Rio hopeful Colin Judge heads off once again today in his quest to qualify for the 2016 Paralympics.  This time it’s to Bayreuth, Germany for the German Open.    

This is Colin’s first tournament since the Italian Open in Lignano last March.  This time he has been drawn in a group of 4 with Stephane Molliens (France,) Kim Kyung Mook (Korea) and Tomasz Jakimczuk (Poland.)  He needs to finish in the top 2 in the group to qualify for the knockout stages.

National coach Ronan Rooney is hopeful that the successes of early tournaments can continue saying this tournament affords Colin the opportunity to gain vital ranking points to move him closer to a Rio qualification slot.

My 2nd Blog

Hi everyone! I have been very busy since my last blog. This week I will talk about my preparation for the French Open and how I got on in the competition. I will also tell you a little bit about my plans for the future and my training for the big year ahead. I practiced really hard during September and October. I trained five times every week and got 1:1 coaching with John Murphy and Mick Cunningham. We worked on everything but focused mainly on the weaker aspects of my game. These sessions were very constructive and very beneficial and as a result I found that I had a lot more confidence in my game during the French Open last week. I also found that my teammates in IWA contributed a lot to my training in the weeks before my competition. I was able to practice what I had worked on with John and Mick against all the different members of my team. I think it is very important to play with different players and I believe that there is something to be learned from everyone. So I felt that my preparation for the French Open couldn’t have been any better but I was very well aware that preparation could only take me so far. I travelled to Nice with my friend and teammate, Des Ryan, on Wednesday the 23rd of October. When we arrived at the airport we got the bus to Hyéres just outside of Toulon. We practiced at the training facility that evening and then went back to the hotel for dinner and an early night. The competition would start early in the morning.

My first match was against the world number one, Fabien Lamirault. He played very well and beat me in straight sets. However, I knew that I could not let this defeat knock my confidence. I had a very important game later that day which would determine whether or not I made it out of the group stages. I played Gianni Verzino later that day and won the match 3-1 which meant that I had qualified for the quarter finals.

The next day I faced Stephane Molliens, the world number 6 from France. He won a very close first set but I found form in the second and third set and had a 2-1 lead going into the fourth. Stephane then came back very strong which meant that we would go into a fifth and final set. Stephane continued to play at the top of his game right until the end and won the match 11-9 in the fifth. This defeat was really hard for me to take but I didn’t feel disheartened. Stephane is, in my opinion, the best player I’ve played in an international competition and I felt that I had played very well in the singles event overall. There were many more matches to be played over the next few days and I knew that there was still a big chance for me to turn things around. My luck would change in the team event! 

I won seven from eight singles matches in the team event. I played some very good table tennis and got great wins against some very highly ranked players.

I had to play Fabien Lamirault, the world number one, again in the opening match of the team event. I was eager for revenge but knew that this was going to be a very difficult game.  I played very well in the first two sets and managed to win them both which meant I was 2-0 up going into the third set. It was a great start for me but I didn’t want to get complacent, I knew Fabien would come back strong. He won the third set 11-3 and the fourth set 11-4 which meant we were going into a fifth set. The momentum was with him so I needed a big performance in this final set. A big crowd began to gather and my heart began to beat. I had been in this situation so many times before and lost so I knew this time that I needed to do something different. I needed to play how I practice and not let my fear of losing ruin my chance of winning. This is what my coach, Tibor Pofok, who helped me so much throughout the week, told me during the timeout. On this occasion I took my chance and I beat the number one in the world. I was over the moon! My best international result ever. 

I was unfortunate to have missed out on the medals at the French Open but I was delighted with how I played and with the games I won and I think that this is more important. I was also very happy to see my good friend and roommate, Tom Davis, play so well throughout the competition and get some great wins against some very highly ranked players. It just goes to show that anything is possible if you work hard. I still have a lot more work to do before my competitions in 2015 but it was nice to end the year on a high. I am back in Dublin now and I am very keen to continue training hard. I will go to a squad session next weekend and a Paralympic training camp in Athlone the following weekend and I am looking forward to getting back to it. I know now what I need to work on and I am determined to work on all aspects of my game in the coming months. Every session counts ahead of the biggest year in my table tennis career.

The next time I will talk a bit about my preparation for the Irish National Championships and my international competitions which follow afterwards. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment at the end of the page and I will respond to your questions on my next blog. Thank you very much for reading and for all the support.

Until next time!

Irish Para Table Tennis player Tom Davis is working to qualify for the 2016 Paralympics and he needs your help.  Click to see what you can do to help make his dream come through.

Colin Judge, Para National Senior Champion and irish international joins Table Tennis Ireland web team as a guest blogger over the coming season – see below for his 1^st blog.

Hi! My name is Colin Judge and I’m an Irish para table tennis player. I started playing table tennis at the age of 14 in UCD and I loved the game from my first day. I had tried out a number of sports when I was younger but when I first played table tennis I knew straight away that it was going to be a sport not only that I thoroughly enjoyed but one that I could compete in. I will never forget the days I spent training in UCD and Blackrock and will be forever grateful to my coach back then, Richie Butler, for what he contributed to my game. It was during these days that I learnt the basics of the game, those training sessions were the building blocks for what I would achieve in the coming years and for anything that I might achieve in the future.

However, I played in a number of able-bodied competitions during those years and soon realised that if I ever wanted to compete at the top level it would have to be against people with a similar disability to me. I was born with no legs and one arm and I compete in class 2 in para table tennis. I started playing in the Irish Wheelchair Association in January 2012 and I noticed an improvement in my game immediately as I was now playing at a level closer to my own. In June 2012, I began to compete internationally.

 I have been to four competitions in the last year. I went to Belgium last October, Hungary in March and Romania and Spain in June. I have won two bronze medals in these competitions and I hope that over the next year I can add a few more to my collection! It is my dream to qualify for the Paralympics and I know that this dream will not come true without a lot of hard work.

I am writing this in September during my first week back at college. I study Actuary at UCD and I am now in second year. I go to lectures during the day and try to study/swim on the in between. Then I normally train in the evening times, playing in Dundrum Table Tennis Club on a Monday and a Saturday and in Irish Wheelchair Association on a Wednesday. I play in Blackrock College most weeks now and will play for UCD this year as well. I go to an intensive weekend training camp once a month in IWA and plan to train 1:1 with John Murphy and Mick Cunningham over the next year.

I am currently playing in the Autumn League in Dundrum Table Tennis Club in Division 1 as my coach, Tibor Pofok is away with one of my teammates, Rena McCarron Rooney, at the World Para Table Tennis Championships in Beijing and our training is not on. I have been following this event very closely on the live stream and it is during weeks like these that I am reminded of what can be achieved. I would love to be a part of it all some day. I hope that people will be watching me on the live stream the next time!

I am playing as much as I possibly can at the moment in order to prepare myself for France. I will go to the French Open on the 22^nd of October and I really hope that I can perform to the best of my ability as it will be my last competition of the year. I would love to end 2014 on a high and then build on my success going into 2015.

Next time I will be talking about how I got on at the French Open and a little bit more about my training/preparation for 2015.  I hope that I will have some good news the next time I blog!

If you have any questions for me feel free to leave a comment at the end of this page and I will respond to your questions on my next blog. Thank you very much for reading. Until next time!

Colin