Posts in category: National Events

This weekend’s Leinster Junior Metropolitan event represented a double success for ALSAA Ravens, with Sam Logue taking the Junior Boys and Rebecca Kenny taking the Junior Girls, following hard-fought victories over Corey O’Rourke and Meadbh Slattery respectively. Shi Zhao Li continued his dominance in Irish Cadet table tennis with victory over Ryan Farrell while Meadbh Slattery took the Cadet girls event with victory over Katie McGlone.

Junior Boys

1. S Logue

2. C O’Rourke

3. M Szyimanski

Junior Girls

1. R Kenny

2. M Slattery

3. L Matise

Cadet Boys

1. S Zhao Li

2. R Farrell

3. K Kelly

Cadet Girls

1. M Slattery

2. K McGlone

3. A Lou Hayes

See full results here

Pictures thanks to Phyllis Kenny.

Munster Open Table Tennis Chanpionship – full report to follow

(Senior Irish Ranking Tournament)

 Gurranabraher, Cork

Senior Singles Men :

1  : P. McCreery (U)

2  : S. Hanley (L)

3  : C. Nolan (L) / J. Sugrue (ENG)

Senior Singles Women :

1  :A. Givan (U)

2  :S. Deveraux (L)

3  :S. Dolan (L)

Veterans Men :

1  :K Mackey (L)

2  :K. Sabir (C)

3  :S. Dunne / K. Devanney

Veterans Women :

1  :S. Keating (U)

2 ; K Reynolds (L)

3  : R. McCarron (L)

Junior Singles Men :

1  : P McCreery (U)

2  : S Logue (L)

3  : S Hanley (L)/ A Robinson (U)

Junior Singles Women :

1  : S Dolan (L)

2  : S Timlin (C)

3  : A Givan (U)

Cadet Singles Boys :

1  : Shi Zhao LI (L)

2  : I Morais (ENG)

3  : R Farrell (L)

Cadet Singles Girls :

1  : A Givan (U)

2  : E O’Reilly (M)

3  : M Slattery (L)

U21 Singles Men :

1  : G Maguire (L)

2  : J Hurley (M)

U21 Singles Women :

1  : S Devereaux (L)

2  : C McCullagh (L)

U12 Singles Boys :

1  : J Porter (U)

2  : E Sheckleton (U)

3  : K Hutchinson (L)

U12 Singles Girls :

1  : K McGlone (L)

2  : E McGlone (L)

3  : H Lynch Dawson (U)

Mens Doubles :

1  : Sugrue/Basterfield (ENG)

2  : Murphy/Nolan

Womens Doubles :

1  : Healy/McCullagh

2  : McCarron/Reynolds

Mixed Doubles :

1  : Murphy/Givan

2  : Kenny/Nolan

Ulster champion Keith Knox steamrolled the opposition at the Co Antrim Open in Ballyclare on Saturday to win the class one title with ease while Norman Nabney (Belfast) Andrew Davies (Knockagh) and Pawel Sulkowski (Poland) also claimed silverware at the Newtownabbey Borough Council sponsored event.

Tornado Knox plays the game at dynamic speed and in the top 4 showdown he kept his opponents under the cosh for long periods with relentless smashes.  He beat Polish teenager Dawid Sulkowski 3-1, the much improved Mark McGuigan 3-1 and combination bat specialist Amanda Mogey 3-0.  Sulkowski just claimed silver after an entertaining five set marathon with Dangerman McGuigan while Irish international Mogey who had played superbly all day finally met her waterloo against the topspin trio.  

Despite losing to Ashley Given (Dungannon) evergreen Glenburn captain Norman Nabney snatched victory in class 2 on countback from Peter Clarke after beating the Annahilt player 3-1.  Topspin supremo Gary Crawford can count himself unlucky to lose out to both Nabney and Clarke 13-11 in the fifth.  The class 3 section had a bizzare look to it with many top players placed there due to their low Ulster ranking which ensured an extremely high class competition ensued.  At its conclusion local favourite Andrew Davies used his smooth textbook attack to see off both Cookstown battler Mark McAllister and Queens chopper Robin Agnew by 3-1 scorelines to loud cheers from the partisan crowd.

There was a major shock in the veterans class when Portadown defender Randolph Loney used his hocus pocus defence to force class 2 winner Nabney into a 3-0 submission to book a semi final place and McAllister joined him when he just got the better of the popular Barry Dickson in five close sets. However neither made it to the final where Pawel Sulcowski, who was struggling with a foot injury, looked to be down and out against Clarke but survived match points to stage a marvellous comeback to take the fifth and retain his unblemished veterans record.

 Class One

1 Keith Knox (Trillick)

2 Dawid Sulkowski (Poland)

3 Mark McGuigan (Rasharken)

Class Two

1 Norman Nabney (Belfast)

2 Peter Clarke (Hillsborough)

3 Gary Crawford (Doagh)

Class Three

1 Andrew Davies (Newtownabbey)

2 Mark McAllister (Cookstown)

3 Robin Agnew (Belfast)

Veterans

1 Pawel Sulkowski (Poland)

2 Clarke

3 McAllister

The ITTA has today released the Butterfly Senior National Ranking lists following the Ulster Open. John Murphy, following his victory in Ulster remains in the coveted top position, while Rita Kacsandi remains in the top spot on the Womens ranking list, with Amanda Mogey closing in fast. Many thanks to Rob Cowan for his work on these ranking lists and to Vivienne Barry who has been on hand to assist Rob where required. See Rankings page of this site to download full lists.

Peter Clarke Reports from STIGA Ulster Open

Dubliner John Murphy was at his ruthless best in the Valley Leisure centre on Saturday when he dispatched the entire Ulster team one by one to claim the Ulster Open title in spectacular fashion.  Popular oriental ace Na Liu once again dominated the main ladies event while the impressive Pawel Sulcowski (Poland) lived up to his No1 seeding in the veterans class.

Super fit Murphy, who plays his league table tennis in Belgium, was pitted against the Ulster champion Keith Knox in the last 16.  The Trillick Tornado was the aggressor from the off but he was eventually tamed by the blocking and counter hitting of  Irish No1 in four close sets.  Murphy survived a close call against the brilliant topspin wizard Peter Graham who came back from 10-6 down in the fifth to draw level but then faltered at the line.  The Dublin ace then used all his experience to outfox Under 21 winner Paul McCreery in a pulsating semi final clash.

Anyone who writes off Daryl Strong does so at their peril and the Queens destroyer reached the final after surviving two bruising five setters against Ashley Robinson (Clogher) and Sam Hanley (Dublin) respectively.  Although the final was competitive it proved to be a bridge too far for Strong as Murphy completed his nemesis act over the locals with a four set victory.

Belfast based Na Liu has set an unreachable benchmark for Irish ladies so when one of her protégés Claire Nelson (Belfast) took a game off the master in the semi the teenager could be well pleased with her efforts. Unstoppable Liu then beat combination bat specialist Amanda Mogey (Carnmoney) in an entertaining final while  French league player Nelson had the consolation of winning the under 21 ladies after just piping Sara Dolan (Dublin) in a hammer and tongs five set thriller.

Mayo battler Kevin Devaney always gives a good account of himself in Irish tournaments but the much travelled Connacht inter provincial star was disappointed to lose in both the finals he contested to Sulcowski in the veterans and to University of  Ulster, Jordanstown captain Gervis “Razor” Knox in the class 2.

Click here for full results.

Ulster Open 2010 Main Results

Mens singles  Semi Finals

John Murphy (Leinster) bt Paul McCreery (Ulster) 3-1

Daryl Strong (Ulster) bt Sam Hanley (Leinster) 3-2

Final

Murphy bt Strong 3-1

Ladies singles Semi Finals

Na Liu (China) bt Claire Nelson (Ulster) 3-1

Amanda Mogey (Ulster) bt Rebecca Kenny (Leinster) 3-0

Final

Liu bt Mogey 3-0

Mens Doubles

McCreery/Keith Knox bt Murphy/Ryan Flood 3-0

Ladies Doubles

Liu/Nelson bt Mogey/Ashley Given 3-0

Veterans singles

Pawel Sulcowski (Poland) bt Kevin Devaney (Connacht) 3-1

Class 2

Gervis Knox (Ulster) bt Devaney 3-1

Under 21’s Mens

McCreery bt Hanley 3-1

Undet 21’s Ladies

Nelson bt Sara Dolan (Leinster) 3-2

Trillick Tornado Keith Knox proved he is the real deal at the Ulster championships on Saturday in Fivemiletown.  The topspin maverick survived a bout of severe leg cramp, sheer exhaustion and three marathon five setters with Ulster No1 Paul McCreery (Crossgar), 3 times champion Daryl Strong (Belfast) and rising star Ashley Robinson (Clogher)  to be crowned Ulster senior champion for the first time.

Tournament Director Tony Phillips who ran the event with military precision devised a format that tested not only the skills of players  but also their stamina culminating in a four player shoot out for the title. The finale was not for the fainthearted with aggressive topspin commonplace and defensive shots rare. Destroyer Strong has a proven pedigree at this level but was edged out of the running by both McCreery and Knox in close encounters while Robinson showed glimpses of brilliance but lost his three.  

The injury plagued Knox had spent the summer refining his skills in China but despite this the vastly talented McCreery started this match as favourite having won at the Bristol Grand Prix recently.  However the intensive training paid dividends for Knox who served with great variation and attacked with purpose from the outset.   The Crossgar star was uncharacteristically pensive choosing to counterattack but still kept in touch throughout   The scoreline stood at 10-8 in the fifth to Knox when the match took a dramatic turn as he fell to the ground with leg cramp.  Phillips quickly opened the rule book and instructed the umpire to allow him 10 minutes to recover.  After the delay a hushed gallery then saw McCreery save one match point before Knox limped over the line 11-9 in the fifth.   What a thriller.

“Fast Phil” Wallace (Ballyclare) had a few hiccups early on but steadied the ship to come home fifth while Claire Nelson who plays for the Poitiers club in the French National league used her lethal drives to break into the top six.  Another superb junior is Stephen Slater (Lisbellaw) and it was no surprise when he finished seventh but the inform Robert “Sting” Fisher having dispatched a number of arch rivals early on was surely disappointed not to make the last four in the end.

Special mention must be made of 14 year old Ashley Given (Dungannon) who took a number of senior scalps during the day and the elder statesman of senior league table tennis Norman Nabney (Belfast) who once again defied the odds to finish tenth. Meanwhile at the Ballymena Academy tournament the open singles was won by David Sulkowski (Poland) who beat former Commonwealth star Brian Orr 3-1 while Gary Crawford defeated Francis Shirley to claim the classic Hardbat title.

Ulster Senior Championships Top 20

1 Keith Knox

2 Paul McCreery

3 Daryl Strong

4 Ashley Robinson

5 Philip Wallace

6 Claire Nelson

7 Stephen Slater

8 Robert Fisher

9 Mark McGuigan

10 Norman Nabney

11 Ashley Given

12 Mervyn Funston

13 Peter Clarke

14 Ivan Jeffers

15 Trevor Montgomery

16 Cyril Fannin

17 Neil Irwin

18 Ted Mahaffy

19 Susan Murphy

20 Roy Coard

This year’s STIGA Ulster Open takes place on January 2nd at Valley Leisure Centre. Entry forms are available to download from the ITTA website via our interactive calendar.

Season 08/09 saw Na Ning see off Gavin Maguire to take the Men’s title, while Liu Na took the Women’s title defeating Rita Kacsandi. Will there be a new name on the Ulster Open trophy this season?

Last Year’s winners in full:

Men’s singles     Na Ning

Women’s singles    Na Liu

Class II    Corey O’Rourke

Under 21 Men    Gavin Maguire

Under 21 Women    Claire Nelson

Veterans    Kevin Mackey

Men’s Doubles    John Murphy/Keith Knox

Women’s Doubles    Na Liu/Claire nelson

Mixed Doubles    Gavin Maguire/Sara Dolan

The Leinster Schools TTA has released the latest results from the 09/10 League Season to date. Click here to download latest results and tables.

The Allianz Ulster Schools’ Cup was held on a very wet day with numbers depleted because of the strike in the Republic and the withdrawal of some teams because of clashes with other sporting events.  So the 44 teams that originally entered were reduced to 31 teams involving 186 players.

Continuous play on 19 tables gave everyone a good day out.  Several teams were entering this event for the very first time and so were there to gain experience.  A number of close matches occurred in the Under 19 Boys.  Three schools retained their titles – Victoria College in the Under 19 Girls, High School Ballynahinch in the Under 15 Boys, and Monaghan Collegiate in the Under 13 Boys.  One of the new teams, St Pius X, Magherafelt, took the Under 13 Girls title.  Who knows what would have happened in several events if Royal School Cavan, St Clare’s Ballyjamesduff and Fivemiletown College had been able to attend?

Click here for full results

Winning teams now look forward to the All-Ireland Finals in March.