Posts in category: Para

On Saturday 2^nd of August 2014, a team of 2 coaches Krzysiek Ring and Louise Long, logistics manager Liz Gantly and 7 table tennis players Alex Henebry, Sinead Keon, Marcus Ward, Mark Henderson, Paddy Vaughan, Conor O’ Callaghan and Jack Colbert attended the IWAS games in Stoke Mandeville, UK. This was the 10^th World Junior games and included the sports of athletics, archery, swimming, race running , power lifting, wheelchair fencing as well as table tennis. This event is for athletes under the age of 23.

Paralympic Table Tennis is usually classified into standing and sitting players both containing classes depending on disability of the athlete. In this IWAS Games it was decided that there would be a team wheelchair event and a team standing event and all classes would play in the same event. There was also a wheelchair singles event which included all players of different classes which proved very difficult as it was filled with top class players.  The standing event was also played with mixed classes and was divided between over 16 and under 16. There was also a special event for class 6 and 7 players standing players even though they played in the main event against their age group.  There was also a ladies event.

Before this event two intensive training camps were held in the IWA and both lasted for two days each. These training camps show the dedication of both the players and their parents as players travel from all over Ireland.

Classifications and the opening ceremony was on Sunday, 3^rd of August which saw 31 countries participate. The table tennis singles event started on Monday 4^th of August and concluded on Tuesday 5^th of August and the team event continued for the duration of the Games.

In the Singles standing under 16 event Conor O’ Callaghan had a tough group and came third beating players from Greece and Kazakhstan. He won a gold medal in class 6 and 7 with Greek players winning silver and bronze.

Paddy Vaughan won matches against players from Canada , two players from Kazakhstan, and from Greece and only narrowly lost a match to a player from Kuwait and progressed to the semi finals where he lost to Curtis Caron from Canada and received a bronze medal.

In the over 16 event, Sinead Keon was Ireland’s only hopefully but the competition proved to be very tough as she played a class 9 and two class 10 players in her group. She did not progress out of her group. In the girls standing competition Sinead Keon won a silver medal beating Eldona Baduova from Kazakhstan in the final.

Due to the fact the wheelchair event was not classed it was an extremely tough event for Irish players. In the wheelchair event Jack Colbart had a tough group and beat Giadi Rossi from Italy in a tight 5 setter winning 3/2 but did not progress out of his group.

Alex Hereby lost close matches to Hong Kong and Great Britain and beat M. Korgi from UAE 3/0 but again failed to progress out of his group. Mark Henderson had again a tough group losing matches to players from Italy, Great Briain and Greece. Marcus Ward also had tough matches losing to Austria, Hong Kong and Great Britain.

All in all it was tough yet beneficial event for all the players involved. The fact that it was not divided into classes made it extremely hard for the players. This tournament was extremely beneficial to both players and coaches and has given us a step in the right direction for the next training camp on the 16^th of August

Special Thanks should be given to Liz Gantly who did an impressive job in organising logistics for all the Irish Athletes that attended on team Ireland from Athletics, swimming and table tennis.

Final Results:

Gold – Conor O’ Callaghan – Class 6/7

Silver – Sinead Keon – ladies event

Bronze – Paddy Vaughan – Over 16’s event

Louise Long

Krzysiek Ring

Having won Gold at the 2013 World Dwarf Games in Michigan last August Sinead Keon of Connacht was determined to take the UK National Title this year. Winning all of her matches in the lead up to the final she finished with a 3-0 victory to take the title of Open Womens Champion 2014.

“I am looking forward to representing Ireland at the IWAS World Junior Games in Stoke Mandeville in August in both Table Tennis and Field Athletics”, said Sinead

Congratulations from all in Irish Table Tennis – keep up the good work!

Irish Elite Para Squad members Rena McCarron Rooney and Philip Quinlan are in international action this week in Slovenia in the ITTF Slovenian Para Open in Lasko. This is a top class international event, with the majority of the world’s top ranked players in attendance.

Going in to the event, McCarron Rooney and Quinlan had hopes to bring their domestic form to the international circuit. Both had tough group draws and Quinlan was really up against it, drawn against Paralympic Champion Holger Nikelis in the group. This was a straight sets win for the top ranked German, but Quinlan pushed him in each set, eventually losing -8,-8,-10.  That left Quinlan in a shoot-out with Brazilian Bruno De Paula for a place in the Quarter Finals. De Paula is World Ranked 22(Quinlan is World Ranked 16), and Philip again pushed him all the way but will be disappointed to lose to a lower ranked opponent, this time 1-3(10,-9, -9, -9). Quinlan will hope for better luck in the Team event which begins tomorrow.

McCarron Rooney(WR:9) also had a tough draw and was bottom seed in her group, with Pouchpacheva of Russia (WR:2) and Clot of France(WR:6) blocking her path to the knock-out stages. First up was the Russian and despite delivering a really good performance with some very positive play in the early stages, McCarron Rooney felt she forced her game slightly, eventually losing 3-1.

She would overcome her disappointment in the result, if not the performance in style with a big win against France’s Clot, progressing to the Quarter Final and with a scalp in the bag. Another French opponent awaited in the Quarter Final, this time Gossiaux-Sireau(WR:5) . Rena now showed her confidence and produced her best performance of the year to move into the last 4 with a straight sets victory over the French woman(7,7,12).

In the semi-final played this morning, Rena faced the Polish and World Class 1 No.1 Dorota Buclaw(pictured with Rena and Irish Coach Tibor Pofok above). Despite her best efforts, Buclaw was a bit too strong for McCarron Rooney on this occasion and emerged with a 3-1 victory. Overall a fantastic tournament for the Irish National Para Champion, with two wins over higher ranked opponents setting her up nicely for the remainder of the international season, with of course the big focus being the World Championships later this year. 

The ITTA is delighted to announce that two athletes have received generous support through the Paralympics Ireland Fast Track Athlete scheme.  This programme provides ring fenced supports for promising athletes that have emerged from the post London 2012 talent search.

Tom Davis and Colin Judge  will both receive funding support through this scheme which will see them receive financial support to travel to two high level international Para events later this season.

Judge was delighted with the support from Paralympics Ireland, stating;

“Delighted to hear that I have been successful in receiving funding from Paralympics Ireland. I look forward to travelling abroad and competing in competitions worldwide. I am forever grateful for this wonderful opportunity.”

Davis, still a Junior and a member of the Irish Junior National Team, stated;

“I was really pleased to find out that the funding came through. It’sa  brilliant opportunity for me to see how far I can get in table tennis. I have been playing a long time and now I have a chance to show what I’m capable of. I am really looking forward to competing in some tournaments abroad as its a great experience. I love table tennis and really want to do well, this funding gives me a chance to do that.”

This funding news follows the recent announcement that both Senior Athlete Panel members Philip Quinlan and Rena McCarron Rooney have achieved Carding Status for 2014 which will support their efforts over the international season, with the World Championships later this year being the targeted event. So a good year ahead with two promising athletes pushing hard to join Quinlan and Rooney McCarron on the senior athlete panel.

In further good news, Christine Doyle and Colin Judge both have recently returned from the Hungarian Para TT Open.

For Judge, it was a disappointing return from a very tough draw against higher ranked opponents. He will take comfort from his win over Israeli Alon Nigri and will look to bounce back following strong training over the coming months with big performances in the Spanish and Romanian Para TT Opens. Judge also took a set from the eventual winner of the event Ludrovsky of Slovakia, who is World Ranked 7. There is certainly better to come from the promising new National Champion.

Christine Doyle(pictured) produced her best Table Tennis of the last year to take the gold medal in the Ladies Class 5 singles, beating Anna Maria Hentig from Germany and Yvette Moerdijk from the Netherlands. It was very good standard in class 5 and a great result for both Christine & Irish Para Table Tennis.

In the Ladies team Event Christine Doyle class 5 played with Kovacs Ilona from Hungary a Class 1 player and they won bronze in the team event. Again, Christine produced her best Table Tennis in her career to date, with wins over Emmanuelle Ferrier and Monique Sirgant from France, both Class 4 athletes. It was the 1st time Christine has beaten Sirgant who is ranked high in her class. 

Speaking following her triumphant return from Eger, Doyle stated;

“It’s great that all the hard training over the last few months paid off. As a result I was able to win my first gold medal in class 5 singles at an international tournament, also winning  the bronze medal in the team event made the Hungarian Open my most successful tournament to date. This would not have been possible without the support of my team mates and coach Tibor Pofok. Hopefully this will be a springboard for more success in the future”.

Congratulations to all of the players and to coach Tibor Pofok for all of the recent success.

Congratulations to ITTA member Sinead Keon who competed at the Dwarf Sports Association UK National Games against players from England, Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland securing a silver medal in the Final.
Sinead is already in preparation for competition at the World Dwarf Games in Michigan this August – further information of which can be found on www.2013worlddwarfgames.org
Best wishes to Sinead – we look forward to following her progress in August.