Colchester & District Table Tennis League News

Second met third place in Division Four of the Colchester and District Table Tennis League and H20 Rowhedge H took a step closer to promotion defeating rivals Pegasus C 7-3. Jane Li returned to maximum ways as was her father, Jimin. Division leaders Pegasus D were held to a 5-5 draw at Lawford E with Nick Freeborough impressing on his debut for Lawford winning two, going down in four sets to Nick Murray who was undefeated. This puts Pegasus three points clear of Rowhedge H who have a game in hand with Pegasus E a further nine points back. Lawford D move up to fourth place following a 5-5 draw with H20 Rowhedge I for whom Oliver Reynolds won three and team mate Alice Rudge, showing great maturity winning the final match 11-9 in the fifth end against Peter Lewis to secure the draw.

St Peters continue with their push for promotion in Division Three, led by a Roger Warren maximum they won 7-3 against Dedham B. Tollesbury D move up to fourth as they beat H20 Rowhedge G 7-3 courtesy of a Mark Shorney treble denying Daryl Lott of a first maximum of the season for Rowhedge. The University of Essex held Gt Horkesley D to a draw with Robert Bozier back, winning his twenty-first game of the season without defeat. Dedham A came close to winning their first game of the season against fellow relegation strugglers H20 Rowhedge G, going down 6-4. Daryl Lott again won two along with Thomas Lewis and Dedham’s Roy Cole.

In Division One the top three teams in action this week all had big wins. Leaders H20 Rowhedge A’s only slip up in their 9-1 win over Walton C was reserve’s Alan Burgess elbow injury sustained whilst defeating Philipe Rodriguez in five sets rendering unable to play against John Hobson. Tollgate A maintain the pressure, two points behind following their 10-0 whitewash of H20 Rowhedge C. Tollgate’s Ipswich connection paid dividends with Andrew Warner and Nigel Hodder, both unbeaten. H20 Rowhedge B remain fourth, despite an equally impressive 10-0 win over Walton B as the versatile Burgess, playing up again, this time went one better winning his three along with David Moss and Kevin Gowlett. They remain unbeaten and there should be an interesting game played out between the top two Rowhedge teams this week, which will go some way to deciding the title. If both sides are at full strength expect a close match and the pair still have to meet again as their previous fixture was postponed. Fifth placed Tollgate B beat Lawford A 8-2 with Lawford’s Dan Farrow embroiled in two five set games, beating Sue Welham and losing to Martyn Green, who won his three for Tollgate.

Clairmont and Pegasus A fought out a tight 5-5 draw as second met fourth in Division Two. Paul Tracey recorded his third straight maximum in the second half of the season, including a three set win over Steve Noble to tie the match, as both went into the final game unbeaten. Fourth placed Lawford B consolidated their position with a 6-4 win at home to H20 Rowhedge D. Nick Galley was unbeaten as three of Rowhedge’s four wins went to five sets, Andrew Harvey winning two. Walton E are precariously placed in the relegation zone, five points clear of Tollesbury A and one point from safety having played three matches more than Gt Horkesley B.

Reigning Colchester and District Table Tennis League Division One champions H20 Rowhedge A ominously moved to the top for the first since October! This has been mainly due to more competition this season but they have always had games in hand. This week they recorded a 9-1 win over their ‘C’ team. Michael Andrews and Antony Greenwood were back to maximum ways as reserve Mark Mulley dropped the point, going down in five sets to the vastly experienced Fred Button. With Tollgate A dropping three games to their ‘B’ team H20 Rowhedge B appear the main threat and they recorded a narrow 6-4 win over previous leaders Gt Horkesley A. No player went without defeat but it was John Andrews three straight sets win over Richard Goodhand that caught the eye; 11-6, 11-4, 11-4. Both players won two as did Kevin Gowlett, who lost to Goodhand in five sets and Aimee Sparkes who recorded an excellent win over David Moss. Walton B moved closer to safety with a 6-4 success over H20 Rowhedge C with again no player collecting maximum points. Colin Webber and Kevin James both won two playing for the ‘B’ team for the first time this season as did Fred Button and Phil Smith for Rowhedge.

In Division Two Walton D recorded their tenth win despite Alan Burgess’s best efforts as he won three for the seventh time. David Hall, Mark Gale and John Rankin all won two apiece. Pegasus A beat Tollesbury A 7-3, led from the front by their captain Steve Noble who did not drop a set! Third placed Gt Horkesley C welcomed back Lorrie Austin from his world tour but it was Wudong Liu and Lloyd Bennett-Smith that went unbeaten in an 8-2 win over Walton E as they have three games in hand over Pegasus and are just three points behind. Fourth placed Lawford B beat fifth placed Clairmont 7-3 as once again Paul Tracey won three for the losers.

Division Three leaders St Peters were held 5-5 by a spirited performance from third placed H20 Rowhedge F. Ian Carter won his thee but two each from Colin Powell and Nigel Claydon ensured the honours were shared. Lawford C hold on to second despite a surprise 7-3 defeat at Tollesbury B with only John Seabrook standing firm, wining his three for Lawford. Tollesbury could not repeat the win against Pegasus C going down 6-4 as once again the star performance came from the beaten team, Neil Grandy undefeated. Pegasus C also recorded an excellent win by the same score line against their ‘B’ team and Tony Eversden’s triple was not enough to stop his team losing the Pegasus bragging rights!

Bottom team Gt Horkesley F take the headlines in Division Four this week as they broke their duck in recording their first win of the season at the eleventh attempt! Wally Edwards, David Pratt and Yasmin Ticquet all won two in a 6-4 win over H20 Rowhedge’s young I team, with Alice Rudge winning two also. Pegasus D remain top following a narrow 6-4 win over third placed Pegasus E despite Paul Weston’s third consecutive maximum. H20 Rowhedge H’s Jimin Li lost after reeling off twenty-three straight wins as both he and his daughter Jane lost to the unbeaten Jacky Leung in a 5-5 draw with CRGS. Lawford D were responsible for Gt Horkesley E’s tenth defeat, 6-4 with Neil Storey unbeaten in his first match of the season.

This is the last week for entries in the Colchester Tournament as the closing date is Monday 31^st.

Pegasus D made it six straight wins when beating CRGS to go top of Division Four of the Colchester and District Table Tennis League. Earlier they made short work of potential promotion rivals Gt Horkesley E 9-1 as nick Murray and Alistair Woodcock won their three games each. Neither could get the better of the prolific Jacky Leung the following week however, who beat all three Pegasus players but despite this the school team went down 6-4. Pegasus are four points clear of previous leaders, H20 Rowhedge H who had a much closer win over Gt Horkesley E 6-4. Jimin Li was once more unbeaten but his daughter Jane suffered her first defeat in six matches, losing in four close sets to the ever-reliable Denise Thompson, who won two. Pegasus E are third, four points further back after they won 10-0 over Lawford E with Paul Weston, Vic Little and Derek Miller all undefeated. At the bottom Gt Horkesley F suffered their ninth consecutive defeat, 6-4 at Lawford E. No player remained unbeaten, Mike Seymour just missing out on a maximum in the last game of the night to the evergreen Wally Edwards who also won two.

St Peters have returned to the top of Division three, courtesy of two wins, 8-2 at Pegasus B and 9-1 against the University of Essex. Roger Warren and Ian Carter were unbeaten in both matches although Warren was pushed all the way by Pegasus B’s Paul Woolnough; 6-11, 9-11, 11-9, 15-13, 10-12! Second placed Lawford C struggled to beat bottom team Dedham A 6-4, mainly thanks to John Seabrook who won three. His team mate Ian Sherwood went close just missing out on a maximum, losing to Roy Cole 12-10 in the fifth end as the pair both won two. Colin Powell starred for H20 Rowhedge F as his team went down 6-4 to their ‘E’ team for whom Darryl Lott and Mark Burrows both won two. Mark got the bragging rights over son Sam in three identical 11-9 sets!

In Division Two Mark Gale’s first maximum of the season saw Walton D win 10-0 and pull sixteen points clear at the top with a game in hand. He was joined by Dave Hall and Matt Watson as their team move closer to a swift return to the top flight. Pegasus A are making a late bid for promotion, led by Ian Whiteside and Toby Turner they thrashed a two-player Walton E 9-1. Walton also lost 7-3 to Tollesbury A as Roger Clarke completed an excellent maximum that included a three straight sets win over the wily Terry May. Clarke could not repeat his success against Clairmont as Paul Tracey won his three to consolidate his team’s mid-table position. In the all-Rowhedge battle the ‘D’ team won 6-4 against the ‘E’ team. Alan Burgess was unbeaten.

Gt Horkesley A return to the top of Division One with a comprehensive 9-1 win over Walton C. Colin Bennett came close to joining his team mates Richard Goodhand and Aimee Sparkes undefeated as he lost 14-12, 10-12, 7-11, 14-12,11-9 to Martin Edwards in the closest match of the night. H20 Rowhedge A are second as they triumphed over Tollgate A 6-4, despite Gary Young’s magnificent treble, but despite this Rowhedge jump over Tollgate in a significant victory! H20 Rowhedge B are still unbeaten and moved up to fourth with a comparatively straight forward 9-1 win over Lawford A for whom Kieran Hills enjoyed an excellent win over Dave Moss. John Andrews and Kevin Gowlett did not miss out to keep their team in the hunt.

A hungry for success H20 Rowhedge A put their Colchester and District Table Tennis League Division One title aspirations back on track with a resounding 9-1 defeat of Tollgate B. The reigning champions suffered a 7-3 defeat first time around but extracted revenge as Tollgate’s previously unbeaten Keiron Lally suffered defeat to the trio of Michael Andrews, Steve Joslin and Antony Greenwood. Tollgate were without Paul Davison but late stand in Colin Stallwood came closest to winning a singles match going down; 4-11, 9-11, 11-6, 13-11, 15-17 to Greenwood. H20 Rowhedge go second but Tollgate’s A team head the Division following a 10-0 whitewash of Walton A. With Paul Meikle two sets up against Greg Green in the opening game and holding a match point in the fourth set, this result seemed unlikely but Green scraped home 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-9. Former Ipswich champion Charlie Fulcher was unbeaten on debut for Tollgate without dropping a set and  joined by Nigel Hodder, winning his three. Despite beating H20 Rowhedge C 8-2, Gt Horkesley A drop two places, proving how tight things are at the top! Richard Goodhand starred for Horkesley, pushed to five sets by john Patrick, who also lost out by the closest of margins to Aimee Sparkes; 11-13, 12-10, 3-11, 11-8, 12-14! Sparkes won two as did Mike Wright who went down to Mark Smith, also in five sets. The relegation battle between Walton C and Lawford A ended fittingly in a 5-5 draw with Lawford debutant, Kelvin Larking winning all three of his games in four sets. Closest match of the night was John Hobson’s final set 12-10 win over Kieran Hills. Hobson was joined by Felipe Rodriguez in winning two each.

In Division Two an excellent maximum from Pete Simmonds helped his team to a 5-5 draw with Lawford B, in the crucial game with the score at 4-3 to Rowhedge, Nick Galley came back to beat Pete Giles 11-9 in the fifth end to level things up. Lawford briefly lead 5-4 thanks to George Berry’s defeat of Peter Kirkland but Simmonds came through to square the match beating the previously unbeaten Tom Malster!

Lawford C are the new outright leaders of Division Three with yet another 5-5 draw this week against H20 Rowhedge F. Matt Webb led the way with three fine wins, but it was Rowhedge’s Colin Powell that secured his team a share of the spoils with a last gasp five set defeat of Ian Sherwood.  This result moves Rowhedge up to second with Gt Horkesley D moving up to third following an 8-2 success over Pegasus C. Steve Holland put in a captain’s performance unbeaten, his best win over Pegasus number one John Richie 12-10 in the fifth.

 H20 Rowhedge H have finally reached the top of Division Four as the Li’s made it thirty-six straight wins between them in wrapping up a 10-0 victory against their ‘I’ team. Grant Donaldson joined the party, undefeated as was Marlene Smith in a 6-4 win for Dedham B against Lawford D that included a victory over her old team-mate Ivan Jarrad. Pegasus E move up to third, trouncing CRGS 9-1 without star player Jacky Leung for the first time, Vic little and Barry Steggles both unbeaten.

Players are reminded entries for this year’s tournament must be in by 31^st January.

With the preliminary groups nearing completion in the Colchester & District Table Tennis League cup competitions H20 Rowhedge I came out as surprise 5-4 winners against one of the favourites Gt Horkesley C. Ed Rudge starred winning his two singles and combining with Lajos Zsisku to win the final doubles with the match at 4-4. Lajos also had a fine five set doubles win with Ed’s sister, Alice against Jennie Clark and Denise Thompson, 12-10 in the final end. In the Intermediate cup Group One Pegasus A accounted for Lawford C 8-1, Lawford’s only success coming through Tom Malster’s fine win over Steve Noble. Toby Turner and Clive Forster were both unbeaten for Pegasus. In Group Two H20 Rowhedge F had a walkover against Essex University, the same as H20 Rowhedge D and Walton B against hapless Dedham A in Group Four. In the same group Walton B made light work of H20 Rowhedge G 8-1 thanks mainly to James Denyer and Tony Oswick who went through the card undefeated. Pegasus B beat H20 Rowhedge E 7-2 in Group Three with Mike Sant unbeaten, supported by Ian Whiteside who won both his singles.

In the Handicap Cup pick of the matches was Essex University’s 5-4 defeat of H20 Rowhedge E. Despite Peter Kirkland’s best efforts, winning both his singles. Adam Bowes with three wins was the University’s star player, his only defeat coming at the hands of veteran Pete Giles in three very close sets. Lawford B in winning the first five games effectively sealed the match running out 7-2 winners against Gt Horkesley E. Tom Malster once again impressed along with Phil Daley who was unbeaten in both singles and doubles.