Please click HERE for the results of the Masters Ulster Open
The well appointed sports hall of Wellington Presbyterian Church, Ballymena, was the venue for this tournament once again. Having withstood a worthy early challenge from Paul Gallagher and Phil Wallace, Daryl Strong beat Tibor Pofók in the final of the Over 40s. It is always difficult to overcome Daryl once he gets into a rhythm, and this is his tenth title in succession!! Free from the burdens of office, Dave Gibbons scored a notable fifth set victory over Phil at the group stage.
In the Ladies event knockout stage, Teresa beat Ger Greene and Annemarie for yet another title. Annemarie had beaten Teresa earlier in the group stages. Paula lost some tight fifth set encounters, and on another day, her results could have easily gone the other way. JingRu Liu made a considerable impact on her debut, losing in the semi-final. Sharon will be pleased to have played well while suffering from a cold.
The Over 50s produced several tight five set matches, especially at semi-final stage. Serving at 8-10 down in the fifth, Kevin Mackey hit two blistering forehand winners to level, and eventually triumph 14-12 over Mark McAlister. Pawel Sulkowski beat Allen Robson 11-9 in the fifth after an absorbing duel with forehand attack against classic defence. The final produced attacking topspin table tennis of a very high order, with no quarter given. Kevin coped with Pawel’s powerful forehand when required, and hit some marvellous wide winners at critical times. Winning a tight second set was key, and Kevin won on a scoreline of 7,9,-9,11. It is noted that Gibbons beat Kevin at the group stages!
A resurgent Norman Nabney won the Over 60s, beating Martin Pickles in the final. Earlier, he had accounted for Pat Bracken and Peter Doherty in the knockout stage. Martin triumphed in the 70s, while Liam Perris was runner up. Really nice to see Ronnie Drain make a welcome appearance here.
Our thanks to Norman McBride and his team for his capable stewardship. The willing response to requests for umpiring was greatly appreciated by all. Our best wishes go to all of our members who are coping with serious illness at this time.
The Irish Senior Men’s Team flew off this morning to Vilnius in Lithuania for their next European League match on Tuesday versus the strong Lithuanian team which currently leads the division with Ireland and Azerbaijan in 2nd position. Ireland will be represented by the young team of Ryan Farrell, Alex Gillen and Thomas Earley. Team Coach will be Conn Higgins.
This will be a baptism of fire for Thomas Earley who will be representing the Irish Senior Team for the first time and against the best team in the group.
Lithuania will be represented by their strong top 3 players, Medardas Stankevicius, Alfredas Udra and Thomas Mitukis who are favourites to win the division and progress to the next stage of the competition.
We wish The Irish Team every success in the match!
Table Tennis Ireland had its 2nd Women in Sport Event on Wednesday 31st October. It was a great day in Bunninadden Community Centre, hosted by Bunninadden Table Tennis Club in conjunction with Table Tennis Ireland and Connacht Table Tennis Branch. Jing Yi was delighted to meet all enthusiastic table tennis players. She has received great support from the club coaches, organisers in the Branch and South Sligo Partnership officers. Further arrangements have been made to help develop the sport in the province.
As Operations Manager, John will have the overall responsibility for the day to day running of the office at the Irish Sport HQ in Dublin. He will also lead the strategic operations and business development areas within Table Tennis Ireland.
John has worked in the sports and leisure industry since 2002 which has given him extensive experience in leading large teams, creating customer focused facilities and ensuring sporting activities are both accessible and inclusive. He has supported the development of various sports through local clubs, schools, youth groups, sports partnerships and development offices. John has a BA in Leisure Management and a GradDip in Occupational Safety and Health.
John is passionate about sport, fitness, health and wellness. He is active within his local community as a volunteer coaching both Athletics and GAA for children.
Our Life President, Joe Veselsky (pictured above) will reach the fantastic age 0f 100 years on Saturday, 20 October 2018.
“All of us in Table Tennis Ireland send our heartiest congratulations to Joe. He is such a special man who has always been thought of in the warmest way,” said Irish President, Ken Strong. “We wish Joe a very Happy, Peaceful and Healthy 100th as he passes this amazing milestone on Saturday .”
In the Men’s, the top two seeds, Gavin Maguire and Artur Bialek contested the Final. Gavin encountered little opposition in his path to the final with the exception of a close match with left hander Keith Knox. It was different for Bialek who had a close 5 set match versus young Irish player, Art McLaughlin. In the final Bialek won 10/12, 11/6, 11/7, 11/6.
With Sophie Earley being absent on international duty, the final was expected to be between top seeds, Mia O’Rahilly Egan and Rebecca Finn and that is the way it worked out. Mia advanced to the semi finals where she had a nail-biting match with cadet player Lucy McIvor winning in 4 close sets. Rebecca also advanced to the semis where she also had to pull out all stops to beat Roxsana Szpliska in 5 sets. The final saw Rebecca beat top seed Mia 11/3,8/11, 11/9, 11/7.
The Masters final was contested by top seeds Daryl Strong and Philip Wallace. Daryl won in 4 sets.
In the Restricted (Class 2) event former Irish International player, Peter Graham reached the final to play Irish Cadet player James Skelton. In the final, Skelton won in 5 close sets.
Detailed results are available on the link below to the tournament software website.
Thanks are due to Gervis Knox and Allen Robson who organised the tournament using tournament software.
Mia O’Rahilly Egan, Ken Strong & Thuy Linh Cashman
In the Under 18 Girls group stages the seeded players did not have it all their own way with unseeded Lucy Craig and Lucy McIvor both winning through to the quarter finals. At this stage
Lucy Craig won the first two sets against Thuy Linh Cashman and looked like causing another upset. Thuy Linh however played her way into the match and came through in 5 sets.
Lucy McIvor, although on the losing side, also showed fine form against Mia O’Rahilly Egan with the first two sets being very competitive.
The semi finals saw Mia play Silke Heinen (who had played very well in defeating Pravesha Ragi) and Zofia Wawrzyniah take on Thuy Linh. In a high quality encounter, Silke was dominant in the first two sets against Mia winning both 11/7 and seemed likely to cause an upset against the National Champion.
Mia fought back to take the match to a decider with some fine play of her own winning the next two sets 11/7, 11/8.
In the fifth set Mia led from the off and took her place in the final winning it 11/5.
In the other semi final it was a similar affair with a close 5 setter between fellow Corkonians Thuy Linh and Zofia.
This time it was Thuy Linh who edged through in another close battle taking the fifth set 12/10.
In the final Thuy Linh won the first set 11/8 before Mia took sets 2 and 3, 11/9, 11/3. Thuy Linh was not going to give in and played suberbly to take the 4th set 11/6.
It was a close 5th set with Mia emerging the victor on her second match point taking it 11/9.
Art McLaughlin with Ken Strong
In the Under 18 Boys event Art McLaughlin and Alan Pattison got byes into the 2nd round Group stages.
Some of those who upset the odds and claimed higher ranking scalps in the first round groups included Eric Olsson, Jonathan Mooney, Max Skelton, Conor Nugent, Maitiu Heckmann, Conor O Sullivan and Conor Callan.
The top player from each of the second round groups advanced to the quarter final knockout stage.
In the quarter finals Art, Alan and Ormeau’s James Skelton all won to take their allotted seeding position in the semi final.
The one upset was in the all Connacht match between David Taylor and Thomas Joyce with David avenging his loss at the Nationals 3 weeks ago, winning 11/9 in the 5th to take his place in the semis v Art. Here his run ended as Art scored an impressive 3/0 victory. In the other semi Alan, was tested by James winning 13-11,13-11,11-9
In the all UCD final at one set all, Art took the next two sets 11/6, 11/6 to take the title showing that at the moment he is the dominant player in this category.
The Under 13 Girls event saw Rachel Taylor and her Primary Schools International teammate Emily Flynn come through to the final, beating Anjali Singh and Alice Looney in the semis. Top seeded Rachel won the final to take her first National Ranking title.
Gellert Morasvcil with Ken Strong
In the Under 13 Boys event Gellert Morasvcil, , Matthew Mooney, Tom Irwin and Fionn Hickey made up the semi finalists. While top seeded Gellert won his semi against Matthew, Tom upset Fionn in the bottom half.
In a close encounter in the final Gellert prevailed by a 3/2 scoreline.
On Sunday it was the turn of the Under 15s and Under 11s
The Under 11s saw a small entry and this Hopes event was combined with 8 boys and 2 girls taking part in the round robin event. It was played in a great fun atmosphere and they all received medals for taking part.
Pravesha Ragi with Tony Martin
The Under 15 Girls saw Pravesha Ragi, Silke Heinen, Thy Li Cashman and Isabelle O’Sullivan reached the semi finals with Pravesha and Silke advancing to the final. Meeting for the second time in two days and in a reversal of Saturdays result, Pravesha took the title 3/0 with some impressive play.
In the Under 15 Boys event James Skelton became favourite following the withdrawal of Thomas Joyce and he duly made his way into the semi finals where he was joined by his brother Max, Jonathan Mooney & Dillon Byrne.
In arguably the boys match of the weekend James beat Jonathan in a tight 5 set tussle which produced many high quality ralllies. Meanwhile Dillon came through the other semi against Max. In the final James and Dillon shared the first two sets before James showed his mettle to take the title by winning the next two sets 11/5, 11/8.
Thanks to the top table team: Maria Maume, Con O Ceadaigh and Tony Martin, all the umpires and the UCD crew for hall set up and take down.
Following revisions to the TTI Strategy and Plan, and in order to place more emphasis on the development of female table tennis, we are pleased to announce that Table Tennis Ireland has appointed Jing Yi Graham to the newly created part time position of Female Lead Co-Ordinator. Jing Yi is well known for her previous involvement in the sport.
In this role she will support the Board of Directors in any work related to Female Development. She will work closely under the direction of the Board with all Branches to help with the development of female participation at all levels either through playing or coaching and with the aim of raising the profile of female table tennis in Ireland. The Board looks forward to working with her and to launching a number of new initiatives in this area.
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