The eight teams comprising the County Championships Over-60s Premier Division played the first three rounds of matches at Milton Keynes Table Tennis Centre on the last weekend in November. The teams involved were Cheshire, Essex, Kent, Leicestershire, Surrey, Sussex, Worcestershire and Yorkshire.

Yorkshire once again fielded a strong team, showing their determination to hold on to the title they won last year (picture above), whilst newly-promoted Sussex and Worcestershire wanted to show that they could hold their own in the top division.

Sussex have been regulars in the Premier Division and won the competition in 2019/20, but were relegated two years ago, whilst Worcestershire are new to the Premier Division.

Here is how the three rounds of matches unfolded.

Round 1- Yorks 9 Worcs 1; Cheshire 3 Sussex 7; Leics 5 Surrey 5; Kent 3 Essex 7

A baptism of fire for newly promoted Worcestershire, losing to reigning champions Yorkshire, who secured all four points. Strengthened by the presence of Ritchie Venner as their No 1, Sussex secured a 7-3 win over Cheshire. Newcomer Tony Bates secured a fine win over Peter Bartram.

Leicestershire v Surrey was nip and tuck all the way. At 4-5 down, Surrey won the final mixed doubles to earn a draw. Two singles wins from Rik James, along with a mixed doubles win with Elaine Sayer, helped set up a win for Essex over Kent.

Round 2 – Sussex 3 Yorks 7; Surrey 7 Cheshire 3; Essex 4 Leics 6; Worcs 9 Kent 1

Despite two singles wins for Ritchie Venner and a fine win for Peter Bartram over Yorks No 1 Peter Bartram, Yorkshire’s strength in depth was decisive in their 7-3 win.

An all-round team effort with all players contributing saw Surrey beat Cheshire 7-3, while dominant performance from Chris Rogers with two singles wins and two doubles wins set up the 6-4 win of Leicestershire over Essex.

Worcestershire pulled out all the stops to secure their first win in the Premier Division – and a 9-1 win at that. Only a ladies’ singles win for Munho King prevented a Worcestershire whitewash.

Round 3 – Yorks 8 Surrey 2; Cheshire 4 Essex 6; Leics 7 Kent 3; Worcs 3 Sussex 7

Another four-point win for Yorkshire, with Surrey’s only win in the singles being Phil Snelson’s defeat of Ivan Lewis.

Essex’s win over Cheshire was another match whose outcome was not decided until the final mixed doubles – which went Essex’s way. Newcomers Tony Bates and Rik James both won their two singles matches.

Once again, Chris Rogers’ contribution was decisive for Leicestershire, winning both his single and two doubles. Munho King and John Burleton won the final mixed doubles to pick up a point.

Ritchie Venner maintained his unbeaten singles record and alongside Christine Wicks won the final mixed doubles. Three men’s singles wins secured a point for Worcestershire.

So at the end of the first weekend session, the divisional table shows defending champions Yorkshire leading the way, with a three-point lead over second-placed Leicestershire.

Cheshire and Kent occupy the bottom two places with three points and two points respectively. But with four matches still to be played in the second session in February and with a potential 16 points to be won by all teams – there is still everything to play for both at the top and the bottom of the division.

Click here to see the table. From there, you can navigate to the results, player averages and much else besides.