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UJO Results and Report

by National EventsTTI News

Last weekend saw an action packed Ulster Junior Open with 150 competitors from all over Ireland converging on the Shankill Leisure Centre.

Double winner Ashley Given (Dungannon) will surely dominate junior girls table tennis over the next three years as she has just too much power and tactical awareness for her opponents having already represented Northern Ireland at senior level in the Commonwealth championships and Ireland at the recent Six Nations. In the under 14’s final she was pitted against combination bat specialist Edel O’Reilly (Cork)  and displayed great patience before unleashing thunderous drives to overcome her tricky opponent in straight sets while the under 17’s final was much more open with free flowing attack the order of the day and Givan was forced to dig deep to beat the talented Rebecca Kenny in four fast and furious sets.

Meanwhile Irish Senior No1 Sam Hanley (Dublin) was hot favourite to the sweep the boards in the under 17 boys and looked to be on course after seeing off a game challenge from fellow Dubliner Sam Logue in the semi’s but the spectacular Ashley Robinson (Clogher) had different ideas.  Having just come through a venomous topspin encounter with Fermanagh’s Stephen Slater in the semi which certainly drew loud applause from the appreciative audience, Robinson was simply brilliant in the final using a well rehearsed game plan to outfox the lightning fast Hanley who showed great sportsmanship in defeat. Hanley will look to quickly bounce back as he travels to represent Ireland in the Finland Open at the end of the month.

Ryan Farrell was dominant in the Under 14 Boys, taking the title without dropping a set – Neil Irwin put up a fight in the final but Farrell was cooly efficient as he swept to the title.

Topspin wizard Jonathan Porter claimed gold when he just got the better of his Clogher teammate Mark Gordon in an entertaining four setter while Glenburn club who have produced an abundance of talent over the last 30 years saw their Irish No1 under 12 Laura Finn keep this trend continuing on Saturday with a superb win over Sarah Cooney (Cork).

Connacht will certainly be a province to watch in the future as they dominated the under 10 boys with the Mayo pairing of Martin Williams and Eddie Ditchburn ruling the roost while many made the long journey from Cork and Killarney to participate demonstrating how the sport is also flourishing in Munster.

This was effectively a 2 day competition rolled into 1 day and huge credit and thanks should go to the Tournament Referee Tony Phillips and the team of Umpires and Officials. Also a thank you must go to the catering team of volunteers who provided refreshments over the weekend – a very succesful fundraiser for the Ulster branch.

Click here for full results.

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WIS Rolled Out in Midlands

by National EventsTTI News

A number of schools attended a exhibition in Castletown Community hall near Mountrath on Friday 2nd October which was organised under the Women in Sport Programme by WIS Co-Ordinator Liam O’Ceallaigh.The schools where all from the local area and they enjoyed some great table tennis from Irish International Conor Nolan and last years Under 12 Number 1 Ciaran Kelly. Following the exhibition there was some coaching and some games for 90 minutes which the kids really enjoyed.

The exhibition was also attended by local TD Charlie Flanagan and local Councillor John Joe Fennelly who expressed their support for table tennis in the midlands. Jimmy Hayes who organised the hall and tables and is the local WIS Co-ordinator hopes that following on from this will see two new schools and a new club emerge from this area. It is hoped to run a training camp in the area in the near future.

The Women in Sport Programme supported by the Irish Sports Council is currently being rolled out in specifically targetted areas across the country, from Cobh to Galway to Monaghan as well as ongoing schools development under the WIS programme in the Leinster area.

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Squads Announced for International Events

by International EventsTTI News

The ITTA has today announced squads for a number of international events. Congratulations to all selected:

Finlandia Open, Helsinki

Men’s Teams:       Ireland A:  John Murphy, Conor Nolan

                        Ireland B:   Paul Mc Creery, Sam Hanley

Women’s Teams:    Ireland:     Amanda Mogey, Claire Nelson

Stockton-on-Tees 4 Star

Cadet Boys Ireland:   Ryan Farrell, Neil Irwin
Cadet Girls Ireland:    Ashley Givan, Edel OReilly
 
Under 13 Girls (Cadet Girls Team) Ireland: Katie McGlone, Elayna McGlone

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Boll Defeats Wang Hao in European Victory

by International EventsTTI News

The top class clash of greatest stars of today the Euro-Asia All Stars Event gave enormous joy and pride  for the Old Continent. In the second leg in Istanbul, Europe won 5:6 on aggregate. In the process, Timo BOLL beat the best-ranked player in the World, Chinese star WANG Hao. The thriller, the suspense, the highest level of game, team spirit and beautiful points in front of thousands of spectators in Istanbul’s crowded hall were shared with millions people in front of TV all over the Europe and World. Thanks to  Eurosport and 15 TV stations, the picture has been seen all over the planet.

On the first day, Asian side had a close victory and they went to the rest with the 3:2 lead. In the proceedings, on the second day, in the grueling duels Europe had the same result. Thus, the additional match has been needed. The decision who will play the 11th match was made by the lot. Two captains draw the players and the battle continued in true thrilling atmosphere. The decider was on Vladimir SAMSONOV chests. He faced the challenge and beat LI Ching. Europe won, and saved the pride of the Continent. On the first leg in Beijing last summer it was Asia who succeeded with narrow 6:4 win. “I surprise myself a bit, not so much with the win against WANG Hao but with the result. I could not even hope that I will win in straight games,” said Timo BOLL. German star succeeded against WANG and Vladimir SAMSONOV gave the final touch : “I felt something special here in Istanbul. We build the team spirit and I wanted to win so much against LI Ching in additional match. The victory was sweet, but the feeling that I get when I saw the other players jumped from their seats, it overwhelmed me,” admitted SAMSONOV.  


President of the ETTU Stefano BOSI was thrilled after great success of the European team:
“The Euro-Asia All Stars Series was the fantastic event. We had the top-level game and enough tension to keep the spectators on fire from first to the last match. Top of the class was the mach that Timo BOLL played against WANG Hao. I define this match as a perfect one. It was the perfect mixture of aggressive play, of big heart, focus and power. It was great to watch this match,” said President BOSI.

The Next European step will be played in Belgium on October 12th and 13th, 2010.

European leg of the Euro-Asia All Stars Event in Istanbul 
Europe – Asia 6:5 on aggregate
 
Day One
 
Europe – Asia 2:3 
 
Kalinikos KREANGA – GAO Ning 1:3 (11:8, 8:11, 10:12, 6:11)
Michael MAZE – LI Ching 3:1 (11:9, 11:9, 9:11, 11:9)
Vladimir SAMSONOV – WANG Hao 1:3 (5:11, 11:4, 9:11, 10:12)
Timo BOLL – JOO Se Hyuk 3:2 (11:6, 11:4, 4:11, 10:12, 11:4)
Werner SCHLAGER – CHUANG Chih Yuan 0:3 (9:11, 6:11, 10:12).
 
Day Two 
 
Europe – Asia 4:2 
 
 Werner SCHLAGER – LI Ching 3:1 (9:11, 11:5, 11:5, 11:7)
 Kalinikos KREANGA – CHUANG Chih Yuan 1:3 (11:7, 7:11, 11:13, 5;11)
 Vladimir SAMSONOV – JOO Se Hyuk 3:1 (11:8, 8:11, 11;7, 11:9)
 Timo BOLL – WANG Hao 3:0 (11:6, 11:7, 11:6)
 Michale MAZE – GAO Ning 1:3 (9:11, 11:3, 13:15, 9:11)
Additional match 
 Vladimir SAMSONOV – LI Ching 3:1 (11:8, 4:11, 11:9, 12:10).

Reproduced with Thanks to ETTU

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Vets Off to Great Start at VBL

by International EventsMastersTTI News

The Irish Shamrocks team of D. Pemberton, A. Redmond and K. Mackey were in 1st place after the 1st Round of matches at the Veterans British League. Playing in Division 2B, the Irish Vets won all 5 of their matches with Anthony Redmond in fine form in his firs international trip representing the Veterans. The Irish look to be in a strong position to secure the Division 2B title and promotion.

Irish Shamrocks – Player Averages
Anthony RedmondIrish Shamrocks10100100.00
Dave PembertonIrish Shamrocks108280.00
Kevin MackeyIrish Shamrocks106460.00

The Irish Colleens were also in action, securing a win and 2 draws from their 5 games. Sharon Brien was the top player for the Irish over the weekend with 6 wins from her 10 games.

Irish Colleens – Player Averages
Sharon BrienIrish Colleens106460.00
Helen DolanIrish Colleens104640.00
Susan MurphyIrish Colleens102820.00
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Reynolds Doubles Up in Italy

by International EventsParaTTI News

Paul Dolan National Coach IWA TT Reports from Lingano, Italy…

Irelands Kathleen Reynolds produced some incredible performances to take 2 bronzes at the Italian Open in Lingano, Italy.

Competing against a field of over thirty competitors in the Open Class 1-5, Reynolds (Class 3) fought her way to Bronze medal success. Reynolds, one of Ireland most decorated Paralympics Athletes added to her recent Bronze in the Team event in Poland and has also shown terrific form in recent domestic  ITTA  Table Tennis events.

Reynolds also competed in the team event in Italy along with partner Rena Mc Carron Rooney.

Both players are fighting hard at the last event of the European season to secure ranking points for qualification for next year’s World Championships in Korea.

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Ray O’Connell R.I.P

by TTI News

The Irish Table Tennis community was deeply saddened to hear of the recent death of Ray O’Connell.
Ray, who passed away in February, was a past pupil of Belvedere College (1946) and had a long association with Table Tennis in Ireland.
As a Board member of the ITTA, Ray first served as Treasurer during the 1970’s before being elected Chairman in 1977, a position he held until 1983.
Ray was also a member of the committee which organised the successful World Veterans Championship in the RDS, Dublin in 1992.
Through his association with Table Tennis, Ray built a deep and lasting friendship with our Life President, Mr Joe Veselsky.

To his loving wife, Marie, daughter Kathyrn and extended family, we extend our deepest sympathy.

May he rest in peace.

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ITTA Appoint New HR Director

by TTI News

The ITTA are delighted to announce the appointment of Mr. Tom Mitchell to the Board of Directors. Mr Mitchell will take up the role of Human Relations Director.

The HR Directorship is one of three additional Directorships which were approved at the Associations AGM in June.

Commenting on Tom’s appointment, ITTA Chairman Joe Hickey said :

” The Board regards the expansion of the number of volunteers as a key ingredient of our plans for the expansion of table tennis. In addition, whether such volunteers are new, inexperienced people with a desire to help or existing volunteers who want to broaden their skills, the provision of training is an important part of this programme.The recruitment of an experienced professional like Tom will enable a much greater focus to be given to these areas and his colleagues on the Board look forward to working with him to achieve these objectives.”

Tom has been involved with Table Tennis as both a player and official for over 50 years. As an Umpire, he has studied the game rising to the level of International Umpire and is one of the first batch of formally qualified Racket Controllers, to officiate at ITTF Events.

Tom is a Management Consultant by profession and his speciality is the people side of business.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Mitchell said ” I am pleased to be asked to join the Board of the ITTA and look forward to working with my colleagues to develop Table Tennis by involving more people in running and organising the sport. I have always believed that the success of any sport depends greatly on the committed volunteers who make things happen. The approach we are going to try is to move from relying only on the few who have always done the work to a system where the majority are expected to make a contribution.”

The Participation and Coaching Directorships have yet to be appointed, and the Board would welcome any further applications from those affiliates who feel they meet the specified criteria for these roles.