September 30, 2025 | Eamonn Hall
Week 2 of the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League and normal service has resumed in the top division as the shell-shocked pre-season favourites get back to winning ways after disastrous opening week showings.
The three favourite teams from Division 1 all recorded impressive 9-1 victories this week – a great start for the defending champions Cold Norton B who saw off newly promoted Stow Maries A.
Cold Norton had a great week last week without lifting a paddle as their nearest expected rivals both fell to unexpected opening-week losses but normal service resumed as both Mapledene A and Fambridge both recorded their own 9-1 adrenalin filled and morale boosting conquests.
It was a relatively comfortable evening of sport for Cold Norton B at the Latchingdon arena with hat-tricks for Eric Green and a ‘nine-dart†treble for player of the match Dave Richardson.
Captain Dan Anderson was looking treble bound himself having already taken the scalps of Ken Sheard and Richard Storey and seemingly comfortable at 2-0 up against Gary Brignall but Autumn can blow hot and cold and something changed in the weather after the gladiators came out for the third set. Brignall went ballistic, and as the leaves fell down around the battling Anderson he was unable to weather the storm as Brignall took the whitewash-saving point for his Stow crew.
It was a similar story as Fambridge tortured Woodham B with a professional victory. Bruce Kettle reversed his losing hat-trick of opening week with an unblemished winning treble this week – not a set dropped, not even close!
Bonnici v Kettle
John Poysden, looking far too suave to be eligible for the Over 70s crowd, also notched his first hat-trick of the season, including a tight five-setter against one of his bogey opponents Sanjay Saptarshi.
At 9-0 up it was all going swimmingly for the mighty Fambridge. The final match-up of the night saw Saptarshi enter the Octagon to face Gurj Bhambra – currently unbeaten although he had a five-set scare against Tony Bonnici earlier in the evening where he came back from 0-2 down to win through. A topsy turvy one this one and after the initial slugfest the match was stalemated at 2-2. The final set saw Bhambra falter as the ‘awesome†Saptarshi held his nerve to gain his teamâ€s single point right at the death.
John Poysden
In the final 9-1 bloodbath, Mapledene A outclassed Woodham A. Woodhamâ€s Daniel Piggott providing some resistance in his matches at least, losing out in five to both Steve Muth and George Reeves, and then in four against Burnham debutant Dan Bronziet – a very welcome addition to the leagueâ€s roster.
Muth and Bronziet completed their hat-tricks in style. Reeves, however, encountered some unexpected resistance from the plucky Graham Briggs who was bouncing around like a madman retrieving everything Reeves threw at him. At deuce in the deciding set the big money was on Reeves holding his nerve but in another shock it went the other way as Briggs notched up what he later described as the best win in his 20-year career.
Graham Briggs takes on George Reeves
A busy week in Division 2 saw a schedule of much closer encounters. Stow Maries B edged their match against Blackwater B, needing the doubles to secure a 6-4 victory. All this despite Blackwaterâ€s smooth operator Simon Quelch bringing his A-game and going home undefeated for a losing player-of-the-match performance.
In the Maldon derby everyone was able to secure at least a point for their team as Maldon B came out 6-4 victors, again needing the doubles bonus point to secure that winning margin. Dawn Baldry was the best of the Maldon C trio with two wins, which was equalled by Steve Aspland and Colin Barrell for the victorious Maldon B.
Maldon A travelled to Mapledene C this week and toddled home with a hard-fought draw. Colin Napper and Ross Kirby both took two wins for the Maldonites, with Denniss Squirrell matching that for Mapledene C, and also pairing up with Bill Smith for the crucial doubles point.
In the match of the night – and probably a lengthy affair – Maldonâ€s Hamish Innes outlasted Smith in a rollercoaster five-setter that went all the way to 11-9 in the decider.
Newbies Cold Norton E bounced back from their opening week defeat to secure both a 7-3 win and the Cold Norton bragging rights as they tore apart their own D team. Hat-tricks for both Dick Wyman and Neil Want, and a nod to young Oscar Wyman who worked hard but lost his singles but still paired up with his grandad for an impressive doubles victory – 12-10 in the fifth!
In Division 3 the Blackwater winning streak had to come to an end – and with a Blackwater derby scheduled for the Monday it didnâ€t take a genius to work out when this might happen. It fell to Blackwater E to let the Club down as they allowed the Blackwater F trio to beat them 7-3 with Keith Thompson in the starring role with a fine hat-trick of wins, and a supporting role in the doubles as Vanessa Thompson took the lead and brought home the spoils. For the dejected E team Andy Simmonds had a good evening with two victories out of his three matches.Â
Vanessa and Keith Thompson
Blackwater D kept up their impressive start with a crunching 9-1 win over a strong looking St Lawrence team. Trebles for Jacqui Treacy and bat twisting Roger Tiffin, while David Sage came close to emulating his team-mates but fell to the defensive minded Mike Burton.
To continue the theme of good starts Blackwater C crushed Woodham D with an imposing 8-2 margin. Woodhamâ€s hard-hitting Chris Crooks was the only Woodhamite to take a singles point as he defeated Peter Davenport in the battle of the youth. Crooks then partnered up with Jean Chasmer for the second point in a fiery doubles victory. For the triumphant Blackwater team there were hat-tricks for Andrea Alleyne and Neil Thompson – with Thompson needing all five sets to get past the in-form Crooks.
The final fixture of the week was another Maldon derby – they are officially like London buses. Another close fought battle of Maldon ensued and we must now wait until the reverse fixture to see if we can separate the Maldon D and E teams following this weekâ€s draw.
Maldon Eâ€s John Leavett was the star player on the night with an unmatched treble of singles victories, with the D teamâ€s Shirley Carroll and Luca Riedling both recording a brace of wins for the bulk of their points haul. So despite the disappointing loss for the Blackwater E team this set of results still leaves the Blackwater club occupying all top four spots in the early leaderboard.
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