Posts in category: National Events

Photograph Copyright © 2013 John Upham Photography

The Ulster teams have just returned from Weekend 1 from this year’s Junior British League which was held at Lilleshall Sports Centre in Shropshire, England.

Four teams in total travelled to this event with 4 NPCs. For many of the young squad travelling, this was their first chance at competing for Ulster outside of Ireland.  The standard of play throughout all divisions was extremely high and our players were tested in every single match.

Our most experienced team competing over the weekend was the Ulster Girls ‘A’ comprising of Lucy Elliott, Erin Thompson and Rebecca Finn who were competing in Division 1. With Annalise Walker joining the senior ranks and Emma Ludlow now competing for the Irish Girls team, two members from last season’s ‘B’ team stepped up to the mark to join Lucy Elliott in the top team.

The girls played fantastically all weekend with all three girls contributing to ensure vital wins over their opponents remaining undefeated as a team throughout the weekend. The girls currently sit at the top of the table going into the second weekend and are on course to win the Division. At number 1 Lucy Elliott was majestic winning 100% of her matches throughout the weekend. At only 13 years old, Rebecca Finn showed excellent composure and a high level of play throughout to win 8 out of her 10 matches against much older opponents. Erin Thompson chipped in well with 4 wins, winning a vital encounter against Draycotts Lauren Evans to ensure a victory for Ulster over second placed Draycott.  Due to their performances, high standard of sportsmanship, dress, team spirit and co-operation, the girls won ‘Girls Team of the Weekend’ which is a fantastic achievement.

The Ulster Girls ‘B’ team mentored by Ashley Givan found the tough going in Division 3 and inexperience showed at times. For all three girls, this was their first outing at this event. The girls did well to secure a draw against Wales ‘B’ which was the highlight for this team.  Emma McSorley performed best for the team winning two of her matches with both Elizabeth Cathcart and Megan Carson winning one match each. The girls lost many matches in the fifth set and will be looking to turn these close defeats into wins in the next weekend. The girls will have learnt a lot from this weekend.

The Ulster Boys ‘A’ team currently sit in 5^th position in Division 3b winning two of their matches and losing 3 close matches. The boys lost agonising 2-4 defeats to Urban TTC and Fursion 1 and had chances to secure the draw or even win these matches. Kris Foster competed well throughout the weekend winning 50% of his matches including an impressive win over Lawrence Stacey from Guernsey. Eric Shekleton won four of his matches with Jonathan Porter winning three matches. If the boys can reverse 2-4 losses against Urban TTC and Fusion 1, they should have a good chance of making the top 3 in this Division.

The Ulster Boys ‘B’ team also found the going tough in Division 4a. The trio of Ryan McConkey, Harry McGoldrick and Ethan Duffy registered a good win against Crusaders 4-2 but were unable to add any more points to the board and currently sit in joint 5^th position in the Division. Ryan McConkey as the most experienced player in the team lead well from the front winning 50% of his matches. Harry McGoldrick in his first competition outside of Ireland performed well to win three of his matches. Harry lost a series of close five set matches and this experience will help him for the next weekend. At only 12 years old, Ethan Duffy struggled against his much older opponents, some as old at 18 years of age. Ethan performed to the best of his ability and can take many positives from this trip.

Three players from Ulster represented the Irish teams at this event also with the female duo of Emma Ludlow and Hannah Lynch-Dawson competing in the Premier Division. Both girls excelled against the best junior players from Great Britain with Emma winning 60% of her matches and Hannah winning 40% of her matches.

Zak Wilson featured for the Irish boys side in Division 1 winning 80% of his matches. The Irish boys incidently won ‘Boys Team of the Weekend’. It is a fantastic achievement for two sides from Ireland to win these awards.

Congratulations to all of the players that competed over the weekend and thanks go to the four coaches, Amanda Mogey, Ashley Givan, Stephen Slater and Kieran Reilly for coaching and looking after the teams over the weekend.  

Click here for the STIGA Connacht Senior Open Full Results

Full Report to follow

The Ulster Masters Table Tennis Grand Prix got underway in Downpatrick last Saturday 28^th September. Players from all over the province travelled to De La Salle Sports Hall to compete in the prestigious Frank Spalding Memorial Trophy competition with the winner of the event being crowned Ulster Closed champion.

Ulster Masters Table Tennis remains on a real high following an historic victory in the Interprovincial Championships earlier this year when the Ulster team won gold for the first time since 1998 beating the other provinces, Leinster, Connacht and Munster by amazing 8-1 score lines.  Members of the victorious team competed on Saturday at De La Salle school.  John McFaul (Team Coach) said “We are keen to build on the euphoria of being current Irish Champions as we know that Ulster has great strength and depth at this level so we want as many players as possible to take part in this season’s Grand Prix series which kicks off in Downpatrick.” And that is exactly what he got.

Play began with a round robin format which is executed to give all players the maximum amount of matches throughout the day. Round 1 saw former international players such as the forever young, Ted “The Terrier” Mahaffy, putting many players through their paces. Quite impressive for the 76 year old legend from North Belfast. Others blended back into the new season hoping to pick up from last years’ efforts but took time to find their feet. Martin Pickles, fresh from a summer of international level competition, took his time to find consistency but by the afternoon was playing some impressive stuff. Mark McAllister from Cookstown was looking in fine form and hitting some impressive shots on the table. Round 2 saw great play on display and the score lines became tighter as the day went on.

After many ups and downs from the players the hall settled down to a “Top 4 shoot off” to decide the final standings. The hard hitting Roy Coard from Lisburn battle as hard as ever and showed real signs of promise against a steady Norman Nabney and a fit young Willie Cherry. Battles went close to the wire on many occasions but it was the spectacular Pat McCloughan who steadied his game, remained consistent to win gold.

Ulster Masters Top 8 Final Standings, Tournament 1.

1.    Pat McCloughan

2.    Willie Cherry

3.    Norman Nabney

4.    Roy Coard

5.    Allen Robson

6.    Jeremy Lappin

7.    Martin Pickles

8.    Mark McAllister

Meanwhile the Irish Junior Squad had a weekend of intense training in Dublin under the watchful eyes of Colum Slevin, former Irish international. The preparation will help focus the younger players ahead of the Ulster Junior Open that is due to be held at the Valley Leisure Centre, Newtownabbey on Saturday and Sunday, 19/20^th October. Players from all over Ireland and from the mainland will compete at this event. Emma Ludlow, Belfast, and Zak Wilson, Newtownabbey, to name but a few will be looking desperately to defend their titles. 

Final Positions in STIGA Ulster Championships 13/14
1. Keith Knox 2. Peter Graham 3. Daryl Strong 4. Stephen Slater
For full results, please click here.
Full report to follow….

The past weekend saw the beginning of the Irish domestic senior Table Tennis season. Annually the much awaited first tournament after the summer break takes place in Dublin in the form of the Irish Senior Classification event. Two days of battling on the tables accounts for well over one hundred matches and draws in spectators from around the country. This year it was the young Ulster Stars that took the top positions in both the Men’s and the Ladies events with Paul McCreery and Hannah Lynch-Dawson taking home well deserved gold medals.

Day 1 of the event on Saturday was the chance for 6 male players and 3 lady players to hit top form in order to qualify for the main event on Sunday to join the automatically qualified players who finished at the top of the ranking lists last season. Ulster had hopes of some positive results from the ever present Daryl Strong and a selection of other top players but the competition was fierce from all angles of the country. At the close of the qualifiers on Saturday evening the scene was set for the main Sunday event.

Ulster’s evergreen Ashley Robinson took control of the Men’s Group A pool and finished in 1^st spot winning all his 8 matches which included some nail biting displays of table tennis magic. In the other half of the Men’s draw Paul McCreery pushed his way into 1^st place as other Ulster hopefuls Keith Knox and Peter Graham finished 2^nd and 5^th respectively. The final session of the Men’s event saw 3 of the 4 semi finalists from Ulster lining up alongside John Murphy from Dublin. Keith Knox prevailed over Ashley Robinson in a close 5 set encounter whilst Paul McCreery made lighter work of John Murphy in the other semi final to secure an all Ulster final between himself and Knox. A tense battle erupted table side as both players showed off some wonderful attacking skills but it was McCreery who kept his cool after a long 5 set showdown to defeat Knox and become the Men’s Singles winner.

The Women’s event saw a number of Ulster’s young talents, such as Erin Thompson, look to qualify for the Sunday session. The competition was tough for all and some impressive play was on display from the young hopefuls. Sunday was the main event and all eyes where upon last year’s winner Ashley Givan and her Ulster team mates Emma Ludlow and Hannah Lynch-Dawson. Givan was typically displaying her fine aggressive form throughout the day and seemed fairly comfortable on the table. Stiff competition was evident from all the female players with the likes of Dublin’s Sabina Devereux who can turn a game around in just a few points but it was the young Hanna Lynch-Dawson from Ulster who kept her concentration and steadied her play to become the winner of the Ladies event, her biggest achievement to date so far.

The President of the Irish Table Tennis Association (ITTA) Joe Hickey, took to the stage to present the winners from Ulster, Paul McCreery and Hannah Lynch-Dawson, with their well deserved awards.

You can keep up to date on the event by following us on our facebook pagewww.facebook.com/TableTennisUlster or by following our twitter feed @ttulster