COUNTY NOTES
3rd March 2010
3rd February 2010
7th January 2010
1st October 2009
12th September 2009
3rd March 2009
2nd February 2009
7th January 2009
1st September 2008
2nd February 2008
17th December 2007
1st November 2007
3rd March 2010 by Colin Dyke
The Berkshire camp were delighted when their very young junior team were winners of Division 2D of the Junior County Championships in some style. This augurs well for the future. Victories in all five second round matches, against Buckinghamshire 2 (10-0), Cambridgeshire (9-1), Sussex 2 (6-4), Sussex 3 (8-2) and Essex 4 (10-0) alongside their two wins in the first round secured the league title and promotion to Division 1.
The stars of the latest show were Daniel Moses (aged 16) and Liam McTiernan (14) who won all ten of their matches and Megan Knowles (13) and Maria Tsaptsinos (12) who only lost one of their matches. Two players also did well on their debut, with Hanson Xu (14), a very late replacement for Jarred Knowles, winning seven out of ten and Newbury based Maria Shazard (14) picking up one win from her three matches, unluckily losing two at deuce in the deciding set.
The key match and closest match was obviously that against second placed Sussex 2, where Moses clinched a 12 in the fifth win in the last set against Michael Rutherford to give us the advantage. It was that close.
The Berkshire Intertown competition for the Barbara Peisley trophy was concluded when the third strings of each town's Seniors and Veterans met at the Kingfisher Club to finalise proceedings set up previously by their first and second teams, who had left Reading in the driving seat 3 points clear of Newbury. As hard as the other towns tried, they were unable to dislodge Reading who went on to win the trophy by a clear 5 points from Newbury with Bracknell third. It might have been a lot closer had Reading not come out on the right side of a number of countback situations in very close matches.
Bracknell Senior 3 won their division, this time pushing Reading Senior 3 back in to second place after their drawn match gave them the divisional title on points ratio after a countback. Trevor Organ won his two for Reading whilst Julian Telford added the third. Geoff Civil, John Morris and Richard Fifield each scored one for Bracknell. Organ was the star in this division with five wins out of five.
Reading Veterans 3 also found it tough going before winning their division. They had to pull back a 2-0 deficit to beat Bracknell Veterans 3 by 4-2, thanks mainly to two good wins from Peter Galea. Having both won two matches, Reading and Newbury then met to decide the title. Newbury went 2-0 up after Alan Duke beat Ivor Hardman and Nestor Ceron beat Galea but were then pegged back to 2-2. Alan Duke then beat Colin Dyke in four games to make it 3-2 to Newbury who then needed only one game from the final set between their Dave Reynolds and Galea to win the division. However, Galea reeled off three straight games to leave the teams level on points and games. After much mathematical pondering, Reading were declared winners by 218-212 points and Reading became the overall Peisley Trophy champions. Nobody has retained this trophy since 2003, so Reading will no doubt have to be on their toes next season if they want to break this spell.
3rd February 2010 by Colin Dyke
The Berkshire Senior 2nd team struggled to make an impact in their first round of matches with the best result a 6-4 defeat by Dorset II which included two great wins for 15 year old Daniel Moses. He followed this up with further excellent performances also beating Rory Scott (Sussex) and Simon Philipsz (Surrey) and only just losing out at deuce in the fifth to Pat Bingham (Dorset I). Mark Banks, playing at No 1 also performed well with three out of six including wins over Rory Scott and Lee Dredge(Dorset I).
The Veterans first team are doing well with 4 wins and two draws so far. The only dropped points have been where they were unfortunate enough to have to concede the women's matches. However the reverse happened in the match against Avon which helped ease us to a 7-3 win. Dave Barr comfortably won 2 whilst Hari Gehlot squeaked home at 12 in the fifth against Rick Jennett. The most impressive performance was saved for Dorset where we secured a 6-4 win. Dorset fought back from 3-0 down to level at 3-3 but Berkshire then won the rest barring the last mixed. The backbone of the success was again Dave Barr and Hari Gehlot who won two each and combined to win the all important men’s doubles. Dave Hilbeck added the all important sixth win against Brian Garraway in five.
The Berkshire Intertown competition for the Barbara Peisley trophy is in full swing with two of the three dates completed. Nobody can complain that they haven't been informed of the details as Organiser Eric Van Looy has provided a comprehensive results service to all involved. After the second round Reading lead with 15 points followed closely by holders Newbury on 12. In the Senior 1 section, Maidenhead almost pipped Reading when Mark Banks led Hari Gehlot 2 games to nil but Hari fought back for a 3-2 win and Maidenhead had to settle for the draw and second place. Newbury topped the Veterans 1 section where all matches were hard fought. Reading, despite their fighting draw with the leaders, had to settle for second place. Hari Gehlot (Reading) led the averages in Senior 1 with 100% followed closely by the Maidenhead trio of Mark Banks, Stuart Williams and Charleigh Kirby with only one loss each. John Barclay (Newbury), David Streak (Reading) and Derek Wood (Maidenhead) topped the Veterans 1 averages with 5 wins out of six.
Reading also took the honours in the Senior 2 and Veteran 2 sections with Newbury each time in second place. Bracknell made up some of the ground lost by their first teams and now lie third equal with Maidenhead overall on 6 points. Abhay Gehlot for Reading Senior 2 and Niall McGrane for Reading Veteran 2 were the 100 % successes. Now it's down to the 3rd string Seniors and Veterans of each town to decide the final positions when they meet on the third and final day. Newbury will need to finish above Reading at both levels to have a chance of retaining their trophy. No pressure!
7th January 2010 by Colin Dyke
The Berkshire Senior team made a determined start in their quest to retain Premier Division status in the County Championships at Cippenham TTC. They put up great fights before succumbing to last season's top two counties, champions Derbyshire and runners up Essex. They then turned in a magnificent performance to beat Cleveland by 6-4 to give themselves a really good chance of survival when the remaining matches are played in March. The first opponents were the powerful Essex team who triumphed 8-2. However, three of Essex's wins went to the wire and if they had gone Berkshire's way, a point on the board may have resulted. Berkshire's wins came from Richard Andrews who beat Umar Mathoor and Tom Maynard who beat Ashley Stokes. Andrews also came close to Chris Sladden before losing at 7 in the fifth game whilst Lisa Sprackling also did well to extend Evangeline Collier to 5 games.
Next up were the champions Derbyshire and what a start Berkshire nearly made, Tom Maynard just losing out to England No 24 ranked Shaun Marples at 9 in the fifth game. Hari Gehlot then levelled it at 1-1 with a 4 game win over David Arrowsmith. The ladies battled away in vain whilst David Barr struggled with a virus. Maynard also beat Arrowsmith whilst Gehlot finished the match by storm against Sam Perry eventually losing out at 9 in the fifth to leave the match score 8-2 to the champions. Finally the match against Cleveland that gave the team the fillip they needed. A great start when Dave Barr beat Andrew Wilson in four tight games. Then Hari Gehlot comfortably beat Danny Welsh. The ladies found the opposition too strong and it was left to the men to battle away. Tom Maynard had a magnificent three straight win over England No 28 ranked Bryn Drinkhall and Gehlot comfortably beat Wilson. Barr then excelled in also beating Drinkhall and after Susan Johnson lost in four games to Karen Shepherd, Maynard clinched the 6-4 team victory with an easy win over Wilson. This is the strongest squad Berkshire have had for some while and with a good mix of experience and young blood can expect some good things in the near future.
The Berkshire junior team in division 2D started their campaign in blistering fashion, taking their first match 9-1 against an experienced Essex 3 team. The match saw the debut of 10 year old Daniel McTiernan, who was substituting for his older brother Liam. Daniel got off to a fine winning start with a 3-0 win over Adam Dukes but couldn't quite get the better of Scott Dowsett in the last game, losing 3-1 and thus giving Essex 3 a consolation win. The other four Berkshire players (Daniel Moses, Jarred Knowles, Megan Knowles and Maria Tsaptsinos) all recorded very creditable maximums.
The second round saw Berkshire pitted against one of the favourites, Surrey 2. With Jarred Knowles having lost the opener against their No 1, Alois Clair, we were given a boost when both Daniel McTiernan and Megan Knowles pulled off superb 3-0 wins. Enter Daniel Moses who just about won an epic five setter with Gobi Sriparen (11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 3-11, 12-10). This set us up for a 6-4 victory with every player contributing at least one win and Daniel Moses managing two.
In the last match of the day, Berkshire held an immediate 2-0 lead as Kent 2 could only field one girl - the others having succumbed to illness earlier in the day. Despite this headstart, the Kent side raced out of the blocks winning both openers in the fifth, with the Daniels being the unlucky casualties. This was followed up by a tense encounter between Jarred Knowles and Gregory Kaddock which went one way then the other until Gregory finally got home by the narrowest of margins, 13-11 in the fifth. When Maria Tsapisinos subsequently lost to the highly talented, Danniella Gray, the team found itself 4-2 down. Whilst things improved later with good wins for Daniel Moses and Jarred Knowles, it proved too much to pull back as Berkshire crashed to a 6-4 loss, only their second in two years.
Berkshire's main rivals are Sussex 2 who remain unbeaten but they have yet to play us and with Liam back for the next round, the title should go down to the wire.
Hari wins hat-trick of Berkshire Titles
Indian ace Hari Gehlot continued his excellent recent form to take both the Men's Singles and Veteran's Singles titles and with brother Ramesh, the Men's Doubles title at the 2009/10 Berkshire Closed Championships, held at the Kingfisher Table Tennis Club over the weekend of 14-15 November.
It was however Berkshire's emerging young stars that stole the show with no fewer than five of the current county junior squad finishing as champions or runners-up. Fifteen year old Daniel Moses made it to three finals, winning the Under 21 title against 13 year old Our Lady of Peace TTC team mate Liam McTiernan. He also pushed Hari all the way in the Men's Singles final and with Liam finished runners-up in the Men's Doubles.
In the Ladies Doubles it was Kingfisher's dynamic young duo, Megan Knowles (13) and Maria Tsaptsinos (12) who shocked several experienced pairings to take the title in some style. Wendy Porter beat her doubles partner Lisa Bosley in a tense Ladies Singles final, thus fulfilling a lifetime ambition.In the Mixed Doubles final Kingfisher's Mark Banks and Cippenham’s Emma Human outplayed OLOP pair Wendy Porter and Mike Childs.
Finally the weekend's youngest competitor, ten year old Daniel McTiernan, came very close to winning the Graded Singles title, just losing out to the experienced Niall McGrane in what was probably the most entertaining final of all.
Berkshire Closed Results:
Men's Singles
Semi Finals: Daniel Moses beat Paul Beck 3-1, Hari Gehlot beat Graham Outrim 3-0
Final: Hari Gehlot beat Daniel Moses 3-1
Ladies Singles
Semi Finals: Wendy Porter beat Emma Human 3-2, Lisa Bosley beat Sue Hayes 3-0
Final: Wendy Porter beat Lisa Bosley 3-2
Veteran's Singles
Semi Finals: Hari Gehlot beat Mike Childs 3-1, Ramesh Gehlot beat Paul Beck 3-1
Final: Hari Gehlot beat Ramesh Gehlot 3-0
1st October 2009 by Colin Dyke
The early action in the County Championships featured our two Over 60 teams. As is normal the first fixture was between the two teams. The selectors ranking was proved correct with the first team (Dave Streak, Tony Brown, Derek Wood and Gill Knightly) taking a comfortable 10-0 win from the second team (Clive Dawson, Allan Bruton, Peter Bennett and Sylvia Bruton). Allan Bruton took the only game in the singles for the second team when losing in 4 to Wood.
The first team then went on to an excellent 9-1 win over Surrey 1, who were missing top player Derek Holman. Wood got proceedings going with a deuce in the fifth win over Tony Needham. This seemed to set the pattern and when Knightley beat Margaret Thornton 11-6 11-8 11-4, this gave us a 6-0 lead and Berkshire had secured both points. After this, Streak lost the only set when going down to Needham 9-11 11-7 6-11 12-14.
The second team found Kent 1 too strong although Peter Bennett picked up a great 8-11 11-7 4-11 11-8 11-7 win over Mike Porter to save the whitewash. The team gave a good account of themselves with Allan Bruton taking games off both Tom Adams and Keith Clarke and Sylvia Bruton losing in four to Barbara Rutherford.
This season's Intertown tournament now has new dates with all events taking place at the Kingfisher Club in Reading. These are: Sunday 24 January (Seniors 1 and Veterans 1), Sunday 31 January (Seniors 2 and Veterans 2) and Sunday 7 February (Seniors 3 and Veterans 3).The event has a new organiser in Eric Van Looy. Newbury will no doubt be seeking to retain the Barbara Peisley Trophy, so expect them to field some strong teams.
12th September 2009 by Colin Dyke
At the end of May the whole County mourned the death of John Cunningham, a contributor to this column for 10 years. John was the ultimate motivator and introduced hundreds of youngsters in to the sport. John was one of those people who could never stop himself volunteering when a job needed doing and when he did, the job was tackled wholeheartedly. He will be very sadly missed by all of us.
The new County Rankings at the commencement of the season can be found on the rankings page: County Rankings
After their promotion, the County senior first team look forward to the challenge of the Premier Division once again this season. It will be tough but there is optimism that they are this time good enough to retain their place. The second team have a new captain and organiser, Stuart Williams whilst it's good to report that Berkshire will have a strong Junior team again this season under the management of Adam McTiernan.
The Berkshire Closed Championships are to take place on 14th and 15th November at the Kingfisher Club in Reading and are organised again by Sylvia Bruton. Entry forms are available on the county's website: Berkshire Closed Entry Forms
3rd March 2009 by Colin Dyke
Having been promoted and consequently relegated from the County Championships premier league in the last two seasons, the Berkshire Table Tennis Squad were looking to continue the trend and regain promotion at the County Div 1 weekend held at Cippenham TTC.
The first day was all Berkshire and saw first class victories with Richard Andrews and Dave Barr remaining unbeaten and Hari Gehlot also playing well. Sue Johnson led the ladies from the front with a valuable contribution from Julie Evans, who was warmly welcomed back to the county squad. The victories came against Herts 6-4, Middx II 6-4, Dorset 9-1 and Surrey 7-3.
It was becoming clear that the promotion place was between Berkshire and Cornwall, who were also unbeaten with three wins and a draw.
Martin Adams replaced Richard for the Sunday matches which firstly saw Berkshire see off a strong Glamorgan side 7-3. Cornwall had also won to set up the penultimate match showdown decider. Berkshire needed a draw to stay ahead of their west-country counterparts.
Things started well with Martin brushing aside Adrian Noott and Hari conquering the very steady Jeremy Williams. Lisa Sprackling was drafted in to replace Julie, but neither Lisa nor Susan were successful in the first round of ladies matches. Berkshire went behind 2-3 when Dave Barr lost eventually his 100% record to the highly ranked Darren Reed, going down 8 in the fifth in a typical Barr epic battle. Hari performed brilliantly to overcome Adrian Noott to level the match. However, on paper looking at the rest of the matches to be played, Berkshire looked set for a 4-6 defeat.
Step in Susan Johnson - Against the odds she brilliantly defeated the talented and higher ranked Martha Travis in five close sets and Berkshire regained the lead at 4-3. Adams also narrowly lost out to Reed 9 in the fifth and the score was once again level at 4-4. Lisa, fresh out of maternity leave, couldn't quite beat the Cornwall number 2, and so it was Dave Barr who calmly overcame a strong challenge from Jeremy Williams to earn a hard fought draw.
The final match required Berkshire to avoid defeat to Essex II which was comfortably achieved by a score of 7-3 with all team members contributing.
So it's a deserved return to the premier league next season. Let's hope the trend is bucked next season.
Individual Results: Andrews 8/8, Barr 13/14, Adams 5/6, Gehlot 10/14, Johnson 6/13, Evans 2/8, Sprackling 1/5
Elsewhere, it's congratulations to Newbury, who won the Barbara Peisley Inter Town competition for the third time in 30 years when just pipping Reading by one point at
Kingfisher Club. They won four of the six divisions including the top two senior and veterans divisions.
Hari Gehlot won six events in the Maidenhead Closed championships but was pushed hard in the men's final where he overcame a very young and determined Eddie Mitchell, who led 2-1 before succumbing. Gemma Chapman took the ladies title with a three straight win over County Champion Emma Human.
Other Results:
Veterans 2 beat Middlesex 5 8-2
Veterans 2 beat Surrey 4 7-3
Veterans 4 beat Herts 6 7-3
Veterans 4 drew with Northampton 3 5-5
Veterans 4 beat Herts 5 7-3
Veterans 5 lost to Devon 2 2-8
Veterans 5 lost to Devon 3 3-7
Veterans 5 beat Herts 3 8-2
2nd February 2009 by Colin Dyke
Martin Adams won the Men's Singles event for a record eighth time in the Berkshire County Closed Championships held recently at the Kingfisher Club. This was the fourth year running Adams, from Polish Club, had won the title and he did so without dropping a game. The closest anybody came was when Kuldeep Gehlot took him to a deuce third game in the group matches. Adams cruised through his semi final against Ramesh Gehlot by 11-6, 11-4 ,11-6 and then clinched the trophy with a 11-7, 11-5, 11-9 win over Hari Gehlot in the final. Hari had ended the hopes of Stuart Williams in the other semi final with a three straight win.
Other notable results saw Allan Bruton squeeze through against Abhay Gehlot in five in a group match and Stuart Williams beating Mark Banks 3-1 in the quarters. Phil Prady was the unluckiest player as, after beating Stuart Williams in the group matches in five, he failed to qualify on countback after losing to Ramesh Gehlot and all three players ending with one win each
Emma Human won the Ladies Singles for the second time, when she beat both Mary Allan and Maria Tsaptsinos in a round robin final, each three straight. 11 Year old Maria caused a surprise and underlined her potential when she beat the vastly more experienced Jan Wright in five in the preceding round.
The men's doubles title was an all Gehlot family affair with dads Ramesh and Hari beating sons Abhay and Kuldeep in five. Ramesh and Hari had scraped through their semi final at 12-10 in the fifth against holders Adams and Prady whilst the younger Gehlots beat Williams and Banks at the same stage. Jacquie Lovell and Mary Allan retained their Ladies Doubles title with a three straight win over Sharon Mitchell and Denise Rolfe.
Other finals results:
Mixed Doubles: Ramesh Gehlot/Mary Allan beat Mark Banks/Emma Human 11-6 12-10 8-11 11-9
Veterans singles: Hari Gehlot beat Graham Outrim 11-4 11-8 11-7
Under 21 Singles: Kuldeep Gehlot beat Abhay Gehlot 9-11 11-6 11-2 11-9
Ladies Graded Singles: Denise Rolfe beat Emma Human 5-11 18-16 13-11 11-3
A very young County Junior team clinched a sensational runners-up spot in Division 2C losing only to winners Warwickshire by 7-3. With an average age of only 13, the team, all Woodley based, give great hope for the future. Jarred Knowles (92%), Daniel Moses (75%), Liam McTiernan (67%), Simon Thorne (67%), Maria Tsaptsinos (43%) and Megan Knowles (36%) were the successful team.
A strengthened Senior 2nd team completed their fixtures in Division 2D and managed to get off the bottom with a win over Wiltshire (7-3) and a draw with Sussex 3. Hari Gehlot and and Stuart Williams were unbeaten in the Wiltshire match whilst Hari and brother Ramesh were undefeated in the Sussex draw. Sussex 2nds proved too strong with only Hari picking up a win over Shaun Parsley.
The Veterans 1st team's challenge for the Division 1B title faded away with two 6-4 defeats at Harlow against Kent 2 and Essex 1 respectively. David Barr won all four singles to keep his 100% record in this division and also combined with Hari Gehlot to take both men's doubles. However further wins were hard to come by with just Hari beating Paul Murford (Kent) and Stuart Gibbs (Essex) to complete the scores.
The Veterans 2nd team remain unbeaten after a draw with Kent 4 and an 8-2 win over Herts 3. Ramesh Gehlot won his two singles against Kent including a deuce in the fifth against Wayne Matthews whilst Derek Wood also beat the unlucky Matthews at 9 in the fifth and Tony Brown beat Terry Wightwick. A men's doubles win (9 in the fifth!) secured the point. The Herts match was notable for the fact that we were 2-0 down before romping through the last 8, thanks to unbeaten performances by Ramesh Gehlot and Denise Rolfe.
Other Results:
Veterans 3 lost to Sussex 4 3-7
Veterans 6 drew with Herefordshire 2 5-5
Veterans 6 lost to Wiltshire 4 3-7
7th January 2009 by Colin Dyke
The Senior 2nd team were depleted by injuries for their first group matches at Cippenham losing all 3 matches in the process. But some encouraging signs from the stand-in ladies when Denise Rolfe beat Sue Hayes over four games in the 8-2 defeat by Bucks 2 whilst 12 year old Megan Knowles exceeded all expectation by leading the same lady 2-0 before losing a close match in the fifth. Stuart Williams won the only other set beating Tim Chung in three. Steve Murgatroyd saved the whitewash against both Surrey 2 and Kent 1 by beating Ben Larcombe and Mark Buckley respectively, the latter in a tight five setter.
The Veterans 1st team started with a comfortable win over Essex 4 by 8-2 with Dave Barr unbeaten, albeit coming back from 2 games down to beat Brian Adams. However, in the afternoon, a cracking match with Dorset resulted in a 6-4 defeat. Hari Gehlot lost the opener in five to Tony Clayton after being 2-0 up but then went on to beat Brian Garroway three straight. Dave Barr again won his two singles beating John Robinson three straight and then Clayton 8 in the fifth (again 2-0 down). Gehlot and Bela Hegedus scored an easy three straight win over Clayton and Brian Burn in the men's doubles leaving Barr and Sharon Mitchell to fight for a draw in the last mixed doubles against Robinson and Sanya Clemence. It was not to be however as they lost at 5 in the fifth.
The Veterans 2nd team are unbeaten to date. Well that's a way of looking at two good draws. Against Kent 5 Ramesh Gehlot and Nick Heaps contributed one men's singles each and combined to win the doubles against C Marr and Roger Harris whilst Denise Rolfe starred in two mixed doubles wins. The draw against Bucks 1 was hard fought with Tony Brown and Denise just losing the last mixed at 7 in the fifth against Mike Wilkins and Dawn Pearce. Tony won both his singles against Alan Cherry and John Barclay with Ramesh and Nick adding one each to yet another Denise/Ramesh mixed success.
The Over 60's 1st team had mixed success at Ashford and finished the first half mid table. The team were strengthened by new "old" boys Derek Wood and Dave Streak but points were still hard to come by. Berks 2 were comfortably seen off 8-2 but then points were dropped in draws against both Kent 2 and Surrey and a 4-6 defeat by a ladyless Sussex did the damage. There was a notable double for Wood against Surrey including the defeat of Derek Holman at deuce in the fifth in a marvellous contest. Berks 2 finished pointless although bright points were Pam Spooner's four out of five singles including victories over Gill Knightley and Lorna Slifkin and a good win for Allan Bruton over Sussex's John Millward.
Finally an astonishing match ensued when the Veterans 5th team lost 1-9 to Gloucestershire 2. Every one of the first seven sets went to 5 games and of the maximum 50 games possible, 47 were played to settle the result. Is this some sort of record?
Other Results:
Veterans 3 lost to Wiltshire 4 1-9
Veterans 3 lost to Somerset 2 2-8
Veterans 3 beat Hereford 2 7-3
Veterans 3 drew Dorset 2 5-5
Veterans 3 beat Berkshire 6 9-1
Veterans 4 drew Norfolk 4 5-5
Veterans 4 drew Oxfordshire 3 5-5
Veterans 4 drew Bedfordshire 2 5-5
Veterans 4 beat Bedfordshire 3 9-1
Veterans 5 beat Somerset 3 8-2
Veterans 5 beat Cornwall 7-3
Veterans 5 lost to Gloucestershire 2 1-9
Veterans 6 lost to Somerset 2 2-8
Veterans 6 lost to Isle of Wight 0-10
Veterans 6 lost to Berkshire 3 1-9
Veterans 6 lost to Sussex 4 0-10
1st September 2008 by Colin Dyke
The new County Rankings at the commencement of the season can be found on the rankings page: County Rankings
It's good to report that Berkshire will have a Junior County team again this season thanks to John Cunningham filling the void of organiser once again.
Finally there could be some exciting news in Berkshire this season. A steering committee has been set up to examine the feasibility of a table tennis centre in Reading (20 plus tables) with the full support of the ETTA, Reading Borough Council, Reading and District Association and the County Association. Watch this space.
2nd February 2008 by Colin Dyke
The Senior 2nd team got their season under way with a series of matches at Harlow. Regrettably they found the competition a bit too strong and lost all three matches to Sussex 2 (3-7), Sussex 3 (2-8) and Essex 2 (2-8). However, one success story emerged in the form of 14 years old Ayonija Sundararajan, making her senior County debut. She won 5 of her 6 matches including wins over Yolanda King, Sally Hughes, Nikki Kennard, Lisa Standen and Sarah Coggon. Her only set back was a 3-1 defeat by Essex's Shelley Uzal. Rachel Farquhar also had a good win over Standen whilst the only men's success came from Steve Murgatroyd with a great win over Essex's Martin Kubrt in five.
The Veterans first team have only two points to show from five matches. However they can count themselves unlucky as they have lost three by 6-4 margins and drawn the other two. Dave Barr picked up good wins over John Robinson and Tony Clayton in the 6-4 defeat by Dorset. Hari Gehlot and Sharon Mitchell added to Berkshire's score. Dave Barr again scored two comfortable victories in the 6-4 defeat by Essex which was added to by a mixed doubles and Hari Gehlot's victory over Fred Dove. Finally Barr maintained his 100% record with a further two wins in a draw with Kent 2 when he beat Chris Knight and Phil Saxby. Dave Hilbeck won a thrilling five setter against Ian Gordon, who was also beaten three straight by Hari Gehlot. Success in the men's doubles clinched the draw.
Other results:
Veterans 3 lost Kent 5ths 1-9
Veterans 4 beat Beds 2nds 7-3, beat Hertfordshire 6ths 9-1, lost Norfolk 4ths 3-7,
beat Northants 3rds 6-4, beat Oxford 3rds 6-4.
Veterans 6 lost Somerset 2nds 4-6, lost Herefordshire 2nds 3-7.
MAIDENHEAD CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIPS
Maidenhead were the first town this season to stage their Closed Championships. Ramesh Gehlot from Kingfisher Club took all three major titles with the help of his doubles partners, Phil Prady and Sharon Mitchell. Gemma Chapman just missed out on this record on the ladies side winning the singles and doubles but just losing out in the mixed. In the mens singles final Ramesh beat his son Abhay, who will no doubt get his own back in years to come.
Results:
Mens Singles: Ramesh Gehlot beat Abhay Gehlot 10 6 -3 10
Ladies Singles: Gemma Chapman beat Sharon Mitchell 8 10 2
Mens Doubles: Ramesh Gehlot/Phil Prady beat John Barclay/Nick Hansell 12 8 -7 8
Mixed Doubles: Ramesh Gehlot/Sharon Mitchell beat Trevor Griffiths/Gemma Chapman 6 -7 -9 9 10
Ladies Doubles: Gemma Chapman/Jan Chapman beat Vivienne Davies/Moto Mitcham 5 8 4
Mens Veterans Singles: John Barclay beat Colin Dyke 6 8 8
Ladies Veteran Singles: Sharon Mitchell beat Kathy Dudley 9 6 -7 2
Tweenies Singles: Abhay Gehlot beat Tim Goodship -4 7 -8 6 10
Premier Division: Tim Goodship beat John Barclay 3 -3 9 6
17th December 2007 by Colin Dyke
Having impressively retained their spot in the Senior County Premier division last season, the Berkshire Senior squad of Martin Adams, Dave Barr, Hari Gehlot, Susan Johnson and Mary Allan were on local turf at Cippenham in an attempt to build up some first half points over three matches.
A tough first encounter against Essex, with a side including highly nationally ranked players such as John Holland (15), Abigail Embling (5) and Sara Wang (11), proved too tough with Berkshire going down 2-8. There was an epic victory for Barr over Ashley Stokes 14-12 in the fifth and a great win for Gehlot (12-10 in fifth) over Vytas Rybakas, ranked inside the top 40.
The next encounter against Middlesex proved more fruitful for the girls with both Johnson and Allan overturning the Middlesex player, Lindsey Armstrong, in fine style. Despite Gehlot and Adams getting within a whisker of beating Neil Charles, the Berkshire men were unable to significantly build upon this, their only victory being for Barr, who was certainly getting his money's worth, edging out Jimmy Walsh 14-12 in the fifth. 3-7 was the result.
The final match of the weekend was always going to be tough against last year's runners up, Derbyshire. Another 2-8 defeat ensued with only Adams able to trouble the scorers with good wins over Allan Fullwood and Shaun Marples. Barr narrowly missed out to the talented Sam Perry, whose scintillating backhand attack was at times simply unreturnable, even for the likes of a top defender like Barr.
It's not all doom and gloom as Leicestershire, like Berkshire, are yet to score a point and Gloucestershire only have 1. These will be crucial matches in the second half with two teams targeted for relegation, although the team are also still to play both the top teams in Devon and Sussex.
The Veterans 1st team picked up just one point in their first two matches. In a 6-4 defeat by Wiltshire, Dave Hilbeck beat Eddie Roofe and Trevor Lloyd, both in five, and Ramesh Gehlot beat Glen Freeman. Gehlot/Hilbeck won the mens doubles 14 in the fifth and it could have been a draw but for Sharon Mitchell's unfortunate 12 in fifth loss to Brenda Baldwin. Geoff Civil/Mitchell then lost the last mixed in five to see the point slip away.
A hard earned draw with Oxfordshire followed coming back from 5-3 down to clinch the point. Gehlot beat Eddie Herrity, Civil had a great win in five over Nat Richardson and Hilbeck sneaked home v Herrity 11 in fifth. Two mixed doubles successes ensured the point.
Other results:
Veterans 3 lost Hereford 2nds 3-7, beat Berks 6th 8-2, lost Middlesex 5th 2-8
Veterans 5 beat Hereford 3rds 9-1, beat Somerset 3rds 6-4, lost Wiltshire 3rds 4-6
Veterans 6 lost Wiltshire 4ths 3-7, lost to Berkshire 3rds 2-8
Over 60s beat Bedfordshire 8-2, lost to Essex 3-7, drew Herts 5-5, drew Kent 1sts 5-5.
ADAMS AND ALLAN ARE COUNTY CHAMPIONS AGAIN
Martin Adams and Mary Allan were the winners of the main singles events at the Berkshire County Closed Championships held recently at the Kingfisher
Club. Adams, from Polish Club, won the men's title for the third year running and a record 7th time when he beat Kingfisher's Mark Banks 11-8 11-2 9-11 11-4
in an entertaining final. Allan (Tilehurst Methodists) took the ladies title for the second time beating holder Susan Johnson from OLOP by 11-7 11-6 11-9.
In the men's semi finals Adams had beaten Eric Van Looy whilst Banks had a comfortable passage against Ramesh Gehlot. Other contenders fell by the wayside, Krasy Ivanov losing to Banks and Jarred Smith to Gehlot.
The men's doubles title was won by Adams and Phil Prady for the third year running when they beat Abhay and Kuldeep Gehlot 7-11 11-9 11-8 11-3. The young Gehlots had proved the giantkillers of the tournament beating Smith/Ivanov and R Gehlot/Outrim on the way to the final.
Jacquie Lovell and Mary Allan retained their ladies doubles title with an 11-6 10-12 11-5 11-3 win over Jan Wright and Wendy Porter.
Other finals results:
Mixed Doubles: Ramesh Gehlot/Gemma Chapman beat Mark Banks/Jan Wright 11-7 6-11 11-3 11-8
Veterans singles: Ramesh Gehlot beat Graham Outrim 6-11 12-10 11-7 11-7
Under 21 Singles: Kuldeep Gehlot beat Abhay Gehlot 11-8 11-4 11-8
Graded Singles: A Baker beat S Purton 11-9 11-5 11-2
1st November 2007 by Colin Dyke
Unfortunately despite the County's abundance of junior talent Berkshire will have no Junior County team again this season due to the absence of an Organiser. This is a big disappointment to the Kingfisher Club who produce virtually every one of the top boys and girls.
The Veterans 2nd team got the season started with a 6-4 win against Surrey 4 and a draw against Oxford 2 in Division 3C. Dave Streak was unbeaten in the Surrey match teaming up with Bob Davis to win the all important men's doubles over Steve Giles and Robin Pretty. Jan Wright, making her Berkshire debut, could make no impression on Diane Melville in the ladies matches, although partnering Bob Davis in the final mixed they led 2-0 before narrowly losing to Melville and Pretty. Earlier Ramesh Gehlot had won both his singles against Steve Giles and Robin Pretty whilst Bob Davis defeated Tony Needham.
Against Oxford Ramesh Gehlot showed his staying power when he won both his singles against Nat Richardson and Andy Misseldine in five close sets. Dave Streak also beat Misseldine and again joined Bob Davis for a doubles win over Jeff Rigby and Richardson. Jan Wright did well to take a game off Jan Curtis but saved her best until last when she helped Bob Davis to a mixed success over Misseldine and Curtis.
There will be no Berkshire Inter Town this season due to Reading and Newbury not being able to find Organisers.