The Burnham & District Table Tennis League is back with a vengeance with three highly competitive divisions again this year. Already some of the top players have laid down a challenge with impressive opening week performances. 

In Division 1 the League’s top player from last season, Duncan Taylor, continued from where he left off with a commanding hat-trick of victories for Cold Norton A over a somewhat shell-shocked trio from Fambridge. 

A match that featured six of the county’s finest players saw Taylor overcome the challenges of Keith Adams, John Poysden and Gary Young, with fantastic support from his partners in crime Kevin Read and Charles Sweeny each chipping in with two wins. 

Taylor and his trusted doubles sidekick Read are usually an odds-on bet in any league doubles encounter but this week they lost out in a marathon battle that went to 14-12 in the fifth set as the Fambridge duo of Adams and Young were equally steadfast and brave in taking the unexpected point. 

Mapledene A will be looking to go one better than their runner-up spot last season and they kicked off proceedings with a very strong side that whitewashed newly promoted Woodham C. A bit harsh on the new boys as they pushed the Mapledeners very hard, taking four of the matches to a fifth set. Hat-tricks all round for Liam Squirrell, George Reeves and Steve Muth. 

In the final division 1 match current champions Woodham A held out for a respectable 7-3 victory over two-man Mapledene B. For Woodham Lee McHugh was unbeaten, and for Mapledene the irrepressible Keith Willett was on top form taking the scalps of Dan Piggott and Sanjay Saptarshi.

In Division 2 there was drama on the banks of the Blackwater as the two top Maldon sides met in the opening match of the season. After lots of huffing and puffing and long matches the A team emerged victorious registering an impressive 8-2 scoreline against one of the better teams in the league. The A team’s Dawn Baldry and Hamish Innes both scored hat-tricks, with the B sides Colin Barrell and Garry Eames both picking up a point against Brian Riedling. 

Cold Norton D outscored Maldon A to take the early league leader title following a comprehensive 9-1 turnover of Stow Maries C. Hat-tricks for both Dave Hancox and Peter Lucraft, with the plucky Tim Huxtable taking the only Stow point in his victory over Roy Gandy. Maybe this is the year for the Cold Norton D machine – they have underperformed in recent campaigns and are a due a good showing! 

The last match was a much closer affair as Stow B and Blackwater B traded blows throughout the contest. Stow’s Dave Moles took his hat-trick to square the match up at 4-4 and it was anyone’s game to win from here. Blackwater’s Louis Gunn then blasted his way past Pete Layzell to secure a 5-4 lead going into the final match of the contest. 

A proper new versus old encounter this as young Noah Sage, beclad in the Blackwater armour, entered the arena to do battle with the Stow stalwart Dave Marsh. Sage took an early 2-0 lead but Marsh was not rolling over for anyone to tickle him and duly fought back to take the third leg. In a tightly contested fourth leg Sage emerged victorious and secured the opening week bragging rights. 6-4 to Blackwater B.

Division 3 is back to a full complement of teams and a regular home and away season. Blackwater D have set the early pace with a stonking 9-1 victory over Maldon E. Blackwater’s Ron Tam and Jason Bush were unbeaten but the usually reliable hat-trick merchant Peter Davenport lost out 12-10 in the deciding leg to the hard-working John Leavett. 

The individual triumphs were well distributed in the draw betwixt Blackwater C and Maldon D. Only Blackwater’s Noah Sage notched a hat-trick, with Maldon’s young starlet Arthur Shadforth picking up a brace of wins for his team. 

The final match of the week had plenty of drama before a ball had been pinged or ponged as Woodham lost their captain before the kick-off against St Lawrence. But with the recovering Gus Heath in their team that certainly had a chance of picking up some points despite being a player down. 

Heath did indeed record a hat-trick but was taken all the way beyond deuce in the fifth by the dogged Mike Pratley. Along with Pratley, Dave Siggins and Roy Hutchins both picked up a win against Diane King – with Hutchins recovering from a 0-2 deficit to flop over the finishing line. Heath and King came from behind in the doubles to keep the scoreline a respectable 6-4 to St Lawrence.