Click here for the STIGA Connacht Senior Open Full Results
Full Report to follow
Irish Ladies at Womens British League
Last weekend saw the Irish Ladies WBL team travel to the UK for weekend 1 of the Womens British League. The team, made up of Ashley Givan, Sabina Devereux(pictured), Annalise Walker and Meadhbh Slattery are playing Division 1 level this year and had 5 matches over the course of the weekend.
Day 1 saw the Irish put up some real battling performances, earning two draws. Up first was Thornton TT and at 3-2 down the pressure was on international debutant Slattery to deliver a win against Lisa Radford. Slattery showed good composure to win in straight sets, -14, -9, -9. Slattery had an early win as did Ashley Givan to earn Ireland’s 3 points in a 3:3 draw. Up next was a heavy 6:0 defeat against YHL, with this time annalise Walker making her debut. YHL dominated the division this weekend and are strong favourites for promotion to the top tier. Day 1 finished with another 3:£ draw, this time against Leeds Ladies, Givan showing her class to claim two wins over Rebecca George and Janet Adams.
On Day 2, the Irish recorded their first victory of the weekend, with a 4:2 win over Halton TTC, with Givan again notching two wins and Slattery and Devereux recording one win each. The weekend culminated in another 6:0 defeat to Knighton Park.
Ireland finished the weekend in 4th place of 6 teams, but coach Brett is reasonably confident of retaining Division One status when the event concluded next February –
“The performance was as expected, Meadhbh Slattery got off to a good start and recorded a 50% win ration, Ashley performed well to record 5 victories over some strong opposition. Positive step to see Annalise Walker and Meadhbh Slattery making their debut at that level and they will have learned alot”
Topspin Ace McCloughan shines in Downpatrick
The Ulster Masters Table Tennis Grand Prix got underway in Downpatrick last Saturday 28th September. Players from all over the province travelled to De La Salle Sports Hall to compete in the prestigious Frank Spalding Memorial Trophy competition with the winner of the event being crowned Ulster Closed champion.
Ulster Masters Table Tennis remains on a real high following an historic victory in the Interprovincial Championships earlier this year when the Ulster team won gold for the first time since 1998 beating the other provinces, Leinster, Connacht and Munster by amazing 8-1 score lines. Members of the victorious team competed on Saturday at De La Salle school. John McFaul (Team Coach) said “We are keen to build on the euphoria of being current Irish Champions as we know that Ulster has great strength and depth at this level so we want as many players as possible to take part in this season’s Grand Prix series which kicks off in Downpatrick.” And that is exactly what he got.
Play began with a round robin format which is executed to give all players the maximum amount of matches throughout the day. Round 1 saw former international players such as the forever young, Ted “The Terrier” Mahaffy, putting many players through their paces. Quite impressive for the 76 year old legend from North Belfast. Others blended back into the new season hoping to pick up from last years’ efforts but took time to find their feet. Martin Pickles, fresh from a summer of international level competition, took his time to find consistency but by the afternoon was playing some impressive stuff. Mark McAllister from Cookstown was looking in fine form and hitting some impressive shots on the table. Round 2 saw great play on display and the score lines became tighter as the day went on.
After many ups and downs from the players the hall settled down to a “Top 4 shoot off” to decide the final standings. The hard hitting Roy Coard from Lisburn battle as hard as ever and showed real signs of promise against a steady Norman Nabney and a fit young Willie Cherry. Battles went close to the wire on many occasions but it was the spectacular Pat McCloughan who steadied his game, remained consistent to win gold.
Ulster Masters Top 8 Final Standings, Tournament 1.
1. Pat McCloughan
2. Willie Cherry
3. Norman Nabney
4. Roy Coard
5. Allen Robson
6. Jeremy Lappin
7. Martin Pickles
8. Mark McAllister
Meanwhile the Irish Junior Squad had a weekend of intense training in Dublin under the watchful eyes of Colum Slevin, former Irish international. The preparation will help focus the younger players ahead of the Ulster Junior Open that is due to be held at the Valley Leisure Centre, Newtownabbey on Saturday and Sunday, 19/20th October. Players from all over Ireland and from the mainland will compete at this event. Emma Ludlow, Belfast, and Zak Wilson, Newtownabbey, to name but a few will be looking desperately to defend their titles.
Knox claims victory at STIGA Ulster Championships
Final Positions in STIGA Ulster Championships 13/14
1. Keith Knox 2. Peter Graham 3. Daryl Strong 4. Stephen Slater
For full results, please click here.
Full report to follow….
Certificate of Excellence for Connacht’s Keon
Certificate of Excellence for Connacht’s Keon
Connacht’s First Junior Ranking Event of the season proved to be a special occasion for the Branch with the welcome return of Sinead Keon from the World Dwarf Games recently held in Michigan, USA. Sinead returned as the new Open Women’s Table Tennis Champion 2013.
On her way to the Final Sinead defeated Kimberly Dean, the Current UK Champion. This was sweet revenge for Sinead having lost to Kimberly in the National Games held in Birmingham in May of this year. The Final saw Sinead face Joy Stillen, the USA champion in what proved to be thrilling display of table tennis with Sinead taking the fourth set on deuce along with the Open Title.
The Connacht Branch presented a Certificate of Excellence to Sinead over the weekend and are immensely proud of her achievements. Sinead attributes her success to the dedication and support of all her coaches: Ronan Rooney, Rena McCarron-Rooney, Galway Speeders, Rory O Connor & Jimmy Hayes.
Well done Sinead!
Connacht Branch Secretary
Michael Barry
Veterans Six Nations Results
Veterans Six Nations Team Event
Veterans Six Nations Singles Event
Veterans Six Nations Doubles Event
Veterans 6 Nations Opened by ITTA President
The Six Nations Veterans Championships commenced this afternoon with an address from the ITTA President, Joseph Hickey;
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.
Whilst Brian Finn is too modest a man to have allowed any mention of his work on the organisation of this event in to the official programme, I am delighted to be able to acknowledge his magnificent contribution not only to this event, but also to the management of veterans’ table tennis in Ireland.
To everyone else, I am pleased to extend to you a ‘Cead Mile Failte’ or a hundred thousand welcomes, to this 2013 Veterans Six Nations Championships at the ALSAA arena in Dublin.
Whenever I watch matches, I see part of the magnificence of table tennis. Ours is a sport that requires considerable athletic ability. It also requires mental agility and tactical awareness. But most of all, it requires you to combine all of these abilities, if you are to succeed.
Over the next 3 days, competitors will strive to deliver that perfect loop, that vicious chop, that short push or that stunningly disguised serve. People will cheer the successful outcome, or agonise with you if the ball fails to reach the desired destination.
However, veterans’ table tennis is about more than just sporting success. It is a celebration of life. It is a shout to the world that the passage of time has not dimmed the desire to enter the sporting arena and continue the athletic endeavours of our earlier years.
Veterans’ table tennis has done a magnificent job in ensuring that as Father Time marches on, we are able to continue that journey, playing our sport with team mates and fellow competitors on an equal footing.
Whether today is your first international selection, or another step in a long and illustrious career, if you look around this hall, you will see team mates, fellow competitors, coaches, umpires, event organisers, family and friends. You will see people, who are sharing every moment of this Six Nations Championships with you.
When the last shot has been played on Sunday, and whether our contribution was on or off the table, let all of us who have taken part in this great celebration of table tennis, be able to say with an inner calm of quiet satisfaction, ‘ we did our best’,
Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude now, by formally declaring this Six Nations Championships open, and let competition begin.
Joseph A Hickey
President,
Irish Table Tennis Association
Senior British League debut for Ulster
Good luck to Stephen Slater, Kieran Reilly, Neil Irwin and Trevor Knox who have been selected to represent Ulster at Senior British League on 14/15 September 2013. This is the first time Ulster have entered this competition and will see the boys compete in Division 4 Midlands over four weekends of intense competition. Table Tennis Ulster High Performance Coach John Murphy will accompany the team as Captain for the first weekend in Wellingborough, England. Thanks go to our team sponsors Tommy Fitzgerald and Stiga for supplying the team kit.
Sainsburys School Games
The below teams have been selected to represent Ulster at the Sainsburys School Games which commence on Thursday 12th September in Sheffield, England. The Sainsburys School Games is a multi-sport event for the UK’s elite young athletes of school age.
Congratulations and best wishes to all selected.
Boys
Zak Wilson
Kris Foster
Jonathan Porter
Ryan McConkey
NPC: Gervis Knox
Girls
Emma Ludlow
Hannah Lynch-Dawson
Rebecca Finn
Erin Thompson
NPC Amanda Mogey
Disability Squad
Standing: Kenneth Cloke
Wheelchair User: Gary Quantrill
Learning: Rachel McCann
NPC: Susan Keating
Team Manager:Arnold Morgan
Ulster dominate at STIGA Irish Senior Classification
The past weekend saw the beginning of the Irish domestic senior Table Tennis season. Annually the much awaited first tournament after the summer break takes place in Dublin in the form of the Irish Senior Classification event. Two days of battling on the tables accounts for well over one hundred matches and draws in spectators from around the country. This year it was the young Ulster Stars that took the top positions in both the Men’s and the Ladies events with Paul McCreery and Hannah Lynch-Dawson taking home well deserved gold medals.
Day 1 of the event on Saturday was the chance for 6 male players and 3 lady players to hit top form in order to qualify for the main event on Sunday to join the automatically qualified players who finished at the top of the ranking lists last season. Ulster had hopes of some positive results from the ever present Daryl Strong and a selection of other top players but the competition was fierce from all angles of the country. At the close of the qualifiers on Saturday evening the scene was set for the main Sunday event.
Ulster’s evergreen Ashley Robinson took control of the Men’s Group A pool and finished in 1st spot winning all his 8 matches which included some nail biting displays of table tennis magic. In the other half of the Men’s draw Paul McCreery pushed his way into 1st place as other Ulster hopefuls Keith Knox and Peter Graham finished 2nd and 5th respectively. The final session of the Men’s event saw 3 of the 4 semi finalists from Ulster lining up alongside John Murphy from Dublin. Keith Knox prevailed over Ashley Robinson in a close 5 set encounter whilst Paul McCreery made lighter work of John Murphy in the other semi final to secure an all Ulster final between himself and Knox. A tense battle erupted table side as both players showed off some wonderful attacking skills but it was McCreery who kept his cool after a long 5 set showdown to defeat Knox and become the Men’s Singles winner.
The Women’s event saw a number of Ulster’s young talents, such as Erin Thompson, look to qualify for the Sunday session. The competition was tough for all and some impressive play was on display from the young hopefuls. Sunday was the main event and all eyes where upon last year’s winner Ashley Givan and her Ulster team mates Emma Ludlow and Hannah Lynch-Dawson. Givan was typically displaying her fine aggressive form throughout the day and seemed fairly comfortable on the table. Stiff competition was evident from all the female players with the likes of Dublin’s Sabina Devereux who can turn a game around in just a few points but it was the young Hanna Lynch-Dawson from Ulster who kept her concentration and steadied her play to become the winner of the Ladies event, her biggest achievement to date so far.
The President of the Irish Table Tennis Association (ITTA) Joe Hickey, took to the stage to present the winners from Ulster, Paul McCreery and Hannah Lynch-Dawson, with their well deserved awards.
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