Chairman Peter White reflected on another productive and enjoyable season’s table tennis at the Annual General Meeting of the Clacton and District Table Tennis League this week.

The Management Committee had worked hard to ensure the League, Cup competition and Tournaments ran smoothly. Although there were sometimes difficult decisions to be made, they were always made in the best interests of local table tennis and its players. One major plus point had been the new Drawn Doubles competition which had been organised as a direct result of a suggestion made at the previous year’s AGM.  

In her third year as League Secretary, Isabel Barton said it had been a straightforward year without major problems, and thanked Management Committee members for their help and support.

Treasurer John Barton reported on a healthy financial position. He made particular mention of the support given by Gary Cattermole of The Survey Initiative for his generous sponsorship of the Closed Championships for the past five years. To ensure the League continued to maintain its sound financial position, John recommended a small increase in League team fees to £25.

In his Press and Records Secretary’s Report, Tony Oswick said the season had been dominated by the Brotherhood Club whose teams had come top in all three Divisions, as well as winning the Knock-Out Cup. All thirty teams had survived the season, despite a few teams experiencing player problems. Thankfully, of the 270 scheduled League matches, only two were not played.

Mark Gale, the League’s Tournament Officer, said that both the Handicap Singles and Closed Championships had again been successful, with the Closed witnessing some high-class table tennis. The new Drawn Doubles tournament, as well as giving players a full day’s table tennis, had been a competitive and friendly event, and was a welcome addition to the League’s calendar.  

Coaching Officer Martin Edwards reported that the Junior Coaching and Adult Practice sessions had continued each Monday and, although the adult sessions attracted good attendances, it would be good to see more juniors. He particularly thanked the loyal band of coaches and helpers who turned out every week. If there was sufficient interest, he was also proposing to run coaching sessions for juniors during the summer holidays. 

Development Officer Ferdy Rodriguez said that the ‘Come and Try’ sessions continued to be organised each close season although, unfortunately, they had not produced many new players to the League. Contacts were being made with local schools to try to encourage more young players to take part.  

Officers elected for the 2026/27 season were: President, Jenny Higgins; Chairman, Peter White; Vice-Chairman, John Barton; Secretary, Isabel Barton; Treasurer, John Barton; Results and Records Secretary, Tony Oswick; Media Officer, Tony Oswick; Tournament Officer, Mark Gale; Development Officer, Ferdy Rodriguez; Coaching Officer, Martin Edwards; Minutes Secretary, Isabel Barton; TT Leagues Administrator, Gavin Price; Welfare Officer, Jenny Higgins; Voting Committee members, Grace Andrews, Sharon Gowlett, Bob Jillins, Felipe Rodriguez, Gerry Widnell, Dave Wright; Independent Financial Examiner, Sue Gallone.      

During the course of the meeting, League trophies for the 2025/26 season were presented by League President, Jenny Higgins, to Division One winners Brotherhood A, runners-up Nomads Lions; Division Two winners Brotherhood G, runners-up Brotherhood F; Division Three winners Brotherhood H, runners-up Holland Hurricanes.

The Bob Phillips Trophy for services to the League was also awarded during the evening. This year’s recipient is Viv Rodriguez who has been closely involved with all League activities for the last 25 years. Most notably, she’s revolutionised the League’s catering and refreshments at all League events, in particular at the Closed Championships.

But Viv has done more than just this. She’s been a Windsor Team Secretary for over 20 years, often looking after juniors or players new to the League. For ten years she was the League’s Welfare Officer. And she’s been a helper and supporter at both the League’s Coaching and ‘Come and Try’ sessions, as well as at social events such as Quiz Evenings and Race Nights. And all this in addition to her valued contribution to the Windsor Club.   

Although Viv had been prepared to register as an occasional player when necessary, she is only the second non-player to receive the Trophy in over 40 years. Peter concluded by saying that Bob Phillips was a person who was always prepared to help whenever help was needed and Viv was very much that sort of person and a worthy recipient of the trophy.

Report by Tony Oswick

The top two teams were out of action this week in the Southend Summer Table Tennis League Division 1 so there was a chance for some of the chasing pack to make some inroads and close the gap.

Rawreth A accepted the challenge willingly against bottom of the table Basildon B completing a 9-0 victory which was nothing like as easy as it looked. After quickly going 4-0 down four of the last five games went the full five sets but Basildon just couldn’t get that vital fifth to clinch a point. Norbert Fullerton took the match honours but only after coming back from 2-1 down against Andy Roff and he was closely matched by Kim Shead and Andrew Halling who had the game of the night against Dave Reynolds eventually winning 11/9 11/13 11/5 8/11 11/5. A mention must go to Roff who played up for the B team tonight with three of his four matches going the distance. Almost but not quite! Rawreth stay fourth in the table eight points behind second placed Basildon A.

Team of the moment are Hadleigh A who moved into third place level on points with Basildon A after a 6-3 win against Hockley B. Keith Willett was the POTM winning all his games backed up by a single win for Richard Jackman and the team winning all the doubles. Eamonn Hall won both his singles for Hockley beating Jackman in straight sets and then coming back from 2-1 down to clinch a five set victory against Berti Makoli. Makoli unfortunately repeated that result against David Chenery. All three doubles went to Hadleigh as they maintain their push for the top.

Stanford’s season seems to have tailed off after starting with three consecutive wins they have now lost two of their last three games. Defeat came again against Matchpoint A in what turned out to be the closest game of the week decided by the final match of the evening.Matchpoint got off to the best possible start going 2-0 up and then leading 3-1 and 4-2 only for Stanford to fight back and level the match at 4-4. A straightforward doubles win in three sets for Stephen Heard and Robert Harris decided it. Heard completed an unbeaten evening with that win with Harris adding a further point plus two doubles. Josh Freeman won both his singles for Stanford with Peter Weatherall winning another and Freeman combined with Vivaan Babbaar to win the closest game of the evening against Harris and Dan Stewart 10/12 6/11 11/5 12/10 9/11.

At the other end of the table Invicta B picked up only their second win of the season beating Wakering 6-3. Paul Sims led the way for Invicta with two straight set victories and he was backed up by Tony Ayliffe who also won two but only after two much harder games. He was 2-1 down against Barbara Chabior before winning the last two sets 11/9 11/9 and was taken to five sets again by Michael Grout before winning the decider 11/5. Grout and Chabior both beat Malcolm Henstock and then combined in the doubles for Wakering’s third point. Wakering are two from bottom but six points clear of Hockley B and with a game in hand.

Player of the Week – Stephen Heard

Team of the Week – Hadleigh A

Division 2  

It’s tight at the top!  With only three matches remaining for each team, just 3 points separate Canvey ‘A’ and Stanford ‘B’ at the top of the table, with the Islanders holding that slender advantage.

In the latest round of fixtures, Canvey ‘A’ travelled to Hockley ‘C’ and came away with a convincing 8/1 win.  Trevor Hayes and Kevin Walsingham were both unbeaten and the visitors also won all 3 doubles matches.  Hockley’s only success came from George Clark who got the better of Tony Westwell in straight sets.

By way of a contrast, Stanford ‘B’ had a tough encounter at home to Invicta ‘B’.  The visitors led 4/2 before Stanford got their act together and took the next 3 games for a 5/4 victory.  Mike Trendell played a big part in this win as he was unbeaten in both singles and doubles.  For Invicta, Mike Keeble, Sarah Ball and Andrew St John each picked up a point for their team, with Sarah and Andrew combining for a doubles win to open proceedings.

Hadleigh ‘B’ beat Hockley’D’ 6/3 in a match where the 6 singles games were equally shared, the doubles proving to be the difference. Hadleigh came out on top in all 3 of these, the closest of which saw Sineh Bali and Jan Thorpe recover from the loss of the first two sets to take the decider 11/9 against Ivan Arabadzhiev and Kamil Pachalko.  Dave Woolmer won both his singles for Hadleigh, as did Kamil for Hockley.

The two Steve’s, Wisbey and McQuillan, led the way for Runnymede in their 8/1 win away at bottom of the table, Canvey ‘B’.  Both were unbeaten in singles and doubles, with captain Anne Adlington adding a singles and doubles win, although she lost out to Canvey’s Chong Shim Lam, giving the home team their only success on the night.

Stanford ‘C’ also recorded a big away win when they took on Matchpoint ‘C’ and emerged with a 7/2 victory.  Dave Hancox won both his singles for the visitors as did Debbie O’Neill for Matchpoint.  Vaughan Chambers and Randy Santiago each picked up a win for Stanford who also took all 3 doubles.

Evolve were unable to field a team against Basildon ‘C’ and forfeited the points.

The Finals Night of the annual Danbury Table Tennis Club Tournament gave us some great sport and plenty of emotion as the winners of the key events were finally crowned. 

In the first Final of the evening the Restricted Singles Final was played out between Scott Perry and Tim Pulham – players in great form but of very different styles.  The first 2 legs were very close as the gladiators sized each other up, and they took one a piece.  The 3^rd leg saw Perry increase his attacking prowess and he soon amassed a sizeable lead landing him with multiple game points – but this did not deter the more steady eddie Pulham who just plugged away with accurate and determined backhand pushes to somehow secure a deuce from the jaws of defeat and then went on to secure the leg 14-12.  In those final points Perry picked up an injury as he crashed to the floor and in the 4^th leg he wasn’t moving as freely as before and Pulham was able to control the leg comfortably and close out the event with a 3-1 Final victory to add his name to the illustrious list of previous winners.

Alan Scammell has been the unexpected star of the Tournament this year with some inspired play reaching 2 finals and a quarter-final place in the main Singles event.  So with that pedigree Scammell and partner Ian Wall went into the Drawn Doubles Final as favourites against the scratch pairing of Dan Anderson and Graham Briggs.  Anderson and Briggs had come through the previous 3 rounds quite comfortably and had developed a good understanding of each other with Briggs as the attacker and Anderson as the wall of defiance – but would there be any chinks in this armour against such a strong pair.  As expected the Wall/Scammell steam train set off at full blast as they took a very strong lead in the opening set with Scammell disrupting the opposition at every opportunity.  As we ventured towards the climax of the opening leg the rails came off for Wall and Scammell as Briggs and Anderson fought back and amazingly took the opening set 11-9.  The order of play in the 2^nd leg favoured the Briggs/Anderson duo and they quickly took a 2-0 lead.  The 3^rd leg saw a repeat of leg 1 where the Scammell/Wall pairing took an early lead and looked destined to claw their way back into the reckoning when, again in a repeat of the rollercoaster 1^st leg, they were unable to get over the line despite a healthy lead and Briggs and Anderson were able to blast their way to completing a very unusual straight legs victory for the Doubles Crown.

The Hardbat Singles event has become a popular addition to the Danbury Tournament, although it has been dominated by 2 players from its inception.  So it was no surprise to see these two players in this year’s final – a repeat of many other Finals in recent years.  Bruce Kettle has won this event for the previous 3 years and is our dominant player with phenomenal attacking flair in this format.  His opponent was Eric Green who last won the event in 2022, but has been a regular finalist ever since.  Green is a much more defence minded player and can retrieve lost causes from the most difficult places so every opponent has to work their socks off to win any points against him.  The Final played out much as expected style wise with Kettle attacking from the get-go and Green retrieving everything – a great spectacle for the expectant crowd.  Kettle got into an early rhythm and was able to dominant play in the opening leg wearing down his opponent with series of forehand and backhand smashes until Green could either not reach the final smash or was forced into an attacking shot on the stretch that invariably did not connect.  It was a brilliant spectacle.  After taking the first leg and building up a commanding lead in the second the Hardbat trophy looked destined for a quick return to its ancestral home at the Kettle Ranch but just as Kettle reached match point the Green attack found some accuracy and all of a sudden the game wasn’t as done as the crowd thought as Green rattled off 7 points on the bounce including several attacking winners to find himself within one point of Kettle at 13-14.  In Hardbat format if you get to 14-14 there is no deuce, it is a straightforward one point game so by now the crowd were eager for that scenario but alas the winning streak cane to an end and Kettle masterfully managed his composure and finally secured his match point and the Trophy after 8 long attempts.  An intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable Final from two of the counties best hardbat players and a very worthy 4^th time winner.

In the main Singles Event Daniel Young came through the semi-final against 3 time previous winner Tony Forster.  Forster was an unexpected but very welcome guest at the semi-final stage having overcome the seeded Sam Lowman in earlier rounds.  On the night a rather nervy Forster was unable to make any headway into the game as Young started out firing with both his forehand and backhand barrels and the game never really got going as Young progressed into the Final.  The second semi saw the elder Gary Young against Ian Wall fresh from his wedding weekend.  As with the first semi Young came out firing on all cylinders and Wall was unable to cope with the onslaught.  Young took the first 2 sets relatively comfortably and it wasn’t until the 3^rd leg that Wall provided any modicum of combativeness.  This made for a much longer and closer game where Wall was very much ‘in the game’ right until they dying points where Young completed his own straight sets victory 11-9 for a place against his son in the Final.  So to the Father v Son, right handed v left handed, attack v control Final – with Mrs Young stating neutrality before the match!  This was the Final the crowd wanted and a difficult one to call as they obviously know each other’s game inside out.  Daniel Young has won multiple county titles this year and probably went into the Final as favourite, but Gary has been playing exceptionally well of late and looked very determined to re-establish the Young Household bragging rights.  The first leg was tight with both players seeking out the opponent’s weaknesses.  Gary was just that bit more accurate as Daniel wasted several opportunities and Gary took the opening leg.  This only spurred on Daniel and he took the next two legs with a much improved accuracy rate and by slowing the his returns down so as not to give Gary many counter-hitting opportunities that he thrives off.  Gary adjusted his tactics in the 4^th leg and this paid dividends as he led the whole way and found himself with several game points that would thrust us into a climatic deciding leg.  But Daniel likes nothing more than a target to chase and he wasn’t done in this leg as he went all out for winners and from the jaws of adversity he smashed his way to 5 or 6 winners on the bounce and amazingly took the 4^th leg 12-10 and bagged the Title for the second time.

Club President Norman Smith presented two other trophies on the Night – The Danbury Village Hall Cup went to Scott Perry as the most improved player in the Club over the season, and tournament organiser Dan Anderson was presented with the Elizabeth Trophy for his contribution to the Club over many years.

Pic 1 – Singles Winner Daniel Young receives his trophy from Club President Norman Smith (with runner-up Gary Young)

Pic 2 – Action from Singles Final – Gary Young v Dan Young

Pic 3 – Action from Restricted Singles Final – Scott Perry v Tim Pulham

Pic 4 – Hardbat Champion – Bruce Kettle

Pic 5 – Action from Hardbat Singles Final – Eric Green v Bruce Kettle

Pic 6 – Elizabeth Trophy Winner – Dan Anderson

Pic 7 – Doubles winners 2026 – Graham Briggs and Dan Anderson

Pic 8 – Gary Young I action in DTTC Singles Final 2026

Report by Eamonn Hall

Hadleigh Forum are beginning to make an impact in the Summer League. Having been a bit behind the other teams in terms of games played they are now up to date and successive 8-1 wins have taken them up to third in the table six points behind Basildon A and ten points behind Hockley A but with a game in hand on Hockley.

Their latest success saw them crush Matchpoint A with Keith Willett taking the match honours but only just ahead of Richard Jackman also unbeaten. Team mate Berti Makoli found it a little harder losing to Richard Sloman in five sets but coming back from 2-1 down against Rob Harris to clinch the decider 11/4. Other than that only two other games went beyond three sets. Matchpoint sit sixth in the league but just seven points above bottom club Basildon B.

Stanford A sit fifth in the table and although they won again beating Invicta 6-3 they are twenty five points behind the leaders and too far behind, I think, to be considered a threat. Invicta can feel quite pleased with their effort in this match as they had to call on two players from their B team, Charles Morris and Trisha Winter, to complete their line up and this has been a continuing problem for them this season. Peter Weatherall won both his singles for Stanford but Invicta’s Tony Ayliffe matched that performance with wins over Rob Salvage and Vivaan Babbar. Two doubles went Stanford’s way but the final match of the evening saw Ayliffe and Charles Morris defeat Salvage and Weatherall in straight sets. Invicta now find themselves level on points with Matchpoint and above Hockley B and Basildon B.

Hockley B’s attempt to improve their position at the bottom end of the table didn’t meet with any sympathy from their own A team. The A team’s blend of youth and experience was far too strong  for their more senior opponents and whilst two games went to five sets, both doubles, the rest did not extend beyond four. Result – a 9-0 victory. Joseph Odegbami, Elliot Brackenbury and James Evesham all remained unbeaten with Elliot taking the match honours. Paul Ogden and Brian Bissenden fought back from 2-0 down against Brackenbury and Evesham but lost 11/8 in the fifth and Paul Ogden and Paul Strutt actually led Brackenbury and Odegbami 2-0 but conspired to lose the next three sets 11/2 11/7 11/3. Hockley A stay top by four points from Basildon A who have a game in hand.

Player of the Week – Tony Ayliffe

Team of the Week – Hadleigh Forum

Division 2

With all teams now having played 7 matches, we are entering the business end of this Summer League season.  The main protagonists, Canvey ‘A’ and Stanford ‘B’ are locked together on 52 points at the top of the table and the pair have opened up a small, but not yet significant, gap on the chasing pack.

Invicta ‘B’, Basildon ‘C’ and Stanford ‘C’ occupy the next 3 places in the table, but it seems likely that either Canvey ‘A’ or Stanford ‘B’, with the experience they can call upon, will be crowned as champions at the end of the season, but which will it be?

A clue maybe came in the latest round of matches when the top two locked horns at the new Canvey venue.  Led by the evergreen Terry Giddens and the hard-hitting Peter Cray it was the home side who prevailed by a score of 6/3.  However, the match was not without its controversy as the Stanford captain, Peter Moxham, felt that his team ‘wuz robbed’.  On examination however, it seems that Peter had made an error in his team selection (he picked himself) and there was no need for a VAR review.  Thankfully, reports from the scene suggest that the match was played in a good spirit, albeit with a liberal helping of choice language.

In other matches, Invicta ‘B’ were the weeks biggest winners an 8/1 victory over Matchpoint ‘C’, whose sole point came from young Cooper Hill, who got the better of Keith Baxter, in a game that went the distance, 11/8 in the decider.  Andrew St John was the POTM here.

Basildon ‘C’ were 6/3 winners over Hockley ‘C’, despite the singles matches being shared 3/3.  It was the doubles that made all the difference as Basildon came out on top in all of them.  This led Hockley skipper Gary Beck to declare that he is’not a fan of doubles’. Basildon’s Chudi Ukpaka, who has great experience at a higher level, was the POTM.

The match between Stanford ‘C’ and Hadleigh ‘B’ was a very tight affair, the result only decided in the dying embers of the final doubles.  This saw Stanford’s Vaughan Chambers and Randy Santiago come from behind against Jim Stait and Colin Barham to grab the game and match 11/9 in the deciding set.  Speaking of Jim, it is good to see him back in action after a lengthy period off the table recovering from replacement knee surgery.  He was the POTM with two singles wins, although he later admitted that he was very lucky with any number of nets and edges falling in his favour.  Still, after the frustration he has endured, he maybe deserved a bit of luck.

Hockley ‘D’ entertained Canvey ‘B’ and, in a match played in a very friendly and enjoyable atmosphere, it was the visitors who came away as 6/3 winners, led by Che Martin who won all his matches.  Hockley’s two young players, George Higgins and Anay Vatsa, put in promising performances, and this can only bode well for our league in the future.

Another fine effort from the ever improving Miles Bygrave, was not quite enough to prevent his Evolve side from slipping to a 5/4 defeat against the visiting Runnymede side. Miles won both his singles games and then joined forces with teammate Harley Dowding to come from behind in the final doubles to take the last 2 sets 17/15, 12/10 against Andrew Humphris and Steve Wisbey.

Report by Dave Woolmer

The Burnham & District Table Tennis League recently held their Annual Presentation evening at Forresters Park Golf & Country Club presided over by League Chairman Alan Dadswell.  An enjoyable evening ensued and the prizes for the years league, cup and tournament events were presented to the winners by League President Peter Ballard.  The highlights saw Peter Harverson up and down like a yoyo as his haul was immense this year, winning the Junior Singles, the Bob Partridge trophy, the Handicap Singles event as well as the Team Knockout Cup – plus a runner-up award in the Singles Plate event, and Arron Chandler winning two of the prestigious events in the Mixed Open Singles and the Hardbat Singles.  The league presented the most improved junior award to Luca Riedling of Maldon TTC with a vastly increased set of averages over the season.  A special Recognition Award was presented to Maldon’s Shirley Carroll for an incredible 50 years of competing in and winning the Ladies Doubles event – this year saw her 17^th victory in that one event, exactly 50 years after she first triumphed back in 1976.  There were some emotional moments too – especially when Wendy Richardson was able to present the Restricted Singles Cup named after her son Daniel to this year’s winner Hamish Innes.  The final award of the evening was the President’s Cup which is awarded to someone who has provided great service to the league over many years, and this year we had a most worthy recipient in Dawn Baldry the current Social Secretary and Welfare Officer.

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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer

Burnham & District Table Tennis League

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Pic 1 – Dawn Baldry receives the President’s Trophy from Peter Ballard

Pic 2 – Wendy Richardson Seen presenting the Dan Richardson trophy to Winner Hamish Innes with runner-up Graham Briggs

Pic 3 – Arron Chandler collecting the Mixed Open Singles Cup

Pic 4 – Ladies Doubles Winners – Shirley Carroll & Dawn Baldry

Pic 5 – Bob Partridge Award Winner – Peter Harverson

The top two teams in Division 1 of the Southend Summer League, Basildon A and Hockley A, both recorded 9-0 wins this week to maintain their positions at the top of the table.

League leaders Basildon walloped Hockley B with Les Hoey, Andy Seaman and Rob Burton unbeaten and only dropping four sets between them all night. No match went beyond four sets.

Hockley A’s win at Matchpoint was much harder with three matches going the distance. Hockley’s Dan Patynski found himself 2-1 down in both his singles before winning the deciding sets 11/2 in both matches. Dan Stewart and Robert Harris were Matchpoint’s unlucky losers.

The initial doubles match of the evening, Robert Harris and Samuel Morgan against Elliot Brackenbury and Sanjay Saptarshi, also went to five sets and also saw Hockley fight back from 2-1 down before winning the decider 11/4. Teenager Brackenbury took the Player of the Match award.

Whilst the leaders swept all before them fellow title contenders Rawreth and Stanford A took points off each other with Rawreth winning 6-3 to keep them in third place twelve points behind Hockley but with a game in hand.

Kevin Read was Rawreth’s star winning all his singles and doubles with Aaron Chandler providing the other two points from his singles wins. Stanford, without their star player Mitchell Jones, had Peter Weatherall and Ian Sangster to thank for their victories over Norbert Fullerton and they combined to win the doubles against Fullerton and Chandler.

Stanford stay fourth but are now ten points behind Rawreth.

Invicta A gave a debut to Charles Morris in their match against Hadleigh Forum but it turned out to be a baptism of fire as Hadleigh eased to an 8-1 victory. The match was actually level after two games with Paul Sims chalking up Invicta’s only point by beating Anthon Ranjit-Singh after Simon Jacobs and Richard Jackman had won the opening doubles for Hadleigh. After that it was pretty much plain sailing for the Hadleigh boys with just two matches going the full five sets. In the doubles Sims and Ayliffe had a 2-1 lead at one point before Ranjit-Singh and Jackman fought back to win in five sets. Sims almost claimed another point for Invicta but lost 11/8 in the fifth to Jackman.

Basildon B and Wakering, both winless, met in a bottom of the table clash but it was Wakering who emerged winners 7-2 after a hardfought match. Three matches went the distance and four to four sets. Martin Shaughnessy and Barbara Chabior both won their two singles with Shaughnessy also winning both his doubles to take the Player of the Match award and Paul England added a further singles win. Chudi Ukpaka was Basildon’s best player beating England in four sets and combining with Dave Reynolds to win their doubles. He almost added another doubles win when he and Jenne Seibolt went down in five sets to England and Shaughnessy. Wakering jump to sixth in the table.

Team of the Week – Wakering

Player of the Week – Elliot Brackenbury

Despite losing his unbeaten record in the last match of the season, Paul Davison reigned supreme in the Braintree Table Tennis League individual averages.

Given his eight men’s singles titles, it is something of a surprise to find it is only the third time he has done so.

It was Scott Dowsett who beat him in the open singles this time and he was the one who denied him a 100 per cent record in league matches.

Dowsett finished third in the averages, up eight places from last year, with just two defeats, by James Hicks and Ashley Skeggs.

Hicks finished above him, losing only to Dowsett in their second meeting, Skeggs and Luke Burridge.

Adi Kamma could put in a claim to being the success of the year, vaulting up from a 74 per cent average in division two last year to 75.8 and fifth place in the top flight.

For the second year running Matthew Brown tops the division two table, although his three defeats compared with only one last year.

This time he lost to Kamma before his rise into division one, Dave Fiddeman and James Grimston.

Fiddeman’s three defeats, to Brown, Jamie Brooks and Richard Whiteside, secured second spot while Charles Calisin, 20 last month, jumped from 14^th place to a commendable fourth.

Youth was to the fore in division three too, where 18-year-old Lucien Nolan-Bradford remained unbeaten until Ben Southgate got the better of him in late February.

He was followed by Graham Turner, who lost only twice before moving up to division two, and Peter Davenport, whose four defeats compare with nine last season.

Individual averages (qualificationone-third of team’s matches)

Division 1 (last season in brackets:

1 (2) Paul Davison 25 wins in 26 sets, average 96.2; 2 (5) James Hicks 33-36, 91.7; 3 (11) Scott Dowsett 19-21, 90.5; 4 (10) Aron Jordan 27-32, 84.4;  5 (-) Adi Kamma 25-33, 75.8; 6 (6) Andy Holmes 15-20, 75; 7 (9) Luke Burridge 26-36, 72.2; 8 (-) Richard Fifield 31-44, 70.5; 9 (30) Szczepan Ziobro 14-20, 70; 10 (13) Karl Baldwin 27-43, 62.8; 11 (22) Ian Whiteside 15-24, 62.5; 12= (26) Steve Pennell 27-45, (28) Neil Freeman 21-35, 60; 14 (20) Zach Harrington 19-33, 57.6; 15 (19) Chris Parr 30-54, 55.6; 16 (25) Sean Clift 28-51, 54.90; 17 (27) Ashley Skeggs 23-42, 54.8; 18 (16) Steve Noble 18-33, 54.6; 19 (21) Sam Burrows 19-36, 52.8; 20 (-) Steve Kerns 12-23, 52.2

Division 2

1 Matthew Brown 48-51, 94.1; 2 Dave Fiddeman 33-36, 91.7; 3 James Grimston, 21-24, 87.5; 4= Charles Calisin, Richard Whiteside 35-42, 83.3; 6 Roy Hooper 38-48, 79.2; 7 Dean Andrews 22-29, 75.9; 8= Jamie Brooks 36-48, John Colvin 30-40, 75; 10 JJ Calisin 26-36, 72.2.

Division 3

1 Lucien Nolan-Bradford 38-39, 97.4; 2 Graham Turner 22-24, 91.7; 3 Peter Davenport 40-44, 90.9; 4 Dave Parker 38-43, 88.4; 5 Ben Southgate 47-54, 87.0; 6= Dave Whiting 35-42, Conrad Gomes 20-24, 83,3; 8 Tom Verrier 33-41, 80.5; 9 Karl Bowden 41-51, 80.4; 10 Wayne Wilson 40-50, 80

Report by Ron Fosker

The Handicap Singles Tournament is always a fun and interesting event with the tweaked handicaps providing some very close encounters and a few shock results along the way.   In the early rounds there was some cracking sport – Terry Hylands gave pre-tournament favourite Eric Green a fantastic run for his money taking Eric to 21-21 in the deciding 3rd leg before succumbing to the Green composure. Dave Marsh and Tony Forster went all out in their long 3 legged affair with Marsh taking the final leg to proceed.  Louis Gunn fought hard against Eamonn Hall losing out to 2 very close legs, one going way beyond deuce, and Denis Balic fought valiantly but couldn’t do enough to best Graham Briggs who progressed.

In the Quarter-finals, Alan Scammell provided the upset of the round with a tight 2 legged victory over Green. Briggs and Sam Lowman had an all out 3 legged war which Briggs just scraped through (18,-16,18), and then Sanjay Saptarshi and Hall joined in the 3 legged fun with their own immense battle where the first 2 legs somehow went to the wrong players and then the final leg was a war of will and styles. Saptarshi prevailed (20,-19,17).  Marsh was still recovering from his battle with Forster and was unable to ‘figure out’ Kim Shead and lost out before really getting into the game.   Into the semis, and Shead didn’t really have any answers to the style and accuracy of a fired up Scammell who rattled through the points in rapid succession giving Shead little to build on. The match was over in a blur and Mr Scammell was Final bound. The other semi was a closer affair with Saptarshi and Briggs swapping forehand rallies – but with Saptarshi just that little bit more accurate and consistent and he was able to retrieve the handicap and progressed to the Final.

The Final handicapping saw Saptarshi on -6 points, and Scammell on +6pts creating a 12 point handicap – but would it be enough?  Scammell was up for the challenge – he had a twinkle in his eye and fire in his belly, and it showed as he set off like a bullet train with excellent use of his pimples against a more traditional player in Saptarshi. In the first leg Scammell built up a substantial lead and looked to be in complete control but as the leg was edging towards its conclusion Saptarshi began to relax and was hitting more winners and Scammell was struggling to get his first leg over the line. Somehow we ended up at deuce but the drama only intensified as the Finalists exchanged blows with Saptarshi nicking his customary net or edge at a crucial moment to stay in the leg – we were warned! At 22-22 and Scammell having missed out on 2 leg points Saptarshi took control and stole a leg that should never have been his – superb endurance from the Mumbai Magician. An even more determined and angrier Scammell went on a blitz at the start of leg 2 with Saptarshi unable to stay in touch. By the time Saptarshi had caught up his handicap he found himself 17-0 to the deficit and in desperate need of a local miracle. He managed to nick the next couple of points to dent the over enthusiasm at the opponent’s end of the table but surely it was just a matter of time. But then it was up to 5-17, and then 8-17 and Scammell seemed bereft of his earlier exuberance and he was the one with the pang of worry etched onto his face. As Sanjay racked up the points the drop in energy levels from Scammell was palpable and amazingly Saptarshi levelled out at 18-18 – a truly amazing comeback, and with minimal use of nets and edges for a change, more accuracy and shot selection of the highest order. But we weren’t finished – Scammell took a 19-18 lead and there was still hope in the room. He went for a cross court winner that had Saptarshi flailing but the ball just missed the edge by a cats whisker – the ifs and maybes of sport! So at 19-19 and with his body seizing up Scammell went all out attack and Saptarshi somehow retrieved a forehand smash and the return just clipped the edge to give Saptarshi a very unexpected but extremely well earned match point….. Which of course he took forcing an error from the drained and bewildered Scammell. A very memorable Final that was full of skill, emotion, and the ebbs and flows of sporting chance. Congratulations to both players.

Danbury Handicap Singles Champion 2026 – ‘The Breaker of Hearts’ – Sanjay Saptarshi

Pic 1 – Action from the Final – Sanjay Saptarshi versus Alan Scammell

Pic 2 – The post match handshake

Report by Eamonn Hall

Southend Summer League

Basildon A are starting to impose themselves at the top of the Division 1 table after chalking up their first maximum of the season with a 9-0 win against Matchpoint A. They now have a five point lead from Hockley A in second place. Ian Wall, Les Hoey and Andy Seaman were pretty much in control throughout although Hannah Harbour extended Seaman to five sets leading 2-1 at one stage, and alongside Stephen Heard they took  Seaman and Hoey the distance also leading 2-1 before being edged out. Hoey took the POTM award with two straight set singles wins.

Second placed Hockley couldn’t quite match Basildon’s 9-0 win but were only just behind as they beat Invicta A 8-1. It must have been an early finish as no game went beyond four sets and it was left to Tony Ayliffe to claim Invicta’s consolation point as he beat Sanjay Saptarshi clinching victory with a lengthy 19/17 win in the fourth set. Apart from that Saptarshi, alongside Tim Pang and Tarun Goel raced through their games in emphatic style.

Match of the week turned out to be Hadleigh A against Rawreth where the title favourites scraped a 5-4 win. This was down in no small part to Hadleigh revealing what must be the signing of the summer season in England Vets international John Poysden. No Thorpe Bay team in the summer league so an out of contract Poysden has been snapped up by Hadleigh captain Anthon Ranjit-Singh and he made an immediate impact. In a match which saw four games go to five sets Poysden won all his to claim the POTM award ahead of Rawreth’s Keith Adams. Rawreth started in fine style easing into a 3-1 lead with Deborah Auvache beating Simon Jacob and Adams defeating Richard Jackman plus combining to win their doubles with Poysden picking up his first singles win beating Norbert Fullerton. Rawreth extended this lead to 5-2 with the key match being Fullerton’s five set win against Jackman. Jackman was 2-1 down before winning the fourth 11/3 and then fought back again from 8-2 down in the fifth to level at 8-8 but was eventually beaten 15/13 in a great match. Hadleigh made the score respectable winning the last two matches the evening culminating in a five set thriller between Jackman and Poysden and Fullerton and Adams. The Hadleigh boys found themselves 2-1 down, levelled at 2-2, and at 8-9 down in the fifth an extended 20+ shot rally finally went their way and they won the next two points to clinch the match 11/9.

Whilst that win left Rawreth in third place all the top three sides should be wary of Stanford A who have only played three games so far but whilst they have the unbeaten Mitchell Jones in their side they are certainly capable of creating a few upsets. They beat Basildon B 6-3 this week to chalk up their third win and needless to say Jones was outstanding again winning all his singles and doubles and not dropping a set. Teammate Peter Weatherall also won both his singles but Rob Salvage found it a lot harder going but was unlucky to lose both his singles in five sets. Against Peter Hilton he fought back from 2-0 down to lose 11/8 in the fifth and against Dawn Baldry he did exactly the same this time losing by the closest of margins 12/10 in the decider. Hilton and Baldry then combined to beat Salvage and Weatherall in the final doubles in another five set match. Stanford go into fourth place.

Hockley B picked up their first win of the season against winless Wakering in a classic 5-4 victory. The score ebbed and flowed throughout the evening Hockley finding themselves 2-1 and 3-2 down, then leading 4-3 onlyto be taken to a match deciding ninth game in the final doubles of the evening. Up to that point Wakering’s Barbara Chabior had featured in two five set matches coming back from two sets down against Paul Ogden to win the fifth 11/6 only to see exactly the reverse happen as she lost a two set lead against Brian Bissenden eventually going down 11/7 13/11 8/11 10/12 10/12 in a really tight and entertaining game. Callum Turner took the match honours with his two singles wins against Ogden and Stuart Adshead but wins for Adshead and Bissenden against Jaspreet Singh kept the sides level. The deciding doubles between Ogden and Bissenden and Chabior and Singh turned out to be another exciting match as Hockley fought back from a two set deficit to level the match and then win a really tight fifth set 13/11. A fitting way to end an enjoyable evening.

Team of the Week – Rawreth

Player of the Week – John Poysden

Report by Paul Strutt

Division 2

We are roughly at the halfway point of this Summer League season and, in Division 2, it is Stanford B and Canvey A who are setting the pace.

Both teams have an experienced squad of players to call on, but it is Stanford who head the table with 49 points, from Canvey who have 41 points, but have played a game less.

Basildon C, Invicta B and Stanford C* occupy joint 3^rd place with 36 points.

Evolve, Hockley B and Hadleigh B are tightly grouped in mid-table, separated by just 2 points.

Runnymede, Matchpoint C, Hockley D and Canvey B are all awaiting their first win and occupy the bottom 4 places.

As far as individual performances are concerned, a number of players have a 100% singles win record, but it is Stanford B’s Adrian Armstrong who leads the way with a 10/10 success rate.  He is followed by Miles Bygrave and Teddy Kent from Evolve and Dave Woolmer from Hadleigh B who have all won 6/6. The other unbeaten players have only played 1 or 2 matches.

Report by Dave Woolmer.

Netts A may have retained their title in the Braintree Table Tennis League but the story of the year could be said to be the continuing rise of Sudbury.

Their A team, Nomads, have risen from second division champions in 2023 to seventh place in division one in 2024, third last season and runners-up this year.

They also won the team knockout cup, breaking the stranglehold of Netts, Rayne and Liberal, who had monopolised it since 2011.

In addition, Wanderers, promoted last year, kept their place in the top division, and Strollers rose from second place in division three to second place in division two.

They also added a fourth team, Drifters, this year and are likely to add a fifth next season.

With Netts combining their A and B teams it looked at the start of the season that a title challenge might even be possible but the Earls Colne club husbanded their resources well enough to ensure that the title was not going to slip away from them that easily.

Last year’s A team, Paul Davison, James Hicks and Andy Holmes, played 82 sets between them while the B team’s Szczepan Ziobro and Joe Meleschko both made impressive advances, Ziobro from a 36 per cent average to 70 per cent and Meleschko from 25 to 51.

It meant that they ended up with a clear 19-point lead at the top of the table.

The foot of the table featured a close battle for survival between Liberal B (last year’s B and C teams combined), Wanderers and Black Notley B.

Notley B, unexpectedly promoted after finishing third in division two, handled the higher standard well but eventually fell just two points short of safety.

The success of Rayne C in division two was a given almost from the start.  A team of Matthew Brown, Dave Marsh, Steve Buer and Paul Wellington did not look likely to give much away and ended with a 24-point winning margin.

Strollers came good after a modest start (33 points from seven matches) once John Colvin and Dave Fiddeman started playing regularly and won nine of their last 11 matches.

At the bottom Notley D may have set a league record, going down despite averaging more than four points a match.  League records are patchy before 1970, but it has certainly not happened in the last 56 years.

Division three turned out to be the most interesting of the title races.  Finchingfield B looked to be the most likely winners as they won their first seven matches and moved into a seven-point lead.

But Notley E, who had lost to them during that run, gradually picked up the pace and reined them in.

It wasn’t until match 16 that they overtook them but they ended up with a nine-point lead.

It would undoubtedly have been closer if Lucien Nolan-Bradford, who had an outstanding season in which he lost only once, not missed four of the last five matches.

But Notley’s consistency, in particular Peter Davenport (who won 91 per cent of his sets) and Dave Parker (88 per cent), saw them home.

Netts A may have retained their title in the Braintree Table Tennis League but the story of the year could be said to be the continuing rise of Sudbury.

Their A team, Nomads, have risen from second division champions in 2023 to seventh place in division one in 2024, third last season and runners-up this year.

They also won the team knockout cup, breaking the stranglehold of Netts, Rayne and Liberal, who had monopolised it since 2011.

In addition, Wanderers, promoted last year, kept their place in the top division, and Strollers rose from second place in division three to second place in division two.

They also added a fourth team, Drifters, this year and are likely to add a fifth next season.

With Netts combining their A and B teams it looked at the start of the season that a title challenge might even be possible but the Earls Colne club husbanded their resources well enough to ensure that the title was not going to slip away from them that easily.

Last year’s A team, Paul Davison, James Hicks and Andy Holmes, played 82 sets between them while the B team’s Szczepan Ziobro and Joe Meleschko both made impressive advances, Ziobro from a 36 per cent average to 70 per cent and Meleschko from 25 to 51.

It meant that they ended up with a clear 19-point lead at the top of the table.

The foot of the table featured a close battle for survival between Liberal B (last year’s B and C teams combined), Wanderers and Black Notley B.

Notley B, unexpectedly promoted after finishing third in division two, handled the higher standard well but eventually fell just two points short of safety.

The success of Rayne C in division two was a given almost from the start.  A team of Matthew Brown, Dave Marsh, Steve Buer and Paul Wellington did not look likely to give much away and ended with a 24-point winning margin.

Strollers came good after a modest start (33 points from seven matches) once John Colvin and Dave Fiddeman started playing regularly and won nine of their last 11 matches.

At the bottom Notley D may have set a league record, going down despite averaging more than four points a match.  League records are patchy before 1970, but it has certainly not happened in the last 56 years.

Division three turned out to be the most interesting of the title races.  Finchingfield B looked to be the most likely winners as they won their first seven matches and moved into a seven-point lead.

But Notley E, who had lost to them during that run, gradually picked up the pace and reined them in.

It wasn’t until match 16 that they overtook them but they ended up with a nine-point lead.

It would undoubtedly have been closer if Lucien Nolan-Bradford, who had an outstanding season in which he lost only once, not missed four of the last five matches.

But Notley’s consistency, in particular Peter Davenport (who won 91 per cent of his sets) and Dave Parker (88 per cent), saw them home.

Report by Ron Fosker