Press Report

Writtle B eventually finished as clear-cut winners of division four of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League, and their points total of 50 points was enough to give them a nine point cushion over runners-up Danbury H. These two teams met in the penultimate week of the season and it was pretty much one-way traffic as Writtle stormed home 9-1. Danbury were without the services of their no. one player Neil Want and without him they were unable to compete on equal terms, as Writtle dominated. Matthew Brown, Hector Rogers and Chris Hibbitt capped a fine season with a great all-round team effort. Janet Pannell had the most to smile about from the Danbury side as she scored a fine 3-2 victory over Chris Hibbitt. Writtle completed their season with a 6-4 victory over Danbury G, as Matthew Brown again remained undefeated. Expect Brown to rise to the challenge of playing in division three next year as well. Danbury H made sure that they were safe in second place as they won their last match, 7-3 against ECC F. Neil Want, Janet Pannell and Jean Chasmer all won twice, all losing to an impressive Jeff Lewington. It proved to be a costly defeat for the ECC side, as they find themselves relegated despite achieving the very respectable total of 30 points. They may find some small consolation from the fact that their 30 points was easily the highest total of any of the teams in the League who were demoted.

EPHQ are the other side who have been relegated and they rallied well in the last weeks of the season to amass 27 points. They did well to hold fourth-placed Danbury G to a draw. Although none of the EPHQ players were able to get the better of Dave Goody, Ian Hockley and Francis Whitbread both won twice. EPHQ just missed out 6-4 against Elmtree Graphics B despite the fact that Hockley stayed undefeated which included a fine 3-2 victory over Tony Vassallo. Expect Hockley to be a dominant force in division five next year. Danbury F had looked to be in trouble as well but two excellent results in their last two matches enabled them to pull clear of relegation. First they beat Baddow Village E 6-4 as Richard Allen won his three singles, and they completed their fixtures with a 5-5 draw against Elmtree Graphics B. Paul Durrands and Ken Sheard both won twice to counter Tony Vassallo's three wins.

Having led the division five table all season few people will begrudge Hatfield Peverel D their success. They displayed their superiority to the full in their last game as they hammered runners-up Danbury J 8-2 to finish well clear. Martyn Green again stayed undefeated to retain his

100 % Singles record for the season whilst Lorrie Austin followed suit with a very powerful display as he stormed through his three singles 3-0. Hatfield Peverel D were even more dominant against Danbury K runnning out 9-1 winners. Lorrie Austin and Dan Pigeon both picked up maximum wins from their singles. Danbury J made sure that they would definitely finish second by beating ECC H 9-1. Glenn Laing, John Knights and Mark Wheeler all played well, with only Colin Barham's excellent five set win over Mark escaping their grasp. ECC G who improved over the course of the season eventually finished a close fourth and they also finished their campaign in style by thrashing Baddow Village F 9-1. Richard and Mick Storey were both undefeated. Writtle C, another team who were always in contention finished third, and they too completed their season in style as they beat OCs D comprehensively 9-1. Tony Lambert and Mark Ghafoor both picked up their three singles.

In division six Excalibur D always seemed to have a couple of games in hand on their opponents and they eventually came through to take the title, and with a very strong squad comprising Keith Fitzjohn, Lou Hopkins, Eleni Manolitsaki and Craig McGarrigle their final success wasn't such a surprise. They eventually finished just a single point ahead of Writtle D who won their last two games in style, with crunching 10-0 wins over Ingatestone/Excalibur and Baddow Village K. It looks to have been plain sailing for the Writtle players - Tony Hill, Anne Lockhart, Geoff Chatterton and Martin Goddard. Long-time leaders Baddow Village J eventually finished third, and they too won their last match as they beat OCs E 7-3. Not for the first time this season the three OCs wins came from their top player Nat Ravlic, who looks ready to test himself at a higher level next year. Without Ravlic in their line-up OCs E sank heavily against Baddow Village L, as the Baddow side of Diane Pitt (three wins), Eric Clift (two wins) and Jacqueline Smith (two wins) ran out 8-2 winners. Baddow Village M have unearthed a new star in Bradley Hudgell and his consistent play saw him spring to prominence at the M&G Chelmsford Closed Tournament in January. He took all six singles here as he led his side to a 9-1 win over Ingatestone/Excalibur and to a draw against Baddow Village I.

Writtle will be looking to make it a double success for the season as they booked their place in the 4-Down KO Cup Final by beating Danbury C 5-2, which was very much a case of their League form being transferred into the Cup arena. Matthew Brown beat Jean Chasmer in his opening singles and Chris Hibbitt sealed the Writtle victory by getting the better of Janet Pannell. Writtle's Final opponents will be Elmtree Graphics who came through a well contested macth against Danbury D, eventually winning 5-3. This proved a tough examination for the Elmtree players as the division five side were far from outclassed. The ever-reliable Tony Vassallo's singles wins against Mark Wheeler (3-1) and Glenn Laing (3-2) ensured Elmtree came out on top whilst Rod MacLennan also came up trumps by beating Kevin Willis 3-1, a vital win when the scores were poised at 3-3.