RIK JAMES SCORES AN IMPORTANT HAT-TRICK

First Division leaders Bocking will have been very pleased with their efforts in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League this week. With Peter Hayden injured they could only field two players and looked distinctly vulnerable against a strong OCs A side. However, Rik James stayed undefeated, which included a five-set victory against Ryan Savill whilst Kevin Gowlett played his part by beating both the hard-hitting duo of Steve Northcott and Nikki Kennard. A draw leaves Bocking very much on target to claim the title. OCs A also faced joint second placed Maldon B and this time they missed out 6-4. 2008 Chelmsford Mens Singles Champion Neil Charles won his three singles for Maldon whilst Combination-bat expert Chris Jacob, who has not played regularly this Season proved to be an excellent reserve. He scored two useful wins, beating both Steve Northcott and Robbie Burton.

Draws are pretty common place in Division Two and both matches played this week resulted in drawn games. ECC B had their Two-Down Singles Champion Keith Spicer to thank as they drew with Chelmsford D and it was a similar scenario when they drew with Chelmsford B. Spicer again took a hat-trick and this included a last gasp 11-8, 6-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-9 victory against Waseem Qureshi. Julie Vansertima and Waseem Qureshi both won twice for the Chelmsford side.    

In Division Three OCs B produced a 9-1 victory at the very best time as they romped home against relegated Rawreth B. John Watts, Adrian North and Nat Ravlic were all undefeated in their singles and this result sees them jump above ECC E into second place. Excalibur B stay top after beating ECC E 6-4, after a very hard-fought match in which seven games went to a decider. Bill Smith and Linda Murray both won twice for Excalibur with Linda excelling as she beat both Jeff Lewington and Colin Blore. The last game of the night featured Linda Murray against Colin Blore and in a fair reflection of what had been one of the hardest fought matches of the Season Linda just edged home 10-12, 6-11, 11-4, 15-13, 13-11. Elsewhere, ECC C ran out comfortable 8-2 winners against ECC D with Russell Forde and Gary Copsey both staying unbeaten. An opening match 8-11, 11-9, 11-4, 5-11, 15-13 victory for Rusell Forde against Trevor Roberts gave ECC C the start they were looking for and they never looked back.

OCs C stayed on target to finish sceond in Division Four by beating Danbury F 6-4. Mark Bohan won his three singles three straight and he shared in a vital five game doubles win with David Porter where they overcame Dave Marsh and John Robinson 11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 1-11, 15-13. Danbury D's match with Hatfield Peverel D finished all square and in what is quite a rare occurrence no one player stayed undefeated and no single player went home without picking up one singles. Danbury's Ken Sheard and Paul Durrands and Hatfield Peverel's Peter Mynard all won twice. Durrands came through the closest game of the night just seeing off Peter Mynard 10-12, 2-11, 11-4, 13-11, 13-11, an excellent comeback.

Kings Road A have hit a rich vein of form in Division Five, and in what must be one of the best displays of the Season they hammered third placed ECC F 10-0. Martin Eyles, Rob Hayne and Alison Gurner were all undefeated as Kings Road "closed in" on the title. Elsewhere, Chelmsford H did well to beat ECC G 6-4. Chelmsford's Will O'Donnell had a mixed night. He scored a superb four game win over Alistair Hill in his first singles but missed out over five ends in his second singles against Mohammed Mohseni.

OCs D just shaded the match 6-4 against Excalibur D in Division Six, after their leading player Mick Hayes had won his three singles. Keith Fitzjohn fared best of the Excalibur players and he beat Mick Parkhurst 11-4, 11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 11-9 in the closest game of the night.

The two OCs teams have dominated the CLICK (Introductory) League all Season and OCs E had matters pretty much their own way as they beat both Chelmsford Q and Chelmsford P 5-0. Danish Dewan and Matt Newton were on duty in both games and they were not taken to a deciding game on a single occasion. OCs F (Jack Preston, Ricky Childs and Tom Adam) ran out 4-1 winners against Chelmsford P. Mitchell Carter was Chelmsford's winner and he had to fight back from 2-1 down to beat Jack Preston 11-8, 2-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6.

 

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League