff-hanger against Mark Wheeler and in the final doubles Lewington and Mohammed Mohseni were beaten 11-8, 11-7, 11-13, 11-6 by an inspired Kevin Willis and John Knights. Earlier Knights had weighed in with a vital 13-15, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8 victory over Mohammed Mohseni. Writtle A also made it through to the semi-finals when they beat OCs A 5-2. Tony Cohen was an excellent 3-2 winner over Chris Hibbitt but wins in both doubles enabled Writtle to stay on top. OCs's David Porter also impressed with his 3-1 successes against Hector Rogers. Danbury C who under the guise of Danbury H are very much in contention for League honours in division four are still in the Cup as well. They came through a tough test against their B side. Their leading player Neil Want won both his singles beating Dave Powell 11-7, 12-10, 14-12 and then coming through a real test 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-6, 14-12 against Dave Goody. This win sealed their 5-3 victory. Janet Pannell had played her part with a fine 12-10, 11-7, 11-4 victory over Dave Powell whilst Jean Chasmer was also on target as she saw off Brian Ellis convincingly 11-5, 13-11, 11-4.

The young Baddow Village E side upset the form book in the 6-down KO Cup when they ousted Baddow Village A 5-3 after a nail-biting match where the last three matches were all decided at 11-9 in the fifth end. Bradley Hudgell, such an impressive winner of the 6-down singles at the M&G Chelmsford Closed Championships fittingly sealed the victory for his side with a really hard-fought 11-6, 7-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9 victory against Ron Arthur. Team-mate Richard Napper played his part with an equally well-contested 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9 win over Chris High. Writtle by contrast were more comfortable winners as they eased past Ingatestone/Excalibur 5-0. Anthony Hill, Martin Goddard and Kevin Barber always had the upper-hand in this encounter. It was a similar story where OCs E beat Baddow Village C 9-0, the strong OCs side never looked like losing this match although the Baddow Village team put up a great fight. OCs's Nat Ravlic was on unstoppable form winning his two singles at a cost of a mere nine points but the Baddow players fared far better against Hector McFarlane and Ian Hotchkiss. Matt Skeoch came really close to beating McFarlane only succumbing 7-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 10-12 whilst Ed Miles gave Hotchkiss plenty to think about before missing out 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5, 9-11.

The second round of the League's most popular Cup Competition, the Handicap KO Cup failed to produce the drama it has in the past. Of the six second round ties played only one was decided by a 5-4 scoreline. It was the match between Danbury A and Baddow Village J which provided the most drama. And for Danbury stalwart Martin Knights (-8) it was certainly a night to remember. He not only won his three singles the hard way and in the process clinched the Danbury win with a 21-19, 6-21, 21-19 third set victory over Sam Pitt (+1) but he also won two other cliff-hangers as well. First he beat Haydn Upson (zero) 9-21, 21-12, 29-27 whilst in his second singles he got the better of Rykki Vansertima (zero) 21-16, 18-21, 21-19. Joining them in the third round will be Baddow Village A, Danbury C, Billericay, Baddow Village D and Excalibur A. Baddow Village A made full use of the "composite" line-up as they beat ECC E 5-3. Andrew Orme (+ 10) won the two singles he contested singles whilst Adrian Pitt (-26) also won twice which included his match-clinching 21-9, 21-19 success over Colin Barham (-11). Danbury C (Nicky Reece-Ford, Dave Powell and Brian Ellis) were more comfortable 5-1 winners over Danbury B whilst first division Billericay (Brian Cole, Ray Eldridge and Keith Ashton) disposed of E2V Technologies 5-2. Excalibur A seem to have had quite an easy ride in beating their B side 6-1. The success for Ian Butler over Bill Smith being the only game that escaped their grasp. Baddow Village D pulled away from ECC C after falling 2-1 behind as they eventually ran out 5-2 winners. Gareth Joice (-18) played his part with two three games wins. He eased home 21-15 in the decider against Mick Storey (-11) and 21-19 in the third end against Richard Storey (-11).