There were four wins from four week one matches for Chelmsford TTC juniors as the new Chelmsford & District League season got under way.
Chelmsford Junior League division 1A
The all-Hutton clash went in favour of the Hawks as Jago Ware won twice in his side’s 4-1 victory over the Harriers. Ware recovered from going a game down to James Williamson to win six games in a row, while teammate Noah Middleton let a 2-0 lead against Oliver Davies slip before edging out Williamson over five games.
The Chelmsford Lions and the Chelmsford Tigers posted identical 3-2 wins against the two teams from Buttsbury who fielded the same two players for both matches. Joshua Freeman won all four of his singles matches dropping just two games in the process – his most competitive match looked to be his 11-9, 14-12, 13-11 win over Amir Chetitah. Chetitah and Callum Walker were involved in a tight contest with the Chelmsford player earning a 3-2 win. Chetitah and Ethan Collins clinched the match victory in the Lions-Bats doubles encounter with a fine recovery from 2-1 down.
Chelmsford Junior League division 1B
There were two wins for Chelmsford teams in week one of junior league division 1B as the Jaguars beat the Hutton Hyenas 4-1 and the Leopards beat the Buttsbury Bulldogs 5-0. Tianfu Liu and Sean Kwan were undefeated in their singles matches for the Jaguars though Liu was taken the distance by both Hutton players Jacob Fernandez and Shayan Torne.
Liu’s recovery against Fernandez was especially impressive having lost the first two games 11-1 and 11-5. Torne and Fernandez staged a fine turnaround of their own as they won the doubles contest 3-2 (3-11, 3-11, 11-9, 13-11, 16-14).
Sai Suresh and Archie Spurrier won twice apiece for the Leopards in their victory at Buttsbury. The closest match of the night was Spurrier’s 3-2 win over Ethan Bird which finished an entertaining 9-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11 to the Leopards ace.
Division 1
Galleywood A started their division one campaign with a 7-3 home win over Chelmsford B as James Hicks and Alistair Hill both hit three wins apiece. Hicks won his first two matches in straight games before having to recover from 2-1 down to beat Waseem Qureshi. Qureshi had earlier fallen victim of a Hill fightback from 2-0 behind – this was after Hill had beaten Wiktor Delimat from 2-1 down.
Last year’s runners-up Chelmsford A started their 2024/2025 campaign with a 6-4 home win against the two-person team of Writtle A. Harry Chivers won both of his matches, though was well tested in his second match which went the distance. Josh Bickles chipped in with a 3-0 win over Trevor Carter – Carter had earlier got the better of Kim Shead by the same scoreline. The Writtle duo bounced back after comprehensively losing the first game to take the doubles encounter 3-1.
Chris Penrose fired a hat-trick as his Danbury A side got the better of clubmates Danbury B by a 7-3 scoreline – teammate Bruce Kettle chipped in with two wins. Penrose beat Neil Want in three, Sam Lowman in four and recovered from 2-1 down to beat Sanjay Saptarshi.
Division 2
Newly promoted Buttsbury A started life in division two with a bang as they beat Writtle B 9-1. Jamie Elliott and Harrison Hill won three matches apiece with two 3-0 wins for David Gatheral before he was undone by Trevor Carter.
Martin Archie fired a treble as last year’s division two runners-up Hatfield Peverel A started their season with a 7-3 away win at Writtle C. Archie was taken the distance by Writtle’s John Webber while the match between Writtle’s Gary Ward and Peverel’s Paul Mulley also went to five games – Ward recovering from 2-1 down.
The fixture between Danbury D and Chelmsford C ended in a 5-5 draw as Chelmsford’s Simon Jarvis won all three matches. Jarvis was taken the distance by Sanjay Saptarshi who himself beat Dusan Doszkoty and Adi Kamma. Kamma had battled back from 2-0 down against David Penrose only to see the Danbury man take the decider.
Division 3
In Division 3, Chelmsford D won 9-1 at Hatfield Peverel B thanks to a hat-trick apiece for both Alex Tkachuk and Mike Johnson. Peverel’s Neil Freeman may have felt unfortunate to have been on the losing end of two five-gamers – he also lost a close contest with Alex Tkachuk. Peter Mortensen took the scalp of Adi Kamma for Peverel’s sole point but then missed out over five games in the doubles when teaming with Mortensen.
Matthew Brown fired a treble as Writtle D earned a close 6-4 home win over Danbury J. Gus Heath and John Tendler won two apiece for the visitors, though both players lost out to Brown – Heath having led 2-0.
Gary Copsey started his season with a treble as his Galleywood C side got the better of Chelmsford E by a 6-4 scoreline. Chelmsford’s Alesha Ellis-Austin and James Grimston both won twice – Grimston recovered from 2-1 down to beat Bryn Thomas.
Three wins for Harry Sawford backed up by two for Dennis Squirrell spurred Buttsbury B to a 6-4 away win at Writtle E. Sawford dropped just one game on the night – the opener in his clash with Dave Moles, while Squirrell came through a tough battle with Malcolm Storey.
A good team effort by Danbury G saw them take home a 7-3 win from Chelmsford F despite a hat-trick from Cleon Fernandes. Denis Crapnell and Louis Gunn both saw Fernandes recover from losing positions to earn two of his victories in deciding games.
Danbury H and OCA C were embroiled in an entertaining contest which ended in a 6-4 win for the home side after two wins apiece for Scott Perry, Alan Dadswell and Peter Harverson. OCA’s Tom Barker won twice but was undone by a recovery from Perry when leading 2-0 – Barker got a measure of revenge in the doubles contest by teaming with Luke Richardson and edging Perry and Harverson 3-2.
Division 4
Hutton A’s 9-1 home win over OCA D was the biggest margin of victory in week one of division four. The father-son duo of Alex and Charlie Ware helped themselves to a treble each while Tina Hutchinson’s only loss of the night was to David Bishop.
Marty Englander hit a hat-trick and there were two wins apiece for Chris Ravenhill and Andrea Alleyne as Maldon B beat Danbury M 8-2. Englander dropped just two games in his three victories while Danbury’s Graham Naggs recovered from 2-0 down to beat Ravenhill.
Alex Wilson won all three singles matches and he was backed up with braces by Greg Cooper and John Manning as Danbury L claimed a 7-3 away success at Highwood A. Highwood’s Melanie Bonnett won two five-gamers for the hosts but lost out to Wilson in four close games.
Nick Rounce dropped just one game en route to his three victories in Galleywood D’s 7-3 away win at Buttsbury C. Stewart Ireland and Lewis Armstrong both won twice for the visitors – each losing out to Buttsbury’s Kevin Willis. Willis pushed Rounce in their contest but couldn’t quite get a game on the board losing out 10-12, 8-11, 13-15.
Dave Powell’s three wins led his Danbury K side to a 6-4 home win over Buttsbury D. Kevin Willis was in action again for Buttsbury and he won twice as did his teammate Phil Shippen – Shippen squeezed past Dave Oxley-Goody in the deciding game.
After a successful campaign in division five last season, Mark Nolan fired a hat-trick in his first appearance in division four as his Chelmsford G team drew 5-5 with Hatfield Peverel C. Deb Ginn won twice for the visitors though she was taken to five games by Martin Brunker. Nolan had to recover from 2-1 down against Peverel’s Bob Hillis in the evening’s opener.
Division 5
Steve Webster and Charlie Gould won three matches apiece as Hutton B opened their division five campaign with a 9-1 away win at Highwood B. Webster dropped just one game while Gould squeezed past Martin Goddard and Keith Pallett by identical 3-2 score lines.
Jenne Seibolt and Lucy Elliott both hit hat-tricks in Buttsbury E’s 8-2 away win at Galleywood E. The closest contest of the evening was Steve Peacock’s come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Freya Hart.
Three wins for James Raymond and two each for Arthur Shadforth and Kym Eames fired Maldon C to an 8-2 away victory at Hatfield Peverel F. Peverel’s David Benstead won twice for the hosts – his victory over Kym Eames being a nail-biting 3-2 (10-12, 8-11, 11-7, 13-11, 14-12).
There were three wins for Writtle F’s Michael Anthony and two for Paul Aarons as the visitors beat Hatfield Peverel D 6-4. Peverel’s Richard Drozd won twice but lost out to Anthony despite leading 2-1.
James Grindlay won three in Chelmsford H’s 5-5 home draw with Hatfield Peverel E. The closest match of the night was the first of Jackie Treacy’s two wins whereby she held off a Shengbing Zhu fightback from 2-0 down to take the decider. Zhu later lost to Davina Brazier by the same 3-2 scoreline.
