Posts in category: International Events

At the Cardiff Open in Wales this weekend, Irish players produced some top class performances to claim some major silverware. Paul McCreery took both the Men’s Open Singles and the Men’s Band 1 event to continue his good run of form going in to this weekend’s Butterfly Senior National Championships. In the Women’s event, as expected Na Liu took the Women’s title and Amanda Mogey produced a spectacular performance to defeat Welsh No.1 Naomi Owen, who is ranked significantly higher in the ITTF World Rankings. Irish players across the board showed improved performances – Ashley Givan won Band 2 and Band 3 of the Women’s event and made the semi-final of the Under 21s. Rebecca Kenny was also in fine form, making the semis of the Band 2 and Band 3 events, defeating Hannah Avery along the way. Team-mate Sara Dolan also made the semi-final of the Under 21s – Dolan had an excellent tournament, recording a significant victory over Angharad Phillips. Connacht’s Sarah Timlin also prduced a strong showing and is quicky developing in her 1st year at international level.

Selected Results

Mens Band 1:

Paul Mc Creery beat Polish player Thomas Rzeszotko in Final and Welsh No. 4 Patrick Thomas in semis.

 Mens Open:

Paul McCreery beat Welsh No. 2 Stephen Jenkins in final in 5 sets

Men’s Under 21:

Paul McCreery beat Patrick Thomas Wales 3/0

Men’s Band 6:

Former Irish Champion and Irish International, Alan Monks bt. Stephen Slater. Monks, formerly from the Eastpoint Club in Dublin and now a coach in the Greenhouse Project also won Band 5.

 Women’s Open:

Semi final:  Amanda Mogey bt no.1 seed and Welsh no.1, Naomi Owen 3/0

Final: Liu Na bt. Amanda Mogey 3/0

 Women’s Band 1:

Amanda Mogey bt. Santa Clements 3/0 in final

 Restricted Singles:

Amanda Mogey bt.D. Arrowsmith 3/0 in final

A fantastic TEAM performance results in a great achievement for the Irish Junior Boys Team as they win the Junior British League Premier Title for the first time.

Following on from Weekend 1 when the Irish Boys blew the opposition away, they travelled to the final weekend of the event carrying the weight of expectation of the Irish table tennis community. The players did not disappoint and rose to the occasion magnificently, taking scalps off higher ranked players and in the case of Paul McCreery, progressing through the weekend with a 100% record. There was great spirit and support among all the members of the team which helped to deliver solid individual performances. The Junior British league is a very well run event and a perfect event for Irish teams to participate in.  It is the perfect standard to challenge and develop our players whilst providing the chance of real success by finishing in a medal position.  Psychologically this is a big boost for the players and staff in the run up to big events such as the Six Nations, Austrian Youth Open and European Youth Championships. Ireland’s Junior Boys epitomised the meaning of Team over the course of the two weekends at Junior British League.

NPC Marcus McDonnell was understandably thrilled: “I would like to personally like to congratulate each team member for their great contribution – It wasn’t plain sailing all the way and each player had their ups and downs along the way but kept their chin up and got back to the task at hand very quickly.  Paul McCreery, Sam Hanley, Ashley Robinson and Sam Logue were all in the top 10 of best individual averages, with Paul McCreery topping the table with 18 wins and only 2 losses. We will look forward to defending our new title late in 2010.”

Technical Director John O’Donoghue was keen to highlight this historic achievement: “I am absolutely thrilled that we have finally won this title, its a title we haven’t won before. I would like to pay tribute to the players and coach for pulling off this victory against England’s top ranked players.”

Final Premier Division Table

An Irish team consisiting of top veterans Anthony Redmond, Kevin Mackey and David Pemberton were today celebrating a fine weekend at the Veteran’s British League, whcih saw the team top their Division and achieve promotion. The team were in inspired form, taking 7 of their 8 matches to pip Twymark to the Division 2B title. See player averages below – congratulations to all involved in the team.

The Irish Women finished mid-table in Division 2, with Helen Dolan and Sharon Brien top-scoring for the team.

The purse that was offered for the 2010 STIGA Munster Open this year attracted some English players to the tournament.  Former Irish international Jason Sugrue from the West London Academy brought some of his top players to the tournament. 

First Anglo-Irish battle was between Conor Nolan and Daniel Basterfield from the Academy in the last 16. Nolan lost the first narrowly before going 2 sets to 1 down.  Winning the 4th set with some ease the match set up for a grand finale, Nolan eventually winning out a closely contested match 11 9 in the 5th. 

The battle continued in Quarter Finals with Ulster’s Ashley Robinson pitted against former Irish Number 1 Jason Sugrue.  Sugrue won the first set easily 11:4 and the balance of the game may have been in the second set where Robinson narrowly lost out 12:10 and then went on to take the third set 11:4.  Sugrue proved just too strong for Robinson though, comprehensively taking the 4th and final set 11:2. Next into the fray against Sugrue was Eastpoint junior Sam Hanley. Hanley produced a stunning display of table tennis winning in straight sets with what can only be described as a flawless display of table tennis. The Final of the Men’s was a most sublime game of table tennis between Sam Hanley and Paul McCreery. Sam Hanley took the first two sets and went 10:8 up in the 3rd.  At this stage there looked no way back for Paul McCreery and it looked all over bar the shouting. McCreery’s coach Daryl Strong made the decision to use his time out and the 3rd game was turned around with McCreery taking it 12:10.  McCreery went on to take the 4th set and the game now hung in the balance.  This game had everything and some of the finest table tennis was on display for a very appreciative crowd.  Hanley was leading 10:6 in the 5th set before “Paul “Houdini” McCreery clawed his way back into the match and title of Munster Open Champion 2010. The final game was a classic, evenly matched all the way until it reached 10-9 in Hanley’s favour with McCreery serving to save the match. McCreery serves, Hanley hits a magnificent winner, the umpire Tom Mitchell calls game and match 11-9. Hanley turns to the umpire and says “the service was a net!” Score returns to 10-9, Paul wins the point to even up the match at 10 all, and then goes on to win 14-12. Congatulations to Paul on winning his first Senior Tounament, congratulations to both for a fantastic final and congratulations especially to Sam Hanley for a great act of sportsmanship.  

In the Junior Boys, McCreery was again in spectacular form, defeating Hanley in the semi-final before winning another 5-setter in the Final against ALSAA’s Sam Logue. In the Junior Girls, Sara Dolan claimed the title with a victory over Connacht’s Sara Timlin, after Ashley Givan lost to the Connacht player.

The Cadet boys was where the next defence of Irish table tennis standards was to take place.   Shi Zhao Li the Number 1 Seed from Leinster also had ideas of his own when it came to taking on the number 3 cadet in England, Igor Morais, in the Final, coming back from a 2 sets to one deficit to clinch victory 11 8 in the 5th and lift the cadet title for Leinster. Zhao Li’s sheer aggression and power play overcame the Morais’ wonderful backhand spin shots.

The Senior women’ s final pitted Ulster’s international, Ashley Givan against Sabina Devereux of Leinster. Devereux went ahead after the first game but the determined Givan levelled  proceedings before being forced to bring out her best in the subsequent third game. Givan had a tough time all the way until the score went up to 10-10. The Ulster player did not let the opportunity of lifting the title slip away when she won two points to end the game and giving her a one game advantage. Thereafter, Givan raced to a comfortable fourth game win to claim the title. Givan also doubled up by taking the Under 14 Girls final against Munster’s Edel O’Reilly.

In the Under 12 Girls, the up and coming McGlone sisters met in a thrilling Final, with Katie eventually beating Elayna over 5 sets. Jonathan Porter took the Under 12 title with victory over Ulster team-mate Eric Sheckleton.

The Munster Branch is very grateful to all the people who made the journey to Cork this year.  To all the coaches and players who conducted themselves fantastically well over the weekend.  Also to all the parents without whom many competitors would not have been able to get to the Munster Open.  The amount of volunteerism involved in our sport must be saluted specially for the long trek to Cork, many thanks to all. The Munster Branch really pulled together in support of Chairman, Anthony Redmond to make this tournament possible with most clubs in Munster played a part in the success it was.  JJ Buttimer and Paul O’Shea spent many long hours deliberating over the entrants long before the start of the tournament and did a fantastic job on the day.  A special thanks has to go out to the support received from Ballincollig TT club as without them the tournament would not have been as good as it was.

Irish Senior International teams led by Peter Nilsson(Men) and Arthur Brett(Women) competed in the 2009 Finland Open over the past week, with the players achieving some impressive results.

Team Event

In the Men’s Team event, Ireland 1 (John Murphy and Conor Nolan) progressed to the 2^nd Round following a 3-0 victory over San Marino. Here they came up against a very strong Spanish team(who eventually made the Final  of the event, losing out to Russia)

and crashed out 3-0. The Ireland 2 team of Sam Hanley and Paul McCreery were eliminated by a high quality Holland team, despite Hanley producing a great performance to defeat CHUNG Wai Lung, who is ranked number 499 in the world, over 600 places ahead of Hanley.

Ireland’s Women’s Team also lost out 3-1 to the Spanish, despite a great win by Claire Nelson over Carmen SOLICHERO, who is ranked number 470 in the world(almost 500 places ahead of Nelson).

The Ireland/Ulster combination of Na Liu and Ashley Givan lost out 3-1 to a strong Swedish team of Marie Persson

 Singles – Men(122 entries)

Sam Hanley was the star performer for the Irish Men in an event where the players are guaranteed lots of games, with every place being competed for. Youngster Hanley benefitted from the experience, taking a number of good wins, defeating  Marius BUCYS of Lithuania in straight sets before another straight sets win over Belgium’s Robin DEVOS. Following a loss to Darius Knight, he had a fine win over the higher ranked Scotland’s Niall Cameron to secure the highest finish of the Irish team in 61^st place.

John Murphy  defeated Sergei MANTUROV of Estonia, coming back from 3-0 down to record a fine 4-3 victory. He then lost to Spain’s Cantero, as the Spanish continued to cause misery for the Irish. Murphy then had wins over Samuli SOINE of Finland and Andrey TSYBIN to secure 86^th place.

Paul McCreery also had 3 good victories, the best of which was a win against the higher ranked Tauber of Israel and finished in 101^st position, with Nolan finishing just behind McCreery.

Singles – Women(62 entries)

With Na Liu withdrawn from the singles due to injury, Amanda Mogey performed the best of the Irish, with a solid win over Marte Grutle AASEBO to claim 45^th place, one ahead of Claire Nelson. The inexperienced Ashley Givan will have gained a lot from this event and recorded a win over Finnish player Emma ROLIG to end her tournament.

For  the  third  time  in  the  row, German  star Timo BOLL will  leave Russia  50.000 USD  richer. BOLL defended his title once again and beat compatriot Dimitrij OVTCHAROV in the final of the Super Cup tonight in St. Petersburg. Vladimir SAMSONOV won the match for the third place.

Despite  the  huge  support  from  the  spectators, Dimitrij  failed  to  jeopardize  the  status  of  the  best European player. Timo was hardly challenged in two opening games, but had some difficulties in the third. OVTCHAROV leveled at 8:8, and put BOLL on first test. Young Dimitrij had a chance in the next game as well. “I played perfect we can not blame OVTCHAROV for a quick final. In addition as a left-hander and a player who knows his style very well  I prevented him  from attacking me with  the  serve. Dima  lost that advantage and it affect his self confidence as well,” explained BOLL.

The match  against  Vladimir  SAMSONOV  preserved  the  title  of  the most  excitingt  game  at  the Event, and one that was most challenging for the winner. “I had a good start, but Vladi fought back very hard in the second game. After I had a lead 8:4, he managed to win that set and opened the game. It was very good match.” Vladimir  SAMSONOV  won  the  match  for  the  third  position  and  15.000  USD,  whilst  for  Kalinikos KREANGA there was the consolation in 10.000 USD for the fourth position.

Last weekend saw a young Irish squad travel to England for the Stockton Junior 4 Star tournament. Highlights of the vent for the Irish included a gold for the Cadet Girls in the Team event, Ashley Givan and Edel O’Reilly combining well to defeat the Colin Deaton club of Derbyshire by 3 sets to 1. In the Singles event, O’Reilly was in superb battling form, winning a number of tight matches including a great win over Yolanda King(English No.5) to progress to the semi-finals. Givan also made the semi-final of the main event as well as clinching victory in the Grade 1 cadet singles. Katie McGlone capped off a fine weekend for the girls making the semi-finals of the Under 12s.

The team was coached by Shay Logue – full report to follow tomorrow.

Ulster’s Paul McCreery and Claire Nelson won the Band 1 Men’s Singles and the Under 21 Girl’s Singles respectively at the prestigious Bristol Grand Prix, which is part of the English Grand Prix Circuit against a very strong field of players.

Paul McCreery raced through to the semi-finals in the Band 1 Singles where he beat the talented Mike Marsden  and ran out a worthy 3-1 winner. His opponent in the final was Zac Zilesnick who earlier had finished 2^nd in the Band 2 Event.  In the fifth set of this match McCreery upped his level and his intensity to win 11-8 and showed why he is regarded as one of the top juniors in the UK. Dubliner Gavin Maguire performed well to reach the semi finals of this event before losing to Zilesnick.

In the Men’s Singles McCreery also had a magnificent run to the semi finals defeating Lewis Williams, Sean Cullen and the highly ranked David McBeath (who had in the previous round knocked out 3^rd seeded Niall Cameron at the last eight stage to set up a semi final confrontation with eventual winner Po Huang Chen (Chinese Taipei).  After an excellent match with many fantastic rallies, Chen completed a 3-1 victory. Po Chen went on to win the event after a hard fought win against English man Damien Nicholls.

Claire Nelson was also impressive, winning the Under 21 Girls after a series of hard fought victories with impressive 5 set wins over Angharad Phillips, Melissa Wright and Yolanda King to set up a final showdown with Natalie Slater. The final lived up to expectations with the pendulum of power swinging one way then the other. Claire clawed her way back into the match after trailing 1-2 in sets to turn it around in her favour after some devastating play to win 11-6 in the fifth.

Amanda Mogey had an excellent run to the semi finals in the Women’s Singles, with good wins over Melissa Wright, Vicky Smith and Sally Smith to reach the semi-final stage. In the semi-final with Welsh number 1 Naomi Owen a shock looked possible when Amanda won the first set. However Naomi won the next three sets after some enthralling rallies to book her place in the final which she won defeating Egle Adomelyte.

Dublin player Ryan Flood recorded a series of fine wins to take the Band 4 Men’s Singles event, beating Matt Rogers, Scott Cundy and Lee Morgan to reach the final.  In the final he beat Welsh player, Lewis Williams, 3/1.

Mark McGuiggan in his first ever English Grand Prix tournament did well to finish 2^nd in Band 6, and will have learnt a lot from watching and competing with such a high calibre of players. Keith Knox also played well in reaching the quarter-finals of the Under 21 Men’s Singles.

The ITTA has today announced squads for a number of international events. Congratulations to all selected:

Finlandia Open, Helsinki

Men’s Teams:       Ireland A:  John Murphy, Conor Nolan

                        Ireland B:   Paul Mc Creery, Sam Hanley

Women’s Teams:    Ireland:     Amanda Mogey, Claire Nelson

Stockton-on-Tees 4 Star

Cadet Boys Ireland:   Ryan Farrell, Neil Irwin
Cadet Girls Ireland:    Ashley Givan, Edel OReilly
 
Under 13 Girls (Cadet Girls Team) Ireland: Katie McGlone, Elayna McGlone

The top class clash of greatest stars of today the Euro-Asia All Stars Event gave enormous joy and pride  for the Old Continent. In the second leg in Istanbul, Europe won 5:6 on aggregate. In the process, Timo BOLL beat the best-ranked player in the World, Chinese star WANG Hao. The thriller, the suspense, the highest level of game, team spirit and beautiful points in front of thousands of spectators in Istanbul’s crowded hall were shared with millions people in front of TV all over the Europe and World. Thanks to  Eurosport and 15 TV stations, the picture has been seen all over the planet.

On the first day, Asian side had a close victory and they went to the rest with the 3:2 lead. In the proceedings, on the second day, in the grueling duels Europe had the same result. Thus, the additional match has been needed. The decision who will play the 11th match was made by the lot. Two captains draw the players and the battle continued in true thrilling atmosphere. The decider was on Vladimir SAMSONOV chests. He faced the challenge and beat LI Ching. Europe won, and saved the pride of the Continent. On the first leg in Beijing last summer it was Asia who succeeded with narrow 6:4 win. “I surprise myself a bit, not so much with the win against WANG Hao but with the result. I could not even hope that I will win in straight games,” said Timo BOLL. German star succeeded against WANG and Vladimir SAMSONOV gave the final touch : “I felt something special here in Istanbul. We build the team spirit and I wanted to win so much against LI Ching in additional match. The victory was sweet, but the feeling that I get when I saw the other players jumped from their seats, it overwhelmed me,” admitted SAMSONOV.  

President of the ETTU Stefano BOSI was thrilled after great success of the European team:
“The Euro-Asia All Stars Series was the fantastic event. We had the top-level game and enough tension to keep the spectators on fire from first to the last match. Top of the class was the mach that Timo BOLL played against WANG Hao. I define this match as a perfect one. It was the perfect mixture of aggressive play, of big heart, focus and power. It was great to watch this match,” said President BOSI.

The Next European step will be played in Belgium on October 12th and 13th, 2010.

European leg of the Euro-Asia All Stars Event in Istanbul 
Europe – Asia 6:5 on aggregate
 
Day One
 
Europe – Asia 2:3 
 
Kalinikos KREANGA – GAO Ning 1:3 (11:8, 8:11, 10:12, 6:11)
Michael MAZE – LI Ching 3:1 (11:9, 11:9, 9:11, 11:9)
Vladimir SAMSONOV – WANG Hao 1:3 (5:11, 11:4, 9:11, 10:12)
Timo BOLL – JOO Se Hyuk 3:2 (11:6, 11:4, 4:11, 10:12, 11:4)
Werner SCHLAGER – CHUANG Chih Yuan 0:3 (9:11, 6:11, 10:12).
 
Day Two 
 
Europe – Asia 4:2 
 
 Werner SCHLAGER – LI Ching 3:1 (9:11, 11:5, 11:5, 11:7)
 Kalinikos KREANGA – CHUANG Chih Yuan 1:3 (11:7, 7:11, 11:13, 5;11)
 Vladimir SAMSONOV – JOO Se Hyuk 3:1 (11:8, 8:11, 11;7, 11:9)
 Timo BOLL – WANG Hao 3:0 (11:6, 11:7, 11:6)
 Michale MAZE – GAO Ning 1:3 (9:11, 11:3, 13:15, 9:11)
Additional match 
 Vladimir SAMSONOV – LI Ching 3:1 (11:8, 4:11, 11:9, 12:10).

Reproduced with Thanks to ETTU