The Leinster League has released the latest bulletin with results of the Leinster Shield…Click here to read full results and divisional summaries.
(pic Teresa Devanney who won Group 2)
BALLYMENA TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT 2009
BALLYMENA TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT 2009
The second year of the revived Ballymena Table Tennis Open witnessed an entry of sixty six players from eight top clubs covering four of the six Northern Ireland Counties – a reflection of the continued interest in table tennis in the area.
Open Singles Tournament
Last year the Ballymena Open title went to Poland with Pawet Sulkowski defeating the then St Louis Grammar school’s teenage sensation Mark McGuigan. With Pawet unable to defend his title due to work commitments his son Dawid ensured the title would remain in the Sulkowski family when he defeated Ballymoney table tennis legend Brian Orr in four exciting sets.
Brian had defeated Wayne Charleton (Academy Strongtower) in the quarter final and used all his guile and experience to edge passed Queen’s student and strong favourite for the title, Mark McGuigan, in a pulsating semi final of hit and counter hit that had the audience spellbound. In the quarters Dawid comfortably defeated Mark Lynn (Restaurant 1608) and then defeated Annahilt star Gary Crawford in a four sets semi-final. Dawid’s devastating backhand drives proved the difference in both matches.
In the final Brian won the first set with excellent attack and counter hitting. But the sheer power of Dawid’s stroke play eventually forced Brian onto the back foot and although he had some success counter hitting David’s forehand drives, Brian had no answer to the famed Sulkowski backhand. Dawid eventually winning 9-11, 11-4, 11-6 11-8
Grade 2 Tournament
The Grade two tournament saw the two top seeds Mark Lynn (Restaurant 1608) and Jimmy O’Hara (Academy Strongtower) progress to the final. Top seed, Mark defeated Brian Bonnar (Coleraine Baptist) in the quarter finals and he then saw off team mate Paul McGuigan in the semi-final. Jimmy had defeated the much improved Jordon Hood (Academy Strongtower) in his quarter final and edged passed talented Bushmills star Aaron Douglas in the semi-final. Mark, who has yet to taste defeat in the County Antrim Division 2 league, took the final 11-6, 11-6, and 11-4. Mark’s forehand loops proved just too powerful for Jimmy on this occasion but much credit must go to Jimmy who as an octogenarian is still playing excellent table tennis and is a much-feared opponent.
Grade 3 Tournament
The Grade three tournament saw local lad Kevin McElroy (Academy Strongtower) power his way to the final with excellent wins over Anselm Brankin (Coleraine Baptist) and Peter Neeson (Academy Strongtower) in the quarter final and semi final respectively. His opponent in the final, William Weatherup (Ballyclare Methodist) had wins over his son James Weatherup (Ballyclare Methodist) and Jordon Hood (Academy Strongtower) in the quarter and semi finals. In the final, Kevin, playing his best table tennis of the season, edged passed William’s dogged defence to record an excellent straight sets victory 11-4, 11– 8 and 11-3.
Grade 4 Tournament
Dermot McElroy (Academy Strongtower) – not to be out done by his older brother Kevin – reached the final of the Grade four tournament. With great all round play, Dermot defeated the up-and-coming star Thomas McCann (Restaurant 1608) in the quarter-final and David Peden (Restaurant 1608) in an excellent semi final. In the final he met William Riley (Restaurant 1608) who had defeated Darren Tweed (Academy Strongtower) in the quarter final and team mate Noel McCann in the semi-final. A real ding-dong battle in the final saw Dermot creep passed William in four close sets 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, and 11-8.
Hard Bat Tournament
The novelty hard bat competition is always very well supported and this year was no exception. Gary Crawford from Annahilt showed his obvious talent with the hard bat by defeating Mark McGuigan (Restaurant 1608) and last years winner Brian Orr (Restaurant 1608) in the quarter final and semi final respectively. Indeed Brian did not let go of his title easily as both he and Gary put on a display of hard bat table tennis that brought back memories of Barna, Bergmann and Leech. The other finalist was Francis Shirley (Bushmills) who had defeated the Open champion Dawid Sulkowski (Poland/Academy Strongtower) in the quarter final and Mark McAllister (Cookstown /Academy Strongtower) in the semi. It looked like a surprise was in the offing when Francis took the first set 12-10, but Gary found another gear to win in four sets 10-12, 11 -7, 11-4, 11 – 8.
Ladies Singles Tournament
The Ladies Open Singles had two local girls reach the semi-finals. Michelle Taylor (Academy Strongtower) was to lose her semi to Amy O’Brien (Islandmagee) while Kathryn Moore (Academy Strongtower) lost a very close semi against hot prospect Emily Hill (Islandmagee). In an all Islandmagee final it was Amy O’Brien that proved too strong for youngster Emily Hill winning 12-10, 11-9 and 11-3.
U12 Tournament
The U12 tournament had eight youngsters placed in two groups of four, Group one consisted of Aaron Rodgers (Restaurant 1608), Sam McCusker (Islandmagee), Emily Hill (Islandmagee) and Adam Steele (Academy Strongtower). It was the talented Emily Hill who emerged triumphant from her group. Group two consisted of Kyle Bonnes (Academy Strongtower) Timothy Burn (Islandmagee) David Barnes (Restaurant 1608) and George Graham (Academy Strongtower). In an extremely tight group it was Timothy who emerged top of the pile. But it was Emily that took the win in the final showing that her previous success in the Ladies was no fluke.
U16 Tournament
In the U16 event two local lads reached the final, Top seed Adam McIlmoyle (Academy Strongtower) defeated Andrew Herbison (Academy Strongtower) in the quarters and had a tough struggle to overcome Coleraine’s teenage sensation Andrew Mulholland (Coleraine Baptist) in the semi final. In the final he met Dermot McElroy (Academy Strongtower) who had defeated Tom Alexander (Academy Strongtower) in a close quarter final and then defeated the number two seed Aaron Douglas (Bushmills) in the semi final. But Dermot could not repeat his giant killing act in the final as Adam won it in straight sets 11-4, 12-10, 11-6.
The Academy Strongtower table tennis club that host the Ballymena Open would like to offer their sincere thanks to Ballymena Academy for the use of their excellent facilities over the two nights. Special thanks must go to Academy teacher Mr Tom McLeister who supervised the proceeding and in so doing had a couple of very late nights.
STIGA Junior Challenger Event 1: Massive Success
Sunday 13th December saw 100 young players travel to Lucan in Dublin to participate in a new ITTA tournament, Event 1 of the STIGA Junior Challenger Series. The event was a remarkable success, providing competitive table tennis in a fun environment for children who have benefitted from ITTA funded coaching through initiatives such as Women in Sport and the New Schools Initiative, as well as players outside the top echelons of the Irish ranking lists. All players played lots of matches as the 100 entries played through 3 round robin stages, the final one being the 4 divisions – this ensured all players got an opportunity to play against players of equivalent ability and experience as the day drew to a close.
The event was well supported by schools within the Leinster catchment area, but particular credit must go to the Mayo players, 10 of who travelled a long distance to play in this event. All players went home tired but happy after a long day’s table tennis, many of whom promising to work on their game over the Christmas period to be better prepared for Event 2 of the Series which will be staged in Dunshaughlin on Sunday 10th January.
Division One
Division One was where the more experienced players could have a chance of success at a National event, many for the 1st time. The title was hard fought for with some great table tennis on display. In the Final, 2 Eastpoint TTC players clashed in an enthralling 5 setter, with Ian Fahey battling gamely before eventually succumbing to team-mate Adam Claffey, who will be delighted to claim the inaugural STIGA Junior Challenger Series title. Semi-finalists Kevin Malone of St.John’s and Danny Murphy of Howth will also be happy to have reached the latter stages of the Division.
Division Two
Lucan based player Dara Gray claimed the Division Two title in style, defeating Shane McLoughlin of Howth in the Final. This Division also saw some impressive performances from Howth’s Orna McLoughlin who made the semi-final and Mayo’s Sean Og Tigue who was eliminated at the last 4 stage also.
Division Three/Four
Division Three and Four provide a fantastic opportunity to many players to experience competitive table tennis at a level where they had a chance of making the Final and claiming a sought after STIGA prize. Mayo’s Marie Williams performed heroics to be the only female player to make a Final in the Division 3 section, but she was just eclipsed by Mark Murray of Knocklyon who claimed his first table tennis tournament title. In the Division Four decider, Sean Denny just defeated Killian Dunne to claim the title in front of an appreciative audience.
Congratulations must go to all of the players and coaches who attended the event. Many thanks also to the volunteers who performed heroic, particularly when the event got to the knock out stages. Finally, thanks to Tommy Fitzgerald and STIGA for the Series sponsorship – check out www.tftt.ie for an
Knox Takes Ulster Closed Title
Trillick Tornado Keith Knox proved he is the real deal at the Ulster championships on Saturday in Fivemiletown. The topspin maverick survived a bout of severe leg cramp, sheer exhaustion and three marathon five setters with Ulster No1 Paul McCreery (Crossgar), 3 times champion Daryl Strong (Belfast) and rising star Ashley Robinson (Clogher) to be crowned Ulster senior champion for the first time.
Tournament Director Tony Phillips who ran the event with military precision devised a format that tested not only the skills of players but also their stamina culminating in a four player shoot out for the title. The finale was not for the fainthearted with aggressive topspin commonplace and defensive shots rare. Destroyer Strong has a proven pedigree at this level but was edged out of the running by both McCreery and Knox in close encounters while Robinson showed glimpses of brilliance but lost his three.
The injury plagued Knox had spent the summer refining his skills in China but despite this the vastly talented McCreery started this match as favourite having won at the Bristol Grand Prix recently. However the intensive training paid dividends for Knox who served with great variation and attacked with purpose from the outset. The Crossgar star was uncharacteristically pensive choosing to counterattack but still kept in touch throughout The scoreline stood at 10-8 in the fifth to Knox when the match took a dramatic turn as he fell to the ground with leg cramp. Phillips quickly opened the rule book and instructed the umpire to allow him 10 minutes to recover. After the delay a hushed gallery then saw McCreery save one match point before Knox limped over the line 11-9 in the fifth. What a thriller.
“Fast Phil” Wallace (Ballyclare) had a few hiccups early on but steadied the ship to come home fifth while Claire Nelson who plays for the Poitiers club in the French National league used her lethal drives to break into the top six. Another superb junior is Stephen Slater (Lisbellaw) and it was no surprise when he finished seventh but the inform Robert “Sting” Fisher having dispatched a number of arch rivals early on was surely disappointed not to make the last four in the end.
Special mention must be made of 14 year old Ashley Given (Dungannon) who took a number of senior scalps during the day and the elder statesman of senior league table tennis Norman Nabney (Belfast) who once again defied the odds to finish tenth. Meanwhile at the Ballymena Academy tournament the open singles was won by David Sulkowski (Poland) who beat former Commonwealth star Brian Orr 3-1 while Gary Crawford defeated Francis Shirley to claim the classic Hardbat title.
Ulster Senior Championships Top 20
1 Keith Knox
2 Paul McCreery
3 Daryl Strong
4 Ashley Robinson
5 Philip Wallace
6 Claire Nelson
7 Stephen Slater
8 Robert Fisher
9 Mark McGuigan
10 Norman Nabney
11 Ashley Given
12 Mervyn Funston
13 Peter Clarke
14 Ivan Jeffers
15 Trevor Montgomery
16 Cyril Fannin
17 Neil Irwin
18 Ted Mahaffy
19 Susan Murphy
20 Roy Coard
STIGA Ulster Open
This year’s STIGA Ulster Open takes place on January 2nd at Valley Leisure Centre. Entry forms are available to download from the ITTA website via our interactive calendar.
Season 08/09 saw Na Ning see off Gavin Maguire to take the Men’s title, while Liu Na took the Women’s title defeating Rita Kacsandi. Will there be a new name on the Ulster Open trophy this season?
Last Year’s winners in full:
Men’s singles Na Ning
Women’s singles Na Liu
Class II Corey O’Rourke
Under 21 Men Gavin Maguire
Under 21 Women Claire Nelson
Veterans Kevin Mackey
Men’s Doubles John Murphy/Keith Knox
Women’s Doubles Na Liu/Claire nelson
Mixed Doubles Gavin Maguire/Sara Dolan
Butterfly Newsletter
Irish National Team Equipment Sponsor Butterfly has released its latest tt newsletter. This includes:
- A look back at the Pro Tour
- Focus on Borussia Duesseldorf
- Interview with Dutch top player Trinko Keen
- Details of two Butterfly camps which will take place next year.
- Our products of the month might perhaps be an idea for one of your Christmas presents.
Click below link for full newletter
http://butterfly-world.com/index.php?RDCT=913390656812608e30b6
ETTU Working Group Position for Ken Strong
The ITTA Board is pleased to announce that the European Table Tennis Union has appointed ITTA Secretary, Ken Strong, to a Working Group to consider the future structure of the European Championships.
The Working Group consists of Claude Bergeret (FRA), Beatrice Romanescu (ROU), Zdenko Kris (SVK), Rimgaudas Balaisa (LTU),Joe Borg-Cardona (MLT) and Ken with representatives of the ETTU Executive Board.
The Group’s initial findings will be discussed at the next European Congress in Moscow in May 2010.
We are sure that all of our members will join us in congratulating Ken on his appointment to this important post which is a great honour both for Ken and the ITTA.
Speaking
“I am delighted to have been offered the opportunity of being involved in this Working Group. It is very important that the Group arrives at conclusions which will be in the best interests of all Associations,” said Ken.
Ireland at Finland Open: Hanley Shines
Irish Senior International teams led by Peter Nilsson(Men) and Arthur Brett(Women) competed in the 2009 Finland Open over the past week, with the players achieving some impressive results.
Team Event
In the Men’s Team event, Ireland 1 (John Murphy and Conor Nolan) progressed to the 2nd Round following a 3-0 victory over San Marino. Here they came up against a very strong Spanish team(who eventually made the Final of the event, losing out to Russia)
and crashed out 3-0. The Ireland 2 team of Sam Hanley and Paul McCreery were eliminated by a high quality Holland team, despite Hanley producing a great performance to defeat CHUNG Wai Lung, who is ranked number 499 in the world, over 600 places ahead of Hanley.
Ireland’s Women’s Team also lost out 3-1 to the Spanish, despite a great win by Claire Nelson over Carmen SOLICHERO, who is ranked number 470 in the world(almost 500 places ahead of Nelson).
The Ireland/Ulster combination of Na Liu and Ashley Givan lost out 3-1 to a strong Swedish team of Marie Persson
Singles – Men(122 entries)
Sam Hanley was the star performer for the Irish Men in an event where the players are guaranteed lots of games, with every place being competed for. Youngster Hanley benefitted from the experience, taking a number of good wins, defeating Marius BUCYS of Lithuania in straight sets before another straight sets win over Belgium’s Robin DEVOS. Following a loss to Darius Knight, he had a fine win over the higher ranked Scotland’s Niall Cameron to secure the highest finish of the Irish team in 61st place.
John Murphy defeated Sergei MANTUROV of Estonia, coming back from 3-0 down to record a fine 4-3 victory. He then lost to Spain’s Cantero, as the Spanish continued to cause misery for the Irish. Murphy then had wins over Samuli SOINE of Finland and Andrey TSYBIN to secure 86th place.
Paul McCreery also had 3 good victories, the best of which was a win against the higher ranked Tauber of Israel and finished in 101st position, with Nolan finishing just behind McCreery.
Singles – Women(62 entries)
With Na Liu withdrawn from the singles due to injury, Amanda Mogey performed the best of the Irish, with a solid win over Marte Grutle AASEBO to claim 45th place, one ahead of Claire Nelson. The inexperienced Ashley Givan will have gained a lot from this event and recorded a win over Finnish player Emma ROLIG to end her tournament.
Leinster Schools Results
The Leinster Schools TTA has released the latest results from the 09/10 League Season to date. Click here to download latest results and tables.
Boll Takes European Super Cup Title
For the third time in the row, German star Timo BOLL will leave Russia 50.000 USD richer. BOLL defended his title once again and beat compatriot Dimitrij OVTCHAROV in the final of the Super Cup tonight in St. Petersburg. Vladimir SAMSONOV won the match for the third place.
Despite the huge support from the spectators, Dimitrij failed to jeopardize the status of the best European player. Timo was hardly challenged in two opening games, but had some difficulties in the third. OVTCHAROV leveled at 8:8, and put BOLL on first test. Young Dimitrij had a chance in the next game as well. “I played perfect we can not blame OVTCHAROV for a quick final. In addition as a left-hander and a player who knows his style very well I prevented him from attacking me with the serve. Dima lost that advantage and it affect his self confidence as well,” explained BOLL.
The match against Vladimir SAMSONOV preserved the title of the most excitingt game at the Event, and one that was most challenging for the winner. “I had a good start, but Vladi fought back very hard in the second game. After I had a lead 8:4, he managed to win that set and opened the game. It was very good match.” Vladimir SAMSONOV won the match for the third position and 15.000 USD, whilst for Kalinikos KREANGA there was the consolation in 10.000 USD for the fourth position.