Essex Press Office

Reported by Steve Kerns
Press & Publicity Officer
Essex County Table Tennis Association

Both Essex and Middlesex picked up three wins out of three in the first weekend of the Senior County Championships Premier Division matches played at Cippenham, Slough over the weekend of 05/06 December 2009. However, although it is Essex who lead the way by one game with a record of 23-7 it is Middlesex (represented by Jason Sugrue, Tommy Cuter, Neil Charles, Zak Zilesnick, Egle Adomelyte, Klaudia Szadkowska and Sarah Horsnell) who will feel the more confident of taking the title in March as they have played both third-placed Sussex as well as the potentially very tricky Cleveland side.

It was promoted Cleveland who stole the show on the Saturday afternoon beating last year‘s Champions Derbyshire 7-3. The last six games all went to a fifth end and crucially a determined Cleveland side won four of them. The Cleveland girls - England no. 17 Karen Shepherd and England no. 19 Chloe Whyte played superbly and won all four of their singles, with Karen winning twice by the narrowest margin in the fifth end. Karen beat Jane Vickers 13-11, 5-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9 and if that wasn’t close enough she also beat England no. eight Emma Vickers 11-9, 7-11, 14-16, 11-8, 11-9. Derbyshire’s Shaun Marples stayed undefeated and he followed up his 3-0 victory over Danny Welsh with a really hard-fought 6-11, 14-12, 14-12, 10-12, 11-8 success against Bryn Drinkhall. Middlesex and Sussex both notched up impressive 9-1 victories.

Middlesex raced into an 8-0 lead against Bucks before Gemma Chapman scored one of the best victories of the weekend. She beat England no. six Egle Adomelyte in five ends 11-5, 11-7, 6-11, 5-11, 11-7. Steve Munson extended Neil Charles to five ends in the last game before falling away badly in the fifth. Neil won 11-9, 11-8, 13-15, 4-11, 11-1.

Sussex were equally dominant and they called the shots against Gloucestershire. Nigel Eckersley was an impressive 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 winner over Darren Griffin whilst Da Shuai Zhang played his part with an excellent 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 win over David Harvey. Ritchie Venner who went on to win all six singles over the weekend laid the roots for his successful performance by beating both David Harvey (11-5, 12-10, 12-10) as well as Darren Griffin (11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10). Choi Sze To was Gloucestershire’s sole winner. She beat Sarah Steadman 3-0 although she missed out against Rose Rainton over five ends.

Essex did well to beat Berkshire 8-2 with Cris Sladden (making a successful return to County action after a seven year break) scoring two fine victories. Cris beat England no. 40 Richard Andrews over five games as well as England no. 117 Hari Gehlot 3-1. England no. 24 Junior Evangeline Collier who came in as a Friday night reserve made a dream debut beating both Susan Johnson (8-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-9) and Lisa Sprackling (8-11, 11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-4). Richard Andrews scored Berkshire’s first success with a well-executed 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6
victory over Umair Mauthoor and Tom Maynard made the score “respectable” in the last game by beating Ashley Stokes 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 12-10.

Middlesex and Essex both won 7-3 in the second round, but, bearing in mind how well Cleveland had played on the Saturday afternoon it was Middlesex’s 7-3 victory over their Northern rivals that impressed most. With Egle Adomelyte not being available the Cleveland girls - Chloe Whyte and Karen Shepherd both knew they had to beat Sarah Horsnell and she was duly despatched, but, only after pushing Karen to five ends, eventually succumbing 15-13, 5-11, 5-11, 11-8, 5-11. England no. seven Klaudia Szadkowska redressed the balance by winning her two games. Middlesex excelled in the Mens games winning five out of six. Bryn Drinkhall with a 13-11, 11-8, 13-11 victory over Neil Charles was their only winner although Andrew Wilson came close to pulling off what would have been a superb victory over England no. 30 Tommy Cutler. He eventually missed out 7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-13.

Gloucestershire’s Choi Sze To was the player who provided the greatest deal of opposition to Essex’s ambitions. She beat both Lucy Wang (11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9) as well as newcomer Barbara Isyk (11-13, 11-67, 11-4, 13-11). Gloucestershire’s men again found the going tough, and it was the redoubtable Dave Harvey who scored their sole victory - a five-set success against Matt Spero. Cris Sladden again showed how comfortable he is playing at this level, beating both Dave Harvey (11-8, 11-5, 4-11, 12-10) as well as Darren Griffin (11-3, 11-8, 12-10).

Derbyshire put their Saturday afternoon set-back firmly behind them with a very workmanlike display against Berkshire. England no. 24 Shaun Marples had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Tom Maynard 11-3, 10-12, 2-11, 11-5, 11-9 in the first game and after that Derbyshire never looked back. England no. 34 Sam Perry completed an excellent morning’s work with a 8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9 victory against Hari Gehlot in the final game. Derbyshire won 8-2.

Sussex’s 7-3 victory over Buckinghamshire saw Sussex’s Ritchie Venner and Adrian Moore both stay undefeated in a match which did not go to form. Buck’s Caroline Linz scored a superb 3-1 victory over Rosemary Rainton in her first game before missing out 3-1 to Sarah Steadman whilst Roesmary hit back hard in her second singles and defeated Gemma Chapman 11-4, 11-8, 14-12. Gemma had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Sarah 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 12-10. Stephen Munson made his mark with a fine 11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 11-6 victory over Da Shuai Zhang.

Sunday afternoon saw the first really big match of the weekend take place and it was Middlesex who shaded it 6-4 against Sussex. England no. one Cadet Zak Zilesnick played his part with a 3-1 win over Da Shuai Zhang and then a superbly executed 11-9, 11-7, 11-6 victory over Adrian Moore and Klaudia Szadkowska made her mark by winning her two singles in four games to stay unbeaten for the weekend. England no. 23 Rosemary Rainton went down fighting 11-13, 13-11, 6-11, 9-11 against Klaudia in the ninth game which meant that Neil Charles had the task of beating Da Shuai Zhang to seal the Middlesex side‘s victory. This was never going to be easy but Neil always had the ascendancy and he eventually “dashed” or should that be “da-shuayed “ (very weak pun it has to be said ! ) the Sussex team’s hopes by getting the better of his younger opponent in four ends : 11-8, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7.

Essex moved into pole position by beating Buckinghamshire 8-2 with a top-class performance. No messing around here !. Both Lucy Wang and Barbara Isyk hit the heights. They not only both stayed undefeated but they both beat Gemma Chapman 3-1. Barbara excelled to win 10-12, 12-10, 11-5, 11-6. Elsewhere, the all-action Robert Hansell came out on top against Matt Spero 6-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4 in the most evenly contested of the Mens matches whilst Lucy Wang had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Caroline Linz 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-6.

Berkshire also excelled and they beat Saturday’s surprise package Cleveland 6-4. This match followed a simple pattern. Cleveland’s girls - Chloe Whyte and Karen Shepherd stayed undefeated as did Berkshire’s men - David Barr, Tom Maynard and Hari Gehlot. In reality it wasn‘t any where as simple as that and Berkshire’s men played really well in their games. Dave Barr pulled out all the stops to get the better of Andrew Wilson (11-5, 6-11, 12-10, 15-13) as well as Bryn Drinkhall (13-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8) whilst Tom Maynard also scored a superb victory over Bryn Drinkhall (11-9, 11-9, 11-7). Little had gone right for the Cleveland men and in the last game Bristol Academy student Tom Maynard made no mistake as he overwhelmed a luckless Danny Welsh 11-5, 1-4, 11-5 to earn his side a very good victory.

Derbyshire’s 7-3 victory over Gloucestershire leaves the Gloucestershire team without a point, along with Bucks. Gloucestershire, certainly went down fighting, in fact they gave a fine account of themselves. Choi Sze To scored two (or should that be “to”) excellent victories : 6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 against Jane Vickers and 11-5, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10 against Emma Vickers to cap a superb performance of five wins out of six for the weekend (and for the record - just one defeat - against Rosemary Rainton). Dan Kolesnick also had a match to remember. He pushed Shaun Marples all the way before succumbing 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 9-11 7-11 and he also beat David Arrowsmith 11-5, 11-6, 12-10. Mike Harvey came even closer to pulling off what would have been a sensational victory. He just missed out against Sam Perry 11-7, 5-11, 7-11, 14-12, 9-11.

Players who caught the eye over the weekend included those with the 100 % records - Ritchie Venner (Sussex - 6/6), Shaun Marples (Derbyshire - 6/6), Cris Sladden (Essex - 6-6), Klaudia Szadkowska (Middlesex - 6/6), Zak Zilesnick (Middlesex - 4/4) and those with only one defeat : Tommy Cutler (Middlesex - 5/6), Ashley Stokes (Essex - 5/6) , Lucy Wang (Essex - 5/6), Karen Shepherd (Cleveland - 5/6), Chloe White (Cleveland - 5-6) and Barbara Isyk (Essex 3 / 4).

Steve Kerns