Alexander Gillen produced some of the form of his life as he and partner Finn Vetvik (NOR) made an incredible run to the Last 16 of the Junior Boys Doubles event at the 60th European Youth Championships in Guimaraes, Portugal.
Gillen, who was only participating in the singles events in Portugal, played a key role within the Irish squad throughout the entire event as he acted as an extra bench-man for the Cadet Boys team on the way to their historic success during the team event. Such was his influence in the training hall and playing arena, the coaches needed to send Alexander home to rest after he had lost his voice!
When the time came for Gillen to enter the fold in the singles events, he and Vetviks doubles journey started with a tight straight sets win in round 1 over Ruiz/Lillo (ESP) (9, 11, 10) with the France based player showing a high level throughout.
Next up was a mammoth challenge, as they were drawn against 7th seeds Knudde/Devos (BEL). They stood up to the challenge however, taking the opening two sets 11-9, 12-10 to open up a 2-0 lead. The Belgians responded by taking the 3rd and 4th in quickfire fashion. This left the boys facing a deciding 5th set for a place in the last 16. The Ireland/Norway pairing played some fantastic stuff when it mattered most here, and found themselves with 2 match points as they led 10-8. This wasn’t the end though as they were pegged back to 10-10. They weren’t to be denied though, as the underdogs fought bravely under the most intense of pressure to take the win 12-10 in the 5th – what a match!
In the last 16, Alexander and Finns run was halted by an in form Italian pairing, Mutti/Rossi, as the two European Champions from 2016 proved too strong, winning 3-0. A great effort nonetheless and a brilliant run by the UCD club man.
In the singles event, Alexander won his opening match in straight sets versus Corraea (POR) before being overome by Pieraert (BEL) 4-2 in another extremely positive display.
The other Irish players in action in the singles were Owen Cathcart and Mia O’Rahilly Egan, who were competing in the Cadet Boys and Girls respectively.
Owen lost out in a tough opening round 1 match to Edward Wesshagen (SWE) by a 4-1 scoreline. Unfortunately for Owen he couldn’t manage to find his form following what was an incredible team event for him as he went undefeated throughout, winning 12/12 singles. In the Doubles, Owen and Norwegian partner Borgar Haug had high hopes following their gold medals in the Spanish and Belgium Opens in recent months. It wasn’t to be this time though as they bowed out to Belarus in the Last 32.
Mia was also hoping to build on the form she showed throughout the team event as she embarked on her singles campaign. Unfortunately she couldn’t get past what was a very tough first hurdle, as she lost out to Lou Frete (FRA) in a closely fought match, 4-2. In the doubles, Mia and partner Gidney (ENG) lost out to Turkish pair Harac/Yilmaz.
So that was that for the 60th European Youth Championships in the town of Guimaraes. Next year, the 61st edition of the event will be staged in Romania, and Ireland will be back once again aiming to build on the achievements of this year.
Congratulations to all players and coaches on what was as a whole a fantastic event for the Irish in Portugal. The future looks bright for our young players!
There was major success for Ireland at the 60th European Youth Championships as the Irish Cadet Boys team set the tournament alight in Guimaraes, Portugal.
For the first time in the modern era, the boys became the only Irish team to ever reach the elite, Top 16 Division following an astonishing run of results throughout the championships, before eventually finishing the event in an unprecedented 10th place!
Cadet Boys Team Event
Starting in a group of four teams including Ireland, Slovenia, Cyprus and Iceland, the team of Owen Cathcart, Art McLaughlin & Thomas Joyce were in good form right from the off as back to back 3-0 wins set up a group decider over the strong Slovenians.
This was always going to be a tough one for the boys, as they faced a side that got the better of them by a 3-2 scoreline at last years event in Zagreb. With the score level at 1 match apiece, the doubles was crucial and the pairing of Owen and Art stood tall when it mattered most to take a 3-1 win and give Ireland a 2-1 advantage, with Owen to go on against number 1 player Matja Novel. Owen delivered in a tight match 3-2 to give the boys a 3-1 win and with it securing top spot in the group.
This result sent the boys into unchartered teritory, as they now faced a playoff match for a place among the best 16 countries in Europe. The draw could have been kinder, as they were pitted against Spain in what was a massive match! Owen and Art were in for both the singles and doubles on this occasion. Owen got Ireland off to a good start, defeating the Spanish number 2, 3-1. Art then went in and put on the performance of his life, pushing number 1 player Guttieriez (ER30) all the way before eventually losing by the tightest of margins after 5 sets. Again the boys now faced a crunch doubles and they duly delivered, taking it 3-1 following some excellent play. This left Owen with the responsibility of sending the boys into the last 16 and he didn’t disappoint as he stepped it up another gear to cruise past Guttieriez and seal a 3-1 match score.
The pairing of Cathcart/Mclaughlin won an impressive 5/7 doubles matches throughout the event
In the last 16 the boys were up against the 4th seeds and highly fancied Belgium team, who boasted a lineup capable of going all the way in the competition. Despite their underdog status, the boys played an unbelievable match and led by the outstanding Owen Cathcart, pushed Belgium all the way! Owen put the pressure on right from the off, beating the top ranked U14 player in Europe Adrian Rassenfosse 3-1 to put Ireland 1-0 ahead. The Belgians bounced back, as Olav Kosolosky (European Number 9) beat Art 3-0. At 1-1 the boys kept up their excellent doubles play under the most severe of pressure, as they matched the Belgians point for point before eventually losing 3-1 (14-12 in the 4th, having had a set point to go to a decider). Owen was back in the fray at 1-2 down and he wasn’t ready to give up on the battle despite the doubles loss as he produced one of his top performances to topple Kosolosky in 4 sets and force the match to a decider! In the last match Art showed some of his very best Table Tennis in an entertaining contest, but Rassenfosse proved his pedigree at this level as he went on to take the match in straight sets.
Owen Cathcart taking some tactical advice from Coach John Murphy during that epic battle with Belgium
The boys couldn’t afford to let up following this defeat, as they now knew that they needed at least one win in the 9-16 play-offs in order to secure Ireland’s place in the top 16 for next year. They didn’t disappoint, as they went from strength to strength, beating Ukraine and Croatia to put themselves into the playoff for 9/10 position. More of the same from Owen in the singles as well as a great win for Thomas versus Croatia proved decisive here.
In the final playoff match, Owen was afforded a rest following his own heroics throughout the event in winning 12/12 singles matches, so the two young guns, Art and Thomas, battled it out versus the strong Czech team for 9-10 place. Despite the superior ranking of the Czechs, the boys played some great stuff, with Thomas in particular coming very close as he lost in 5 sets versus top 20 player Skala. Nonetheless, despite a 3-0 defeat, the boys finished in 10th place following what was an amazing event throughout – what an achievement!
Cadet Girls Team Event
With the boys reaching such incredible heights, it would be easy to assume that this was where the success ended for the Irish at this years European Youth Championships. This wasn’t the case however as the Cadet Girls team of Mia O’Rahilly Egan, Sophie Earley and Nicole Scott showed outstanding promise for the future as they won a record equalling 5 out of 8 team matches on their way to a top 30 finish.
In truth, the draw didn’t do the girls any favours throughout the event. Pitted in an opening group of 5 which included Italy, The Netherlands, Norway and Finland, the girls always faced a massive task if they were to make a push for a high finishing position. Despite this however, 3-2 wins over both Norway and Finland guaranteed what was a very respectable 3rd place in the group.
The match versus Norway was an epic from start to finish, with a singles win from Mia and a tight loss for Sophie versus their number 1 player leaving the score at 1-1 going into the doubles. This was a key point in the match and the girls delivered under huge pressure, as they saved a match point in the 5th before winning 12-10. Mia then went down in a close match versus the number 1 which left 11 year old Sophie to do battle in the decider. She duly delivered, taking the match 3-1 to seal the win for the girls.
The Cadet Girls taking advice from Coach Mark O’Flynn during the big match versus Norway
Against Finland, it was Nicole Scott who stood tall when left in the pressure match at 2-2, following one win from Mia and a doubles success. Nicole made no mistake, keeping composed throughout as she ran out a 3-1 winner.
Unfortunately this was as good as it would get in the first phase as Italy and The Netherland showed why they are rated among the best in Europe as the girls lost out 3-0 on both occasions.
In the second stage, the girls were placed in a 3 team group as they aimed to finish 25th. However, despite being one of the seeded teams in the section, we were faced with a tough test versus Portugal and Cyprus. The home nation proved just too strong here, despite an excellent display by Mia as she won both singles. The girls recovered valiantly though, as they got the better of Cyprus by a 3-1 scoreline.
Playing off for 29-32, the girls were eager to push on. They first overcame a difficult opponent in Latvia by the tightest of margins in what was a great team effort, as one singles win each came from Mia and Sophie, while Mia and Nicole paired up to secure the all important doubles to give them a 3-2 win. This left us playing the final match for position 29-30 versus a strong Austrian team. The girls were on a roll now though and one win each for Sophie and Mia and the doubles combination of Mia and Nicole again came up trumps as they ran out 3-1 winners. A great result to finish what was a fantastic run by the girls!
Overall, between the 2 teams, Ireland won 11 team matches and lost just 5 at these European Youth Championships. An incredible achievement by all involved!
Commenting on the results, Table Tennis Ireland President, Ken Strong said;
“I am delighted, as President, to congratulate our teams and coaches at the European Youth Championships in Portugal. These were our best performances ever at these Championships, especially with the Cadet Boys finishing in 10th place and our young Cadet Girl Team in 29th place. Well done to all!”
The Irish Table Tennis Association Limited AGM took place on Saturday 8 July 2017 in the Conference Centre at Sports Campus, Blanchardstown, Dublin. A range of topics were covered during a very busy day.
Chairman Robert Cowan welcomed everybody to the meeting and on his request Finance Director Na Ning deliver the Finance Report for the year 2016, The Report recorded a small profit for the period following the hard work by all involved during the year. The financial statement, directors’ report and auditor’s report were considered by the meeting and adopted by the members following a vote.
The Chair then presented the Chairman’s and Company Secretary’s Reports which recorded a wide range of topics including the Company’s Financial position and the success in the 2016/17 season of the High Performance teams. Reports were also circulated from the other Association Directors, Provincial Branches and Committees and subsequently approved.
Questions were raised from the members and addressed in the meeting. It was felt that the Coaching report could have benefitted from listing the successful L1 and other courses carried out during the year.
A long discussion took place on a major item of business introduced by the Chairman prompting feedback on the Board’s proposal to re-structure the format of the Association. This involved the introduction of a 2-tier management structure with the election of a Board and a number of Management Committees, each headed by a manager. These were intended to ease spread the workload of running the Company’s business. The proposal met with a very positive response from those present. The Chairman agreed to develop the detail of the proposal.with the Board with the intention of adopting it. Prior to the election of Directors, the outgoing Chairman notified the meeting that he would not be standing again as Chairman or Secretary.
Directors were elected as followed:
Chairman: Vacant until a suitable incumbent identified Company Secretary: Robert Cowan Finance Director: Peter Graham Other Directors: Alan Strong, Conn Higgins, Paul Dolan
The Secretary, Rob Cowan, noted that he would fulfil the minimum statutory duties required of a company secretary while a replacement was found.
Appointment of New Life Members: Two new Honorary Life Members were introduced as Miss Anna Kelly and Mr. Tony Phillips, MBE. Both had given long and noteworthy service to the Associaion over a period in excess of 30 years. Unfortunately Mr. Phillips was unable to attend. .
Rob Cowan and Ken strong present Anna Kelly with Honorary Life Member Scroll
Appointments:
President: Mr. Ken Strong re-elected
Vice Presidents: Re Elected: Mrs. V. Barry, Miss A. Kelly, Mr. P. O’Brien, Mr. T. Martin, Mr. T. Phillips MBE, Mr. I. Shorten, Mr. J. Finnegan Newly elected: Mrs. P. Hunter
The Disciplinary Committee and Jury of Appeal were also elected. An appeal was made for new members of both the above Committees.
ITTA/TTI Annual Awards 2016/17
AWARD Name
Female Coach of the Year: Jennifer Thompson Male Coach of the Year: Michael Mc Goldrick Billy Marshall Junior Award: Mia O’Rahilly Egan Para Award of the Year: Colin Judge Stiga Volunteer of the Year: Sharon Brien Gibbons Vivienne Barry Fair Play Award: James Kelly Press Officer of the Year: Alan O’Reilly Best Senior Female Player of the Year: Katie McGlone
Best Senior Male Player of the Year: Gavin Maguire
Best International Performance of the Year: Owen Cathcart
Joe Veselsky Award for Service to Sport: Derek Hanley
Various directors spoke about the recipient of each award and in particular the President, Ken Strong, about Mr. Derek Hanley who was retiring from the sport after a long and heavily loaded period as the Association’s Children’s Officer.
Other photographs are displayed below.
Colin Judge receives Para award of the year
Con O’Ceadaigh receiving Special Volunteer award
Affiliations 2018: Mr. Cowan presented a consultation paper on possible changes to the affiliation structure for the year commencing 1 January 2018. These involved adding further categories to the system and amalgamating others. In accordance with the ITTA ltd Constitution, he requested an increase in the adult affiliation fee from 35 euro to 40 euro per person. Voting took place on this proposal which was defeated and accordingly the adult affiliation fee will remain at 35 euro for the year 2018. The Chairman advised that the Board would review the other changes proposed for the affiliation structure and advise the members. He thanked them for their valuable feedback
On the request of the President those present stood for one minute’s silence in memory of Mrs. Pauline McGovern and Mr. Kiron Choudhury, two members of the Irish Table Tennis Family who had passed away since the last Annual General Meeting.
Ashley Givan, the 5x Irish Senior National Champion who is fresh out of University after gaining a 2.1 classification is about to undertake an exciting new role on the international stage.
In July 2017, Ashley will debut on the international stage as an expert commentator. Ashley will team up with Scottish No.1 Gavin Rumgay, Richard Crewe, Jill Parker and John Burgess. This team is contracted for the upcoming T2 league in the Asia-pacific starting June 2017 and finishing December 2017.
The news came as a pleasant surprise for Givan who has said;
“I am absolutely over the moon to be selected among world class commentators. The team will be great to work with and I am ecstatic to be involved in such a huge event. This new system will be a treat for the audience, it is just what table tennis needs to rejuvenate the image of the sport world wide”.
Ashley will begin her commentating journey on July 9th, travelling out to link up with the team in Johor, Malaysia for round 2 of the league schedule. Ashley will begin her debut linking up with Scotlands Gavin Rumgay who will undertake the lead commentator role. Tune in then to catch Ashley live from Malaysia as well as some world class table tennis action.
The following players are set to compete;
MEN
Jun Mizutani Vladimir Samsonov Joo SaeHyuk Paul Drinkhall Chen Chien-An Aleksandr Shibaev Timo Boll Chuang Chih-Yuan Mattias Karlsson Dimitrij Ovtcharov Tomokazu Harimoto Shang Kun Wang Chuqin Liu Dingshuo Xue Fei
WOMEN
Ding Ning Elizabeta Samara Bernadette Szocs Jeon Jihee Georgina Pota Matilda Ekholm Cheng I-Ching Yang Haeun Suthasini Sawettabut Feng Tian Wei Sun Yingsha Shi Xunyao Wang Manyu Wu Yang Liu Fei Miyuu kihara Hina Hayata
TEAM CAPTAINS
Jorgen Persson Jiang Jia Liang Michael Maze Jorg Roskopf
SCHEDULE
Round 1. June 28 – June 30 Round 2. July 11 – July 15 Round 3. Aug 1 – Aug 5 Round 4. Sept 19 – Sept 23 Round 5. Oct 3 – Oct 7 Round 6. Oct 31 – Nov 4 Grand Finals. Dec 7 – Dec 9
For all the latest updates check out and follow @T2APAC on all social media platforms, as well as keeping up to date with Ashley on twitter @ashleygivan.
There was success once again for Teresa Devaney at the European Veterans Championships. The 2017 edition of the flagship event took place in Helsingborg, Sweden as the top Veteran players from all over Europe gathered to do battle for the top prizes on offer. Teresa, who has been a master of the veteran circuit both at home and abroad for many years, won a bronze medal in the over 65 doubles alongside Larisa Ilinskaya from Russia. Well done Teresa on yet another fantastic achievement!
One year on from the success of Limerick, it was once again time for attention to turn to the Senior Schools International. The 2017 edition of the event took place in the Fort Regent Sports Centre in Jersey. As ever, 7 Nations (Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey) took part in what was sure to be an action packed weekend of Table Tennis.
Representing Ireland at the event was a squad of 12 players and 4 coaches and they didn’t disappoint as the team, led by an inspired performance from our girls in particular, came away with a total of 7 medals from all events.
Team Event
In the team event starting on Friday evening, it was our Under 18 girls team that shone the brightest, as the combination of Rebecca Finn and Nga Nguyen swept all before them in their pursuit of top spot. The girls were not to be denied when they reached the latter rounds, as they overcame England B in the semi final before producing their best display of the lot to topple England A by a 3-0 scoreline to secure gold!
The Under 16 Girls were also in fine form, as Lucy Craig and Thuy Linh Cashman played some of their very best stuff to reach the knockout stages. In the semi-final, they were excellent as they defeated Wales 5-0 to secure their place in the final. Unfortunately, they couldn’t quite overcome the final hurdle as they lost out 5-0 to a strong England A side, with the scoreline really not doing our girls justice. Nevertheless, it was a silver medal for Lucy and Thuy Linh!
The Under 18 Boys also made some waves throughout the team event, as the pairing of Charlie Fitzgerald and Dylan Grace made their way to the semi final stage. Here they faced England B, and the boys made no mistake as they took a fantastic victory by a 3-1 scoreline to set up a final showdown with England A. The final proved to be a topsy turvy affair. Dylan produced a fantastic display to overcome James Hobson 3-0 to give the boys the lead, but unfortunately this was as good as it would get as they went down narrowly 3-1. An agonising 13-11 in the fifth, doubles loss, proved decisive here.
Elsewhere, there were some extremely positive performances by our Under 14 Girls (Silke Heinen and Pravesha Ragi), Under 16 Boys (Alan Pattison and Dillon Byrne) and Under 14 Boys (James Skelton and Ciaran O’Donoghue). Despite just missing out on the medals, all three of these pairs were right in the mix throughout.
Singles Event
On Sunday it was the turn of the Singles events to take centre stage as the 12 Irish players aimed to build on what was an extremely successful team event.
Following their gold medal winning performance in the team event, Rebecca and Nga continued their imperious form throughout the day as they made their way to the final, with Nga producing a flawless display to defeat Englands Sophie Barlow in the penultimate round. In the final, it was Rebecca who reigned supreme as she overcame her teammate 3-0 to take gold. Well done to both girls!
More success was to come in the Under 14 Girls singles, as Silke Heinen played some outstanding Table Tennis to take the gold medal following a string of big results against strong English and Welsh opposition. Excellent results from the Cork girl!
That wasn’t the last of the medal success on singles Sunday. Alan Pattison delivered a brilliant performance in a competitive Under 16 Boys category to reach the semi final and secure a bronze medal. His run was halted here by Samuel Kwan of England but Alan can be very proud of his display.
Well done to all players in what was an excellent showing by the Irish Squad. Thanks also to the four Irish coaches; Conn Higgins, Tara Fusco, Sam Logue and Shane O’Connor for their tireless contribution over the weekend and also to the three Irish umpires on show; Con O’Ceadaigh, Jay McAlister and Cecilia Armelin.
This time a fortnight ago, Table Tennis Ireland’s own Colin Judge was getting ready to embark on what would prove to be a career defining couple of tournaments in Spain and Germany. Beginning with the Spanish Open, an Irish group consisting of Colin Judge, Greg Keogh, Conor O’ Callaghan, Des Ryan, Paddy Vaughan & Tom Davis set off for Barcelona.
If you’ve been up to date with our recent articles you will see that the tournament in Spain immediately took a successful turn with Conor O’ Callaghan earning second place in the junior event, a commendable achievement. In the singles event our squad, after notable wins and unfortunate losses the Irish contingent was whittled down to just one man, Colin Judge. After facing match points in the semi-final against his team partner, Toledo of Spain (WR36) Colin came out on top 3-2, 12-10 in what was an extremely nervy encounter. In the final Colin was pitted against Benoit Besset (WR23) of France who had just beaten world number 7 Stephan Molliens. Another major battle ensued with Colin eventually coming out on top 3-2! A Gold medal for Colin Judge!
The team event looked like it was almost a formality with the form that Judge and Toledo found themselves in. They swept through the opposition losing only 1 set along the way, eventually defeating a pair who on a normal day would have been tough opponents from Thailand, 2-0. A double Gold for Colin Judge!
Tom Davis, partnered with Lucas Carvahlo of Brazil, was also in the medals in Spain. After overcoming opposition from Puerto Rico, Japan and Spain, Tom and Lucas found themselves in the semi-final coming up against some of the World’s best in Class 10 from Spain. Unfortunately a win against Spain was one step too far for the young men and they lost 2-0 but took away their bronze medal.
The rest of the travelling Irish didn’t find themselves in the medals this time but performed to the best of their ability, gaining valuable ranking points & learning experiences to take home with them.
The group of Irish was then halved as Des Ryan, Conor O’ Callaghan & Greg Keogh headed home with their heads held high. For Colin, Paddy and Tom they were off to the German Open, which they knew would be a massive step up in terms of standard, as Germany is a Major Open rather than the Minor Open of Spain.
In Class 8, Paddy Vaughan had great joy putting up a fight against some of the world’s best. Paddy was able to bag a 3-0 win over Roy Van Den Berg (WR60) of Holland along the way. In the team event Paddy was paired up with Thomas Bouvais (WR5) of France. A phenomenal opportunity for Paddy to learn from one of the best players in the World and not only did he learn, Paddy and Thomas overcame the number 2 seeds and world ranked 8 & 11 team of Ross Wilson & Aaron McKibbin of GB. A quarter final was as far as it would go for the Irish and French combination but a great run and impressive performance from these two guys. With Paddy’s classification to be reviewed in the New Year, and a serious possibility of being dropped to Class 7, there is genuine potential there for the young man from Kilkenny to be a real contender in Class 7 over the next number of years.
In Class 10, UCD’s Tom Davis was again at his best in Germany. With an early opportunity missed for Tom against Kodjabashev the world number 9, losing out 3-2, Tom had to regroup immediately. Needing a win to progress Tom stepped up and defeated Igor Mistzal (WR18) of Poland 3-1. A significant win for Tom and a place in the quarter finals. Unfortunately after having 2 set balls to take his quarter final to the fifth set Tom was unable to convert and went down 3-1 to Radovic (WR12) of Montenegro. Moving on to the Team event, Tom Partnered with Martin Lund of Denmark. After a close battle with the eventual silver medallist Russia, Tom and Martin need a win against a strong Poland/Holland/Brazil combination in which Tom was the eventual hero winning the final match against Claudio Massad of Brazil the world number 25. Unfortunately Tom and Martin couldn’t go any further in the team event and lost to the team of Kodjabashev & Radovic 2-0 in the semi-finals. A bronze medal was nothing to be sniffed and a significant step up from the medal in Spain. Congratulations Tom!
Saving the best for last, in Class 2 Pingzone’s Colin Judge, the newly crowned Spanish Open Champion was hoping to repeat his form from the previous week. Colin was pitted with a tough task as he has the similarly ranked world number 22 and world number 3 in his group! Colin wasn’t to let that hold him back and he erupted onto the scene in Germany with a victory over the World Number 3, 3-2! He then backed up the previous win over Oleksander Yezyk with another, and topped his group! Progressing to the Quarter Finals, Colin was up against the World Number 6, Jiri Suchanek. In what seemed to be the only way Colin knew how, he again progressed with another scalp in a nailbiting 3-2 victory. Colin, riding on this new found form was able to confidently overthrow the world number 12 Martin Ludrovsky 3-1 in the semi-final. Finally, Colin was up against Vincent Boury, a two time Paralympic gold medallist and current world number 11. This didn’t faze the co. Dublin man as he steamrolled through Boury in a convincing fashion, 3-0! Colin Judge was the German Open Champion!!
In the team event, The quadruple was on, Colin was going for four golds out of 4. This was finally the time Colin’s amazing result came to an end. At the semi final stage, after defeating Ludrovsky one more time, Colin and his Russian partner fell at the hands of Poland. A 2-1 loss, and an agonising one at that as Colin led the world number 2 Rafal Czuper, 2-1 and 7-5! What would have been the perfect ending to a maginificent couple of weeks didn’t quite happen but it can only leave Colin hungry for more. With wins over world ranked 3, 6, 11, 12 (x2), 22, 23, 36 over the fortnight, it’s fair enough to assume Colin will now move into the World’s elite and take his place among the top 10 Class 2 players in the world, come next month’s ranking list.
TTI’s president Ken Strong had the following to say regarding Colin’s achievements, “I am delighted to congratulate Colin on his excellent performances to win Gold at the Spanish & German Para Opens. This performance undoubtedly surpasses all his previous performances in international events. Congratulations also to Colin’s coaches. Best wishes for future successes.”
From all at Table Tennis Ireland, we would like to commend Colin and the other Irish players for a phenomenal performance over the two weeks, in which they did themselves, their families, their Coaches, their clubs and Table Tennis Ireland proud. To finish, here’s what newly appointed Para Coach Gavin Maguire had to say about the special fortnight, “It’s been a fantastic couple of weeks working with this young team. Between Conor winning medals at junior level, Tom winning team medals at both events, the rest of the team’s performances and Colin’s individual successes in Spain and Germany, it no doubt underlines the massive potential our Para Squad have with regards to not only qualifying for Tokyo 2020 Paralympics but performing at the games!”
For a more details breakdown of the happening’s in Spain in Germany check out our twitter page @TableTennisIRE or go to www.ipttc.org
Conor O’Callaghan has got off to a flier at this weeks Spanish Para Open as he wins a Silver medal in the Junior Boys Singles event.
This result makes Conor the first Irish player to medal at a International Junior Para Event – an extraordinary achievememt!
Conor enjoyed some fine wins on his way to the final, beating some established and highly ranked players along the way. In the final he faced another highly rated player in Conor McAdam (GBR). Unfortunately this was one step too far for the Munster man but he can be very proud of a fantastic Silver medal!
Stay tuned for a full report and further updates on how the Irish players get on throughout this International competition.
Owen Cathcart claimed a memorable victory over the weekend as he and Norwegian partner Borgar Haug won Gold in the Cadet Boys Doubles event at the 2017 ITTF Spanish Youth Open, World Junior Circuit.
This win secured an unprecedented back-to-back Junior Pro Tour title wins for the Ireland/Norway combination, following their recent success at the ITTF Belguim Junior Open.
The run towards gold was as expected, fraught with tough challenges. Wins over Thailand and German opponents saw them progress to the quarter finals where they were faced with the stern test of Oyebode/Gualdi (ITA). Despite the Italians holding a match point in the fourth set, Owen and Borgar battled back to win a tight duece before sealing a high quality match 11-9 in the 5th set.
With a medal now secure, the boys were in no mood to settle for bronze as they prepared to take on another highly rated pairing in Cavaille/Sabhi (FRA). They flew out of the blocks on the show court, overwhelming the French pairing with relentless pressure on their way to a straight sets, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 victory. This performance paved the way for what was another excellent showing in the final, where they picked up from where they left off as they took on Martinko/Skala (CZE). Like the French, the Czechs had no answer for the outstanding service and receive of the Ireland and Norway pair, something which time and again proved decisive throughout the event.
Leading 2-0, the Czechs bounced back to put one set on the board, but this wasn’t enough as Owen and Borgar asserted themselves once again to seal the victory by a 3-1 scoreline (11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6) and with it adding yet another World Junior Circuit title to their now growing collection!
For Owen, this wasn’t the only medal collected over the weekend as he and Borgar teamed up to take a hard fought Bronze in the Cadet Boys Team event, where they lost to Belguim 3-2 in the semi-final. They earlier enjoyed wins over Spain, Germany and Russia B on route to this stage. Despite impressive victories for both boys over Europes Number 1 ranked U14 player Adrien Rassenfosse, it wasn’t enough as a rare doubles defeat and singles losses to the in form Olav Kosolosky proved decisive.
This double-medal winning success in Spain has taken Owen Cathcart’s tally of World Junior Circuit Medals to 9 – an incredible achievement for the Belfast boy!
For the rest of the Irish squad in action in Platja D’Aro, there were many highlights despite this being a particularly tough World Junior Circuit event.
The Cadet Girls Team of Mia O’Rahilly Egan, Sophie Earley and Nicole Scott fought valiantly in the team event, and despite 3-0 defeats to France and Spain, had many chances against quality opposition. Against Spain, both Mia and Sophie lost out over 5 tight sets in their singles matches, while Mia and Nicole went down 3-1. Most impressively, Mia later showed her potential at this level later in the day as she led 2-1 and 7-7 against France Number 1 and European Number 3 Prithika Pavade before eventually going down 3-2 – an incredible effort.
The boys pairing of Thomas Joyce and Art McLaughlin also showed promise in the team competition, despite competing above their age. Thomas Joyce lost out in 4 close sets against Thailand while they also paired up to great effect against top seeds Belguim, losing the doubles narrowly to the highly rated pair of Rassenfosse/Kosolosky.
Nicole Scott picked up an impressive win in the Cadet Girls Doubles alongside her USA partner as they overcame Beguims top pairing Dahy/Duvaill 3-0 before losing out to Bardsley (ENG)/Zaderova (CZE).
In the singles, Owen enjoyed wins over team event winner Makarov (RUS) and Hardmeier (SUI) before losing out in the Last 32 to Sabhi (FRA) in 5 close sets, 3-2. Elsewhere, Mia just fell short in her bid to qualify for the main draw as she lost out in a tight group match with Lai (CAN). Sophie also produced a notable performance here, taking the opening set against European Number 9 Camille Lutz – very impressive from the 11 year old. The other Irish players fought hard and will no doubt be back aiming to progress further when they come up against the worlds best next time around.
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The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
