TTI News – Page 74 – Table Tennis Ireland

Butterfly National Seniors: Full Results

March 1, 2014

by ttiadmin National Events TTI News

Check out our Twitter and Facebook pages for pictures and commentaries. Don’t forget to use the #Nationals to join the debate

Senior Men’s – Winner: Paul McCreery

Groups Results

All semi-final places were taken up by the top four seeds, Declan O’Brien coming closest to an upset with a very tight match against John Murphy, John just edging it 11-9 in the seventh set! It took seven sets also to separate John and Gavin Maguire, who repeated his Munster Open win to reach the final against Paul McCreery. And this one went all the way to the final set, with Paul holding on to win!

Senior Ladies – Winner: Emma Ludlow

Groups Results

Under-21s Men’s – Winner: Ashley Robinson

Runner-Up: Paul McCreery
Click here for First Round Groups
Click here for Knockout Results

Under-21s Ladies’ – Winner: Chloe O’Halloran

Click here for First Round Groups
Click here for Knockout Results

Veterans’ – Winner: Dariusz Zatylny

Click here for First Round Groups
Click here for Knockout Results

Men’s Doubles – Winners: Murphy & McCreevy

Click here for Results

Ladies’ Doubles – Winners: Mogey & Givan

Click here for Full Results

Mixed Doubles – Winner: Murphy/McGlone

Click here for Results

Class II – Winner: Kevin Hutchinson

Click here for Groups

Click here for Knockout Draw

Wheelchair Men’s – Winner: Colin Judge

Click here for Groups

Click here for Knockout Draw

Wheelchair Ladies’ – Winner: Rena McCarron-Rooney

Click here for Results (Round Robin)

Wheelchair Doubles – Winners: Rooney & Quinlan

Click here for Results

Gavin Maguire: Blog 4

February 24, 2014

by ttiadmin TTI News

Blog 4 – 2014!

Since the last blog as usual, it’s been busy. The main thing that’s occurred is the restart of the German league after the mini break for the Christmas period. In this edition of the blog, I’m hoping to cover the beginning of the second half in German league along with the after effects of the Ping Pong event, a positive Munster Open and the build up to the National Championships.

Since coming back to Germany after the World Ping Pong Championships in London, I realised that going from table tennis to Ping Pong was quite an easy and enjoyable transition however, having played so much Ping Pong in the build-up the tournament and then moving back to table tennis, I found myself struggling. I found simple elements of my game that had been there for years, now required some thought and attention. Serve and receive became a big factor again having being almost done away with in the Ping Pong model. The weeks practise was quite a tough one getting back up to speed with the game I have grown up with. There was plenty to do to be ready for my first competitive table tennis match of the New Year that coming weekend. One thing that really helped this process was having my lifetime friend, Mark O’ Flynn coming out for the week following the tournament in London. He wanted to see the environment I was now living in, the players I was training with and of course experience the German league. Talking to people since that week’s training and living with Mark, I’ve found it quite hard to explain to people the positive impact just a little change like having a friend come out and practise with us can have. It’s only a small change to every day routine and it wasn’t as if I had to show Mark the ropes of how to behave or train as he is no stranger to the competitive world of table tennis but a strange sense of positivity ran through me that week, and I know I can speak for Ashley when I say he felt the same or maybe even better! Not only did Mark come out, enjoy a week’s training with us but he coached me in my 2 league matches that I had, Saturday and Sunday, I’ve always been more of a second half of the season kind of player but with Mark’s help my team won both matches and I was undefeated winning 3 out of 3 singles.

Leading on from a positive weekend in league, I was coming back home to play in one of my favourite events of the year, The Munster Open. Every year I thoroughly enjoy the event and I know that’s the case for almost all players involved, especially having the juniors involved and the staged finals it makes for a great event and I hope we have more like it in the future. The tournament itself was set out with one of the highest standards an Irish ranking event has ever seen, Miroslav Horesji from Czech Republic ranked 240 in the world, Ryan Jenkins the 3 time winner, Gavin Rumgay the Scottish number 1 and Vladislavs Agurjanovs joined the already strong Irish field of players. For me, the tournament was a huge success, having beaten Irish number 1 John Murphy from 2-0 down in the quarter final which was a big win in itself, I went on to play Ryan Jenkins who I was now to play for the 3^rd year in a row at the semi-final stage. This year, I knew my game had improved enough to challenge Ryan and I had already had some testing games with him at other events, this time I came out on top 3-1 with Mark O Flynn again the man in my corner! Paired against Horesji in the final I knew it was going to be a huge task, and just getting to the final was a massive result for me especially with the 2 previous wins so I could play slightly more relaxed in the final and take my chances. Unfortunately I went down in a 5 set battle 3-2, but I played some of my best table tennis in parts and I have no regrets. I hope I provided the home crowd with an entertaining match because the vocal support they gave me was just incredible, a memory I will have forever and I thank everyone who was a part of that. Looking back now on that tournament, it was great to finally get a career best win against Ryan, even though I’m sure he’ll come back next year even stronger looking for a 4^th title, it was a massive confidence boost for me. Especially performing on home soil, which as I’ve stated before with the added pressure of playing full time can be one of the biggest challenges. The confidence I’ve gained from The Munster Open makes me feel my time in Germany is worth it, that hard work is slowly paying off and gives me motivation to continue down the road I’m going for the time being.

At this time of year there is only one thing on the mind of every player of any level or any age, The National Championships. The Nationals is simply the biggest tournament of the year in terms of importance, pressure and prestige. Everybody is training hard for the event, looking to impress and maybe come home with a National title. In the build up to the event there has been no major changes in our training schedule in Germany however we are trying to focus a little more on serve receive exercises to try and make training a little bit more match orientated. The German league then keeps us sharp in terms of actual match practise, so in other words its business as usual in the build-up but there’s always that hanging feeling in the back of your mind about what’s coming up and trying to get everything right in time for it. As big as the Nationals is, there is a bigger picture; The World Championships. I’m delighted to be able to say I’ve been selected to represent Ireland in Tokyo for the World Team Championships along with flatmate Ashley Robinson, Paul McCreery and junior number 1 Ryan Farrell, with John Murphy as our captain. The team is made up of three players but I feel it’s a perfect scenario that now we will travel with a 4^th player as cover, added atmosphere on the bench and a new team dynamic to explore. Personally, I feel it’s going to be a fantastic experience for Ryan Farrell, and a huge achievement for him to become part of the senior team while still at junior level. It shows the rest of Ireland’s aspiring young players that with hard work and consistent performance it is possible to break into the senior team. The World Championships is the pinnacle of any table tennis players career (excluding the Olympics) and having stayed in division 3 by the skin of our teeth two years ago in Dortmund, I believe this year we can really push for a high finish in the division now that Paul is as strong as ever and myself and Ashley have been playing full time ever since, along with Ryan making sure we up our game or he’ll be taking our place. The World Championships in Tokyo was the deciding factor in my decision to come to Germany so I will be working as hard as I can for the next couple of months in order to be in peak condition for the event and hopefully we can get a big result for Irish Table Tennis!

With the Nationals beginning this weekend, I’m certain the next blog will contain a section devoted to the outcome and thoughts surrounding the event. After that it will generally be focussed on the road to the World Championships mainly about preparation training, preparation events and German League. Anything else that readers would like to be covered or discussed, feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll make sure to do my best in including whatever it may be! Thanks for reading.

Coaching Blog : John Bowe

February 11, 2014

by ttiadmin Coaching TTI News

Coaching Blog – John Bowe

In 2009 when I decided to wind down from competitive play I wanted to become a coach and take on a new challenge and start to teach beginners the skills involved in our wonderful sport. Before I start to take you through what goes on the life of a coach I would like to say that I have been asked on numerous occasions as to why I won’t play in competitions around the country and quite simply the answer is I do not have the time at the weekends to play tournaments or to practice during the week due to other work commitments, otherwise I would be involved. If this situation changes I shall make my return to competitive play.

I do however have time to coach beginners and dedicate time to teaching them all the basics right through to intermediate and advanced play. I actually coach table tennis at least once every day in various locations around Dublin. One of the biggest challenges in Irish sport is having a location to base your club at and then to be able to have the club open every day for our beginners to grow. Unfortunately this situation is something you need to address going forward otherwise as a coach you cannot teach your beginners enough skills to get them to the level required to achieve success. Time is of the essence and either you find a club that is open regularly or you prepare for a mediocre outcome.

The current WIS programme has been of great assistance to myself and to other WIS coaches around the country. I would like to explain how I use this money to fund the coaching sessions in a new school. Firstly before you start coaching in a new school you must make it clear to the principal or the head of sport that the 8 weeks funding is there to get the club up and running and after I introduce table tennis into a school and I sell our great game then it’s up to the Principal to fund it after the 8 weeks are up on a long term basis. Otherwise you’re taking good money and throwing it down the drain. If the Principal or Head of Sport decides not to agree to these terms then you know that the interest is not there and you must decide to move on to a school or club who are willing to support your long term plan. Rhona in ITTA HQ has been instrumental in the success of the WIS programme and without her input I don’t believe it would have been quite the success it has been.

I am the head coach in High School Rathgar and Dundrum Table Tennis Club. Marcus McDonnell is the other junior coach in Dundrum and we both coach beginners on a Sunday morning at 10:30am for one hour. Of course the ideal situation would be to coach beginners everyday but like I said earlier trying to find a venue available everyday is the ‘’Challenge’’. Marcus has been fantastic since he joined up before Christmas and has added new ideas and formats to the already glowing junior section. When I began to coach our beginners, these children could not bounce a ball on the bat and after months and months of continued practice they have gone that extra mile and are really starting to progress on the table now. Myself and Marcus both completed our introductory ITTF LEVEL ONE course recently and are using the format in the ITTF programme to teach our beginners and already you can see the development going in the right direction.

Once a coach has completed the introductory skills i.e. bouncing the ball on the bat and other control skills it is then important to introduce Multi-ball to the coaching sessions and to teach the beginners how to do it themselves. It is so satisfying to see the progress on a weekly basis.

I recently brought my High School U13 team to Blackrock College to play a league match. We played Blackrock last year and got demolished and it was pleasing to see my guys had progressed in that short space of time to at least compete this time. The score lines in some of the matches were closer than the overall score suggests so I could see improvement (we lost 5-1). On the journey home I could see my team had hope for the future. They were in upbeat form and I explained that Richard Butler’s team were the benchmark for success and that we needed to reach that level and that I would ask High School for another evening to practice which was agreed. The players are delighted and all turned up for practice with a spring in their step yesterday.

Being a coach is a challenge but achieving success with your beginners is crucial if you want them to stay interested and to turn up when practice is on. If you need guidance or help just ask for it.

Yours in Sport

John Bowe

Munster Girls’ Success in Junior British League

February 11, 2014

by ttiadmin International Events TTI News

Munster Girls’ Success in Junior British League

The Munster trio of Kerry O’Mahoney, Mair Kelly and Shelley Tobin, together with NPC Alan Hurley travelled to Lilleshall National Sports Centre. again this weekend (February 8th & 9th, 2014) to continue their involvement in Girls’ Division Three of the Junior British League.

They were in a commanding position after their excellent performance over the first weekend in October, but there was still work to do!

In October, they were 6-0 winners against Ulster B, but a stronger team from Ulster this time around meant a very tight match. Kerry’s two wins and one from Mair were enough for them to share the points, 3-3. The afternoon match against wales B saw the three Munster players undefeated. And a 5-1 win over Norton Draycott put the Munster girls in a good position at the end of the first day’s play.

Next up, Batts B – not to be taken lightly as this was a drawn match last time out. But all three of the girls performed superbly and won all their matches. So with one left to play, there was every chance of a good result!

They knew they could not afford to lose to Ashford Brunswick, but in October they had won this fixture comfortably. But things were not going to be so easy this time, and after Kerry lost in the fifth set in the first match, alarm bells started to ring faintly! Then Mair and Shelly were beaten too! So 3-0 down at the half-way mark: one more loss and they were consigned to runners-up spot!

But they rallied well (no pun intended) and first Kerry, then Shelly and finally Mair won their second matches under pressure to halve this match and put the Munster Girls on top of Division Three! They will play in Division Two next season!

Kerry was the top player in the Division across the two weekends, winning 17 of her 20 matches! The others weren’t far behind, both finishing in the Top 7!

Well done to the players and NPC Alan Hurley!

Meanwhile, in Division One of the Boys’ competition, Munster’s Alan Walsh was helping the Irish Boys to second place with team-mates Zak Wilson and Ryan Farrell.

For more information:

https://www.tabletennis365.com/britishleague/Fixtures

First Intervarsities Success for U.C.C. in 7 Years

February 4, 2014

by ttiadmin National Events TTI News

First Intervarsities Success for U.C.C. in 7 Years

Report: Kayrin Ong

The U.C.C. Table Tennis team headed to N.U.I. Galway over the first weekend in February with only one goal in mind – to bring home the silverware! Our formidable squad of six Men and four Ladies did not disappoint. In the team events, both the Men’s and Ladies’ teams were pitted against the long-reigning champions U.C.D. in the finals.

After the first round of individual matches, it was all-square at 4-4 between U.C.C. and U.C.D. Ladies. The doubles matches would now be the crucial determining factor. Edel O’Reilly & Huizhuang Xie defeated U.C.D.’s Sarah Timlin & Clodagh McMurrow comfortably in the first doubles match so it was the second doubles match which would either seal the deal or bring us into the excruciating deciding doubles.

The doubles match looked as though it was going to go U.C.D.’s way when we were 2-0 down and trailing in the 3rd game. However, the game was not over. To everyone’s surprise, the pair of Kayrin Ong & Xie Chen made a great comeback to win the third set and keep the match alive. A change of tactics and great fighting spirit saw the U.C.C. ladies taking the fourth to draw level, and eventually closing out the match in a heart-pounding five-set thriller. Finally, the ladies brought home the cup after seven long years!

In the Men’s Team Event, U.C.C. were unlucky to lose out narrowly to holders U.C.D. in a closely fought final which lasted four hours. Nonetheless, our team of Declan O’Brien, Alex Cooney, Gary Goh, Dave Buckley, Darragh Buckley and Naqiyuddin Misran did well to see off the rest of the participating teams rather comfortably.

On the second day, in the Men’s Singles Event, our players performed even better with five U.C.C. players contesting the quarter finals. Alex Cooney was unlucky to be drawn against Declan O’Brien in the semi-finals and had to settle for third place. In the Men’s Singles Final, Declan defeated U.C.D.’s Kieran Reilly in straight sets to bring home the Men’s Individual plaque – also seven years since Mark White’s last success in this event!

U.C.C.’s ladies also did well in the individual event. Edel, Huizhuang and Xie Chen took three of the four semi-final places while Kayrin emerged as the Plate Winner. It was a repeat of last year’s final when Xie Chen was staged to play against Sarah Timlin. This time the advantage went to the U.C.D. Representative, with a straight sets win in the final.

With a total of two silverwares and six medals won, the team certainly did U.C.C. proud. The future looks bright and hopefully we can go one better in the Men’s Team and Ladies’ Singles next year!

Kinsale STIGA Challenger: Report

February 3, 2014

by ttiadmin Challengers TTI News

Kinsale Challenger Report

Kinsale Community School

Sunday, 2nd February, 2014

There’s a new club in Munster, and they have arrived with a bang! A mere few months after they started up under the watchful eye of Alan Hurley, South Coast Table Tennis Club hosted one of Munster’s best Challenger Events yet! These STIGA-sponsored events are very popular, and this one attracted sixty children from Cork and Kerry to play in Kinsale Community School, the first time this venue has hosted a table tennis tournament – but judging by today, certainly not the last!

As usual, there was a Group phase, where the players were encouraged to get to know each other and where experienced players were drawn with novices to help them along – all players were advised to look on these as “practice”. This also allowed the organisers to observe the less well-known players to allocate them into Divisions for the serious business ahead.

And serious it was, especially in Divison 1, where some of Munster’s best juniors were playing. Usaamah Hussain was unstoppable, only his club-mate Adam Lazaryev getting anywhere close, and they finished first and second respectively.

There were 14 players in the next tier, so they were split into Divisions 2A and 2B. Silke Heinen was a clear winner of Division 2A, but it was very tight for second, with Thuy Linh Cashman edging Alex Flynn and Liam Proudford who all had the same number of wins. In Division 2B, the ever-smiling boys from Ballincollig, Ciaran O’Donoghue and Cian Ross made it through to the semi-finals. But it was the Leeside girls who won both semis, and Thuy Linh reversed the earlier result against Silke to take the win in Division 2.

There were some new faces in Division 3, and with six wins from six in 3A, William Jefferies looked a strong favourite! But in the semi-final, he played the runner-up from Division 3B, Andrew Breen from Tralee, and Andrew earned a place in the final against Luke Murdoch. Luke was too strong, despite being four years younger than his opponent! Another Division win for Leeside.

Division four was easy pickings for Scott McElroy, who won eight straight matches to take the title, beating Nick Macleod in a tense final.

And in Division 5, Ciaran Fogarty had to fight very hard in the final to take the last of the big prizes, beating Shona O’Sullivan in the final.

Between the Group stage and the Divisions, most players got at least nine matches in a hugely enjoyable day of table tennis.

Thanks as always to the series sponsor, Tommy Fitzgerald (STIGA), who provided the match balls and an array of prizes. And a huge thanks to Bev Scannell and Sophie Healy-Thow, who did Trojan work to help the event to run smoothly. There was great support from the parents and coaches from other clubs too; events like this depend hugely on these volunteers.

Results:

Division 1

1. Usaamah Hussain

2. Adam Lazaryev

3. Shelly Tobin

4. Conor O’Callaghan

5. Darragh Boyd

6. Jack O’Brien

7. Darragh Condon

Division 2

1. Thuy Linh Cashman

2. Sike Heinen

3. Ciaran O’Donoghue

4. Cian Ross

5. Alex Flynn
Caoimhe Harnedy

7. Liam Proudford
Dean Scanlon

9. Adam Buckley
Hannah Condon

10.

11. George Rasmussen
Chloe Condon

12.

13. Shane O’Callaghan
Ben-Óg Brady Bates

Division 3

1. Luke Murdoch

2. Andrew Breen

3. William Jeffries

4. Daniel Kennedy

5. Marcus Heinen
Jorge Moreno

7. Sam Hawe
Thi Ly Cashman

9. Tom Good
Alec Schmidt

10.

11. Andrew Hurley
Donagh Griffin

12.

13. Kingsley Hope
Cillian Kerise

Division 4

1. Scott McElroy

2. Nick Macleod

3. Rachel Coburn

4. Cathy Hynes

5. Ben O’Connor
Anna-Maria Vickrow

7. Dale Heinen
Leah O’Keeffe

9. Michael Guerin
Dylan Hill

10.

11. Kate O’Neill
Shannon Twomey

12.

13. Tyrese Hill
Oisin O’Sullivan

Division 5

1. Ciaran Fogarty

2. Shona O’Sullivan

3. Colm heenan

4. Conor O’Sullivan

5. Jessica Furlong
Eva Payne

7. Grace Hynes
Oisin Herberich

9. Cian Vickrow
Rory Griffin

Club Donic Stiga Challenger Report

January 30, 2014

by ttiadmin Challengers TTI News

Club Donic Challenger, 25th January 2014

Club Donic held a Stiga Challenger Tournament on Saturday 25th January 2014. We had 80 players from all over the country in the tournament. The players were graded into four divisions. It was so encouraging to see so many players who are not yet playing at provincial or national level and it is hoped that these tournaments will be a stepping stone to playing at provincial and then national level. The tournament commenced at 10am and finished at 3.30pm.

Every player attending the tournament got at least 6 matches and for those who did well in their first groups, there were further matches. The results are as follows:

Division 1

Winner: Andrew Carroll, North Kildare Table Tennis Club

2nd place: Emmanuel Adewale, St Ronans

3rd place: Tommy Nguyen, St Ronans

3rd place: Ciaran O’Reilly, Ballyroan

Division 2

Winner: Luka Hickey, Dundrum

2nd place: Meem Ali, St Ronans

3rd place: James Raleigh, Club Donic

3rd place: Toyosi Sosan, St Ronans

Division 3a

Winner: Emmanuel Adegboyega, St Ronans

2nd place: Adela Federova, St Ronans

3rd place: Praveshi Ragi, ALSAA

3rd place: Alec Kestell, ALSAA

Division 3b

Winner: John Ojewumi, St Ronans

2nd place: Ife Jimmy, St Ronans

3rd place: Jack Hayes, Milltown

3rd place: Katelyn Kiernan, Mullingar

I would like to thank our volunteers : Liam O’Ceallaigh, Sinead Kelly, Sr. Annette, John Meleady, Eileen Neary, Ray Egan, Susan Sneyd and Tommy Fitzgerald who gave me tremendous support on the day.

Finally, Club Donic would like to thank all of those players who participated in our event and helped make this a great tournament. We look forward to seeing you all again at our next Challenger, which will take place on Sunday 11th May 2014.

Jacqui

Strong Performance from Irish Juniors at 2014 West of Scotland Grand Prix

January 27, 2014

by ttiadmin International Events TTI News

Squad: Katie Mc Glone, Hannah Lynch Dawson, Kevin Hutchinson, Tom Davis, Ryan Farrell

Coaches: Sarah Timlin, John Murphy

Five members of the Irish junior squad travelled to Glasgow over the weekend to compete in the new look Grand Prix style West of Scotland Open. The event took place in Scotstoun which will be the venue for the Table Tennis for Commonwealth Games this July.

As there are so many matches and events at GPs this report will try to highlight some good performances.

Saturday Morning Bands:

Both Katie and Hannah started off there tournament in Women’s Band 2, which on paper looked like a very strong event. Both showed some really good performances with Hannah beating Cherith Graham (recent Munster Open Ladies finalist) 3-0 and Katie beating Emily Bolton 3-0. In the end Katie lost out in five sets in the quarter final to Scottish International Linda Flaws and Hannah went one step further losing out 3-0 to Nicole Hall of Wales in the semis.

Kevin and Tom both started there day off in Men’s Band 4. The boys who looked very sharp from the off, they played some good table tennis to cut their way through opposite sides of the draw to meet in the final. Kevin who started the better in the final ran out a 3-0 winner. Kevin had a notable win in the Semi Final 3-2 against former Scottish International Andy Dunlop.

Ryan started in Band 2 which is traditionally a very tough band to win. Ryan started a little slowly in his group but he showed some really good fighting qualities when he looked down and out in the fifth against Josh Band in is final group match, Ryan went on to win 12-10 to qualify in 2nd place. This set up an all-Ireland clash in the last 8 with Ryan taking on Daryl Strong who himself looked impressive winning his group. In a very close battle Ryan came out on top 3-1. This was probably the final as Ryan went on the record 3-0 wins in both semi-final and final and became the Band 2 Champion

Saturday Afternoon Bands:

Both Girls competed in Women’s Band 3. They both looked comfortable in the early rounds but unfortunately ended up in the same half of the draw and meet in the semi-final. With Lucy Elliott of Scotland waiting in the final the girls started their match. The semi-final itself was a very high quality match which really shows what a great level we have in underage girls’ table tennis in Ireland at the moment. Hannah won the and of course it was 3-2. Hannah went on the record a comfortable 3-0 win in the final to become Band 3 champion.

Kevin and Tom both played Band 3. After both coming through there groups to different sides of the draw they looked on course to repeat what they had done in the morning. Kevin met Andy Dunlop again in the last 8 but was unlucky to go down 3-2. Tom was the last man standing and meet Yasir Razouk in the semi-final and in a up and down match he lost out 3-1.

Ryan was in the Men’s Band 1 event which is great event for him with many international standard players in it. In tough group Ryan managed to beat Sephir Bidari 3-0 who he had lost to in the morning. This left him needing to win against either Kim Daybell or Chris Wheeler to progress. Unfortunately he lost 3-0 and 3-1 but it has to said he held every chance against Wheeler leading 1-0 and 8-5. Kim Daybell went on the win Band 1.

Sunday Morning Open Singles:

This is the main event of the weekend. In the Men’s event Tom, Ryan and John Murphy all qualified from the groups to the Knockout stages. Tom was first to fall as he went down 3-1 to Chris Wheeler but had his chance when leading 1-0 9-8. Both Ryan and John progressed to the quarter final with Ryan beating Daniel Swiatek and Yasir Razouk to book his place against world 234 Gavin Rumgay and John beating Saturdays Band 1 winner Kim Daybell to set up a last 8 meeting with Niall Cameroon. This was the end of the road for both players with John going down 3-2 having lead 2-0 and Ryan going down 3-0 but giving a very good account of himself against Rumgay on the TV court.

Other notable Irish performances was Daryl Strong beating Dean Cundy Wales 3-0 before losing out to Rumgay in the last 16 and Peter Graham losing a tight match against Callum Main in the last 32.

In the Women’s event both Hannah and Katie had good wins in the group. Hannah beat Dawn Morgen of Guernsey 3-0 and Lucy Elliot 3-2 and Katie beat Soffi Jenkins 3-1 and Linda Flaws 3-2. Both Qualified as second behind Hannah Hicks and Karina Le fevre. Sarah Timlin also played this event and was unlucky not to win her group losing out to Nicole Hall 11-9 in the 5th but qualified to the knockout stage in 2nd. Hannah and Sarah played in the last 16 which is always a difficult match for both but on this occasion Hannah ran out a 3-0 winner. Katie was straight into the last 8 and she lost out in a close match 3-1 against Nicole Hall. In the last 8 Hannah played Karina Le Fevre who she had nearly surprised back in November at the 6 Nations only going down 3-2 but Karina seemed to be ready on this occasion and Hannah lost out 3-0.

Under 21 Events:

By this stage our young players were starting to get tired, NPC John Murphy said “its good practice for our players to play when they are tired to improve their mental side of their games.”

In the Boys Ryan, Kevin and Tom all came through there groups. Kevin was the first to go when he lost to Daniel Swiatek. Ryan was next losing out to Colin Dagleish 3-1 (Eventual Winner). Tom was the last left in and played some of his best table tennis of the weekend which shows Toms mental and fitness levels are very strong. He had a good last 8 win against Scotlands Sephir Bidari before losing to Dagleish in the Semi Final 3-0.

In the Girls both Katie and Hannah won there groups which left them in opposite semi-finals. Hannah won her semi 3-0. This left Katie playing Linda Flaws for the 3rd time this weekend. Katie lead 2-1 but eventually went down 3-2. In the final Hannah had 2-0 lead but could not put it away and Linda ran out a 3-2 winner.

Other Highlights:

Irelands Daryl Strong won the Vets event in great style and Hannah Lynch Dawson was awarded the player of the weekend for her performances.

Upon returning home John Murphy said “This was a very worthwhile experience for our young squad with some very impressive results. I would like to thank the players for their hard work over the weekend and thank Sarah Timlin for her great work with all the players, she gave them great support both on and off the table.”

Report received from John Murphy, Photos Courtesy of the English Table Tennis Association

Selections for Zen-Noh 2014 World Team Championships

January 23, 2014

by ttiadmin International Events TTI News

The Zen-noh World Team Championships will take place in Tokyo, Japan from 28 April to 5 May 2014. Ireland will be represented by a Mens team comprising the following players :

Paul McCreery
Gavin Maguire
Ashley Robinson
Ryan Farrell

The NPC will be John Murphy. On this occasion, a Womens team has not been selected for the event. Commenting on the Mens team selection, John McGlone, High Performance Director said“The World Team Championships is the Blue Riband event in the 2014 calendar. Paul, Gavin and Ashley are experienced competitors at this leveland will work hard to convert that experienceinto results for Ireland. Ryan Farrell is our No.1 Junior boy and will gain significant experience from the event as he looks to commence his Senior career.We all hope to see a great performance from the team in Japan.”
Please comment below or tweet to show your support for the Team on their #RoadToJapan #SUFTBG (Stand Up For The Boys in Green)

Report from the Munster Open

January 21, 2014

by ttiadmin Masters National Events TTI News

Munster Open

For the fourth consecutive year, the INEC/Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney played host to the Munster Open. Tournament Referee Con O’Céadaigh oversaw nearly a thousand matches over the three-day event.

With a €1000 first prize in the Men’s Singles, a high quality entry was expected, and as soon as the tournament began on Friday evening, it was clear that there was serious talent in the arena. There were few surprises in the group stages, none of the top 16 seeds slipping up. In the knockout, things continued largely as expected, with only three players outside the top seeds reaching the last sixteen. And the quarter final line-up was as seeded, which resulted in the amazing spectacle of four simultaneous quarter finals played simultaneously as a warm-up to the Staged Finals on Saturday night. For the first time, the finals were streamed live to allow the few people in Irish table tennis who were not in Killarney the opportunity to see some fantastic table tennis.

Highlights of the quarters included Gavin Maguire’s fifth-set decider with John Murphy, and Gavin followed this up with a great 3-1 defeat of last year’s winner, the Welsh Wizard Ryan Jenkins.

Was it too much to hope that Gavin could take home the Munster Open Title? He certainly gave it his best shot, and a somewhat partisan crowd urged him to his best, but in the end he had to give way to the brilliant Miroslav Horejsi in the final set of an exciting final!

In the Ladies’ Singles, “local” interested ended when two Munster players, Deirdre Murphy and Chloe O’Halloran (both Leeside), lost in successive rounds to the top seed and eventual winner, Charlotte Carey. Charlotte met another of the visiting contingent in the final and was a 3-1 winner over Cherith Graham from England.

The junior events started with the Cadet Boys and Girls on Saturday morning. Dylan Grace (part of a large Mountrath squad) had a great win over top seed Donic’s Evin McGovern, and this led to a 2 v 3 pairing in the final, with Charlie Fitzgerald (UCD) overcoming Brian Dunleavy (Kilkelly) in a five-set thriller. In the Girls’, Munster player Kerry O’Mahoney (Kinneigh) threatened to upset the odds, but Kate Whelan (Mountrath) beat her 3-1 in the semi before losing to Rebecca Finn in another match that went all the way.

The Under-11 Boys’ was an all-Connacht affair, with Thomas Joyce beating David Taylor in a hard-fought match. In the Girls’ event, Silke Heinen (Leeside) took Munster’s first win at the event, beating Natashya Barry (Athlone) in straight sets.

In all three doubles events, it was the top two seeds who contested the finals, Lynch-Dawson & Timlin won the Ladies’, and Ryan Jenkins partnered Ashley Givan to take the Mixed Doubles and John Murphy to win the Men’s.

A fantastic Class II tournament saw two Corkmen slug it out in the final, and this was a titanic battle between local rivals which saw Alan Walsh (Leeside) beat Mark White (Ballincollig) 12-10 in the final set.

On Sunday morning, the Junior Boys’ was the first event. Alan Walsh was on fire again, with wins over Zak Wilson and Luke Dempsey on his way to a final against Ryan Farrell, but unfortunately for Alan, Ryan was unstoppable on the day, losing none of his matches on Sunday.

Hannah Lynch-Dawson beat top-seeded Chloe O’Halloran in the semi-final to set up a match against Katie McGlone, and won 3-2.

Ethan Duffy’s late withdrawal in the “Mini-Cadets” event did not diminish a very hard fought event. Number one seed Ghenadie Isac (Donic) came up against an in-form Owen Cathcart (Ormeau), and Owen took three sets in a row by narrow margins.

Another title for Leeside in the Girls Under-13s, Zofia Wawrzyniak winning 3-1 against Jessie Hayes from Mountrath. Indeed, Leeside’s strong showing in all junior events saw them narrowly take the Munster Junior Cup ahead of Mountrath, with last year’s winners Club Donic in third.

Just a couple of events left… Tibor Pofok beat Pawel Kopacz in the vets and the afternoon was for the Under-21s. The lateness of the hour meant a somewhat depleted field in both Men’s and Ladies’ but there was still plenty of table tennis left in some of the players. Especially Ryan Farrell, who didn’t drop a set on his way to yet another title, defeating UCD’s Kevin Hutchinson. (Two Killarney players, Eoin Foran and Michael Lagan, reached the semi-finals.)

Sarah Timlin (UCD) met Deirdre Murphy (Leeside) in the Ladies’ final, and Sarah was a 3-1 winner.

So after three days with 200 competitors in seventeen events, 77 prizes were awarded! The INEC again proved to be a great venue for table tennis. For senior and junior players alike, the Munster Open continues to be one of Ireland’s most enjoyable tournaments with its unique mixture of senior and junior events.

Full results are here.

http://munstertabletennis.weebly.com/results.html