Press Report

Danbury and Billericay, the favourites for the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League Division 2-Down KO Cup both made it safely into the next round of the Competition with impressive victories. Danbury really looked the part as they hammered a strong Hatfield Peverel side 5-0 as Eric Green, Andrew Halling and Dave Calleja carried all before them. As with the League it is Billericay who are their most likely challengers and they were 5-1 winners over Writtle although Hector Rogers really made his mark for the losers with a superb 11-7, 13-11, 12-10 victory over Ray Eldridge. Matthew Brown also gave a great account of himself and only succumbed to Keith Ashton at 11-9 in the fifth end. E2V Technologies are not having a great season in the League and there was little joy for them when they faced Baddow Village A in the Cup either. It was the Baddow Village side of Ray Lawrence, Adrian Pitt and Alastair Piper who called the shots as they ran out 5-0 winners. Of the E2V players Ivan Chaplin came closest to registering a win, only succumbing to Alastair Piper at 11-9 in the deciding end.

Excalibur impressed in the Veterans KO Cup as they eased their way past Baddow Village 5-1. Baddow's Ray Lawrence made his mark here with an excellent 3-1 win over Nigel Lamb whilst Kevin Smart ensured Excalibur stayed in control by beating both Julie Vansertima and Frank Neill. Danbury B also looked good as they beat OCs 5-1. Their side of Keith Phillips, Andrew Halling and Dave Calleja (with the likes of Eric Green and Dave Finlayson to call on as well) cannot be discounted either. Danbury A were not so successful and they missed out 5-1 to ECC. The luckless Nicky Reece-Ford missed out twice in the fifth end, 11-8 in the decider against Ken James and 20-18 in the fifth end against Trevor Collin and those two losses eventually sealed his team's fate.

Danbury A made it safely through to the Semi-Finals of the 4-Down KO Cup. Their side of Paul Durrands, Paul Oliver and Ken Sheard had it pretty much their own way as they beat Danbury D 5-1. Paul Durrands played his part as he came through a hard-fought three ender 12-10, 17-15, 11-5 against Norman Hayes. Danbury B also progressed, and they made it through to the second round as they beat Elmtree Graphics 5-4. Danbury actually led 4-2 at one stage but with Rod Maclennan beating Alan Dadswell 3-0 and then Tony Vasallo getting the better of Dave Goody (again 3-0) you might have fancied Elmtree to pinch the match. It wasn't to be, because it was Brian Ellis and Alan Dadswell who combined the better, and they beat Tony Vassallo and Nicola Pippen 3-1 in the deciding Doubles. ECC, the division four leaders and favourites for this Competition showed their class as they beat Danbury C 7-1. Their team of Russell Forde, Gary Copsey and Neil Thompson clearly have all the credentials to take this title as well as the League. Baddow Village A (Graham Turner, Bob Francis and Bradley Hudgell) came through unscathed 5-0 against their B side. But this match was no "stroll in the park". Three of the five games were decided at 11-9 in the fifth end or closer and the B side must have felt "hard done by" to actually lose 5-0. None more so than Sam Pitt who missed out 13-11 in the fifth end against Bob Francis.

In the Mens KO Cup Writtle did well to beat Baddow Village 5-3 in the all first division clash. Writtle's leading player - Gary Ward had a major say in the outcome of this match as he beat both Peter Barrett and Waseem Qureshi whilst Kevin Worthington also made his mark with an important victory over Waseem Qureshi. Trevor Carter wasn't successful in his singles, but he played his part by teaming up with Kevin Worthington to beat Peter Barrett and Neil Gooday 11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 10-12, 12-10 in a fluctuating and all-important opening doubles encounter.