New National Senior Champion Ashley Givan has enjoyed a whirlwind couple of weeks following her triumph in DCU. She also was part of the Gold Medal winning Cadets at the Junior 6 Nations in Scotland and has even made time for some media interviews:
Ireland Take Three Golds at Junior 6 Nations
At the 2010 Junior and Cadet 6 Nations Championships, Team Ireland will travel home on Sunday night with 3 Gold medals – 2 in the Team events and one in the individuals. First to register Gold was the Cadet Girls Team of new National Senior Champion Ashley Givan and Edel O’Reilly of Munster. Under the guidance of NPC Louise Long, the cadet girls were undefeated, beating England to take Gold. Next up was the Junior Boys, fresh from their win at the Junior British League. the trio of McCreery, Robinson and Logue maintained their excellent overseas form to also pip England to the Gold, winning all 5 of their matches.
Paul McCreery registered another impressive performance, taking gold in Sunday’s Individual event. With wins over compatriot Ashley Robinson in the Quarter Final and England’s Lewis Gray in the Semi-Final, McCreery faced local home crowd favourite Sean Doherty. Having dropped the first two sets, McCreery showed steely determination to claw his way back into the match, taking the 3rd set 11-5, before levelling at 11-7. This set up a thrilling last set where McCreery held his nerve and justified his No.1 seeding to become Junior 6 Nations Champion. In the Cadet Girls, new National Senior Champion also progressed to the Individual Final, where she faced Vicki Smith. Smith proved too strong for Givan, taking the match in four sets. However Givan will be happy with Silver, adding to her already significant medal tally in 2010.
Congratulations to all medal winners, this has been the most succesful Junior 6 Nations for the Irish squad for some time.
Main Results from Sunday’s Individual EventsJunior 6 Nations, Scotland 12 – 14 March, 2010
Junior Boys QFS:Paul McCreery (Ire) bt Ashley Robinson(Ire) 3/0Lewis Gray (Eng) bt Daniel Basterfield (Eng) 3/1Daniel ‘Connell (Wa) bt Josh Jenkins (Wa) 3/0 Sean Doherty (Scot) bt Cameron Thomas (W) 3/0
Junior Boys SFS:Paul McCreery bt Lewis Gray 3/1Sean Doherty bt Daniel ‘Connell 3/0
Junior Boys F: Paul McCreery bt Sean Doherty -8, -6, 5, 7, 9
Junior Girls QFS:Natalie Slater(E) bt Rebecca Kenny (I) 3/0Chloe Thomas (W) bt Sara Timlin (I) 3/0Alice Loveridge (Guer) bt Natasha Milliken (S) 3/0Chloe White (E) bt Megan Phillips (W) 3/0
Junior Girls SFS:Natalie Slater bt Chloe Thomas 3/1Chloe White bt Alice Loveridge 3/1
Junior Girls Final: Chloe White bt Natalie Slater 3/0
Cadet Boys QFS:Igor Morais(E) bt Neil Irwin (I) 3/0 Scott Barton (S) bt Lee Morgan (W) 3/1Lewis Wilson (W) bt Ying Jin (S) 3/0Jared Patel (E) bt Ryan Farrell (I) 3/0
Cadet Boys SFS:Igor Morais by Scott Barton 3/1Lewis Williams bt Jared Patel 3/2
Cadet Boys Final: Igor Morais by Lewis Williams 3/1
Cadet Girls QFS:Edel O’Reilly (I) bt Charlotte Carey (W) 3/2Charleigh Kirby (E) bt Beth Roberts (W) 3/0
Cadet Girls SFS:Vicki Smith (E) bt Edel O’Reilly 3/0Ashley Givan (I) bt Charleigh Kirby 3/1
Cadet Girls Final: Vicki Smith bt Ashley Givan 3/1
Junior Boys Consolation Final: Sam Logue (I) bt Calum Main (S) 3/0Junior Girls Consolation Final: Lynda Flaws (S) bt Hannah Avery (W) 3/1Cadet Boys Consolation Final: Laurence Stacey (GU) bt Joshua Stacey (GU) 3/1Cadet Girls Consolation Final: Donna Gillon (S) bt Nadine Wright (S) 3/2
RIP Joe Tansey Daly
The members of Dundrum Table Tennis Club would like to acknowledge and pay tribute to our founder member and President, Joe Tansey Daly, who died 0n Tuesday 16th Feb. Joe would have been ninety years old in just a few weeks time. The Social Club was founded by Joe and Seamus Kane with a few other friends, way back around 1945.
The cycling club Orwell Wheelers and the Table Tennis club all met in the old premises beside Simpsons Hospital. We played league matches there two nights a week, against some of the best players in Dublin. I have a lot to thank Joe for, he taught me all he could about playing matches. I still hear him giving me advise when I’m playing!
The club is still going strong, and now meets in the GAA club in Stillorgan Industrial Park, on Monday and Thursday.
We will do our best Joe, to keep it going for another 50 years!
Pat O’Kane, Secretary Dundrum Table Tennis club, and all the members.
Eastpoint Take Lead Into Final Session
The Leinster Premier League which was staged in a central venue at ESB Sportco, Ringsend, Dublin has its third session of matches where the leaders Eastpoint 1 beat Pioneers and UCD 2 comfortably. UCD also won their matches beating Athlone and Pioneers leaving them one point behind the leaders going into the final session of matches on Sunday 21st March 2010 – it looks like being an enthralling battle between UCD and Eastpoint as UCD attempt to defend their crown from last season. In the individuals Mark O’Flynn (Eastpoint) has a comfortable lead and will be very hard to catch at this stage.
Ulster Branch: February Newsletter
The Ulster Branch ITTA has released its latest newsletter for February 2010…Click here to download
Tommy Caffrey Award Launched
The ITTA has decided to introduce a new award, named in honour of Tommy Caffrey, one of Ireland’s greatest ever players and a long time supporter of Interprovincial Events. The award will be presented to the “Player of the Tournament” at each season’s Senior, Veterans/Under 21 Interprovincial Championships.
Launching the award, ITTA Chairman Joe Hickey stated:
‘There are many times when the word legendary is overused but, when I spoke at the 2009 Interprovincial series, I had no hesitation in referring to the legendary Tommy Caffrey. Apart altogether from his incredible record of achievement at table tennis, Tommy has, at all times, conducted himself in an exemplary manner and he is a perfect role model and ambassador for Irish table tennis. The Board are delighted that he acceded to our request that this new ‘Player of the Tournament’ award, to be given at the Senior, Veteran and Under 21 Interprovincial series, be called the Tommy Caffrey Trophy.’
Tommy cites his career highlight as winning his first Irish Open in front of a packed house in Dublin in 1963, defeating former World Champion Johnny Leach in the Final. He returned 4 years later to reclaim a 2nd Irish Open title, this time in Omagh, with a victory over international team-mate Jim Langan. With an incredible 151 Senior International caps to his name, Caffrey is a true ambassador for table tennis and a role model for the elite players who aspire to follow in the trail he blazed. Still playing at a high level in Veterans Table Tennis sport and symbolic of the motto ‘A Sport for Life’, he has had a long association with the Interprovincials – he began representing Leinster in this event in 1958 and has yet to miss a year, a remarkable record of over 50 appearances in one of the domestic calendar’s most prestigious tournaments.
Speaking at the launch of the award, Caffrey was understandably thrilled:
“I am completely surprised but feel honoured and privileged that this important award recognising the outstanding player of the Interpros will be named after me”
This year’s Senior Interpros will be hosted by the Connacht Branch at Breaffy House, Castlebar, Co. Mayo on Friday & Saturday 26th and 27th March 2010.
Ulster Updates
Veterans Rankings – Click here
Ulster Junior League Entry Form – Click here
Graded Entry Form(Cavan) – Click here
Butterfly National Seniors 2010
A fantastic day of table tennis saw John Murphy claim his 3rd National Senior Mens title in 4 years and 14 year old Ashley Givan becoming the youngest ever Senior Women’s Champion…For event photos check out:
http://www.sportsfile.com/more-images/10030059/5000/
For full results…click here
Men
1.John Murphy
2.Paul McCreery
3.Keith Knox
3.Daryl Strong
Women
1. Ashley Givan
2. Rebecca Kenny
3. Clodagh McCullagh
3. Sara Dolan
U21 G
1. Sara Dolan
2. Rebecca Kenny
U21 B
1. Paul McCreery
2. Daniel Keenan
3. Gavin Maguire
3. Sam Logue
Restricted Singles
- Kevin Devanney
- Conor Fahey
Doubles Men
- Murphy/Nolan
- McCreery/Graham
Doubles Women
- Dolan/Dennett
- Kenny/Kenny
Wheelchair Singles
TBC(Final deferred)
ITTF Museum Newsletter
The new ITTF Museum Newsletter, 1 March edition, is now available at this link:
This is a webpage, so no download is needed. You can also view any previous Newsletter via the Museum website: www.ittf.com/museum
Just click on the Newsletter icon and select an issue.
The Museum Newsletter is published every two months as part of my Communications Program, giving updates on recent activities, VIP visitors, new acquisitions & donations.
Also check out our latest magazine, a free 24-page quarterly publication available as a pdf download in full color. You can select any issue at:
http://www.ittf.com/museum/TTC.html
Hope you enjoy the new issue. Feedback or corrections always welcome.
Ulster Branch Release Junior Rankings
The Ulster Branch has released the latest Ulster Junior rankings…Click here to download.