BRANDON Crouchman and Peter Hayden in division one, Ken Lewis in division two and Brian How and Derek Kennard in division three all entered 2017 with unbeaten records in the Braintree Table Tennis League.

Crouchman and Hayden are leading Liberal A’s charge towards the title whereas How and Kennard are in different teams and could meet when those teams, Rayne H and Netts D, play each other again on February 1.

In division one, Paul Davison, in third place, has lost just once, to Scott Dowsett, while Simon Webber, ninth in the final averages last year, rises five places to fourth.

Lewis, who lost two of his 33 sets last season, has been stretched to five games only twice this term, winning at 11-7 in the fifth against both Nick Hasler and Dave Moles.

Jon Fieldsend, in second place, has lost only to Keith Flowers, at 11-9 in the fifth.

Jamie Brooks in division three remained unbeaten in his first nine matches but two late slip-ups saw him drop back into third place.

He has yet to face either How or Kennard.

AVERAGES (at the end of 2016, for those who have played at least five matches): Division 1: 1= Brandon Crouchman 29 wins in 29 sets, Peter Hayden 15 wins in 15 sets, 100 per cent; 3 Paul Davison 27-28, 96.4; 4 Simon Webber 25-29, 86.2; 5 Adam Buxton 31-36, 86.1; 6 Andy Holmes 21-26, 80.8; 7 Steve Pennell 28-37, 75.9; 8 Scott Dowsett 21-29, 72.4; 9 Ian Whiteside 12-17, 70.6; 10 Adrian Pitt 24-35, 68.6; 11= Hector Rogers 18-27, Maria Boulton 14-21, 66.7; 13 James Hicks 17-26, 65.4; 14 Ryan Pitt 15-26, 57.6; 15 Matthew Brown 12-21, 57.1; 16 Alistair Hill 14-27, 51.8; 17= Peter Hance 10-20, Andrew Huckson 9-18, 50; 19; James Mullane 15-33, 45.5; 20 Victor Chan 14-33, 42.2.

Division 2: 1 Ken Lewis 15-15, 100; 2 Jon Fieldsend 20-21, 95.2; 3 Dave Marsh 24-27, 88.9; 4 Dave Moles 18-21, 85.7; 5 Garry Fryatt 25-30, 83.3; 6 Dave Miller 22-27, 81.5; 7 Gordon Fairchild 29-36, 80.6; 8 Sean Clift 23-33, 69.7; 9= Keith Flowers 26-39, Richard Kemp 12-18, 66.7.

Division 3: 1= Brian How 20-20, Derek Kennard 18-18, 100; 3 Jamie Brooks 30-32, 93.8; 4 Liam Ebbs 29-33, 87.9; 5 Joe Belsom 24-29, 82.8; 6 Leon Hewitt 26-32, 81.3; 7 Charles Wilkinson 16-22, 72.7; 8 Max Plumridge 23-32, 71.9; 9 Chris High 12-17, 70.6; 10 Declan Baines 16-23, 69.6.