NEIL CHARLES - THE MAN THEY ALL HAVE TO BEAT

With an entry of 109 players this year’s M&G Investments Chelmsford Closed Table Tennis Tournament (which takes place at Anglia Ruskin University, Bishops Hall Lane, Rivermead Campus, Chelmsford) over the weekend of Friday 30 January 2009 to Sunday 01 February 2009 remains one of the biggest Closed Championships in the country. Admission is free and it is hoped that as many present and former players will drop in over the weekend as possible to watch.

Last year’s Champion - Maldon’s Neil Charles is a resounding favourite to retain his Mens Singles title and if he can produce his best form the stylish left-handed England no. 36 should be in a class of his own. With only one defeat in League matches in the last two years (albeit - a somewhat surprising one to Maldon’s Lee Prentice a week ago) Neil has downed the challenges of all of his main rivals during this two-year period. 1998 Winner Rik James (Bocking) is seeded second with last year’s Braintree Mens Singles Champion Paul Davison (OCs) and Duncan Taylor (Rawreth) seeded joint third. The standard is undoubtedly higher than in recent years and this is displayed by the quality of the number five joint seeds. Three times Champion Dave Cole (Bocking), 2003 Champion Keiran Lally (Maldon), 1997 Winner Reagan Nettleingham (Elmtree Graphics) and three times Burnham Champion Kevin Read (Rawreth) will all be battling it out to get through to the Semi-Finals which will be played on Finals Night at the Old Chelmsfordians Association on Monday 09 February 2009.

All Mens Singles action commences in Groups and it is Group three that looks to be the most interesting. Expect Rik James to dominate but he will face tough tests from Hamish Innes (Maldon) and Alistair Hill (ECC). Other players capable of making their mark include Gary Young (Excalibur), Paul Stephens (Maldon), Peter Hayden (Bocking) as well as Under 21 Singles Contenders Bradley Hudgell (Chelmsford) and Greg Green (Hatfield Peverel).

The Ladies Singles should be a repeat of last year’s Final and Nikki Kennard (OCs) will be hoping to retain her title at the expense of 15 times Champion Julie Vensertima (Chelmsford). Alison Gurner (Kings Road - a four times Winner in the 1990s) looks to be the main threat to their supremacy.

The Holders Neil Charles and Paul Davison will be looking to extend their grip on the Mens Doubles trophy to a third year and it will be a major surprise if they don’t face seven times Champions Dave Cole and Rik James in the Final.

Rik James is top seed in the Veterans Singles and he is seeded to meet Paul Sayer (Maldon) in the Final. Paul (who is only playing in the Veterans events) is also seeded second in the Veterans Doubles with team-mate Paul Stephens where they are due to play the holders Rik James and David Cole at the Final stage.

In the Mixed Doubles five times Champions - Julie Vansertima and David Cole are seeded at no. one and they are expected to play last year’s Winners Paul Davison and Nikki Kennard in the Final. Other pairs to look out for are Kevin Read/Linda Attridge (Excalibur), RikJames/Jean Chasmer (Danbury) and Paul Stephens/Alison Gurner.

Expect the Ladies Doubles to be fought out between Linda Attridge/Nikki Kennard and last year’s Winner’s Julie Vansertima/Alison Gurner. Other pairs capable of making their presence felt are Elmtree Graphics’ Melanie Bonnett/Nicola Pippen and the Jean Chasmer (Danbury)/ Stevie Pell (Chelmsford) combination.

1987 Veterans Champion Ian Whiteside (Danbury) is favourite to take the Over 60s Crown for the first time and his scheduled opponent should be Ken James (ECC). However, neither player will be able to take anything for granted. Whiteside faces a tricky Group encounter against the unpredictable Bill Smith (Excalibur) whilst Ken James has a really tricky group. All three of his opponents - Mike Johnston (Chelmsford), Norman Smith (Danbury) and Duncan Elloy (Chelmsford) will be determined to go down fighting.

Expect the Under 21 Singles to be fiercely contested. Holder Bradley Hudgell is expected to face Greg Green in the Final although Bradley can expect to have to pull out all the stops in the Semi-final when he faces Brandon Crouchman (Hylands School) who is expected to dominate the Junior events . Brandon Crouchman is sedeed to take four titles - the Under 14 and Under 16 Singles where he is scheduled to face team-mate Scott Dowsett in both Finals, the Under 18 Singles where his scheduled Final opponent is Sam Pitt (Chelmsford) and the Junior Doubles where he and his partner - Scott Dowsett are expected to face Tom Lee (Chelmsford) and Sam Pitt at the last stage.

County player Stevie Pell should add the Junior Girls title to her list of honours. The all-Chelmsford Club entry will see her battle it out with Claire Austin, Rebecca Denyer, Sarah Austin and Emily Knight.

Sunday’s play is always amongst the best contested of the weekend, no more so than in the Two-Down Singles, an event in which only one player - Bryn Thomas has succeeded in retaining his title. The Holder - Keith Spicer (ECC) is top seed but his path to the Final will be littered with tough challenges. Greg Green, Alistair Hill (ECC), Steve Northcott (OCs), Julie Vansertima and Dave Calleja (Danbury) are all in this half of the draw. The consistent Waseem Qureshi (Chelmsford) is seeded no. two but his path to the Final looks to be equally vulnerable and he will have to battle his way past the likes of team- mate Bradley Hudgell, Alistair Piper (Chelmsford), Duncan Elloy and Adrian Pitt (Chelmsford).

Phil Smith (Elmtree Graphics) is top seed in the Four Down Singles, and he is scheduled to face Neil Freeman (Hatfield Peverel) in the Final although Neil will have to pull out all the stops to get the better of Richard Storey at the Semi-Final stage. Graham Briggs (Danbury) is favourite for the Six Down Singles where he is expected to meet Charles Eaton (Old Chelmsfordians) in the Final.

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League