VETS

Pioneers Take Vets Title

by MastersNational Events

PIONEERS ARE CROWNED CHAMPIONS

By Peter Clarke

The Pioneers were the worthy winners of the inaugural veterans team competition staged at Lucan village recently.  The brilliant tournament was the brainchild of Pioneers captain Dave Pemberton who not only organised event but also went through the day unbeaten with a tremendous display of power table tennis ably backed up by another topspin ace of great prowess, Kevin Mackey.  

The dangerous Athlone team of Kieran Burke and Karem Sabir filled the runners up spot after going down 3-1 to the Pioneers while TPB (Three Province Battlers) featuring Terry Dolan (Connacht), Phil Shaw (Munster) and Peter Clarke (Ulster) started well but eventually finished third.

The match of the day saw Balbriggan gave the Pioneers a real scare before going down 3-1 with master tactician Tommy Caffrey dispatching Mackey in a quality encounter but ace defender Brian Finn who has been honing his skills in Germany nearly stole the show and could have easily won his two matches pushing both Mackey and Pemberton all the way before falling at the final hurdle on both occasions.

Kieran Burke summed the tournament up perfectly, “This was the most enjoyable days table tennis all season, the format ensured everyone got lots of play and every single match was competitive”.

Dave is hoping to expand the tournament next season to include a number of divisions and in my opinion the Pioneers star is on to a winner.

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SHARPSHOOTER PAWEL SCORES ULSTER OPEN VICTORY

by MastersNational EventsTTI News

The lightning fast Pawel Sulkowski (Poland) gave a topspin masterclass at the Ulster Open Veterans championships in Glenburn at the weekend on a day when reigning champion Willie Cherry made a shock exit in the preliminary rounds of the blue riband over 40’s event and it was left to the incredible Ted Mahaffy to spare the Ulster blushes with an over 70’s win.

Sharpshooter Sulkowski has an amazing repertoire of shots and entertained onlookers throughout the tournament.  He was devastating in his semi final clash with Balbriggan legend Tommy Caffrey running out a straight sets winner with a series of vicious smashes.  Giantkiller Mark McAllister (Cookstown) knocked out fancied runners Cherry and seasoned campaigner Norman Nabney (Belfast) but his impressive run was ended by Peter Clarke (Annahilt) in the semis.  In the final Clarke took the game to Pawel but was left battered and bruised by the silky skills of his opponent who really went into overdrive to record a 3-0 victory.

Athlone attacker Karim Sabir was a class act in the over 50’s class beating Gormanstown defender Brian Finn in three closely fought sets to take the title and the multi capped Caffrey came from two games down to just get the better of combination bat supremo Martin Pickles in an entertaining over 60’s final.

The evergreen Ted Mahaffy has retained his swiftness of foot over the years and had a great battle with Ronnie Drayne (Newtownards) coming out on the right side of a 3-1 scoreline to add yet another over 70’s title to his impressive roll of honour.

Results

Over 40’s

Semi Finals

Pawel Sulkowski (Poland) bt Tommy Caffrey (Leinster) 3-0

Peter Clarke (Ulster) bt Mark McAllister (Ulster) 3-0

Final

Sulkowski bt Clarke 3-0

Over 50’s

Karim Sabir (Connacht) bt Brian Finn (Leinster) 3-0

Over 60’s

Caffrey bt Martin Pickles (England)

Over 70’s

Ted Mahaffy (Ulster) bt Ronnie Drayne (Ulster) 3-1

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Vets Off to Great Start at VBL

by International EventsMastersTTI News

The Irish Shamrocks team of D. Pemberton, A. Redmond and K. Mackey were in 1st place after the 1st Round of matches at the Veterans British League. Playing in Division 2B, the Irish Vets won all 5 of their matches with Anthony Redmond in fine form in his firs international trip representing the Veterans. The Irish look to be in a strong position to secure the Division 2B title and promotion.

Irish Shamrocks – Player Averages
Anthony RedmondIrish Shamrocks10100100.00
Dave PembertonIrish Shamrocks108280.00
Kevin MackeyIrish Shamrocks106460.00

The Irish Colleens were also in action, securing a win and 2 draws from their 5 games. Sharon Brien was the top player for the Irish over the weekend with 6 wins from her 10 games.

Irish Colleens – Player Averages
Sharon BrienIrish Colleens106460.00
Helen DolanIrish Colleens104640.00
Susan MurphyIrish Colleens102820.00
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Leinster Veterans Results

by MastersNational EventsTTI News

Leinster Veterans Open

Tournament Result 11/10/09

Finals

70s + Ted Mahaffey BT Ken Ridsdals 3-0

60s + Tommy Caffrey BT Ted Mahaffy 3-0

50s + Kariem Sabir BT Norman Nabney 3-0

40s + Tommy Caffrey BT Terry Dolan 3-1

Plate Winner: Paul Norgrove BT Norman Nabney

Ladies

First Place Teresa Devaney

Second Place Helen Dolan

 Irish Veterans Chaiman Kariem Sabir stated that:

“The Leinster event was very successful, with 32 players competing and all games were very competitive. I would like to thanks the umpires Kiron and Joe for their help in the event and our sponsor Tommy Fitzgerald and all the players who competed in the tournament”

In other veterans news, Teresa Devaney won the over 50 event at the Midland Masters tournament in Wolverhampton, beating 3 top ranked English players. Congratulations Teresa!

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Devanney Takes Double Gold for Veterans

by International EventsMastersTTI News

A strong Irish team produced some excellent results in the recent Six Nations Veterans Tournaments, hosted this year by the Isle of Man. In the Team events, bronze medals were secured by the Men in the Over 40s, Over 60s and Over 70s events, with the both Over 50s Men and Women taking silver. In the Individual events, Teresa Devaney produced a fantastic performance to retain her individual title, defeating  Di Brooks from England in the Final and also taking the Doubles title with partner Jenny Harrison. Speaking to ITTAWeb, CYM Terenure’s Devanney was understandably thrilled:

“I was delighted to be part of a strong Irish squad all of whom performed very well. In particular, Sharon Brien and Susan Murphy did well to reach the Semi-Finals of the Over 40s. I am delighted to win the two golds – Jenny Harrison performed really well in the Doubles with me to cap off a great weekend”

Congratulations to all players on a successful event – Kariem Sabir has provided full Irish results below:

Over 40s Men’s: third place

Over 50s Men’s: second place sliver medals

Over 60s Men’s: third place

Over 70s Men’s: third place

Ladies over 50s: second place sliver medals

Sunday tournament

Over 40s: Terry Dolan lost Q/final

Over 50s: kariem sabir lost Q/final

Over 50s: Doubles kariem sabir James sterling lost S/final

Over 60s: Tommy Caffrey lost S/final

Ladies over 50s: Teresa Devaney gold medals

Ladies over 50s: Doubles Teresa Devaney jenny Harrison gold medals

Ladies over 40s: Helen Dolan lost Q/final

Ladies over 40s: Susan Murphy lost S/final

Ladies over 40s: Sharon Gibbons Lost S/final

Ladies over 40s: Doubles Helen Dolan Susan Murphy lost S/final

Plate Result over 70s: Ted Mahaffey gold Tom Burke silver

Over 50s: Philip Shaw gold Barry Dickson silver

Vets_Event (1)

Veteran’s Round Robin Results

by MastersTTI News

Table tennis legend Tommy Caffrey opened the Veterans domestic season with two wins, taking both the 40+ and the 60+ round robin event with wins over Kariem Sabir and Martin Pickles respectively. With 38 players entering the various events, this was a succesful season opener for the Irish Veterans TT Society. They have asked ITTAWeb to place on the record their thanks to sponsor Tommy Fitzgerald and Umpires Kiron Choudhury and Joe Finnegan. See full results below…

Result for Irish veteran’s round robin event as follows

70s + Ted Mahaffey BT Tom Burke 3-0

60s + Tommy Caffrey BT Martin Pickles 3-0

50s + Kariem Sabir BT Kieran Burke 3-0

40s + Tommy Caffrey BT Kariem Sabir 3-1

Ladies

First Place Teresa Devaney

Second Place Susan Murphy

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Success for Veteran Women’s Teams

by International EventsMastersTTI News
Vivienne Barry


Two teams of Irish Women Veteran players travelled to Sofia in early July to compete in the 2nd International Veterans Table Tennis Championships. Competing against top nations such as Germany, England, Russia and Switzerland over 3 days of competition, the Irish excelled with Teresa Devaney and Jenny Harrison winning Silver medals, and Audrey Robinson and Vivienne Barry taking bronze bronze. Congratulations to all players involved.

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Veterans Squad Announced for 6 Nations

by International EventsMastersTTI News

A large squad of 17 of Ireland’s top Veteran players has been announced to compete in the 2009 6 Nations Veterans Championships, which takes place in the Isle of Man in September. The full squad is:

Men’s over 40

Terry Dolan

Kevin Devaney

Robert Davis

Ladies over 40

Helen Dolan

Susan Murphy

Men’s over 50

Kieran Burke

Kariem Sabir

Philip Shaw

Ladies over 50 

Teresa Devaney
Jennie Harrison

Men’s over 60

Tommy Caffrey
Martin Pickles

Ladies over 60

Audrey Robinson
Vivienne Barry

Men’s over 70
Ted Mahaffy
Tom Burke
Windsor Clarke

Congratulations to all on selection, check back here for tournament preview

vets

Irish Veterans Shine at Blackpool

by International EventsMastersTTI News

A strong Irish squad recently participated in the English Northern Masters Veterans event in Blackpool, England. Teresa Devaney won two gold medals in the Over 50 category, taking both the Singles and Doubles gold(where she beat compatriots Terri McKeon and Irene McNevin in the Doubles Final). Other medal winners were Ulster-born players Jenny Harrison and Audrey Robinson(taking gold in the Over 70 category). The Veterans game is hugely important to the ITTA and we are looking to grow development in this area as part of our Strategic Development Plan. If you have any ideas on how we could achieve this or would like to assist in the process, please email this address.