READ SCORES SHOCK WIN OF THE WEEKEND

This year's Mens Singles Semi-Final line-up at the M&G Investments Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League Finals Night on Monday 11 February 2008 will feature two of the top four seeded players together with two of the joint number five seeds. Neil Charles, the second seed will face Peter Hayden whilst fourth seeded Rik James will face another of the joint number five seeded players - Kevin Read. There were shocks galore, which included upsets in the Group stages. Former Semi-Finalist Paul Davison failed to win his Group, losing to Peter Hance, which paired him with the seeded George Reeves in the first round. Davison redeemed himself by winning 3-1 only to be beaten a round later by a determined Peter Ballard, again 3-1. Kevin Read was the biggest "mover and shaker" of all. Still improving at the age of 34, Read struggled in his group only seeing off his Rawreth team-mate Charles Sweeney 11-4, 13-15,11-4, 9-11, 11-9. He then beat Neil Gooday, a little uneasily 3-1, which set him up with a Quarter-Final tilt against top seed Dave Cole. Read came out all guns blazing to take a 2-0 and 7-3 lead, only to see his vastly experienced opponent agonisingly level matters at 2-2. Read's chance looked to have slipped as Cole's coolness and general fitness have proved legendary in a crisis in the past, but, Read kept his cool perfectly in a tense decider to seal a superb 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 5-11, 11-8 victory. He will meet Rik James in the Semi-Final after Rik had beaten Peter Ballard quite comfortably 11-4, 11-4, 11-5.

In the other half of the draw the number three seed Ryan Savill was a non-starter and this quarter suddenly became very open. To many players it looked as if the seeded Peter Hayden would emerge through it safely enough, but no one had told his young rivals that this was the case. Greg Green, an impressive 3-0 winner against Ian Whiteside gave Peter all kinds of problems before Peter came out on top 10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7. This set up what was to be the match of the day when Peter faced a determined Bradley Hudgell, who had beaten Greg Green earlier in the day in the Junior Boys Singles Final. Bradley threw everything he had at Peter (and more !) and at 9-6 in the fifth end he looked to be on his way into the Semi-Final. Peter made one last big effort and amidst huge excitement he somehow managed to catch his lightning quick opponent. Peter sneaked home 10-12, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10. The scores illustrate perfectly just what a great game this had been, with Bradley also emerging with tremendous credit. Peter will face Neil Charles, after Neil had booked his Semi-Final appearance by beating Steve Kerns 3-2. Neil looked to be struggling when he was 2-1 down, but a very strong fourth end set him up well for the decider and he was always ahead in the fifth before he emerged as a 15-17, 11-5, 6-11, 11-2, 11-7 winner.

The Ladies Singles Final will feature the top two seeds after the impressive Nikki Kennard had beaten Linda Murray 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 in her Semi-Final and Julie Vansertima had seen off Alison Gurner 11-4, 9-11, 13-11, 11-7 after a really hard-fought match. The third end held the key here and Julie's 13-11 win gave her the impetus that she needed to seal victory in the fourth game.

The Mens Doubles Final will also be between the top two seeded pairs with the holders Paul Davison/Neil Charles taking on Rik James/Dave Cole who will be bidding for a very impressive eighth title as a pairing. Cole and James were 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 Semi-Final winners against Kevin Read/Ian Whiteside whilst Davison and Charles came through a gruelling five ender against Peter Hayden/Steve Kerns in their Semi-Final. This one went "all the way to the wire" with both pairs fighting for every point as if their lives depended on it. A determined Hayden/Kerns led 5-3 and 7-5 in the decider but it wasn't quite enough, and the more aggressive Charles/Davison pairing just sealed victory 11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10.

New pairing Julie Vansertima and Alison Gurner (two of Essex's most outstanding players at different times) joined forces to take the Ladies Doubles title. They stayed in control as they beat Nikki Kennard/Linda Murray 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 in the Final.

The Mixed Doubles featured a massive upset with the number four seeds Melanie Bonnett/ Steve Kerns accounting for the five times Champions and favourites Julie Vansertima//Dave Cole in their Semi-Final. Melanie and Steve had struggled to beat Nicola Pippen/Ian Whiteside 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 and with Julie and Dave winning the first end 11-9 there appeared to be little chance of any shock. The tide turned when Melanie and Steve won the second end by a 11-2 margin and with some inspired play and renewed hope they sealed a most unlikely 9-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-8 victory. The other Semi-Final featured another titanic clash which saw second seeds Nikki Kennard/Paul Davison pulling clear in the fifth end against Linda Murray/George Reeves to emerge as 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5 winners.

The Veterans Singles Final will be between the top two seeds - Dave Cole and Rik James, a repeat of last year. They had contrasting Semi-Final battles to contend with. Cole had few problems beating George Reeves 11-5, 11-3, 11-8 whilst Rik James looked to be heading for defeat as he lost the third end heavily 1-11 to Peter Hayden. However, Rik rallied strongly to pull through 7-11, 11-6, 1-11, 11-6, 11-6. There were two seeding casualties with the number  four seed Steve Kerns losing 3-1 to old rival George Reeves and the number eight seed John Cleasby missing out 3-1 against Keith Spicer. The inform Spicer was also involved in the match of the event and he led Peter Hayden 2-1 and 9-8 before eventually succumbing 12-10, 6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11.

Rik James and Dave Cole retained their Veterans Over 40s Doubles title none too easily, and they twice had to fight back from 2-0 down. Hamish Innes and Peter Ballard led them 2-0 in the Semi-Final before they fought back to win 9-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7. They were in trouble again in the Final and they trailed  Peter Hayden and Steve Kerns 2-0 before they again hauled themselves back into the match. They finally triumphed 7-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8.

County Veteran star, Peter Ballard won the Over 60s Singles for a third time by beating Ian Whiteside 3-2 in the Final. Ian came back strongly but Peter reasserted himself in the fifth end as he ran out a 11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 12-14, 11-5 winner. Dave Carter and Ken James were the losing Semi-Finalists.

At the other end of the age scale Brandon Crouchman won the Under 14 Singles title without dropping a game. He beat team-mate Scott Dowsett 12-10, 11-1, 11-8 in a closely fought Final after Scott had been pushed to the brink in his Semi-Final by James Austin. This one could have gone either way, before Scott sealed victory

5-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9. Bradley Hudgell and Greg Green will face each other in the Under 21 Singles Final. Bradley didn't have it all his own way as he beat Scott Dowsett 6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 13-11 in his Semi-Final whilst a clearly inform Greg Green was a more assured winner, as he beat Dacre Pell 3-0.  

The Junior Boys Singles Final again paired Bradley Hudgell against Greg Green and Bradley retained his title by defeating Greg 11-8, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9. Greg led 5-1 in the decider but he couldn't quite hold onto the lead and Bradley took full advantage. Both Greg and Brad had dominated their Semi-Finals with Bradley disposing of Brandon Crouchman 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 and Greg getting the better of Tom Hill 11-3, 11-7, 11-6.

There was more success for Brandon Crouchman in the Under 16 Singles and he dominated this event beating Matt Davis decisively 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 in the Final. Davis had left his mark on the other half of the draw by scoring three hard-fought victories. He needed four games to get the better of Robert Shrimpton 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-2 whilst his match against Adam Pitt went the full distance with Davis winning 11-6, 12-10, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8. Davis booked his Final appearance with what was a very close game for two ends as he won 12-10, 13-11, 11-0. Brandon's Semi-Final opponent was Hannah Pitt and he ran out a 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 winner.

Greg Green added to his rather unique record of winning the Junior Doubles with different partners and this year's success with Sam Pitt was his fifth successive win in this event, a magnificent achievement with the same partner let alone with different players. Greg's fifth win beats the legendary Dave Newman's record as Dave had also won with four different partners. Greg and Sam needed four games to get the better of Scott Dowsett/Brandon Crouchman 11-1, 11-8, 6-11, 11-4 in their Semi-Final and they also needed four games before they came out on top in the Final against Bradley Hudgell/William O'Donnell 11-5, 11-13, 11-7, 11-7.

The Junior Handicap Singles was dominated by the Austin family and it was Sarah who emerged victorious as she beat her brother James 8-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-0 in a Final where she gradually asserted her authority on proceedings.  James had had to work hard to book his Final appearance needing five games to beat Hannah Pitt whilst Sarah was a four game winner against William O'Donnell.

Sunday's play saw the unseeded Keith Spicer crowned Champion in the 2-Down Singles, the top seed Phil Smith annex the 4-Down Singles title and Brandon Crouchman pick up the 6-Down Singles winners trophy. The 2-Down Singles proved to be the most compelling event of the weekend and last year's winner Kevin Worthington was an immediate casualty. Worthington was a first round faller over five ends against Keith Spicer who showed he was on good form (if any more proof was needed) when he beat Alistair Hill convincingly 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 a round later. Spicer added a further victory by beating Wassem Qureshi 13-11, 11-7, 11-4 which paired him with Julie Vansertima in the Semi-Final.. After a terrific scrap he looked to to be on the way out as he trailed 9-6 in the fifth end but somehow he recovered and took the last five points to seal a 14-12, 8-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-9 victory. His opponent in the Final was Babul McLeod who had impressed by beating Richard Hiskey, Martyn Green, Eric Green and Gary Ward, all quality players. However, McLeod failed to make his mark in the Final and Keith Spicer ran out a comfortable 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 winner.

Top seed Phil Smith became 4-Down Singles Champion but he had to fight to do so. He had a hard time in beating Richard Storey 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 13-11 and an even more tricky time in his Semi-Final before he overcame Brandon Crouchman 13-11, 11-7, 7-11, 8-12, 14-12. In the Final he faced Alistair Hill who had needed five games to overcome both Rob Hayne and Alison Gurner so it was on the cards that this game would be a long one. It didn't disapppoint, and Phil eventually emerged as the winner 2-11, 11-7, 11-13, 12-10, 12-10. 

Brandon Crouchman, who had played well all weekend was always the favourite for the 6-Down Singles and he didn't disappoint. He picked up the title by beating the experienced John Knights 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 in the Final having beaten his team-mate Scott Dowsett 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 in the Semi-Final. Knights had previously overcome a really stiff challenge from John Skuse, just scraping home 12-10, 7-11.13-15, 11-3. 13-11.

This year's Handicap Singles event was dominated by two young players - James Austin and perhaps slightly predictably Brandon Crouchman. Both players sailed through  to the Final without too much trouble. James was only tested severely once, when Hannah Pitt pushed him all the way before succumbing 19-21, 20-22. Brandon Crouchman dominated the other half only dropping one game, against his team-mate Scott Dowsett and Brandon looked particularly sharp in getting the better of Keith Spicer 21-17, 21-15 in his Semi-Final. Brandon may have started as the marginal favourite in the Final having had such a successful weekend, but James had other ideas. He never gave Brandon any chance to claw back the Handicap and matched his opponent with some powerful forehand drives. James eventually ran out a somewhat surprised 21-11, 21-4 winner.

The Handicap Doubles, supposedly the least serious event of the weekend still manages to provide some top-notch Table Tennis and Rob Hayne/Gary Ward came through some hard fought games to clinch the title. They had to come from behind to get the better of Mike Johnston/Gary Young 22-24, 21-11, 21-14 in the Final having previously survived a close Semi-Final clash 21-19, 24-22 against William O'Donnell/Rod MacLennan.

Finally, a reminder to all players that Finals Night takes place at the Old Chelmsfordians Club, Lawford Lane on Monday 11 February 2008, starting at 19.30 hours. Admission is free and there should be some top class action in store. It will be pleasing to see as many current and former players in attendance as possible.

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League