News From The Guildford Table Tennis Association April 2023

Published on: 25 Apr, 2023
Updated on: 24 Apr, 2023

Report by Steve Day

Although there are a few games still to be completed, most of the key positions have been concluded.

The one title that’s still be decided is the winners of Division Four. However, here’s a round-up of the season.

The Premier Division title chase has probably been the closest for a number of years with four teams in contention going into the final month.

Most people’s favourites to succeed, Merrow A have all but taken the title, although in theory Merrow B could draw level points-wise if they beat Merrow C 9-0 in their final match.

Currently in runners up position are the surprise team of the season, College Hill A. However, they are only five points ahead so could be overtaken by Merrow B who, as already advised, have one game to play and /or Burymead A who also have one match against their B team to play.

No surprises at the other end of the table as Godalming B took the wooden spoon.

Adam Laws had another great season and topped the averages with an amazing 95%.

He played a total of 60 matches and lost only three (two of those to John Robinson!)

In second place with 90.48% was Max Flint, followed by Phil Snelson on 90.32%.

Also worthy of mention are, Jason Tendler, Graham Faulkner, David Woodacre, Daniel Heo, Paul Baker and Martin Townsend, who all played more than 50 matches during the season.

Talking of commitment to our sport, John Callcut played 45 matches for Merrow B. Great also to see Shaun Robertson back playing at the top.

Godalming C.

While Division One was a fairly close race for most of the season, Godalming C pulled away at the end to finish with a convincing lead over second placed Challoner A.

Aftermath A had a good season to finish third, although the same cannot be said for their B team who took the wooden spoon!

Bramley A.

Bramley A finished second to bottom. Merrow’s Dave Halfpenny and Abinger’s Chris Pullinger topped the averages.

Ash led the way in Division Two, pretty much all season and eventually finished top with a match still to play.

James Wyncoll. Ash.

A great team effort with three of their players, Hudson Foley, Vasco Correia and James Wyncoll, in the top six for the division.

A young Godalming F side were second with Woking A third. Merrow E took the wooden spoon in this division.

Following the very sad passing of Ian Farley, Bramley B withdrew from the league and their results were expunged.

On an individual basis there were some great performances with Ash’s Hudson Foley finishing top of the averages with 81.82%.

The next four players all recorded averages of 75% or just over. The odd one out and therefore second was Annay Gandhi with 75.93%. Both the top two team’s players showed a great commitment in the number of matches played.

Division Three saw longtime leaders, Bramley C, confirmed as winners.

Angela and Peter Coventry. Bramley C.

The team of Angela and Peter Coventry together with Mark Lockyer where too consistent for the likes of second and third placed teams, Merrow F and College Hill D.

In fact, their lead at the finish was around 30 points.

A young Godalming H side finished last, despite the efforts of James Scott and Katie Snelson.

Top of the averages was Sasan Bigdeli of Godalming G (84.91%) and Caden Wilson of College Hill D (83.67%).

No less than 13 people played more than 50 matches for their teams. These included, the Coventrys, Mark Lockyer, Sasan Bigdeli, Caden Wilson, Stephen Schofield, David Barraclough, James Scott, Richard Abbey, Shula Laws, Richard Phelps, Keith Brown and Gianluca Sozzi.

Last but by no means least, Division Four! As already mentioned, it is the one division where everything is still to be decided.

Merrow G are now favourites, thanks to their Merrow H team mates, in particular, Alex Webb who won all his three matches against title rivals Challoner B.

Challoner B.

The current position is… Merrow H played 18/18 – 92 pts, Merrow G played 16/18 – 91 pts, Challoner B played 17/18 – 90 pts.

Godalming J.

Challoner will be hoping for a big win in their final match against Godalming J. However, even if they win 9-0, Merrow G will only have to win nine points from their last two fixtures, one of which is against bottom team Abinger B.

In terms of individual performances, Max Swindells of Merrow G leads the averages with a fantastic 93.9% followed by Alex Webb of Merrow H with 84.5%.

These two are currently followed by Robert Martin (80%), Ross Matthew (78.8%), Tao Chen (77.8%) and John Setterfield (70%).

So, as already mentioned, there’s everything to play for in this division and a report on the final outcome will be in next month’s edition.

Knockout Cup Update

The finals of our cup competitions have now been finalised. They are:

Percy Lawes (Premier Div): Merrow A vs Merrow C.

Intermediate (Div 1): Godalming C vs Challoner A.

Lewis Cup (Div 2): Godalming F vs Ash.

The Last Two (Div 3): College Hill D vs Merrow F.

Bob Hammond (Div 4): Merrow G vs Challoner B.

Vetts: Godalming A vs Burymead.

Details of the results next month.

And finally….. Thanks to all those on our committee and to those that run our clubs and teams. Remember without them there would be no league.