Posts in category: Para

Most of the players were experiencing their first taste of international para competition and after two training days on the 1st and 2nd of July, they were well prepared for the challenges ahead with the singles on the 3rd and team competition on the 4th. The opening ceremony for the games also took place on the 2nd. It was a great experience to be part of a big event and the cheers that erupted as Team Ireland entered the stadium gave each player confidence of support from a home crowd.

 Alicia (Class 3) had a tough group in the women’s Class 3-5 event facing some high quality opposition from Thailand and Croatia but she played some outstanding table-tennis in her first international and the experience will no doubt stand to her. Alicia also had a very hard-fought match which unfortunately ended in defeat in the women’s open wheelchair event (Classes 1-5).  Mark (Class 4) also had some great performances in the men’s Class 4-5 including a fantastic 3-0 victory over Hussain Albannai of Kuwait, which meant he finished 3rd in his group following close defeats to two players from Thailand. In the men’s wheelchair open event Mark came up against Yuttajak Glinbancheun (WR 13 in Class 3 and Rio 2016 Paralympian) from Thailand, who unfortunately was too strong for Mark.

Caoimhe (Class 7)  in the Women’s Class 6-10 event faced some tough opposition in the form of Romania’s Ioana Tepelea (WR 11 in Class 10) and Croatia’s Anja Laus but played some of her best table tennis to defeat another Croatian, Tea Ivancic- Jokic 3-1 to secure a bronze medal for Team Ireland. This was an outstanding result for Caoimhe who was making her debut in the green jersey. Unfortunately Jokic avenged for her earlier defeat to Caoimhe when she won the Bronze medal play-off in the women’s standing open event. Caoimhe was very unlucky not to get her hands on another medal. Seán (Class 9) also competing internationally for the first time played in the men’s Class 9-10 event. Seán had a close 3-1 defeat to Daniel Ionita of Romania and contested well in matches vs Austrian opposition and Master Parinya- Punkaew of Thailand (WR 60 in Class 10). Another closely fought game vs Ionita in the men’s standing open event, unfortunately ended in defeat for Seán for whom the experience of playing high quality players will certainly help for future events. Paddy (Class 7), the most experienced player of this young Irish squad played in the men’s Class 7-8 event. Paddy recovered from an early 3-2 defeat to Czech Republic’s Daniel Palatka to win against players from Kuwait, Croatia and Romania and secured 2nd place in the group and a silver medal, a terrific result. In the men’s standing open event, Paddy tasted victory over Palatka in the first round before reaching the final where he unfortunately lost to Punkaew of Thailand 3-1 in a fantastic display of table tennis from both players which earned Paddy his second silver medal of the competition.

The team event took place the following day. Mark and Alicia teamed up in the wheelchair team while Seán and Caoimhe paired in the standing event. Paddy and Austrian partner Noah Rainer were also in the standing competition.  The Galway pairing of Mark and Alicia fought hard and showed some excellent doubles play against a strong Croatia/Kuwait team as well as two teams from Thailand but unfortunately experience showed and they could not progress further. Seán and Caoimhe in Group B of the standing team also played some tough opposition including the team of Ioana Tepelea, Robert Boroleanu and Daniel Ionita from Romania, who were eventual finalists. The Dublin/ Galway pairing were unlucky not to win their doubles match in the next game vs Croatia, which the Croats won 3-1.  Seán fought a close encounter in his singles match in some very tight sets but unfortunately the team just missed out on the bronze medals. The strong pairing of Paddy and Noah won through a very strong Group A which included Class 7-8 Gold medallist Palatka and his partner Borna Zohil to face off against Sean and Caoimhe’s conquerors Croatia in the semi-final. Paddy and Noah formed a formidable partnership and won through to the final comfortably. Tough opposition in the form of Romania awaited in the final. A fantastic and hard-earned victory in the doubles match gave the lads the edge heading into the singles matches. Paddy fought hard but went down to the very strong Tepelea to leave the tie at 1-1 heading into the deciding match. Noah stepped up to play Daniel Ionita and was outstanding as he brushed aside the Romanian challenge to capture the gold medals for Ireland/Austria. An amazing few days enjoyed by all finished with a fantastic medal haul of one gold, two silver and one bronze for Team Ireland.

A big thank you to IWAS and IWA Sport who hosted the games and also Athlone IT, which hosted the table tennis events. Thanks also to Table Tennis Ireland for their continued support and all the coaches, Gavin, Rena and Hiro who prepared, trained and guided us through the competitions, the parents who were super supporters throughout and also the players whose dedication and commitment to training and aiming to improve is unquestionable. Watch this space as there is undoubtedly more success to come from this young squad. The future of Irish para table tennis is certainly looking bright.

By Seán Geoghegan.

Saturday September 30th saw Colin Judge win the class 2 Para European Title.

This is an enormous achievement by Colin! He has dedicated himself tirelessly to his craft and he has got the reward.

However, he is not finished yet. We will see plenty more from Colin as he continues towards his goal of a medal at the paralympics in 2020.

Congratulations, Champ. We are all proud of you!

See here for ITTF article

This week sees a team of 2 fly out to Lasko, Slovenia to compete at the Para European Championships. 

The 2 players competing are UCD duo Tom Davis & Colin Judge. Tom will be competing in the Class 10 singles while Colin will be competing in the Class 2 singles. 

On the back of a summer of hard work and good results for both players they will be looking to this tournament as a chance to anounce themselves as contenders for positions in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Tom will no doubt be looking to notch up more wins to his name and work his way up in the World Ranking to try and break into the top 20. As for Spanish and German Open Champion Colin, his chance to achieve his dream of European Glory awaits. There’s a long way to go for both players and a hard week of matches but here at TTI we are certain they are capable of producing the required level when called upon.

Para National Coach Gavin Maguire had the following to say going into the tournament ‘The lads have prepared really well. Tom is looking sharper than ever before and has taken a step up in level over the last couple of months, he’s at some very good results already this season and I feel he’s in good shape going into this event. As for Colin, his dedication and application are undoubtable. He’s been travelling all over Europe to training camps for the past 6 weeks in preparation for this event. There is no doubt in my mind he’s ready and capable of achieving great things!’. 

Be sure to follow the lads results on our Twitter @TableTennisIRE

Best of luck Team Ireland from all at TTI. 

This time a fortnight ago, Table Tennis Ireland’s own Colin Judge was getting ready to embark on what would prove to be a career defining couple of tournaments in Spain and Germany. Beginning with the Spanish Open, an Irish group consisting of Colin Judge, Greg Keogh, Conor O’ Callaghan, Des Ryan, Paddy Vaughan & Tom Davis set off for Barcelona.

If you’ve been up to date with our recent articles you will see that the tournament in Spain immediately took a successful turn with Conor O’ Callaghan earning second place in the junior event, a commendable achievement. In the singles event our squad, after notable wins and unfortunate losses the Irish contingent was whittled down to just one man, Colin Judge. After facing match points in the semi-final against his team partner, Toledo of Spain (WR36) Colin came out on top 3-2, 12-10 in what was an extremely nervy encounter. In the final Colin was pitted against Benoit Besset (WR23) of France who had just beaten world number 7 Stephan Molliens. Another major battle ensued with Colin eventually coming out on top 3-2! A  Gold medal for Colin Judge!

The team event looked like it was almost a formality with the form that Judge and Toledo found themselves in. They swept through the opposition losing only 1 set along the way, eventually defeating a pair who on a normal day would have been tough opponents from Thailand, 2-0. A double Gold for Colin Judge!

Tom Davis, partnered with Lucas Carvahlo of Brazil, was also in the medals in Spain. After overcoming opposition from Puerto Rico, Japan and Spain, Tom and Lucas found themselves in the semi-final coming up against some of the World’s best in Class 10 from Spain. Unfortunately a win against Spain was one step too far for the young men and they lost 2-0 but took away their bronze medal.

The rest of the travelling Irish didn’t find themselves in the medals this time but performed to the best of their ability, gaining valuable ranking points & learning experiences to take home with them.

The group of Irish was then halved as Des Ryan, Conor O’ Callaghan & Greg Keogh headed home with their heads held high. For Colin, Paddy and Tom they were off to the German Open, which they knew would be a massive step up in terms of standard, as Germany is a Major Open rather than the Minor Open of Spain.

In Class 8, Paddy Vaughan had great joy putting up a fight against some of the world’s best. Paddy was able to bag a 3-0 win over Roy Van Den Berg (WR60) of Holland along the way. In the team event Paddy was paired up with Thomas Bouvais (WR5) of France. A phenomenal opportunity for Paddy to learn from one of the best players in the World and not only did he learn, Paddy and Thomas overcame the number 2 seeds and world ranked 8 & 11 team of Ross Wilson & Aaron McKibbin of GB. A quarter final was as far as it would go for the Irish and French combination but a great run and impressive performance from these two guys. With Paddy’s classification to be reviewed in the New Year, and a serious possibility of being dropped to Class 7, there is genuine potential there for the young man from Kilkenny to be a real contender in Class 7 over the next number of years.

In Class 10, UCD’s Tom Davis was again at his best in Germany. With an early opportunity missed for Tom against Kodjabashev the world number 9, losing out 3-2, Tom had to regroup immediately. Needing a win to progress Tom stepped up and defeated Igor Mistzal (WR18) of Poland 3-1. A significant win for Tom and a place in the quarter finals. Unfortunately after having 2 set balls to take his quarter final to the fifth set Tom was unable to convert and went down 3-1 to Radovic (WR12) of Montenegro. Moving on to the Team event, Tom Partnered with Martin Lund of Denmark. After a close battle with the eventual silver medallist Russia, Tom and Martin need a win against a strong Poland/Holland/Brazil combination in which Tom was the eventual hero winning the final match against Claudio Massad of Brazil the world number 25. Unfortunately Tom and Martin couldn’t go any further in the team event and lost to the team of Kodjabashev & Radovic 2-0 in the semi-finals. A bronze medal was nothing to be sniffed and a significant step up from the medal in Spain. Congratulations Tom!

Saving the best for last, in Class 2 Pingzone’s Colin Judge, the newly crowned Spanish Open Champion was hoping to repeat his form from the previous week. Colin was pitted with a tough task as he has the similarly ranked world number 22 and world number 3 in his group! Colin wasn’t to let that hold him back and he erupted onto the scene in Germany with a victory over the World Number 3, 3-2! He then backed up the previous win over Oleksander Yezyk with another, and topped his group! Progressing to the Quarter Finals, Colin was up against the World Number 6, Jiri Suchanek. In what seemed to be the only way Colin knew how, he again progressed with another scalp in a nailbiting 3-2 victory. Colin, riding on this new found form was able to confidently overthrow the world number 12 Martin Ludrovsky 3-1 in the semi-final. Finally, Colin was up against Vincent Boury, a two time Paralympic gold medallist and current world number 11. This didn’t faze the co. Dublin man as he steamrolled through Boury in a convincing fashion, 3-0! Colin Judge was the German Open Champion!!

In the team event, The quadruple was on, Colin was going for four golds out of 4. This was finally the time Colin’s amazing result came to an end. At the semi final stage, after defeating Ludrovsky one more time, Colin and his Russian partner fell at the hands of Poland. A 2-1 loss, and an agonising one at that as Colin led the world number 2 Rafal Czuper, 2-1 and 7-5! What would have been the perfect ending to a maginificent couple of weeks didn’t quite happen but it can only leave Colin hungry for more. With wins over world ranked 3, 6, 11, 12 (x2), 22, 23, 36 over the fortnight, it’s fair enough to assume Colin will now move into the World’s elite and take his place among the top 10 Class 2 players in the world, come next month’s ranking list.

TTI’s president Ken Strong had the following to say regarding Colin’s achievements, “I am delighted to congratulate Colin on his excellent performances to win Gold at the Spanish & German Para Opens. This performance undoubtedly surpasses all his previous performances in international events. Congratulations also to Colin’s coaches. Best wishes for future successes.”

From all at Table Tennis Ireland, we would like to commend Colin and the other Irish players for a phenomenal performance over the two weeks, in which they did themselves, their families, their Coaches, their clubs and Table Tennis Ireland proud. To finish, here’s what newly appointed Para Coach Gavin Maguire had to say about the special fortnight, “It’s been a fantastic couple of weeks working with this young team. Between Conor winning medals at junior level, Tom winning team medals at both events, the rest of the team’s performances and Colin’s individual successes in Spain and Germany, it no doubt underlines the massive potential our Para Squad have with regards to not only qualifying for Tokyo 2020 Paralympics but performing at the games!”

For a more details breakdown of the happening’s in Spain in Germany check out our twitter page @TableTennisIRE or go to www.ipttc.org

Conor O’Callaghan has got off to a flier at this weeks Spanish Para Open as he wins a Silver medal in the Junior Boys Singles event.

This result makes Conor the first Irish player to medal at a International Junior Para Event – an extraordinary achievememt!

Conor enjoyed some fine wins on his way to the final, beating some established and highly ranked players along the way. In the final he faced another highly rated player in Conor McAdam (GBR). Unfortunately this was one step too far for the Munster man but he can be very proud of a fantastic Silver medal!

Stay tuned for a full report and further updates on how the Irish players get on throughout this International competition.

Two players Colin Judge Class 2 and Conor O’ Callaghan Class 6 travelled with Coach John Finn to compete in the first big international para table tennis championships since Rio Parolympics.

These championships had an entry of over 150 players from 35 countries played in a stadium on 16 tables over 4 days. Colin Judge played some fantastic and exciting TT getting off to a winning start in the singles event over Spains Miguel Toledo 3-1.
Colins second match was against 13th seeded French man Vincent Boury. He found him too strong showing his many years of experince resulting in a 3-1 defeat. The third match against Russian Evgenii Riazantcev saw Colin power into the quarter finals with a 3-0 win.
Colins quarter final game with Czech Jiri Suchanek, 5th seed had his homework done on how he would outplay our man using a game plan
that Colin could not answer.

Colin teamed up with Damir Vukovic Croatia and Evgenii Riazantcev Russia for the team event. Spain and Italy made up a group of three with one team going through to the semi final.
Colin played the doubles and the first leg single matches losing by a very small margin in the doubles and winning his two singles.
So in the two matches the scores were even at one all. The Croatian found the going too strong losing his games.
 
Connor O’Callaghan the young 16 year old from Cork played some great table tennis showing talent beyond his years.
Conor played high ranked players Bobi Simion of Romania, Danny Bobrov of Israel, and Georgios Mouchthis of Greece. Very unlucky not getting his first international win in a senior games over the Greek in a very close five setter.
In the team event Conor’s partner was Australian Trevor Hirth. The team worked well as the pair were of equal standard. Conor and Trevor played the top seeded British Martin Perry and Paul Karabardak losing 2-0.

There second match was against a Romanian and Switzerland pair running them to a close result 2-1.
Last up was the  very exciting match with Italy. Conor played fantastic tt in a high scoring five setter, result 2-1.
 
I thank the two players for their great competitive spirit and making the trip a success.

What a fantastic city Rio is!  We finally got to see around and we were really impressed after an underwhelming start.  We got out to some other events that were held remote from the Village and Riocentro and we got a genuine flavour of the city and the people.  

Rio is built mainly on the flat areas around numerous low hills that appear to be pure rock.  It appears to be a real blend of the old and the new…shanty towns (or favelas) mixed in with modern commercial areas like Barra.  And then all along the coast there are these fantastic famous beaches like Copa Cabana, Ipanema and Leblon beaches.  It’s got loads of famous landmarks like Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf Mountain and others.

Around the middle of the week we went to see Pat O’Leary do the sprint canoeing at the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon just north of Ipanema beach.  The journey there takes us through a lot of Barra and then the coast before cutting inland to the lagoon.  I love Barra because it is such a modern part of Rio.  The buildings are mostly newish and it is like any modern large city with residential tower blocks and commercial blocks spaced out nicely to leave room for landscaping and roads and the BRT (their rapid transport network.)  And it is huge.  It really is a major area within Rio with a very large population.  It’s got great beaches all along the coast.  Pat had reached the final and it was a beautiful day for it.  He finished 6th which he was fairly happy with since he went into the final in 7th position.  We got our first sight of Christ the Redeemer from there.

It looks like Barra keeps getting extended westwards (such as the Olympic Park and the Village) by eating into the surrounding rain forest.  To the west of the Village there are certainly large hills and scrub land that appear to be totally overgrown with palm trees, bushes, weeds, etc.

On Friday Jimmy and Catherine took us by courtesy bus to Corcovago mountain and the Tijuca National Park to see Christ the Redeemer.  We took the scenic route, taking in all the beaches and other tourist spots.  Their guide Lily and driver Danilo were fantastic, explaining all about the sites and going out of their way to ensure that we had an enjoyable day.  Enjoyable is an understatement.  Christ the Redeemer is absolutely stunning.  The roads up the mountain are almost perpendicular and they zig-zagged continuously until we reached half-way at which point we paid the charge (about 7euros a head) and then continued almost to the top.  At that stage we got out of our bus and the rest of the way was negotiated by escalators.  The statue is fabulous, towering above us and surrounded by a natural platform of rock.  At the base of the statue is a tiny church with a single doorway.  The views over Rio are fantastic but unfortunately it was partially foggy so that curtailed our views (and photos.)  I got a few good photos that give a good indication of how stunning the views are.

We went from there to the sailing competition at Gloria.  The race is held quite a long way from the shore and is very hard to see.  The Irish sailors were racing their penultimate race and the organisers laid on a fine boat for us to be able to get out close to the racing.  Our lads finished down the field but we really enjoyed it. 

The racing took place very close to Sugar Loaf so we got a few nice close-up photos.  We didn’t have time to spend time there although Jimmy had been there the day before and highly recommended it.  You get to the top of the Sugar Loaf by cable car which you can see in the photos if you look closely enough.

Last night we had the Closing Ceremony in the Maracana.  I was looking forward to seeing the Maracana since we had missed the Opening Ceremony.  What a stadium!  It really is enormous.  It took about an hour or 90 minutes to get over there from the Village, and we saw the other side of Rio on the way over.  Once we left Barra we travelled through the older Rio, the one with the favelas and the Graffiti.  I love the graffiti in Rio.  It seems to be everywhere, certainly in the older parts and it seems to be used instead of painting the walls.  The artwork is brilliant and it brings great colour to those older neighbourhoods.

It really was a mammoth logistical project getting 10,000 people bussed from the Village to the Maracana.  They must have used a thousand buses and it went off like clockwork.  The ceremony itself was very enjoyable even though it started raining heavily towards the end and we left early.  The music was fab.  We were seated next to Laos and behind Mongolia.  It obviously wasn’t ordered alphabetically which makes a change.  Usually we are stuck between Israel and Iraq which can be interesting to say the least!  The music was great and the fireworks and colour were up to the usual standard.  I think my phone succumbed to the Rio rain!  It’s knackered and I brought it into the Samsung shop in the Village but they couldn’t help me.  Samsung are one of the major sponsors of the Olympics and Paralympics so have a big store down in the Plaza area of the Village.  They couldn’t restore my phone though.  So I have almost no photos from the Closing Ceremony.

This morning the airline we are travelling home with set up an office in the Village and started the checking-in process.  We pre-checked most of our luggage and kit, which should make it easier when we leave tomorrow. 

So, tonight is our last night here.  The packing is done and we are, at this stage, looking forward to getting on the road.

I might do one final blog within a few days of getting home.

Following the thrills and spills of the recent 2016 Summer Olympic Games, sports fans across the globe are set to be treated to another showpiece event as the Paralympic Games are set for kick off in the Brazilian City of Rio de Janeiro.

The Games will officially commence on Wednesday evening (Approximately 9.30pm Irish time) when the opening ceremony takes place in the spectacular and world famous, Maracana Stadium.

Unlike at the Olympic Games, this time around in Rio, there will of course be Irish interest in the Table Tennis event as the European Silver Medalist and Paralympian of London 2012 Rena McCarron Rooney will take her place in the Ladies Class 2 category.

Speaking ahead of the Games, TTI Marketing Director, Paul Dolan said:

“On behalf of the Board and Membership of Table Tennis Ireland we would like to wish The Irish Paralympic Squad the best of luck and every success in their endeavours in Rio commencing this week.

In particular Rena Mc Carron Rooney, the only Irish Para Table Tennis Player participating in these Games. Rena is one of only 12 players in the world to qualify in her class which is a huge achievement in itself. Her experience at the London Games should help in her quest for a podium finish in Brazil”.

Echoing these sentiments, TTI Chairperson, Rob Cowan stated:

”We are all so excited here in Table Tennis Ireland as the Games draw closer. It is the dream off every Irish athlete to compete at the Olympic or Paralympic Games so what Rena has already achieved is remarkable. 

At a time when we as an NGB are striving to encourage female participation in sport, Rena stands out as a true ambassador and fine example to all women involved in Table Tennis

Rena, we wish you every success for the 10 days ahead in Rio!”

Be sure to check our website for ongoing updates as Para High Performance Coach Ronan Rooney reports from Brazil. We will also be keeping you up to date via our Twitter and Facebook feeds.