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Former President Ken Strong is appointed as an Honorary Life Member

Ken Strong receiving his Honorary Life Membership award from President Tony Martin

Ken Strong has been awarded Honorary Life Membership of the Association. He has been a devoted volunteer, initially beginning as a Branch Committee member in Ulster and then at national level in the Irish Association. In addition to service in his local Tyrone County Association, Ken was Ulster Branch Secretary for 16 years, Chairman and President each for 5 years. He is a former Chair, Secretary and International Director of Table Tennis Ireland as well as Chair of the former National Training & Selection Committee.

Table Tennis Ireland Chair, Joseph A. Hickey, said about Ken’s award:

“Ken has made an extraordinary contribution to the sport over the last 50 years at both national and provincial levels.  In terms of time and effort, it is without parallel in the history of the Association. The members who have observed even a small part of his incredible journey, know of his deep commitment to improving the standard of Irish table tennis, at all levels. On behalf of the members all around the country, I congratulate him on his appointment as an Honorary Life Member.”

The Award was presented to Ken at the Association’s Annual General Meeting by Irish President, Tony Martin.

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Irish Table Tennis Association CLG Annual General Meeting: Report

Con O’Ceadiagh receicving the Joe Veselsky Award from President Ken Strong

The Chairman, Joe Hickey welcomed everyone present to the meeting and introduced the President, Ken Strong, the Finance Director, Patricia Hunter, Operations Director, Rob Cowan and the Company Secretary, Jennifer Monaghan. The Chairman addressed the meeting on the changes in the Board since the last AGM, the issues arising from same including the engagement with Sport Ireland. Various members including former Directors also offered their views. The Finance Director, Mrs. Pat Hunter outlined the Company’s Financial Report and following a number of question, this report was adopted. The Reports of the Operations Director, Robert Cowan, the Company Secretary, Mrs. Jennifer Monaghan and other reports, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, were also adopted.  Mr. Richard Butler, Chair of the Management Committee presented the reports of each of the Managers within the Management Committee.

Election of Officers:

The following were re-elected as Directors:

Chairman:                 Mr. Joseph A. Hickey
Finance Director:        Mrs. Pat Hunter
Operations Director:   Mr. Robert Cowan
Company Secretary:   Mrs. Jennifer Monaghan

President:

Mr. Kenneth Strong stood down from this position after the maximum four year term allowed under the Constitution. Rob Cowan, on behalf of the Board and the membership generally, thanked him for all his work and dedication during the 4 years.  Mr Tony Martin was elected as the new President. Tony is a former Irish Secretary, Irish NPC, Leinster Branch Chair and President. He is also an Honorary Life Member and has served the Association for many years.

Vice Presidents: 

These were re-elected as follows:  Miss Anna Kelly, Mr. Patrick O’Brien, Mr. Tony Phillips MBE, Mr. Ivan Shorten, and Mr. Joe Finnegan

National Awards: 

The annual awards were presented at the AGM. Congratulations to all as follows: 

Junior Male Player of the Year:             Art McLaughlin
Junior Female Player of the Year:         Sophie Earley
School of the Year:                             Griffeen Valley ENTS
Para Award:                                       Colin Judge
Male Player of the Year:                      Gavin Maguire
Young Coach of the Year:                    Conor Mullally
Coach of the Year:                              Alan Taylor
Volunteer of the Year:                         Niall O’Flaherty
International Performance of the Year: Sophie Earley
Female Player of the Year:                   Sophie Earley
Club of the Year:                                 Leeside Club, Cork
Joe Veselsky Award:                            Con O’Ceadaigh

School of the Year, Griffeen Valley ENTS

International Performance of the Year: Sophie Earley

Volunteer of the Year: Niall O’Flaherty

Disciplinary Committee & Jury of Appeal: 

It was noted that new volunteers were required for these committees and the 4 Branches were invited to put forward their thoughts on suitable candidates.

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Table Tennis Ireland AGM 2018 – Report

The Acting Chairman Michael Scott welcomed everybody to the meeting with an introductory presentation on his own background and why he has served as Acting Chairman of the Association since April 2018, and his plans to improve the effectiveness of the Board and the numerous operational/governance difficulties faced by the Association. On his request, Finance Director Peter Graham delivered the Finance Report for the Financial Year 2017. The Report recorded a surplus for the period following the hard work by all involved during the year. In addition, the Finance Director noted that a portion of this surplus related to Paralympics underspend and would be carried forward to 2018. The financial statements, directors’ report and auditor’s report were considered by the meeting and adopted by the members following a vote, and the directors were permitted to fix the appointment of the auditors for the financial year 2018.

The Acting Chair then presented the Chairman’s Report which recorded a wide range of topics including the Corporate Governance issues faced by the Company, the various difficulties associated with events in the 2017/18 season, and the various new initiatives the Board were considering for Women in Sport and other programs. Reports were also circulated from the other Association Directors, Provincial Branches and Committees, and subsequently approved.

Directors were elected as follows:

Chairman:  Michael Scott

Company Secretary:  Peter Graham (Acting)
Finance Director:  Peter Graham

Commercial Director: Michael McGoldrick

HR Director: Lorna O’Rahilly
Other Directors: Alan Strong, Conn Higgins, and Paul Dolan

ITTA/TTI Annual Awards 2017/18

Male Coach of the Year:    

Philip McLaughlin

Billy Marshall Junior Award:                                      

Sophie Earley

Para Award of the Year:

Conor Callaghan

Volunteer of the Year:

Shane O’Connor

Vivienne Barry Fair Play Award

Joey Nelson

Press Officer of the Year:                                          

Brian Finn

Best Senior Male Player of the Year:                          

Gavin Maguire

Club of the Year:                                                     

Ormeau TTC

Merit Award:       

Manulla National school   

Best International Performance of the Year:              

Colin Judge

Special Award:                                                        

EYC Cadet Boys 2017

Joe Veselsky Award for Service to Sport:                  

Arnold Morgan

The Club Development Officer (CDO) introduced a discussion paper on the proposed Club Affiliation scheme, which was widely debated and discussed. A range of benefits to the affiliation proposal were described, with the CDO agreeing to canvas the opinion of the clubs by conducting a consultation process.

Finally, the Ulster Branch put four proposals forward for the Interprovincial Championships. As a result, on a one-year trial basis, the event will be held over one weekend, with the Senior event on Saturday and the Junior event on the Sunday at a central venue in Dublin. The format of the team matches will however remain the same.

The Board would like to thank all Members who attended and participated in what was a constructive and encouraging day. Whilst recognizing there is much work to be done in the Association, this is an encouraging time for Irish Table Tennis and we look forward to the coming year.

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Craigavon Table Tennis Club coach awarded TTI coach of the year

CRAIGAVON TABLE TABLE TENNIS CLUB COACH RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD

Table Tennis Ireland President, Ken Strong and Ulster Branch Chairman, Arnold Morgan visited Craigavon Table Tennis Club during their summer training camp held in the Baptist Church Hall at Drumgor.  

The purpose of the visit was to present Club coach Michael McGoldrick with the table Tennis Ireland Male Coach of the Year Award, which is awarded each year to the coach who has made the greatest contribution to the sport.

Ken said in presenting the Award: “I am delighted to present this Award to Michael in recognition of all your fine work developing the Club and the sport in the area over the last year and earlier. It is a well earned accolade and fully justified. The Association wishes you and your club members every success in the future.”

Both Arnold and Ken outlined some of the many examples of Michael’s involvement with and input to the Club which has led the Club being recognised as an example of good practice in Sport NI’s Active Clubs Project. He sees the way ahead as a strategic thinker, producing and implementing his good ideas. His coaching caters for a wide range of  players across communities, ages and genders.

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Rena Accepts “Para Athlete of 2016” Award

Rena took time out of her busy training schedule to accept her well-deserved Para Athlete of the year award from Rob Cowan at the National sports campus, sports HQ. Rob presented the award stating “Everybody in TTI is very proud of Rena’s achievements thus far, it is probably the dream of every  table tennis player to reach the Olympics, and it fantastic to see that Rena has done it; we will be supporting her all the way in Rio”.

Rena, originally from Donegal but now living in Galway, is currently busy preparing for the Paralympics in Rio which starts on September 7th with the Opening ceremony.  Rena’s first match is on the 8th meaning that she and coach Ronan Rooney will miss out on what is usually a tremendous spectacle at any Olympics or Paralympics.  At the moment she is at a pre-Rio International camp in Lasko, Slovenia and will then leave for a holding camp in Uberlandia, Brazil, on Aug 25th, leaving from there for the final part of this amazing journey in Rio on Sep 3rd. 

In Rio Rena will be in a group of 3 with 2 qualifying into the knockout stages.  The draw will be done in early September in Rio but it is certain that Rena will have either the world number 1 or 2 in her group, making it a very tough task from the start.  She qualified on December 31 last year by virtue of her world ranking of 7, a career high for her following a very successful 2015 that included a silver medal in the European Championships in October in Denmark.

This will be Rena’s second Paralympics, having been playing seriously for upwards of 15 years.  She has participated at multiple European Championships and World Championships but it was not until she started playing full time that she really came of age.  She had previously played part-time, working as a Sports Development Officer with the IWA.  In the lead-up to the London Games she took leave of absence from her job and her results proved to her the benefit of focusing totally on her table tennis.  Having more time afforded her the opportunity to avail of the various services offered by the Institute of Sport (such as physio, nutrition, strength and conditioning, performance management and psychology.)  So since the beginning of the Rio qualification period (January 2014) she has been effectively full time.  

For the past year she has been coached by 6-times Paralympian Ronan Rooney and she feels that this has also helped her performances.

Rena stated “I am indebted to so many people in getting this far…there are too many individuals to mention but I am really grateful to Sport Ireland, Paralympics Ireland, Table Tennis Ireland and IWA Sport.  I am also indebted to Andrew Dennison Sports and Tibhar for providing my competition and training gear”. 

Finally Rob Cowan said “ Table Tennis Ireland would like to wish Rena and Ronan the very best of Luck in Rio and I hope that Rena’s achievements will inspire the future generation of girls and women in TTI to success on the world stage“.

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Joe Veselsky Honoured by Trinity College

Table Tennis Ireland is delighted to report the news that it’s Life Honorary Member, Joe Veselsky, has been honoured at a ceremony in Trinity College, Dublin. 

The 97 year old was awarded an awarded an Honorary Master of Arts Degree. 

The tribute paid by the University read as follows.

At 97, Joe Veselsky is Trinity’s oldest student and was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree. He has taken extra-mural courses in the School of Histories and Humanities every year since 2010. 

He is an inspiring example of lifelong learning. His parents and elder brother were killed in Auschwitz. Having joined the Resistance, he was later decorated with the Order of the Slovak National Uprising. 

Post-war his passion was table tennis in which he ranked seventh nationally and captained the Czechoslovak team, with his wife, Katarina, he escaped the Prague coup of 1948 and came to Ireland where he established his own jewellery business. 

He made an abiding contribution to Irish life through sport: as captain of the Irish table tennis team for over twenty years. 

He was made a Commander of the Slovak Order of the White Double Cross for outstanding achievement in sport and for his contribution to the development and maintenance of diplomatic relations between Slovakia and Ireland.

Joe’s accolade has also attracted the attention of the ITTF, as the world governing body of Table Tennis paid tribute to the achievements of the great man. 

To see the article in full please click here

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Alan Strong MBE

Table Tennis Ireland is proud to announce that our newest Life Honarary Member, Mr Alan Strong, has been awarded with an M.B.E for his services to Education and Sport.

In the recently announced birthday honours, the M.B.E was awarded to Alan for his outstanding contribution in both his academic and sporting fields. 

Alan is a Senior lecturer in the University of Ulster, and has recently been awarded with the honour of Life Honorary Membership to Table Tennis Ireland for his years of sustained service to the sport. 

This was followed by the announcement of the M.B.E, a fitting tribute to one of Table Tennis Ireland’s most hard working and longest serving volunteers.

Congratulations to Alan on this incredible achievement!

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Senior Schools International – Singles Day and Presentations

Click on the links below to download results for each singles event.

Boys U-14           Girls U-14

Boys U-16           Girls U-16

Boys U-18           Girls U-18

One last slideshow from the weekend’s play… https://youtu.be/kmlzoDh3c8s

PRIZEWINNERS: SINGLES


Boys’ U-14 Singles. Gold: Dylan Curry. Silver: Sam Chesterman. Bronze: Naphat Boonyaprapa, Martin Johnson.


Boys’ U-14 Singles Plate. Winner: Kristjonas Dapkus. (Runner-Up: Daniel Collenette).


Girls’ U-14 Singles. Gold: Charlotte Bardsley. Silver: Mollie Patterson. Bronze: Lucy Craig, Mia O’Rahilly-Egan.


Girls’ U-14 Plate. Winner: Lauren Stacey. Runner-Up: Freya Melvin.


Boys’ U-16 Singles. Gold: Owen Cathcart. Silver: Matthew Leete. Bronze: Calum Morrison, Shayan Siraj.


Boys’ U-16 Plate. Winner: Joey Nelson. Runner-Up: James Kelly.


Girls’ U-16 Singles. Gold: Katie McGlone. Silver: Sophie Barlow. Bronze: Sarah Menghistab, Bhavika Mistry.


Girls U-16 Plate. Winner: Lauren McLeod. Runner-Up: Venus Cheung.


Boys’ U-18 Singles. Gold: Callum Evans. Silver: Joshua Bennet. Bronze: Yaser Razouk, Zak Wilson.

(Boys’ U-18 Plate. Winner: Darragh Egan. Runner-Up: Sean Drewry.) 


Girls U-18 Singles. Gold: Zahna Hall. Silver: Bethany Farnworth. Bronze: Kate Roberts, Nicole Bird.


Girls U-18 Plate. Winner: Mair Kelly. (Runner-Up: Charlotte Casey).

PRIZEWINNERS: TEAM EVENT


Boys’ U-14. Gold: England A. Silver: Scotland A. Bronze: Ireland A.


Girls’ U-14. Gold: England A. Silver: Ireland A. Bronze: Ireland B.


Boys’ U-16. Gold: England A. Silver: England B. Bronze: Ireland A.


Girls U-16. Gold: Ireland A. Silver: England B. Bronze: England A.


Boys’ U-18. Gold: Ireland A. Silver: England A. Bronze: Wales.


Girls’ U-18. Gold: England A. Silver: Ireland. Bronze: England B.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS


Con O’Ceadaigh, Tournament Referee


Stuart McConkey, Assistant Referee

Gavin Maguire, Top-Ranked Senior Male Player