2009-2010
I accepted the challenge of taking on the role as Sussex Match in the summer of 2006 it was a big decision for me at the time following in such distinguished footsteps as Derek Bunday. Having completed my fourth season at the helm I have enjoyed the challenge and been fair to everyone certainly been a roller coaster ride.
My main goal has to give more players a chance to play at county level and also reward players that have the ability, desire and attitude to represent Sussex and I am pleased to report that every player that have been selected has appreciated being selected that's makes the job so rewarding. Therefore Sussex again had three senior teams competing in the 2009-2010 county championships.
I shall start at the top with the 1st team who were yet again playing at the highest level in the premier division these matches were held over two weekends, the first at Cippenham on November 12th/13th 2009 and the second at Wood Green in Birmingham on March 27th/28th 2010. After much deliberation it was decided to play four men so the team for both weekends was Ritchie Venner, Nigel Eckersley, Adrian Moore and Da Shuai Zhang, the women players were the ever reliable Ross Rainton and Sarah Stedman.
We had concerns about the fitness levels of both Nigel Eckersley and Adrian Moore as both of them had been struggling with injuries and obviously having a superb player and in the form that Dash is currently in, hence he was called up. This proved to be an inspired choice by the selectors as Nigel was unable to play the sunday due to injury.
The first weekend the team were third overall the first match saw them beat Gloucestershire 9-1 a strong performance from all the team the highlight being Rose Rainton victory over Choi Sze To 11-6 in the final set. Nigel played well with two wins over Dan Kolesnik and Darren Griffin.
Disaster nearly happened on the Sunday we decided to play both Adrian and Nigel in the morning match so I had taken Dash back home on the saturday as the late match did not start until 3.00pm. I was leisurely driving to the venue when we received a panic call to say that Nigel could not play due to a damaged back and could Dash play!!
We got to the venue just in time and the team defeated Buckinghamshire 7-3, Ritchie gave a captain's performance with two wins including a win over ex-Sussex player David Hayes as did Adrian Moore win two and Dash despite the lack of preparation managed one win. The women's matches were shared.
The final match was going to be tough Nigel unable to move was forced to go home so the team was Ritchie, Adrian and Dash and Middlesex were the form team. Rose and Sarah again shared the matches they found Klaudia Szadowska ranked number 8 nationally too strong. Ritchie gave another fine captain's performance with two superb victories but the team went down 6-4.
The second weekend we were pleased to have the brilliant Craig Bryant making his county debut but Adrian Moore was out injured and there were doubts over Nigel playing four matches but he agreed ed to play all the matches, as it turned out it was not Nigel that was going to be a problem. Our first match was against Cleveland with Craig in our team we thought we were in with a chance. Cleveland at the last minute brought in a certain Paul Drinkhall not a bad number one!! Ritchie played one of his matches of the season against Paul and actually led 8-5 in the fourth set for what would have been the win of the season but Paul hit back with some quality shots to win in five sets.
Craig made a successful debut beating Bryn Drinkhall but found brother Paul slightly too good however the team were hit with injuries, Sarah was in brilliant form beating Stephanie Donnelly but damaged her back and was unable to play for the rest of the weekend. Rose was also struggling with injury. The team eventually lost 7-3.
For the afternoon match we called up Chelsea Furnival from the junior team to double up this was most appreciated and she played superbly well. The team drew 5-5 with Essex two wins from Craig, two from Ritchie and Nigel with one win. Rose and Chelsea played well without winning.
If Saturday was bad then Sunday was awful, Craig could only play Saturday and no Sarah so we decided Dash to double up in both matches for the junior and senior teams plus play Chelsea in one game and Helen Rutherford in the other match. Again their efforts were greatly appreciated and they showed how much ability they do have. The first match we actually beat Derbyshire 6-4 a tremendous performance Helen Rutherford won her first match in the premier against Doria Dzierbicka. Dash played unbelievable beating Alan Fullwood and losing to Sam Perry in the game of the event. Two wins again from the captain Ritchie paying so well.
Final match was against Berkshire II and we had an outside chance of finishing second we won 8-2 again special mention fro Chelsea who won both her games and Ritchie record another superb performance with two wins. The team finished third overall and the good news is Sarah has made a full recovery and Nigel played all four matches without any injuries. The final table position is as below:
| TEAM | PLAYED | WON | DREW | LOST | FOR | AGAINST | POINTS |
| MIDDLESEX I | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 21 | 13 |
| CLEVELAND I | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 46 | 24 | 10 |
| SUSSEX I | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 42 | 28 | 9 |
| DERBYSHIRE I | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 43 | 27 | 8 |
| ESSEX I | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 33 | 37 | 7 |
| BERKSHIRE I | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 31 | 39 | 7 |
| GLOUCESTERSHIRE I | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 24 | 46 | 2 |
| BUCKINGHAMSHIRE I | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 58 | 0 |
The player's performance is as below:
| Cippenham | Wood Green |
| Craig Bryant | | 3-4 |
| Ritchie Venner | 6-6 | 7-8 | | | |
| Nigel Eckersley | 2-2 | 2-8 |
| Adrian Moore | 2-4 | |
| Da Shuai Zhang | 3-6 | 2-4 |
| Rose Rainton | 4-6 | 4-8 |
| Sarah Stedman | 3-6 | 1-2 |
| Chelsea Furnival | | 2-4 |
| Helen Rutherford | | 1-2 |
Last season the second team won Division 2D so this season the team were playing in Division 1B the matches were played over the weekend of February 20th/21st 2010 held at BATTS Harlow. It was going to be tough especially as the likes of Jack Boult, Adam Todd and Wesley Bush Harris were unavailable and also Dash as he had played three matches for the first team. Worse to follow was Paul Barry had to pull out on the Saturday due to illness, thanks go to Rory Scott for playing both days.
Having said all that we were able to give the opportunity for Nathan Darby and Matthew Porter the chance to make their senior county debut and both players acquitted themselves very well against some very strong opponents.
On the Saturday it was a very long day with four matches the results were a 6-4 defeat to Hertfordshire then another 6-4 lost to Middlesex II. Then followed two 7-3 defeats to both Essex II and an extremely strong Devon I the eventual league champions. The Sussex team in all the matches were Gary Wilson, Rory Scott and the rising junior star from Brighton Mark Scutts while the women were the current English National Junior Champion Yolanda King and Lisa Standen.
For the Sunday we without Paul Barry so Rory Scott kindly agreed to moving up to number one very difficult position especially consider the opponents. The other players were the Hastings duo of Nathan Darby and Matthew Porter while Yolanda and Lisa were again in action despite the very tiring day on Saturday. Sunday would be a little easier with only three matches to play instead of four.
The team did really well over the day first losing to Glamorgan narrowly again 6-4 then the team went down 8-2 to a really strong Cornwall I team who missed out on the league title to Devon on sets difference. The good news was after such a tough weekend the team finished on a good note with a 7-3 victory over Devon II. It has to be said that the star player was our National Junior champion Yolanda King she was in brilliant form and won 13 out of 14 matches that is a credit not only to her play but also her fitness and concentration. She has put in some truly superb performances this season and she has rocketed to number 28 on the women's national ranking list.
It was also encouraging to see Matthew and Nathan respond well to the challenge, to show how tough it was Gary only won one but it was against Jimmy Walsh ranked 68 on the national list, Gary as always a very dependable and reliable player. Mark Scutts showed his enormous potential with two wins while Rory battled well and can be congratulated on a fine win over Clive Carthy from Essex The other women player Lisa Standen played well with 5 wins out of 14.
The final league table is as follows:
| TEAM | PLAYED | WON | DREW | LOST | FOR | AGAINST | POINTS |
| DEVONSHIRE I | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 25 | 12 |
| CORNWALL I | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 25 | 12 |
| MIDDLESEX II | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 47 | 23 | 11 |
| ESSEX II | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 41 | 29 | 8 |
| HERTFORDHIRE | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 30 | 40 | 6 |
| GLAMORGAN II | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 30 | 40 | 5 |
| SUSSEX II | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 27 | 43 | 2 |
| DEVON II | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 55 | 0 |
The second team player's performance is as below:
| Saturday | Sunday |
| Gary Wilson | 1-8 | | | | | |
| Rory Scott | 2-8 | 1-6 |
| Mark Scutts | 2-8 |
| Nathan Darby | | 2-6 |
| Matthew Porter | | 1-6 |
| Yolanda King | 7-8 | 6-6 |
| Lisa Standen | 2-8 | 3-6 |
The senior third team were in Division 2D on two saturdays at Cippenham TTC in Slough the first round of matches were played on December 12th 2010 and the team selected were a young team Gary Wilson, Rory Scott and promising junior player Mark Scutts making his senior county debut and this proved to be another inspired choice. The women players were Chelsea Furnival and Sally Hughes.
The team started well with a comprehensive 8-2 win over Berkshire II Mark got his senior county debut off to a brilliant start with two wins. Gary won his two and the girls won their four matches.
Next the team managed a creditable draw against a very strong Surrey I team Mark was the star performer with a stunning victory over Simon Philipsz, Gary Wilson also beat Simon, Chelsea won two and Sally won one in effect this result cost Surrey the league.
The team made it five points out of six with a 9-1 hammering of Buckinghamshire II, Rory lost the first match 11-9 in the fifth to Chris Hansell but the team won the remaining nine matches. The final match was a real tough game especially for the men as it was against Surrey II and the team lost narrowly 6-4. The girls won all four but the men could not sneak one for the draw. Though Rory was desperately unlucky losing both to Alain Choo Choy and Robert Lemon in the fifth set.
The second weekend was held again at Cippenham on April 0th 2010unfortuenately Buckinghamshire withdrew due to lack of players this didn't affect Sussex as we had already played them. As we were forced to play Gary, Rory and Mark for the second team they were all unable to play the second weekend. This gave the opportunity to give two more players their county debuts and Andy Furnival from Hastings and Terry Dean from Worthing were selected with Michael Robinson, the women remained the same Chelsea and Sally.
We had three matches the first was against Kent I and we went down 7-3 Chelsea won two and Sally one the next game was against a very strong Dorset I the eventual league champions and Sussex lost 8-2. Excellent performance from Chelsea in beating the higher ranked Suchada West 16-14 in the fifth and Sally beating Joy Whitehorn from two sets down. Terry Dean also played extremely well against Mark Butler ranked 100 losing in five sets.
Like the second team the final match saw some glory for Sussex as they beat Dorset II 7-3 the girls won all four Chelsea won another five set match this time against Christine Cowell. The exciting part of the match was Andy Furnival and Terry Dean on their senior county debuts recording their maiden county win, both beating Matt Rogers. Michael Robinson playing at number one also got into the winning mood he beat Thomas Andrews.
I would like to comment on Chelsea Furnival who again at the age of 15 has become a regular county player now for the senior team and this was another successful performance with 11 out of 12. Likewise Sally Hughes has despite going to university kept her level of performance to a reasonable standard and won 9 out of 12. Both are very reliable, always keen to play for the county whenever they are asked and supporters of Sussex so both deserve the opportunities.
Therefore overall the team finished in a creditable fifth place the final league table is as follows:
| TEAM | PLAYED | WON | DREW | LOST | FOR | AGAINST | POINTS |
| DORSET I | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 16 | 11 |
| SURREY I | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 41 | 19 | 9 |
| KENT I | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 25 | 8 |
| SURREY II | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 35 | 25 | 7 |
| SUSSEX III | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 28 | 32 | 5 |
| DORSET II | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 43 | 2 |
| BERKSHIRE II | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 50 | 0 |
| BUCKINGHAMSHIRE II | | | | | | | |
The third team player's performance is as below:
| Cippenham | Cippenham |
| Gary Wilson | 5-6 | |
| Mark Scutts | 5-6 | |
| Rory Scott | 1-6 | |
| Michael Robinson | | 1-6 |
| Terry Dean | | 1-6 |
| Andy Furnival | | 1-6 |
| Chelsea Furnival | 6-6 | 5-6 |
| Sally Hughes | 5-6 | 4-6 | |
It has been a really eventful season for the three county teams this season sometimes it felt more like Casualty than table tennis I have never experienced a season of injuries especially for our first team. We had Adrian Moore out, Sarah Stedman injured while playing and Rose Rainton struggling on the 2nd weekend. There we were concerned over Nigel playing four matches.
It promises to be an exciting time next season with the youngsters starting to breakthrough into the senior ranks, we have Dash who is playing so well at the moment and Yolanda King storming up the rankings with some superb performances. Both players will again be challenging for places in the top team. Hopefully Craig Bryant will be able to play more to further mix up the balance of experience and youth. A special mention for the captain, Ritchie continued to play at a high level winning 13 out of 14 and his efforts cannot go without mention.
The county are blessed with some very high quality players but they need to be pushed to fulfil their ability, it is so easy to take the easy option play at a lower level and win. As selectors we will again be selecting players that have the ability, keenness, reliability and drive to represent the county.
I can say that I have enjoyed the role of senior secretary, finally I would like to thank my fellow committee members for their help this season Rose Rainton, Ritchie Venner and Roger Gillett.
Terry Dean
Sussex Senior Match Secretary
May 2010
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