Former Lithuanian international Lawrence Trumpauskas secured his third Chelmsford Mens Singles title on Monday at the Old Chelmsfordians Club in front of an excellent crowd but he didn't have it all his own way in the final against Dave Cole.

The evening began with everyone standing for a minute's silence for Geoff Baker who died tragically from a heart-attack in the recent top-of-the-table division six clash between Writtle E and Danbury K.

Geoff, a greatly respected player, aged 68, was a stalwart of the League and was formerly the chief photographer of the Essex Chronicle (see obituary on page 21).

The evening's first match, the Mens Singles semi-final between Stuart Gibbs and Dave Cole, always looked like being the best of the night and it didn't disappoint.

Cole took a scrappy first end 21-16 and from thereon the game became a superb spectacle with both players producing a range of shots seldom seen in the third-ball dominated modern game.

Cole's away-from-the-table play has improved over the years and he in fact produced a couple of perfectly crafted 'chops' which caused Gibbs to overhit at a crucial stage in the third end.

Cole had stormed into an 8-2 lead at the start of the third end and at 15-10 he looked safe but Gibbs rallied to 15-14 and it was a relieved Cole who took a superb match 21-18, the final score being 21-16,18-21, 21-18 in Cole's favour.

Paul Lucas retained his Under 21 Singles title with a very workmanlike 21-12, 21-11 win over the promising Matthew Staines six years Lucas's junior.

Lucas's top-class serves and booming shots were always going to present a difficult challenge for a younger player, even one as promising as Staines and so it proved.

Nevertheless Staines showed plenty of determination in taking the game to his opponent and hit a number of cracking winners of his own.

With six years left in this category he looks a definite champion of the future.

Lawrence Trumpauskas faced George Reeves in his semi-final and raced into a 5-0 lead with some vicious serving.

But from there Reeves rallied magnificently and levelled at 12-12 with some fine angled counter-hits and a couple of brilliantly executed loop-drives of his own.

However Trumpauskas wasn't to be denied and took the match 21-15 and without really producing his most spectacular play he moved up another gear to take the second end 21-10.

Reeves showed excellent touch in returning Trumpauskas's serves, acknowledged to be the best in the County, and even had the audacity to blast a couple of them past the Champion.

Stuart Gibbs was back in action against Jon Hill in the Veterans Final and this proved to be an open game full of excellent rallies and variety of shots.

Hill's vastly improved backhand initially forced Gibbs to over-hit but as Gibbs found his range he was able to produce glimpses of the form that made him England no. 3 in his heyday behind the legendary Chester Barnes and Dennis Neale.

Gibbs is one of the few players who makes you believe he can smash the ball from below the height of the table and although he may have slowed down slightly his anticipation and range of shots still make him a delight to watch.

Amazingly this was his first appearance on Chelmsford Finals Night and I am sure many spectators hope that he will be around next year as well.

Gibbs took the match 21-13, 21-17.

Lawrence Trumpauskas/Paul Lucas were expected to take the Mens Doubles title and they did.

Their opponents, Stuart Gibbs/Terry Dowsett, were able to return serves tightly and counter-hit with great effect but the greater weight of shot from the Trumpauskas/Lucas combination meant they were never in real danger.

Lucas's serves are amongst the best in the League and when he is playing with Trumpauskas their opponents know they face a real battle just to get the ball back in play.

Dowsett in particular started strongly but once Lucas/Trumpauskas got their noses in front they never let up and took the match 21-12, 21-14.

The Mixed Doubles Final produced a minor upset with Sue Cook/Peter Barrett taking the title in three ends against two-times champion Leanne Bentley, this time playing with Dave Window.

Cook and Barrett made a slow start and lost the first end 21-13 with Bentley putting the ball away on several occasions for outright winners, but from then on they managed to play some excellent controlled table tennis to take the second game 21-10 and build up a commanding 18-12 lead in the third.

Barrett, who had looked out-of-sorts in the first game, came into his own in the third with a series of heavily spun loops which his opponents found impossible to handle.

At 18-12 down, Bentley and Window staged a spirited comeback but it was too late and Barrett and Cook came home 21-17 for a well deserved success.

The 21-19, 21-13 win for Lawrence Trumpauskas over Dave Cole in the Mens Singles Final was probably a fair reflection of the match.

Cole played superbly in the first end, handling the serves with apparent ease (although he was modest enough to claim otherwise) and managed to smash a number of Trumpauskas's loops back past him.

Yet despite all this he could never pull clear of his opponent and Trumpauskas just shaded it 21-19.

In the second end Cole held his opponent till 8-8 but after missing out in a couple of excellent rallies he couldn't sustain it any longer and Trumpauskas pulled away to win 21-13 for his third successive title.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.