DTTB Youth Camp – Germany 2014

An Irish development squad recently spent two weeks at an international training camp hosted by the DTTB – the German Table Tennis Federation.  This is a top class annual camp attended by players from across Europe. Ireland was represented at the camp by Coach Kieran Reilly and players Luke Dempsey, Erin Thompson, Elayna McGlone, Charlie Fitzgerald & Ryan McConkey.

The camp had coaches from Germany, Denmark & Sweden, and our squad was exposed to a variety of coaching styles.

The players over the course of the fortnight worked hard on the tables with particular focus on serving exercises, and also off the table, with regular circuit training and running sessions. The camp also worked on team building exercises which bonded the Irish squad in attendance. Towards the end of the camp, a singles tournament took place – the Irish squad performed really well with Erin Thompson making the Final of the Girls and Luke Dempsey winning the Boys event outright.

This was a really good camp for players ahead of the new season and also for our coach Kieran Reilly who learned a lot from the variety of coaching styles at the camp.

Owen Cathcart from Ormeau Table Tennis recently returned from representing Ireland at the International Table Tennis Federation world hopes camp in Otocec Slovenia. The best players from across the world born in the years 2002/2003 gathered to the Hopes Challenge that involved four days training followed by a three day tournament. 
Day 1 
Opening day of the ITTF Hopes began with a brief talk about the camp hopes and ambitions for the players followed by an introduction to the coaching team led by Eva Jeler and Dejan Papic both well-known and highly regarded coaches. First exercise for the day was some physical training with current Slovenian national champion which consisted of some warming up exercises followed by coordination and stretching.
Second part of the training was on technical training with Coach Peter Teglas which involved the players playing consistently “Keeping ball on table” for over one hour with sole focus on correcting technique and for players to play with focus and 70/80% pace. Owen in this session trained with the rising young star from Panama doing regular drills and routines to his highest ability and receiving positive feedback throughout from Peter.
Final session of the day was with Croatian Tamara Boros (renowned for her serve) which as you guessed it involved serve and receive. From the general feel of the camp there seemed to be massive focus on basic technique and this was shown in service by Tamara. Owen was able to mix it with the best as he showed a good range of spin serves both short and long.
Day 2
The second day of the hopes involved a mixture of physical training, classical training and multiball training over the course of 6 hours. Owen started the day with physical training with Miran Kondric, who works at the Faculty of Sports in Ljubljana and also personal trainer for Slovenia’s top senior Bojan Tokic. The physical training was very interesting from a coaches prospective as it involved many small exercises that concentrated on coordination and fast short movements which were both fun and effective. Miran would stress that this physical conditioning for the ages of 10-12 years must be enjoyable and always changing so the players would not get bored easily. 
Later in the day Owen got a fantastic opportunity to work with Zhang Jike’s personal coach, Xiao Zhan with former World no. 2 with Zoran Primorac by his side to assist the 45 minute multiball session. The session involved a lot of work on basic technique with Xiao suggesting a few tweaks on both forehand and backhand topspin which was taken on board by the young kid from Belfast with open ears. It was very easy to see that this coach from China was very enthusiastic with his teaching and he brought a massive presence of knowledge and hard work. 
Day 3 
Back down to the hall for the third days training again under the direction of Eva Jeler which was a repeat of the first day with session with morning training consisting of physical conditioning, technique training and service training. In this session Owen came under the watchful eye of Coach Dejan Papic whom was genuinely impressed with his level of skill and technique but pointing out a few crucial tips regarding Owens movement. Overall another very good morning session with all the players taking lots of knowledge and experience. 
Afternoon session began with “Keeping the ball” exercises with again 70/80% speed so the players could gain consistency and build reputation within their games. These “Keeping the ball” exercises are very important for young players under the age of 12 explained the coach Eva Jeller; why? Because with consistent play comes good opportunity to play good technique in a repetitive manner. 
The final two hours of the training consisted of a small mini tournament starting matches from 8-8 and best of 9 games. This tournament was intended that the players will learn to play from important situations in the match and to make the correct decisions under pressure. Owen made a good account taking some good wins and eventually losing to a Mexican player who finished 3rd in this competition.
Day 4
The final day of training again followed a similar routine to the previous day with an additional free session in the afternoon that gave the players coach some time with their players and work on specific routines. 
Team Ireland decided to pair up with Czech team with Owen training with No.3 seed Thomas Martinko. The players were under the coaches guidance and worked specifically on service and receive of service which would prove vital if Owen was to win matches in the team and singles event. 
Team event
Friday began with the ITTF Hopes team tournament which seen Owen partner with Emilija from Lithuania. Team Ireland/Lithuania were drawn in a tough group with Sweden, Czech Republic and Panama. First match was against Czech Republic which Owen started brilliant with his best win of the challenge; over their number one ranked boy (No.3 Seed) Thomas Martinko winning 3-1. Next up was Emilija who lost a nervy game to take the match to the deciding doubles which eventually was lost 3-1. 
Next match was against the strong Swedish team with Owen playing against Martin Friss who was the eventual singles winner. Owen played well in this match but Martin proved just too strong and winning 3-0. Next game seen Emilija level the match with a win against the Swedish girl leaving the game 1-1 with just the mixed doubles to go which again proved to be very competitive with Sweden just edging it 3-1. 
Final match of the team event for Ireland/Lithuania was against a team from Panama/Peru with Owen taking on the talented Jacobo Vahnish from Panama who showed great flair and style during the training sessions. Owen again was up against it with Jacobo using aggressive attack on 3rd ball but Owen being able to stay right with him in every set showing that there was little between both players. Owen eventually lost this game 3-0 but the score did not do justice for the match which seen great flair on attack and service from young Cathcart. Emilija played the next game against Peru’s Alessandra Cisneros who was just too strong for her and eventually lost 3-1 and therefore team Ireland/Lithanuia lost overall game 2-0 and therefore not entering the knockout stages. 
Singles Event
Group Matches 
Sunday began with Owen playing the group stages of the singles event which consisted of four groups with six players and the top four from each group advancing to the last 16. Owen started the group with and excellent win over the Algerian No.1 who won many good matches in the previous day team event. Owen proved in this match that we was able to keep his focus and deliver a very strong 3-0 performance playing with great spin in both wings and also implementing a variation of strong services. Next Owen played the No.2 seed from Singapore and No.1 Canadian boy who both proved very strong opposition for the Ormeau player whom eventually lost 3-0 and 3-1. Next match in Owen’s group against the No.1 from Thailand would be very important as he needed to win this to have a chance to finish 3rd got off to a slow start going 2-0 down and in real trouble but knowing Owen and seeing him progress both mentally and physically over the previous season he was not giving up on this match and came back with brave attacking flair to win the game 3-2!
Final matches in the group stage were against the Latvian No.1 and Slovenian No.2 who posed no real problem for the Ormeau man and took the matches 3-0 and 3-1. The draw for the last 16 was made and Owen was up against the huge serving Hungarian kid Oliver, both who was coached by ITTF coach Peter Teglas. This was certainly one of Owens best matches which seen him give everything and play some of his best table tennis to date but unfortunately this was not enough and he lost 3-2. Owen was very disappointed but took the defeat in a positive manner and using it to help him with the 9-16 play off matches. 
In the playoffs Owen set a target to achieve a top 10 position but in his way was strong opposition from Egypt, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong. Owen started very well with two good wins over the players from Hong Kong and Sri Lanka which set him up for 9/10th place in his group and hence help him finish higher in the singles event!
Again this was a difficult match for Owen as the player from Egypt was fired up from previous good wins and took the first set but only to see Owen come back strong and win the following three sets to leave him in a brilliant 9th place.
Overall it was an excellent experience for Ormeau TTC’s Owen and proved to him that he can mix it with the best players in the world for his age category. ITTF Hopes camp gave him many great tips and great coaching advice that he can take away and use throughout his playing career. 
By Gervis Knox

Commonwealth Games – Team NI Story So Far

A strong Northern Ireland team are currently in action at Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. The Table Tennis event has been played in a fantastic atmosphere with lots of the Northern Ireland team’s matches featuring on the live stream or on BBC. Below is an update from Scotland on the story so far for Team NI with just two players left alive in the singles competition, McCreery and Robinson. In the Doubles, Mogey and Givan have progressed to the last 32.

Team – Men

In the pool stage, Team NI claimed wins over Guyana and Vanuatu, before facing off against India. McCreery lost 3.1 to Achanta before Robinson pushed Ghosh all the way in a 5 set thriller, eventually losing 11-9 in the final set.

India claimed the Doubles against Robinson & Peter Graham for a 3.0 match win. To place this result in some context, Robinson will be happy with his performance against Ghosh who is 138 in the World and would have been a fantastic scalp for him. Achanta at WR 38 is one of the top seeds for the event. McCreery and Robinson are World Ranked 445 & 508 respectively.

The two wins were enough to qualify the team to play in the main draw 1^st Round versus Nigeria. Robinson was first up, and in a thrilling match which set the tone for the whole fixture, claimed his biggest win of the event so far over Onaolapo, WR 353.

McCreery was in next against Nigerian No.1 and WR 138 Aruna, and Aruna claimed the win by 3.1. Team NI fell 2.1 behind with a straight sets loss in the Doubles, before McCreery levelled matters at 2.2 with a huge win over WR150 Toriola, which went all the way to deuce in the final set. This was a huge win for McCreery and really shows the class of our top player.

In the deciding set, Peter Graham could not match the firepower of Aruna and Team NI bowed out of the team event, but not without some big results and a fantastic fighting performance against the highly rated Nigerian team.

Team – Women

The NI Team of Emma Ludlow, Ashley Givan, Amanda Mogey and Hannah Lynch Dawson lost out in their early pool matches to both Singapore and Sri Lanka. This left the team out of the main stage of the competition and facing positional play-offs against first Mauritius and then Ghana, before eventually playing-off versus Scotland. The team performed really well with 3 wins from 3 in the play-offs. Against the hosts, the team produced their best performance of the event with Lynch Dawson recording two wins and Givan also registering a win. Following the disappointment of the group phase, this was the best the squad could have hoped for – they are a young squad and will have benefitted massively from their Commonwealth experience.

Singles

Paul McCreery

Dominant in the group stages, Irish National Senior Champion McCreery claimed wins over opponents from Lesotho and Belize, before dominating Scottish player Sean Doherty 4-0 in the 1^st Round this morning. McCreery faces a massive battle to progress tonight against England’s Liam Pitchford, who is ranked in the top 100 in the World and will look to produce a huge performance.

Peter Graham

Graham dominated his group with wins over Sierra Leone and St.Lucia. This morning he faced a tough Trinidad left-hander and came unstuck, despite racing into a 2.0 win.  The veteran Dexter St.Louis, with a top 300 World Ranking, showed all his experience to stay in the match and eventually progress on a 4.2 scoreline.

Ashley Robinson

Robinson crusied through his group in fine style, with wins over Pakistan and St.Lucia. Tonight he faces a huge challenge against Achanta from India. Achanta has a 3.1 win over McCreery for the Team event, so Robinson can go out and play freely and without pressure in an attempt to claim the biggest result of his career.

Emma Ludlow

Ludlow recorded 1 win and 1 loss in the pool stage, beating Grant of Sierra Leone 4.0 before losing out to New Zealand’s Yang by 4 games to 2. Look out for the final instalment of Emma’s blog after a huge few months for the young player, recording an Irish National Senior title win, an  appearance at the European Youths and of course the Commonwealth Games.

Amanda Mogey

Mogey defeated opposition from Papa New Guinea and Pakistan in the initial group stages in the singles and then produced a big performance to beat Gou from Canada in the Last 64 in straight sets on the show court and the live stream.  She faced top class opposition in Li Chunli of New Zealand in the last 32 and unfortunately could not progress to the next round, losing out to the veteran player 4 -0 .

Ashley Givan

In the group stages, Givan registered her best win of the event with a 4.0 win over Guyana’s Lowe who is 70 places above her in the World Rankings. Givan also recorded victories over Mauritius and Jamaice, before eventually being eliminated in Round 2 against Lay of Australia, who is ranked 115 in the World.

An Ireland squad of 11 players across four teams competed this week at the European Youth Championships in Riva Del Garda, Italy.  The Team competition took place from 11 to 15 July. Below is a summary of Irish performances in the team events.

Junior Boys :  Ryan Farrell, Tom Davis and Alan Walsh.

The Junior Boys were initially drawn in a group containing Spain, Greece and Jersey. They suffered two 0:3 losses to the seeded Spanish and Greek teams before claiming a 3:0 victory against Jersey with all 3 players recording wins against regular 6 Nations opponents. From there, the Boys were in the bottom half of the event, playing for places and were drawn in Group Q against Bosnia, Iceland & Kosovo. The Irish Boys recorded wins over Kosovo and Iceland, only dropping one set in the process. That set up a group decider against Bosnia,  who were just too strong, despite Ryan Farrell pushing Bastolic all the way in a five set thriller. Down to the last play-off matches where Farrell and Walsh both claimed good victories to record two wins for Ireland against Luxembourg but unfortunately it was not enough and the team lost out 2:3. Last up then was Lithuania, regular opponents for Ireland at this level. This was an exciting match-up, with three of the matches going to 5 sets. Davis has had a busy Summer across multiple European events and showed great maturity to close out the match for the Irish 11-9 in the 5^th to ensure the team finished the event with a win. The Junior Boys finished the event in 33^rd place (from 39 teams).

Junior Girls  : Hannah Lynch-Dawson, Chloe O’Halloran and Emma Ludlow.

Drawn in a strong looking Group E, the team struggled with early momentum, losing out to Switzerland, Belgium and Estonia. Lynch-Dawson and O’Halloran managed to record solitary wins for the Irish as confidence took a hit moving into next phase of the event.  Into Group P and Bosnia, Austria and Armenia were the opponents. First up was Bosnia and this went all the way to a decider with Ireland losing out 2:3 at the finish. Next up was Austria and O’Halloran selected at Number 3 gave the team a chance with a win over Diendorfer but this was not enough as Austria recorded a 3:1 win. Finally a match against Armenia were the Girls were desperately hunting for their first win of the event. Again it went all the way to 2:2 with O’Halloran and Lynch-Dawson registering wins but the deciding match proving difficult again with the overall match ending in 2:3.

The final play-off match saw the team lose out 2:3 in a very close match to finish the event with some good memories, but without the win that perhaps their play deserved. The Junior girls finished 32^nd out of 32 teams.

Cadet Boys :  Alexander Gillen, Evin McGovern and Brian Dunleavy.

Big performances by Alexander Gillen gave him two wins over Spanish opponents Soria and Perez, with both ranked in the top 100 in Europe at this level(Perez at 38 is a notable scalp) for the French based Irish international. Gillen also recorded two wins over ranked Finnish opponents and he will be happy with his own performances at the group stage.  The team overall had 3 losses putting the team into the bottom half of the draw.

Into the second phase and a 1 :3 defeat to Slovakia, with Gillen recording the sole win over European No.57 ranked Peko. The team were delighted to then claim their first match victory 3:0 over Estonia with all 3 squad members notching wins. The Boys then lost out in close matches to Montenegro and Wales to finish the tournament 36^th from 42 teams.

Cadet Girls : Katie McGlone and Rebecca Finn.

The Cadet girls got off to a good start winning 3:2 win against Georgia with McGlone taking both singles and Finn closing out the deciding game.  Things got more difficult from that point with a 0:3 loss to Group winners Crotia, and a 1:3  defeat to Israel with McGlone recording the only win.  That set up a match with Norway where the girls went down 0:2 but fought a titanic battle to win the doubles for 1:2.  However McGlone then lost the next singles in 5 sets to leave the girls in 4^th position from 5.  In the second phase they claimed a 3:0 win over Greece and fell to a 3:1 loss to  Finland. This left them fighting for 29-32 spot in the event and the girls battled hard and showed really good quality to claim two straight 3:0 wins over Luxembourg and Bosnia to secure 29^th place out of 36 teams.

The 2014 Senior Schools International Championships commence this Friday the 27th and end on Sunday the 29th of June. The Event will take place in the Table Tennis Centre in Cardiff, Wales.
This is the Senior Schools equivalent of the Primary schools competition held in Jersey earlier this year where the Irish Teams were so successful. The event will allow some of the top Junior and Cadet Players from England, Guernsey, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Scotland and Wales to battle it out in what promises to be a very exciting event.
The Championships consist of 6 separate categories with Under 18, 16 and 14 Boys and Girls events. There are 3 competitions in each age category: Team, Individual and Plate events.  The Corbillon Cup team match system consisting of 4 singles and 1 doubles match is used in this team competition.
Table Tennis Ireland are sending 6 teams to compete in this event. The teams will be led by three experienced NPC’s in Shay Logue, Alan Hurley and Louise Long. Stuart McConkey will be representing Ireland as an umpire. 
The Teams are as follows:
U 18 Boys: Luke Dempsey and Conor Mullally
U18 Girls: Orla Timlin and Mair Kelly
U16 Boys: Ryan McConkey and Charlie Fitzgerald
U16 Girls: Kerry O’Mahony and Amanda Taylor
U14 Boys: Dylan Grace and Owen Cathcart 
U14 Girls: Yasmine Barry and Marie Williams
NPCS: Shay Logue, Alan Hurley and Louise Long.
Umpire: Stuart McConkey
Speaking about the event, Table Tennis Ireland High Performance Director John McGlone said; “ This event gives players who have been consistent performers in the domestic scene a chance to play against some of the top players from the other home nations.  Medals will be hard fought for and we are hopeful that players will perform well and enjoy what, for some, will be their first taste of international competition.”
Table Tennis Ireland International Director, Ken Strong said this week;“We wish our 6 teams every success at this year’s Championships. Good luck to all!”