The Oldham & District Table Tennis championships are being staged this coming Sunday, 2^nd March 03 at the Oldham Sports Centre, commencing at 9am with the finals expected to take place approximately from 7pm. It has attracted 64 players, with all of last years event winners back to defend their titles.

Last week was the second round of the Divisional Handicap Cups and in Division 1 Werneth B booked their semi final place against Rosehill B after their 26 point win against Rosehill A.

The other Semi final will be between Hyde YMCA A and Hollinwood C after both teams were given walk overs by their opponents.

Division 2. The closest match of the round was Werneth C against Grotton B where Werneth had to concede a 146 points start and failed in their quest by a mere 2 points. With just the doubles to play Werneth were still 27 points behind, but a 21-8 win in the first game put them in with a chance and left them needing a 21-7 win in the second game to force a draw. Grotton B held on in a tense final game to gain nine points and a place in the semi finals against their A team who beat Gilders A by 39 points after conceding a 73 point start.

In the other half of the draw First Transport beat Hollinwood F by 7 points after conceding an 82 point start. They will now meet Austerlands who beat Hollinwood D by 85 points after a 119 point start.

Division 3 Uppermill B's 69 point start against Owls A proved good enough, winning by 19 points in the end. They will now play Unison B who with a 52 point start went on to beat Hamer Delph by 111 points.

Coldhurst A, with a huge 187 point start easily beat Pennine. They will now meet Unison A who beat Lancashire Racquets by 55 points after an 8 point start.

Division 4. The competition in this division is being dominated by Coldhurst , who have three teams in the next round. Coldhurst B received an 18 point start against Failsworth C and won by 25 points. They now meet their C team who, with a 17 point start, went on to beat Deaf B quite comfortably by 74 points.

In the other half of the draw Coldhurst D just held on to their massive 258 point start which was whittled down to just 25 points by the valiant losers Werneth E. They now meet the youngsters from Failsworth E who beat their B team by 37 points after receiving a 98 point start.

The Hollinwood & South Chadderton Conservative Club on Stanley road is the venue for the meeting at which both candidates for the chaiman of the English Table Tennis Association will be present as part of their election campaign. Both the current chairman, Alan Ransome, O.B.E. and challenger Alex Murdoch, will give 15 minute presentations followed by 30 minute question and answer sessions. This is a unique opportunity for all players from all the local leagues to meet the people responsible for the future of our game, at a time when major changes are under consideration to the scoring system. If you have a question to raise at the meeting please channel it through John Foster beforehand (0161 205 3486), to be collated and raised in a formal manner by your committee.

So come along on 6^th March at 7-45 p.m. Everyone is welcome.

Alan Ransome, the current chairman of the E.T.T.A. will be visiting Oldham on 6^th March 03 to give a short presentation as part of his re- election campaign. Everyone is invited. The venue is yet to be decided, but it would assist the organisers if those people intending to be present contacted John Foster on 0161 205 3486 or e-mailed the league on www.oldham@tabletennis.co.uk, so that the likely numbers can be catered for.

Division 1. Werneth B have caught up on their fixture backlog posting one win, one draw and one defeat against Hollinwood B, Rosehill A and Hyde YMCA A respectively. In their 9-1 win against Hollinwood B , Jon DePledge and Doug Hill were unbeaten , Eddie Darlington losing deuce in the third against Simon Hardwick. Mandy Winskill (2) and Jon DePledge (2) plus the doubles gained their draw against Rosehill A. Winners for Rosehill were Kevin Rothwell (1), Ian Stott (2) and Phil Ashworth (2). In their 9-1 defeat against Hyde YMCA, Eddie Darlington was the only winner beating Stuart Wood, whilst Dave Sefton and Brian Baldwin were unbeaten for Hyde.

Division 2. The Grotton A team of Tony Prescott, Dave Morris and Alf Barker beat First Transport 9-1. Transports single win coming from Brian Hall against Alf Barker.

Honeywell Lane beat Gilders Tackle A 7-3 with wins from Paul Rowbotham (3) Terry Cooper (2) and Howard Travis (1) who just lost to Ray Woods (2) deuce in the third. Colin Ogden was Gilders other winner.

The Hollinwood E team of Stuart Clarke (3), Glenn Dowse (2) and Pete Dawson (2) beat Grotton B 8-2. Alf Barker and Steve Smith replied for Grotton.

Division 3. Third placed Unison B beat second placed Hamer Delph in a truly competitive match with 8 of the sets needing a deciding game. Steve Wild was unbeaten with Dave Wild adding two and teaming together for the doubles gave them a 6-4 victory. The teams meet again in the Cup next week. It should be interesting.

Uppermill B included Keith Moores in their team which was just good enough to beat Owls A 6-4.

Coldhurst A came away from Gilders Tackle B with a 7-3 victory thanks to wins from Geoff Hollin (3), Murray Corbin (2) and Peter Altham (2). Dave Cuniffe (2) was the only winner for Gilders.

Division 4. Unison C posted two 9-1 wins to keep them in second place, 11 points behind their D team but with 2 games in hand.

Unison D were involved in a closer game than they might have expected, against the improving Coldhurst C, running out 7-3 winners. Mike O'Gara won his three with Wayne Carter (2) and Neil Chapman (1) Winners for Coldhurst were Simon King (2) and Simon Walsh (1) with John McLoughlin just losing out to Neil Chapman 22-24 in the third.

Deaf B beat Failsworth D 6-4 with Stuart Davis riding out his luck winning 2 of his 3 wins on deuce in the third. Scott Hall won Deaf Clubs other two singles. Pete Aspin (2), Paul Carter (1) and Nathan Buckley replied for Failsworth.

With only six matches left this season, teams with outstanding fixtures are urged to start re-arranging them now.

Division 1. Leaders NCFPP posted 8-2 and 9-1 wins against Hyde YMCA A and Hollinwood B respectively whilst second placed Werneth A whitewashed Rosehill A to leave them 21 points behind but with 2 games in hand.

The Hollinwood A team of George Jones (3), Gary Hallsworth (3) and Jack Christian (2) beat Rosehill B 8-2. Andrew Perry was Rosehill's best player on the night winning one and narrowly losing to George Jones deuce in the third.

Division 2. Werneth C beat Hollinwood F 9-1 to go 12 points clear at the top. George Marrow beat Doreen Schofield for Hollinwood's only win.

Second spot is currently held by Honeywell Lane, although Grotton A and Hyde YMCA B who are on a decent run are all in contention.

Honeywell Lane beat Hollinwood D 8-2 with a treble from Terry Cooper and doubles from Paul Rowbotham who lost to Roy Hicketts and Brian Higgins who lost to Ray Statham.

Hyde YMCA B beat Grotton B 6-4 in a closely fought contest where Grotton won two of the sets , both against the unlucky Vernon Hyde , 25-23 in the third. Winners for Hyde were Nick Bakewell (3) and Ken Ward (2) whilst Grotton's points came from Alf Barker (2), Steve Smith (1) and Neil Tomlinson (1).

Division 3. Steve Wild scored a maximum for third placed Unison B, and with a double from Dave Wild it was enough to inflict a 6-4 defeat on the leaders Pennine for whom John Robertson won two with Glenn Chadwick and Dave Harris each winning one.

Second placed Hamer Delph beat Uppermill B 7-3 with maximums from Alan Marston and Derek Naylor. Howard Meadham and Stuart Hanson beat John Kershaw and teamed together to win the doubles for Uppermill's points.

Fourth placed Owls A beat Lancashire Racquets 8-2 with maximums from Dave Harthan and Paul Woodward and a double from Martin Raines. John Herman was Racquets only winner but it was the improving Paul Woodward who impressed on the night winning all his games in straight sets. If Paul's consistency continues, then the possibility of a call up for the Great Britain team in future paraplegic games is not out of the question.

Division 4. Leaders Unison D saw off the challenge of third placed Werneth E beating them comfortably 8-2 with three wins from Mike O'Gara and two each from Dennis Heyes and Barry Johnson who both lost to Julian Minshall.

Owls B beat Deaf B 6-4 with doubles for Dinesh Gorasia and Philip Tamworth and a single from David Foden. Stuart Davis won three for the Deaf Club and Scott Hall added a single.

The Coldhurst B team of Mark Tattersall (3), David Tattersall (1) and Derek Taylor (2) beat Failsworth E 7-3. Paul Carter (2) and Nathan Buckley (1) replied for Failsworth.

Division 1. The only results posted this week in this division involve the two bottom teams who both picked up a respectable 3 points each. Bottom team Hollinwood C played their B team, whose players won two each. Joe Redikin beat Dave Buckley, John Flowers beat Simon Hardwick and Bob Johnson beat Brian Huskinson for the C team's points.

Hanging Gate's Glenn Hewitt won two against BAe A , beating Dennis Taylor and Ian Byrne. Bill Russell was unbeaten for BAe A.

Division 2. Leaders Werneth C almost came unstuck against lowly placed Hamer B just pulling off a 6-4 win thanks to a treble from Paul Wilkinson and a double from Doreen Schofield. The Hamer team of Richard Hinchliffe, Paul Whyatt and Ian Connell all beat the unlucky Bernard Davies in tight third games, two of them in deuce with Richard Hinchliffe also beating Doreen Schofield.

Second placed Grotton A took full advantage with a 10-0 win over Hollinwood E whilst third placed Honeywell beat First Transport 7-3 to keep in touch.

Division 3. Second placed Hamer Delph beat fourth placed Owls A 6-4 with two wins each for Alan Marston and Ian Naylor and a single from Derek Naylor. Winners for Owls were Dave Harthan (2) and one each for Philip Hall and Martin Raines.

Third placed Unison B beat bottom team Coldhurst a 6-4 with doubles from Steve and Dave Wild and a single from Ron Holt. Geoff Hollin (3) and Peter Altham (1) replied for Coldhurst.

Division 4. Leaders Unison D with a team of Barry Johnston, Neil Chapman and Wayne Carter easily disposed of Failsworth C 10-0, whilst second placed Unison C beat Failsworth B 9-1 with maximums from Martin Haigh and Jan Galikowski and a double from Roger Jagger who lost to Brian Handley. Paul Carter was unlucky to lose two marathon games 25-27, 21-12,20-22 against Martin Haigh , and 16-21, 22-20, 19-21 against Jan Galikowski.

Werneth E in third place beat Failsworth D 7-3 with a treble from Julian Minshall and doubles from Phil Coombe and Collette Lord. Pete Aspin replied with two wins.

Coldhurst D held their B team to a draw with the result hanging on the doubles which the D team won game 18 in the third. Winners for the D team were Jimmy Wolfenden (2) and John Greenwood (2) whilst the B teams wins came from Mark Tattersall (3), David Tattersall (1) and Derek Taylor (1). The game of the night resulted in a 19-21,22-20,22-20 win for Jimmy Wolfenden against Derek Taylor.