CAN DAVE COLE RETAIN HIS MENS SINGLES TITLE ?

 This year’s M&G Investments Chelmsford Table Tennis League Closed Championships at Anglia Ruskin University, Mildmay Sports Hall, Bishops Hall Lane, Rivermead Campus, Chelmsford have attracted 99 entrants, a fitting number for a League which is one of the ten largest in the country. Play commences on Friday 05 February 2010 at 19.00 hours and continues through to Sunday evening. Admission is free and spectators are welcome. A separate Finals Night will take place on Monday 15 February 2010 at Old Chelmsfordians Association, Lawford Lane and again it will be great to see as many former players as possible coming along to watch.

The blue riband event as always is the Mens Singles and two players stand head and shoulders above the rest in this year’s contest - Dave Cole (Bocking), the holder and four times Champion and Neil Charles (Maldon), the 2008 Champion and last year’s runner-up. Other seeded players are Mindaugas Sinkus (Maldon), Steve Kerns (ECC), Peter Hayden (Bocking), Keiran Lally (Maldon), Duncan Taylor (Rawreth), and Kevin Read (Rawreth). The standard remains as high as ever and the likes of Kevin Gowlett (Bocking), Gary Young (Excalibur), Anthony Greenwood (Danbury), David Evans (ECC) and Michael Copleston (ECC) who are favoured to win their groups are all very capable of upsetting the higher rated players. Group five looks to be the most competitive of all with Mindaugas Sinkus, Charles Sweeney, Alastair Piper and Greg Green battling it out for two places in the main draw.

Sixteen times Ladies Champion Julie Vansertima (Chelmsford) will face a new rival this year, a good one at that – Debbie Auvache (Writtle) a member of the runaway second division leaders. Expect a real tussle for top honours between these two County Essex Veteran regulars. Jean Chasmer (Danbury) and Linda Attridge (Excalibur) look to be the two players most capable of upsetting the odds.

The Mens Doubles looks too close to call. New pairing – Dave Cole / Anthony Greenwood are seeded no. one and Peter Hayden / Steve Kerns are seeded no. two but neither pairing plays together regularly and the likes of the joint third seeds – John Cleasby / Neil Charles and Mindaugas Sinkus / Keiran Lally as well as Charles Sweeney / Duncan Taylor and Gary Young / Greg Green will also be out to make their presence felt.

The Veterans Singles remains as well supported as ever, and last year’s winner David Cole is seeded to play 2008 Champion Rik James in the Final. Those who will be out to deny them the chance of battling it out on Finals Night include Peter Hayden (Bocking), Steve Kerns (ECC), Paul Sayer (Maldon) , David Evans (ECC), Hamish Innes (Maldon) and the Writtle trio of Debbie Auvache, Gary Ward and Paul Cuming.

Expect Scott Dowsett and Brandon Crouchman to have a major impact on the Junior events. They are the top seeds in both the Under 18 Boys Singles and Under 16 Singles as well as the Under 18 Doubles. After his epic performance at the recent East Midlands Four Star Open tournament where he reached the last eight of the Under 15 Boys Singles from a field of over 100 nationally ranked players it will be a major surprise if Brandon doesn’t pick up all three titles.

This year’s Under 21 Singles event looks like being fiercely contested and the big question mark here is whether Brandon Crouchman and Scott Dowsett have improved enough to topple either of the top seeds – Bradley Hudgell, the three times Champion and Greg Green, a sensational winner of the Colchester Mens Singles title last year.

For many players Sunday’s events which are dominated by the Divisional singles are the highlight of the weekend. The two down event is certainly one of the least predictable and the top seed has rarely come through to capture the title. Gary Ward, the 2004 winner has that dubious distinction and he is seeded to meet Adrian Pitt, the 2002 Champion in the Final. However, you can’t write off the likes of Nigel Lamb, Alastair Piper, Julie Vansertima, Trevor Carter, Trevor Colin, Robert Burton and Martyn Green. This is certainly an event where the favourite will have to be at the top of his / her game to win.

The four down singles looks more clear-cut and you can expect to see the holder Phil Smith (Elmtree Graphics) and second seed Richard Hiskey (Excalibur) battling it out for top honours.

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League