For the first time in 11 seasons, Paul Davison enters the Braintree Table Tennis League individual events this weekend unbeaten in league matches.

Davison has won the men’s singles eight times but has usually been more vulnerable in the league.

It was in 2014 when he last had an unblemished record going into the event and duly won the title, although he subsequently lost in a league match to Rayne A’s Kuan Lim.

This time he starts as a strong favourite to retain his singles title when the events get under way at the Earls Colne Recreation Centre this weekend with finals night on the following Friday.

He may once again face his sternest test against Paul Lucas, who stretched him to 12-10 in the fifth game in last season’s semi final. But Lucas had beaten him in the league last season. Not so this time when Davison won in three straight games.

As well as Lucas, Davison can expect a strong challenge from Gary Young, also unbeaten and seeded second. Young has not had to face Davison, his Netts A teammate, in Braintree but it may be significant that he lost to him in three straight games two weeks ago in the Colchester League.

Davison and Young team up in the men’s doubles with last season’s runners-up Brandon Crouchman and Scott Dowsett seeded to face them in the final.

Louise Hartshorn is seeded to retain her ladies’ singles title but will face strong opposition from 17-year-old Alesha Ellis-Austin, in her first season in the Braintree League. They have faced each other twice this season and won one each.

In the league, Sudbury Wanderers have clinched the division two title after a 10-0 win over Notley F put them out of range. They were without Louise Hartshorn for only the second time this season, but Ian Shrubsole, David Hitchen and Colin Moss got the job done.

Meanwhile the race for second place has hotted up with a late run by Black Notley D taking them up into second place. They jumped above Rayne’s D and E teams with a 9-1 win over Notley F after earlier suffering a 6-4 defeat at the hands of Rayne E but overcoming Rayne F by the same scoreline.

Alesha Ellis-Austin lost to Matthew Brown (11-7 in the fifth game) in the first match but won her other eight sets.

Rayne D and E both drew their other match in the two-week period, the D team becoming only the second team this season to stop Wanderers winning while the E team were held by sixth-placed Netts C.

Adi Kamma made the difference for Rayne D with three wins including the rarity of a set in which all five games were decided by two points, his 3-2 (9-11, 13-15, 11-9, 13-11, 11-9) victory over Colin Moss.

Netts C and Notley C both had 9-1 wins, against teams from their own stable, D and E respectively. Notley C also overcame Yeldham Whitlocks A 6-4.

Netts D remain rooted to the bottom after a 9-1 defeat by Rayne F while in the intra-club battle immediately above them, Notley’s E team beat the F team 7-3. The E team all had to give second best to Graham Chinnery.

The third division title has also been decided after Finchingfield A’s 6-4 win over Sudbury Strollers put them beyond reach. It was a repeat of the scoreline from the first time the teams met and is only the second time they have dropped more than three sets.

The details were remarkably similar. Richard Fifield won his three singles on both occasions while Strollers’ wins were shared, this time two each for John Barrett and Peter Clark and one for Dave Punt, compared with two for Barrett and Punt and one for Clark first time round. Crucially, they won the doubles on both occasions.

Strollers also had a 9-1 win over Notley H, where Terry Hunneybel won twice in his first outing of the season. Third-placed Notley G had two 7-3 wins, over Notley I and Netts E.

Dave Montgomery’s 21-set unbeaten run came to an end in the second match, when he was found wanting by both Peter Davenport and Ken Wilding.

Rayne G’s hopes of finishing fourth were diminished after they dropped three points to Netts F and six to Netts E.

Finchingfield B are level on points with them and one point behind Notley I after wins of 9-1 over Rayne H and 7-3 over Yeldham B. Stewart Grant was unbeaten in both matches. Yeldham B won their other match, with Netts E, 7-3, with Steve Willis unbeaten

In the clash of the bottom two teams, Rayne H beat Notley H 8-2. Ethan Collins, back in his normal habitat, won his three singles.

In division one, leaders Netts A, without Paul Davison, lost their 100 per cent record when they were held to a draw by second-placed Rayne A. Gary Young was unbeaten, including a straight-games win over Paul Lucas. They also beat Liberal C 9-1.

Third-placed Sudbury Nomads had a 7-3 win over Liberal A, whose three wins all came from Scott Dowsett, and a win of 10-0 over Rayne C, where the main story was the appearance of 10-year-old Ethan Collins in the Rayne team, almost certainly the youngest player ever to appear in the top division.

He was not disgraced either, giving Karl Baldwin (current average 64 per cent) plenty to think about before emerging with an 11-13, 11-3, 12-10, 11-9 win.

Before that, Rayne C had scored their first win of the season, 6-4 over Notley A.

Liberal B jumped above Rayne B into fourth place after 8-2 wins against both Notley B, where they won five of the six sets that went the full five games, and Liberal C.

Rayne B meanwhile had two 6-4 defeats, to Netts B and Notley B. Jon Hill won his three singles against his former teammates in the first match while Sam Burrows was unbeaten for Notley B.

Notley B also held Nomads to a draw thanks to three singles from Luke Burridge.