Posts in category: Para

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.

The Paralympic Games will be the second biggest sporting event of 2016, after the Olympics.  And last Friday came the news that Ireland will be represented in the table tennis event as Rena McCarron Rooney has qualified for her second Paralympics, having participated at London 2012.

In truth, it may not come as a big surprise.  Having finished the year ranked 7th in the world rankings, Rena was virtually certain of a slot.  Each individual sport has their own qualification process and in the case of table tennis, the year-end world ranking list of the year preceding the Paralympics (in this case 2015) determines the qualifiers.  In Rena’s event (Class 1-2 Women) there will be 12 competitors in Rio and so a world ranking of 7 left her as a virtual certainty.

2015 was in fact Rena’s most successful year ever, the highlight of which was a silver medal in the singles in the European Championships in Denmark in October.  She had also taken silver in Slovenia and bronze in Slovakia in May, having won gold at the Irish National Championships in March. 

When asked about her recent success, she was in no doubt about the reasons behind it.  Having applied a more scientific approach than previously, and having worked extensively with the Institute of Sport in Blanchardstown, she hails the new techniques that made a difference.  “I made a number of changes to my regime last year.  For example, I played fewer tournaments than in previous years, and I adopted a 2-peak strategy.  I peaked in the late spring and again in autumn for the Europeans.”  She also changed her training routines, training more at her Galway base and less in Dublin.  Leading up to the London Paralympics she trained 3 times a week in Dublin, as well as many week-ends, but found the travel tiring.  “I found that the quality of my Dublin sessions was often poor, simply because I was tired from all the travelling.  And the travel also affected my ability to get my gym-work in.”

Asked about her chances of a medal in Rio, she was quite philosophical.  “The important thing for now is to get the right training in.  I have taken a winter break and have just now resumed my training.  I will try to replicate the intensive training that I did last year, with a few tweaks.  I will play a couple of tournaments in May and then will peak again in September.  My first match in Rio will be on September 8 and if all goes well with my preparation, then I hope to perform well.  And if I perform well, then the results will come.”   

Originally from Buncrana in County Donegal, Rena has been based for many years in Galway.  She qualified for the London Paralympics in 2012 where she finished in the Top 8.  A repeat of that performance would certainly make all the hard work worthwhile.

With the end of the Rio qualification period drawing near, opportunities for Irish players to qualify are reducing.  Following the publication of the most recent world-ranking list, Rena McCarron Rooney and Colin Judge were the only players with any chance of qualifying.  While Rena gave the Belgian Open a miss, Colin decided to play one last tournament in his attempt to qualify.

Colin was accompanied by Dublin’s Christine Doyle, who was playing her first international tournament of the year.  Both began the tournament with their respective singles events.

Despite beating the 20th player in the world ranking list (Nobuhiro Minami from Japan) as well as a number of lesser players, Colin finished outside the medals, ending his hopes of qualifying for Rio.  Chris fared better, picking up gold with some very good wins.

Once the singles was over, the team event began.  Colin paired up with Christian Sieber from Switzerland in the class 3 event while Christine teamed with Yoon Jiyu from Korea.  Both players played exceptionally well and had some outstanding wins.  While Colin didn’t manage to qualify for the knockout stages, Christine and Yoon easily qualified and went on to win gold.  This represented double gold for both Christine and Yoon, both having earlier won gold in their respective singles events.

National Coach Ronan Rooney was full of praise for both players following their performances.  “Colin has had a really tough year, having played almost 10 international events.  While he has not achieved his goal of Rio qualification, he has significantly improved his ranking and is a very real prospect for Tokyo in 2020.  Chris had an excellent tournament here in Belgium, and it makes you wonder what she might have achieved had she attempted to qualify for Rio.”

There remains one international Para tournament for Ireland before the qualification window closes at the end of the year.  Rena McCarron Rooney will play her last tournament in Costa Rica in December and if she maintains her current ranking, she will be Ireland’s sole table tennis qualifier for the Rio Paralympics in 2016.

Ireland has never won a medal at a Para TT European Championships.  Until now, that is!  Last week in Vejle, Denmark, Rena McCarron Rooney won a silver medal for Ireland at the European Championships. 

A team of 2 players and 2 coaches represented Ireland at the event.  Rena McCarron Rooney and Colin Judge, both class 2 and both current national Irish champions, were accompanied by Ronan Rooney and Susan Keating (Murphy).

Colin had a tough group, his first group match being against current European Champion Rafal Czuper, ranked 4 in the latest world rankings.  He played well but lost in straight sets.  Following a loss in 4 sets to Perlic from Serbia (WR 11,) Colin had a great win over Crosara from Italy in 5 sets.  He let slip 2 match points in the third set but eventually dug in well to win it in 5.  Despite not qualifying from the group for the knockout stages, the experience will benefit him for the future.

Rena’s first group match was also against current European Champion (Nadejda Pushpasheva from Russia.)  Despite losing this she qualified from the group as the runner-up.  Following 3 great wins, firstly against Brill from Israel, then against Clara Podda from Italy (ranked 7 in the world,) and finally against Giada Rossi, also from Italy and ranked 8 in the world, Rena found herself in the final, again playing Pushpasheva.  Unfortunately the occasion got the better of her in the end as she went down to a strong opponent in straight sets.  Despite losing the final, Rena felt very proud of her silver medal, and felt that her hard work over many years has finally paid off.

National Coach Ronan Rooney was full of praise for both players following their performances.  “Rena’s achievement cannot be overstated, this being Ireland’s first ever singles medal of any colour at a European Championships.  And Colin will benefit from the experience, this being his first major championship.  Both players have improved this year, and Rena is now in a great position to qualify for the Rio Paralympics next year.”