Chris Day

It is with great sadness that I must inform you that after a short illness Chris Day passed away earlier in November. Chris stopped playing about five years ago after nearly sixty years in the league and was a valued member of the current committee.   He commenced playing in the 1950's, originally for Newgate Street Village, also playing many years for Hertford Brewery and finishing at Pramastars. Everybody who came across Chris will remember his personality, love of the game and for life in general.  He had a great personality and would chat to anybody about anything including his stories about the varied jobs that he had done, table tennis of old, national service, the odd fruity joke and particularly his family. He will be very sadly missed by everybody who came across him, inside and outside of table-tennis. Chris's funeral will be held at Harlow Crematorium on Tuesday 3rd December at 3.45pm followed by a celebration of his life at Harlow Town Football Club.  All of his Table-Tennis friends are welcome.   His family have asked that any donations are made to Parkinsons.

Serving

A few people have mentioned the number of players that are using illegal serves in the league.  Whilst I am sure this is not to gain an advantage, it may be useful if you are not sure about your serve that you click on the attached youtube link which shows both legal and illegal serves.  Thanks to Philip Smith for sending this through:

It is worth sending this youtube web link to all of your players as it details what a good serve is along with examples of foul serves etc.  Click here for Youtube video. Regards, Philip Smith Volunteer TTE Level 1 Table Tennis Coach pottonttc@hotmail.com

League News

Can I thank all players, captains, organisers etc for ensuring that there are currently NO outstanding matches in any division, a previously unheard of event!! In the Premier Division, HRC 1 are just one point ahead of current champions Grundy Park 1 after defeating last season's runners-up Allenburys 1 8-2, Chris Wade winning all three, Steve Whitehead getting both points for the losers.  After another big win, 9-1 against Cheshunt, they beat Grundy Park 2 8-2, Fred Burdett winning all three, including an 11-9 fifth set victory over Scott Turner, who won both his other two games.  Cheshunt and promoted HRC 2 drew 5-5 to remain joint bottom. In Division 1, Pramastars 1 are top, although there have been some close matches throughout the division, Peters Bros. in fourth only 11 points behind the leaders with a match in hand.  Pramastars 1 easily defeated St Andrews 1 9-1, but were then held 5-5 by Allenburys 2, the same score as earlier in the season.  Pramastars 2 beat Allenburys 2 7-3, John Morgan winning all three for the losers, but were then beaten 8-2 by Peters Bros. Mark Smith and Graham Moore both unbeaten on a night when five matches went the full distance.  St Andrews 1 recovered from their 9-1 defeat to draw 5-5 with Peters Bros and then beat Pramastars 2 6-4, John Hughes winning all three in straight sets. Division 2 is also close with Watton-At-Stone leading the way.  Three wins for Ray Calderwood helped them defeat Aston 6-4 before going down by the same score against St Andrews 2.  Allen Critchley won all three for St Andrews 2 but a doubles victory for Sara Hudson and Dave Wilson secured victory for Aston, yet again by 6-4.  Stanstead Abbotts are well-placed, just six points behind Watton-At-Stone with a match in hand after beating the leaders 7-3, John Foley unbeaten on the night.  Although still bottom, Furneux Pelham are only 15 points behind the leaders with a match in hand.  After a poor start to the season they have picked up 13 points in the last two matches, beating St Andrews 2 6-4 and Aston 7-3.

Divisional Cup News

In the Premier Division, GRUNDY PARK 1 will play either HRC 1 or HRC 2.  Due to the withdrawal of Grundy Park 3, ALLENBURYS 2 are through to the Division 1 final after beating Peters Bros. where they will meet PRAMASTARS 1.  The Division 2 final will be between STANSTEAD ABBOTTS, again through to the final after one match and WATTON-AT-STONE. The Division 1 final will be held at Allenburys on Monday 2 December 2019. The Premier Division and Division 2 finals will be held at Allenburys on Monday 16 December 2019. All results so far are here on the website.

Handicap Tournament

Handicaps are still being adjusted ready for the tournament at Cheshunt TTC on Thursday 9 January 2020.  Final handicaps and entry for the tournament should be available from early/mid December.  Everybody registered with the league is welcome to enter, although players newly registered this season and not played a match before Christmas will need to be allocated a handicap.   These handicaps will then be used in the Handicap Cup due to be played in the new year, dates in your handbook.  Only rule in the Cup is the same as in the Divisional Cup: you can play up, but once you play your first match in the cup, you are ineligible to play for another team in the same competition.

TTE Registration

Everybody who takes part in the league should be registered with Table Tennis England.  Please pass this message on to anybody in your team that does not receive the newsletter.

And finally...

All newsletters are copied to everybody on the distribution list.  If you know of anybody who currently does not receive a newsletter and would like to receive one, please let me know. The latest League tables and averages as well as past newsletters, past handicaps etc are all here on the website. Best Wishes Colin Bullworthy Match Secretary H&DTTL