Daryl Strong Table Tennis

Master’s kick off season in style!

by MastersTTI News

Dundrum was the venue where the Master’s began their season last weekend with 45 eager entries hoping to kick start their season in a positive fashion.

Tommy Caffrey took the 70’s event as Kieran Burke won the 60’s event. William Cherry overcame a tough field to take the 50’s event and Daryl Strong started his season well with a victory over Robbie Gavin to claim top spot in the 40’s event. After being crowned last year’s National champion, Teresa Devaney started her 2015/2016 season in style as she won the ladies section.

After Martin Pickles topped last year’s 70’s ranking list he would have been hoping for a good start to retain his top spot on the ranking but that wasn’t to be. Tommy Caffrey had different things on his mind as he overcame Pickles 11-7, 11-8 and 12-10 in the final to bring home the Master’s Classification honour. This win was not surprising as Caffrey was crowned national champion for the 2014/2015 season.

Caffrey wasn’t finish yet. When it came to the 60’s event he put in a massive effort but he came up just short as Kieran Burke, returning from a sabbatical, showed his level by nicking a closely contested final. In what was perhaps the match of the day, Caffrey made him work for it in a tightly fought 5 setter with Burke taking the 5th set 11-6. Norman Nabney finished tied 3rd along with Martin Pickles, who capped a fine days work following his runners up finish in the 70’s event.

Following the drama of the 60’s, the 50’s decided to join the party. With Terry Dolan opening the season at the summit of the ranking list he would have been hoping for a good day but with a strong field including William Cherry, last years National champion, it was never going to be easy for Dolan. Dolan and Cherry made the final with wins over Burke and Pender respectively. Dolan took the first set 11-8 with Cherry weighing in with an 11-6 win in the second. From here it was nip and tuck all the way. Cherry went 2-1 up with a 14-12 success in the third but Dolan bit back with a 12-10 win in the fourth. So 2-2 it stool coming into the final set where Cherry upped the pace and finished the final off with an 11-9 victory in the fifth to seal a 3-2 win over Dolan and with it, a Master’s triumph.

With the 40’s event attracting the most entries, it was sure to be an eagerly contested event with a strong field lining out which included the likes of Robbie Gavin and former Senior International Daryl Strong. Pat McCloughan and Kariem Sabir fought hard to reach the semi-final’s alongside Gavin and Strong who played amazingly in the final to excite the crowd. Strong showed his better side in the final but Gavin wasn’t going to back down at 2-0 as he took the third 11-6, but Strong was too much for the Connacht man in the end as he powered on in the fourth and final set to take it convincingly 11-5.

The women also showed up with a strong crowd and they did not disappoint. Teresa Devaney, Gillian Richardson and Sharon Brien proved the strongest in this event as they took the top 3 spots respectively. With Devaney waiting in the final, Brien and Richardson battled it out to join her. Brien started the stronger of the pair, taking the first set 11-9. From here on in it was all Richardson as she upped the pace and took the next three sets 6,6 and 9 to join Devaney in the final. Devaney showed her pedegree in the final as she overcame Richardson 11-5, 11-6 and 11-7 to take top spot at the Master’s Classification. 

Click here to see all finishing place’s.

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European Youth Championships 2015

by International EventsTTI News

The Cadet girls – Katie McGlone and Kate Whelan were first up early this morning for a tightly fought contest with Bulgaria.  The Bulgarians proved that little bit too strong winning out 3-2 despite good irish performances.   Next up for the girls is Lithuania at 6pm this evening.  

The Junior boys team of Zak Wilson, Owen Cathcart and Alexander Gillen are currently playing Belgium.  As it stands Belgium have the edge leading 2-0.   Owen Cathcart is on the table now against Florian Cnudden and it’s 1-1  (11-9, 9-11) 

The ETTU has set up a live stream showing the action on tables 1 and 2.  It can be accessed on http://ettu.laola1.tv.as well as in the LAOLA1.tv APPs (IOS/Android).

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Honorary Life Membership – Ted Mahaffy

by AwardsTTI News

Pictured:  Ted Mahaffy receiving the Honorary Life Membership scroll from President Ken Strong, with Ulster Branch Chairman Arnold Morgan looking on.

Ted Mahaffy was presented with Honorary Life Membership of Table Tennis Ireland at the recent Ulster Branch Awards evening by newly elected President Mr. Ken Strong.  This award is the highest distinction which can be given by Table Tennis Ireland and is in recognition of the outstanding service Ted has given to the Association down through the years. 

Mrs. Pat Hunter, Chairman, outlined Ted’s involvement in the sport as follows: “Ted Mahaffy has been involved in the sport for more than 40 years, both in an administrative capacity as well as a player, having held various offices in the Ulster Branch in addition to being an Ulster Underage coach for a long period. He has been a long-time member of the TTI Disciplinary panel. As well as being an active qualified TTI Umpire, he has represented Ireland at both Over 60 and Over 70 levels with a Veteran Six Nations medal to attest to his ability.  The ever popular Ted epitomizes a terrific example of selfless commitment to the sport of Table Tennis.”

The second recipient of the Honorary Life Membership award, Tommy Rowsome, will be presented with his certificate when he returns home from holiday.

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Katie and Owen Strike Gold in Perth

by International EventsTTI News

Owen Cathcart and Katie McGlone led a resurrgent Irish charge as Singles Sunday proved a day to remember at the 2015 Senior Schools International in Perth, Scotland, over the weekend.

‘Close – but no cigar’ was the theme of the day following the Team Event, as despite many strong performances across all categories, the 6 Irish Teams on show were left rueing their missed opportunities as the dust settled on Saturday evening. The U16 Girls (Katie McGlone & Kate Whelan) came closest to Gold as they were pipped at the post by a 3-2 scoreline against a stong England A side while it was a similar story for the U14 Boys (Owen Cathcart & Conor Nugent) but they too had to settle for Silver as they couldn’t quite get to grips with a sharp England A team in the Final. Our young U14 girls team of Mia Egan and Natasya Barry battled hard to earn a bronze – a fine effort from two of our brightest young stars, with years to spare at this level. While finally, Bronze was also the colour for the U18 Boys (Alan Walsh & Ryan McConkey) and the U18 Girls (Hannah Lynch Dawson & Chloe O’Halloran), with English opposition again proving a bit too strong.    

With little time to dwell on what had gone before, National Coach John Murphy together with fellow NPC’s Conn Higgins, Gavin Maguire and Sarah Timlin were charged with the task of rallying the troops to go again into Sundays Singles events. The response was immediate as the squad dusted themselves off and hit the ground running on Sunday morning. 

Katie McGlone, Kate Whelan and Owen Cathcart got the ball rolling with convincing group victories to kick off the day, but it didn’t stop there, as 10 Irish players went on to reach the quarter finals of their respective age groups in what proved to be a real signal of intent by the group.

Alan Walsh starred in the U18 Boys singles, taking out top seed Gabriel Achampong of England in the Quarter Final in 5 gripping sets before his run was eventually halted by Mitchell Jones of England in the Semis. Kate Whelan also reached the Semi Final of the U14 Girls, making it there with relative ease before going down in a nail biting 5 setter to English girl Gauri Duhan 15-13 in the decider.

This meant that Katie McGlone and Owen Cathcart were the only Irish left standing late in the day.

Seeded 2, Katie’s semi final draw presented a big challenge, as she faced old rival Kate Cheer, who she lost out to in the Team Final the previous day. There would be no repeat of that result however, as the Irish number 1 ranked junior girl nicked a close first set before going on to dominate her English opponent in 3 quick fire games. In the Final she faced Scottish surprise package Rebecca Plaistow, who had accounted for top seed Letitia McMullen of England in the Semi Final. Despite a nervy opening, Katie showed her class from 1 set a piece to pull away from her Scottish opponent and claim a convincing 3-1 victory and the 2015 Senior Schools U16 Title.

This made way for the U14 Boys Final where Owen Cathcart was lying in wait following a flawless charge towards the crown following victory over William Ibbitson in the quarter final followed by a thumping straight sets win over top seed James Smith of England in the Semis. In the final he was up against another Englishman, Ethan Walsh, and like Katie in the U16 Girls, he was eager to avenge his defeat at the hands of the same player from Saturdays Team Final. Again, a tight first set that could have swung either way proved decisive here and fortunately, it went the Belfast boys way 15-13 before he again stepped it up another couple of notches to claim yet another straight sets victory and with it, the 2015 Senior Schools U14 Title.

Congratulations to all players and coaches on what was a successful weekend for this group of young Irish players. 

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Colin Judge First International Singles Title

by International EventsParaTTI News
Colin in action

Colin Judge has won the Romanian Para Open Singles event. He went in as top seed and produced an outstanding performance, dominating his opponents and producing results as follows;
Group:
Straight sets wins over Imbuzan(Romania) and Chen(Taipei)
Semi-Final
3-0 against Huang(Taipei)
Final
3-0 against Vukovic(Croatia)


Although these were expected wins for Colin and may not have a huge impact on his ranking it will hopefully set him up for a good run at Thailand Open, which he travels to next month.

4 counties

Ken Strong elected President at recent AGM

by TTI News

Photo:   Outgoing President Joe Hickey hands over the Chain of Office to new President Ken Strong following unanimous support at the AGM on Saturday 13 June.

At the 2015 AGM, Ken Strong was elected President of Table Tennis Ireland, shortly after having stood down  from the Board positions of Company Secretary and International Director.   Ken has some 40 years devoted service to Irish Table Tennis under his belt, both at Branch level in Ulster and then at national level for Table Tennis Ireland.   He was a former Secretary, Chairman and President  of the Ulster Branch over a period of 26 years.   He is a former Chairman of Irish Table Tennis and Chairman of the former National Training & Selection and Performance Committees.  A Level 3 Coach, he is also President of the recently formed Omagh Table Tennis Club, as well as many other voluntary positions outside of table tennis.

4 counties

Award winners honoured at TTI AGM

by AwardsTTI News

The annual TTI awards were presented in Sport HQ over the weekend, as recipients were honoured in front of the audience gathered for this years AGM.

12 awards were presented in total, with some past winners as well as some fresh faces being recognised for outstanding achievement and contribution to Irish Table Tennis over the course of the 2014/2015 season.

Shay Logue

Shay Logue (pictured) spoke eloquently upon receiving the highly distinguished Joe Veselsky Award for his overall contribution to Table Tennis over a sustained period, particularly in ALSAA TTC, where he has made a major contribution over the past 15 years. He has also acted as NPC for both Leinster and Ireland and continues to provide a self-less service to TTI.  

National Champion Paul McCreery once again retained the Rhanbuoy Trophy for the Best Senior Male Player of the Year following another season of domestic dominance. On the womens side, Hannah Lynch Dawson was awarded for her stellar season with the Eleanor McKee Trophy for Best Senior Female Player – just rewards for the Cavan girls efforts in reaching the summit of the womens rankings. Zak Wilson made it a hat-trick of accolades for Ulster as he was presented with the Billy Marshall Award for Top Underage Player. This came on the back of a flawless campaign, particularly on home soil, where the Belfast boy finished the season as the undisputed number 1 Junior boy having won every ranking event he entered over the year. Finally, Rio 2016 hopeful Colin Judge claimed the other playing award up for grabs, as he was recognised following his successful defence at this years National Championships as the Para Player of the Year.

On the coaching side, West Cork’s Alan Hurley was presented with the prestigious Ken Strong Male Coach of the Year award – namely for his outstanding contribution to Table Tennis at all levels throughout Munster, while Louise Long – who now works as a development coach with the Para Squads – was recognised for her contribution over the last 12 months with the Anna Kelly Female Coach of the Year Award. 

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Directors and Officers

by TTI News

Following the election of Directors at Table Tennis Ireland’s AGM on Saturday 13th June 2015 at Sport HQ, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 the following is a list of the Directors and Officers of Table Tennis Ireland for the 2015/2016 season 

Chair:  Mrs Pat Hunter

Finance Director: Mr Martin Clark

Marketing Director: Mr Tony Farrell

Coaching Director: Mr Arthur Brett

High Performance Director: Conn Higgins

Human Resources Director: Mr Rob Cowan

International Director/ Company Secretary: Mr Michael Barry

Vice Presidents:

Ms Anna Kelly, Mrs V Barry, Mr T Martin, Mr T C Phillips MBE, Mr P O’Brien and Mr I Shorten.

Disciplinary committee:

Ms A Kelly, Mr M Herley, Mr Kieran Spitere, Mr A Morgan and Mr A Strong.

Jury of Appeal:

Miss K O’Hara, Mr N Hitchcock, Mr P Talini and Mr J Wilson.

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Young Para Stars Medal in Glasgow

by International EventsParaTTI News

Paddy Vaughan and Conor Callaghan travelled to the Glasgow Open this weekend. Both of them won Silver in there own classes 6 and 8 respectively, another fantastic result from these two young players. 

In the mixed classes, both boys were in action once more. This time Paddy reached the quarter finals before he was overcome by the eventual winner despite a brave effort. In the same event, Conor went one step further, making a strong run to the semi final before he too went down to the winner, a class 10 player.

Well done to both on a successful weekend..

Conor Gallagher
Paddy Vaughan
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AWARD OF HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIPS

by TTI News

AWARD OF HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIPS

Several months ago, our President, Joe Hickey, made a proposal to the Board to introduce Honorary Life Membership Awards. This proposal was unanimously accepted and the following criteria was adopted.

AWARD OF HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP – CRITERIA 

This award is the highest distinction which can be given by the Irish Table Tennis Association and will never be lightly awarded. It should not be made for length of service alone but for outstanding service.

Nomination is restricted to those who have given outstanding service to the Irish Association at national or provincial levels.

A nominee must:

a. Be over the age of 65 years, but exceptions may be made.

b. Have served the Association credibly in a voluntary capacity either at Board or exceptionally at Branch level for a minimum period of 20 years; service may not necessarily have been continuous

c. Be in good standing with the Association

The nomination of persons for appointment as Honorary Life Members will be made by the President, Life President or Deputy Life President. Such nominees must be approved by a majority of the ITTA Board and the President and one of either the Life or Deputy Life President to receive the award of Honorary Life Membership

The Board subsequently approved the nominations of Ted Mahaffy from Belfast and Tommy Rowsome from Dublin to receive the first Honorary Life Memberships under this criteria.

TED MAHAFFY

Ted Mahaffy has been involved in the sport for more than 40 years in many roles which include holding various offices in the Ulster Branch in addition to being an Ulster Underage coach for a long period. He has been a long-time member of the ITTA Disciplinary panel. As well as being an active qualified ITTA Umpire, he has been a successful player, representing Ireland at both Over 60 and Over 70 levels with a Six Nations medal to attest to his ability. A recent description of Ted correctly describe him as being loved by the players he coaches and being a Friend of All and Loved by All. A terrific example of selfless commitment to the sport of Table Tennis.

TOMMY ROWSOME

Tommy Rowsome is another fully deserving of Honorary Life Membership. He coached in Dublin’s Glenalbyn Club and other clubs for more than 45 years mainly at schools and junior levels. He coached his 3 most well known junior players to be outstanding Irish Senior Champions and Senior international players. These are Colum Slevin, Anne Butler (née Leonard) and Kevin Keane. The hallmark of Tommy’s running any club has been his ability to make the training enjoyable by creating a good social atmosphere. His handicap tournaments were legendary advised Colum Slevin recently. Colum also advised that some of Tommy’s coaching methods were well ahead of the time, introducing multi ball in the club in the 1970s. Another fine example of selfless commitment to the sport.

“The contributions made by Ted and Tommy have enriched our sport and indeed the lives of all who have known them down through the years. They thoroughly deserve this award and, on behalf of the membership, I congratulate them on their election as Life Members” said ITTA President Joe Hickey.

The awards will be presented at the next Annual General Meeting on Saturday 13th June 2015.