4 counties

ITTA – Latest News Update

by AwardsTTI News


The ITTA is entering into Season 12/13 with lots to be optimistic about as the organisation celebrates its 75th Anniversary. In this update, the Association looks forward to some exciting events ahead and back over some important events that took place during the Summer break:

ITTA AGM

The 2012 ITTA Annual General Meeting was held on Saturday 9th June 2012 at Sport HQ,  Dublin. The good attendances of some 30 members heard reports of the 2011/12 season’s activities and were updated about current initiatives within the Association.

The performance of the Irish Women’s Team in winning Gold Medals at the 6 Nations Senior Championships was highlighted as were the Irish Primary Schools teams in winning Golds in the team events at the 6 Nations Primary Schools Championships.

The meeting sent its best wishes for a speedy recovery to long-time member Mrs Kitty Thackaberry who is recovering at home and making good progress following a recent illness.

Particular thanks were expressed tothe Irish Sports Council for their continuing support of the ITTA across all of our Programmes.

The following Directors were elected:

Chair:   Mrs Pat Hunter –  It was noted that Mrs.Hunter was the first female Chair of the ITTA Board.

Finance Director:  No nominations and left to incoming Board to appoint.

High Performance Director:  No nominations, left to incoming Board to appoint.

Mr. Richard Butler has since taken up the position of Acting High Performance Manager.

Coaching Director:  Mr Arthur Brett

Marketing Director:   Mr Jamie McConkey

Human Resources Director:  No nominations and left to incoming Board to appoint.

ITTA Website

The ITTA website has undergone some changes over the course of the Summer, including significantly improved social media integration and some changes to the design of provincial pages – check out www.ttulster.co.uk. We continue to work on the site with some other changes coming on stream to the multimedia section of the site over the next month. The site had 70,000 visits over the past 12 months and continues to be a key communication tool of the Association

ITTA Senior Ranking Scheme 2012/3

Following an online survey and comments received during last season, the Senior Ranking Scheme has been revised and is now published.

ITTA Junior Ranking System 2012/3

The Junior System has also been reviewed and following one amendment has recently been published.

ITTA Calendar

ITTA Calendar for 2012/13 has been published at http://www.irishtabletennis.com/itta/events/calendar with a continued focus on providing increased participation opportunities. The Calendar will be updated further in September when the Association announces full details of the Junior Challenger Series and its pilot Senior Challenger Series event which is aimed at social players over the age of 18.

ITTA Awards:

The ITTA Awards for 2011/12 were presented  by the ITTA President, Mr. J. Hickey as follows:

●      Rhanbuoy Trophy for Senior Male Player:                                                  Paul McCreery

●      McKee Trophy for Senior Female Player of the Year:             Amanda Mogey

●      Billy Marshall Junior Award:                                                            Edel O’Reilly

●      Ken Strong Male Coach of the Year:                                              Richard Butler

●      Press Officer of the Year:                                                                    Jamie McConkey

●      Stiga Volunteer of the Year:                                                              Arnold Morgan

●      Joe Veselsky Merit Award:                                                                 Liam O’Ceallaigh

Season 12/13

We are eagerly anticipating the season ahead, with the Senior Classification just completed and the Junior Classification about to take place. The Association is delighted to be hosting the Primary Schools International as reigning champions in both the Boys and Girls Team events as well as in the Girls Individual event – this event takes place in Dublin in April 2013. Already Irish players have been on the mark in international events, with Paul McCreery claiming a sensational victory in both the Open and Under 21 Men’s Singles events at the Tees Sport Liverpool Grand Prix and Ashley Givan finishing Runner-up in the Women’s Singles at the same tournament.

75th Anniversary

The Association will shortly be announcing a special evening occasion  on Saturday 3rd November 2012 to celebrate its 75th Anniversary. This promises to be an event not to be missed by the Irish table tennis fraternity.

Children’s Issues:

The ITTA Children’s Officer is seeking to ensure that all club Children’s Officers are Garda and PSNI cleared for working with children as well as having undertaken appropriate courses in dealing with children.  Information is awaited from the Branches on the names of their clubs and officers.   All coaches working within the ITTA coaching scheme have been cleared.

Umpires & Referees Association:

At the U & R Association’s AGM, Mrs Vivienne Barry was appointed Chairman and Mr Ian Erskine as Secretary. The Association plans to host a Tournament Referees’ and Organisers’ Course in Sports HQ., Dublin on 10/11 November 2012. Retraining and upskilling of umpires  is also being pursued. Tony Martin and Tony Phillips have been appointed as Irish National Referees in recognition of their long experience and expertise in running tournaments. It is proposed to amalagamate the U & R Associaiation’s website with the ITTA website.

Veterans Society:

Brian Finn, as Chairman, and Kariem Sabir, as Treasurer, will again lead the Veterans Society during the season. Currently the Irish Veterans teams are looking forward to the 6 Nations Veterans Championships in Wales in September and hope to repeat their successes they recorded in the 2011 Championships. The 6 Nations Championships will be staged in Ireland in 2014.

Events Committee:

Our Events Committee, led by Con O’Ceadaigh and Tony Martin, has organised and managed 7 ranking tournaments during last season. The Committee has emphasised the need for additional personnel to run the top table at ranking events.

Schools Events:

A Committee, chaired by Mr Tony Phillips, and consisting of representatives of all Branches has reviewed the current system of organising schools event. A report has been prepared with recommendations for the future and is currently being considered by the ITTA Board and others. 

Para Table Tennis: Transfer of Governance:

The International Paralympic Committee has recently transferred its governance responsibility to the International Table Tennis Federation.  The ITTA has been in discussion with the Irish Wheelchair Association and others as to the way forward in Ireland.

ITTA Board                                                                                                                       September 2012

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Paul & Na take the Top Places in new Senior Rankings

by TTI News
Na Liu Women’s No.1


Paul McCreery and Liu Na(pictured) move into the No. 1 positions in the new Irish Senior Rankings following their wins in the Irish Senior Classification event.

Paul replaces John Murphy who is now ranked No. 2, while Na, playing her first Irish Senior tournament for some time replaces Ashley Givan who moves down to No. 3 below Na and Amanda Mogey.

A number of junior players have improved their senior ranking positions and these include Li Shizhao at No. 10 in the Men’s and Hannah Lynch-Dawson at No. 4 in the Women’s. After a good Classification performance, former No. 1 Na Ning return to a Top 10 ranking at No. 9.

The rankings are available here.

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STIGA Masters Round Robin Banded Event Report

by MastersNational EventsTTI News

F. Szeles, K. Mackey, A. Lyons

STIGA Masters Round Robin Banded Event Report

18th August 2012

Veterans from all four provinces travelled to Athlone this weekend to kick-start 2012/2013 season. Athlone produced another big entry and more new competitors! It’s great to see new faces and to extend a welcome return to old ones as well.

A new format was introduced for the main event ensuring plenty of match play. 40s, 50s & 60s were mixed and organised into four evenly matched groups to decide positions for the banded events in the afternoon.  The top 3 from each group proceeded to Band 1, next 3 to Band 2 and remaining players moved to Band 3. Unfortunately, the banded events had to be expedited due to unavoidable delays in the group stages. Some minor changes to the group stages will ensure that such delays are avoided at future events.  Now to the action!

Some close and exciting matches developed in the early group stages, with notable performances from Pat McCloughan, Mike Nash and John Finn.

Mixed 40+ Band 1

Despite losing a 5 set battle to Pat Mc Cloughan at the Group stage, Kevin Mackey recovered and progressed with ease through Band 1. He overcame Kariem Sabir in the semi-finals to set up a final match with Kevin Devaney. Kevin Devaney topped his group, unbeaten, and progressed to the final beating Dave Butler and Terry Dolan in the knock-out stages. On the day, Kevin Mackey prevailed,  taking the Band 1 Title with a scoreline of 11-7, 11-8, 7-11 & 11-7.

Mixed 40+ Band 2

This was by far the most exciting Band, producing many 5 set thrillers. Although not making the Band final, David Gibbons has to be complimented for his outstanding performance beating Robert Davis in the QF to set-up a semi-final match with Ferenc Szeles. David took Ferenc to the fifth set, only to lose 13-11. Kryzstof Karozewski must also be congratulated on his performance beating Martin Pickles in the QF and Istvan Kozak (a dark horse) in the semi-final. Both Kryzstof and Ferenc stole the show producing a final with many twists and turns. Despite Kryzstof taking a two point lead in the fifth set, Ferenc held his nerve taking the Band 2 Title 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 8-11 & 11-9.

Mixed 40+ Band 3

Alan Lyons found his form in the afternoon, progressing to the final beating the exhausted Gillian Richardson (who played 16 matches on the day) and Bryan Morrison, on the way to set-up an encounter with Jack O’Meara. Jack progressed to the final after defeating both Richard Cruise and Paul Gallagher. Alan proved too strong for Jack on the day taking the Band 3 Title 11-13, 11-6, 11-9 & 11-6.  

Ladies Round Robin

Ros Carpenter emerged victorious in the ladies event. Ros, who also played in the Mixed 40+ event, defeated Teresa Devaney winning the fifth set 11-3. Gillian Richardson finished third having emerged victorious over Sharon Gibbons in a 5 set thriller. Apologies to the Ladies for starting the event 45 minutes late!

Our congratulations go to Teresa on winning the VETTS National Championship Title in Singles and Doubles at Bristol in May. Teresa also gave an outstanding performance at the World Veterans Championships in Stockholm, reaching the last 32 in Singles, where she lost to the eventual winner in 4 sets.

Mens 70+ Round Robin

John Fannin made a triumphant return to Irish competition after a long absence. He cruised to victory, only dropping one set in the entire event. What a performance! Liam Perris, returning to action after a serious illness, was the only player to take a set from John. Fittingly, Liam finished second, beating Ted Mahaffy in three straight sets. Jim Sheehan finished fourth after enduring a 5 set battle with local boy Ken Ridsdale.

A special thanks to all who volunteered their umpiring services and to those who stayed behind to clean-up. This is an aspect to the sport that is very often forgotten. Well done everyone!

The Society would also like to wish the Irish Veteran Squad who travel to Wales next month to participate in the Six Nations Championships the very best of luck! Our Ladies trio of Jenny, Teresa and Helena will relish the challenge of retaining their gold medal status.

Finally, the invaluable support of STIGA in running the Veterans Society is greatly appreciated.

Band 1:   1. K. Mackey;  2. K. Devaney;  3. T. Dolan, K. Sabir;   5. K. Jaksland, P. McCloughan, D. Butler.

Band 2:   1. F. Szeles;   2. K. Karozewski;  3. D. Gibbons, I. Kozak; 5. J. Storey, N. Nabney, R. Davis, M. Pickles.

 Band 3:   1. A. Lyons;   2. J. O’Meara;   3. P. Gallagher, B. Morrison;  5. G. Richardson, J. Finn, R. Cruise, G. Potter.

Men’s Over 70: 1. J. Fannin;  2. K. Perris;  3. T. Mahaffy;   4. J. Sheehan;  5. K. Ridsdale;  6. J. Harrison; 7. M. Keogh.Ladies:1. R. Carpenter;  2. T. Devaney;  3. G. Richardson;  4. S. Gibbons;  5. C. Harnedy;  V. Barry.

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Irish Start Grand Prix Season in Spectacular Fashion

by International EventsTTI News

A large contingent of Irish players travelled to the first ETTA Grand Prix of the event last weekend for the Liverpool Grand Prix. It was to be a fantastic start to the season for the Irish, with several impressive performances and event victories.

Top result of the weekend was Paul McCreery, who recorded his first Grand Prix win beating Gary Dodd and David Meads before facing Chris Doran in the Final. In a tight affair, McCreery fought back from 2-1 down to claim the match and title. He was not finished there however and recorded success on the double by claiming the Under 21 title – Daniel O’Connell would be his opponent in the final. The final finished 3-1 after Paul’s early 2-0 advantage was pegged back by Dan.

In the Women’s Singles, Ashley Givan was in superb form, having beaten Yolanda King and winner of group one Chloe Whyte to book her place in the final, both in four sets. In the final she was beaten by Karina LeFevre but was later named Tees Sport Player of the Tournament for her performances to reach the women’s singles final from an unseeded position and her attitude over the course of the weekend. 

Ashley is pictured here with Alan Ransome OBE receiving her prize. All Irish table tennis fans will hope Amanda Mogey has recovered from the injury that ruled her out of Liverpool in time for this weekend’s Senior Classification.

Other strong performances over the weekend included Edel O’Reilly claiming the Women’s Band 2 singles title. Edel came off the better in the all Ireland quarter-final against Sarah Timlin before defeating Scotland’s Lucy Elliot to book her place in the final. The final was a marathon effort against Corinna Whitaker with 3 points being the biggest winning margin. The title finally went to Edel 11-9 in the fifth set. Emma Ludlow also claimed the Band 4 Ladies title – a great win for the Ulster player. 

Declan O’Brien continued the Irish success in the Men’s Band 3 event. Declan beat Luke Savill in his quarter-final before advancing past Shaun Murray. Against Matthew Main in the Final, Declan fough hard to seal victory and another Irish title.

Ireland looked to maintain their success in the Women’s Band 3 singles event. Katie McGlone came from behind to win a five set battle against Paulina Orzechowska, before dispatching Gosia Muda 3-0. In the other half of the draw Lucy Zhu had her own five set battle against Nicole Finn before beating Zoe Cheesmen. The luck of the Irish wasn’t with Katie this time as she fell 3-0 to the youngster Lucy Zhu.

Congratulations to all of the Irish in action at the weekend, particularly to McCreery and Givan who will now look to bring their good form into the Senior Classification event this weekend.

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An ExCel Moment!!

by TTI News

(photograph courtesy of Catherine Hickey)

Not quite a chance encounter between our Irish President Joe Hickey, pictured here with Richard Yule (former Scottish No 1 and CEO of the English Table Tennis Association) and Alex Murdock, Chairman of ETTA and BTTF.

The three top men in Irish and English table tennis took time out prior to the Men’s Team Final of the Olympic table tennis event at the ExCel Arena to have an informal chat on matters of mutual interest within the Home Countries, and possible follow-up.

As our members will see from the photo, our President wore his blazer with the Irish crest and he commented that it was amazing the number of people who engaged him in conversation having noticed the crest.

The funniest moment at ExCel for Joe and his wife Catherine  was when one of the basketball volunteers mentioned to them that there was a rumour that the US President and DAVID BECKHAM might turn up for the table tennis final……..and Joe had little doubt as to who she was most interested in !

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Olympic Final – Mens

by International EventsTTI News

Finalists in the Men’s Singles event at the GAC GROUP 2011 World Championships and at the LIEBHERR Men’s World Cup later in the year, China’s Zhang Jike and Wang Hao meet again today.

They duly booked their places in the Men’s Singles gold medal contest at the London 2012 Olympic Games, following penultimate round success on the morning of Thursday 2nd August.

Both succeeded in five game duels.

Seeded no.2, Zhang Jike beat Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov (11-8, 11-3, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8), before Wang Hao accounted for Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan (11-13, 11-2, 12-10, 11-6, 11-8).

Defeat for both Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Chuang Chih-Yuan but a higher finish than their seeding predicted.

Bronze Medal Contest


Chuang Chih-Yuan(pictured) was the no.5 seed, with Dimitrij Ovtcharov being the no.8 seed.

The two now meet in the bronze medal contest.

According to Form
Wins as ranking predicted and also as past form suggested.

Zhang Jike had played Dimitrij Ovtcharov on three previous occasions in World ranking events; on each occasion they had been closely fought duels. 

Past Results
In 2009 at the Danish Open, Dimitrij Ovtcharov had won in six games but in the two ensuing duels it had been success for Zhang Jike. 

He had won in 2010 at the quarter-final stage of the LIEBHERR Men’s World Cup in six games and one year later in the first stage at the same competition; the decision being in seven games.

All had been close matches; the contest in the ExCeL Arena proved to be the most convincing when the result was taken into account but it was hard fought. 

Crucial Game
The fourth game was the crucial moment. Dimitrij Ovtcharov recovered; he saved a series of game points to trail 9-10; a rally ensued with a forehand top spin from Dimitrij Ovtcharov clipping the top of the net and flying long.

It was the pivotal moment, it gave Zhang Jike a major boost of confidence; a hard fought fifth game ensued by Zhang Jike was in the ascendancy; a place in the final was duly booked.

Favoured Chinese Star
Equally previous results between Wang Hao and Chuang Chih-Yuan pointed heavily in favour of the Chinese star.

The pair had met on 13 previous occasions with Wang Hao having succeeded in 11 of the duels. 

Furthermore he had won the most recent 10 duels. The first encounter at the Dutch Open in 2002 had been won by Wang Hao; the next two had gone the way of Chuang Chih-Yuan.

Winning Sequence Started in Athens
He won in 2002 at the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals in Stockholm and then the following year on the ITTF Pro Tour at the Danish Open.

However, in Athens at the quarter-final stage of the Men’s Singles event at the 2004 Olympic Games, it was success for Wang Hao; he won in six games and he has won ever since.

First Game
In the ExCeL Arena, Chuang Chih-Yuan established an early lead in the first game, he won the first five points before Wang Hao responded. 

Wang Hao established a rhythm and at 10-9 went ahead for the very first time in the match.

Chuang Chih-Yuan responded, he captured the game 13-11, before being overwhelmed in the second. 

An Opportunity
However, in the third game he established a 10-8 lead. There was chance, an opportunity to put Wang Hao under immense pressure.

Third Time
It was not to be; Wang Hao won the next four points and the die was cast.
He secured the deciding game to the delight of ecstatic coach, Liu Guoliang, 

Wang Hao was in the Men’s Singles final at an Olympic Games for the third consecutive time

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Cadets & Juniors Battling at European Youths

by International EventsTTI News

5 Irish players and 2 coaches are currently battling for results at the 2012 European Youth Championships in Schwechat, Austria. See below for an update on the performances in the Team events in advance of the Singles competition which gets underway today:

Cadet Girls Team

The Cadet Girls Team of Chloe O’Halloran and Hannah Lynch-Dawson were drawn in Group J against Ukraine and Bulgaria. This proved to be a stern test, and the girls lost 3:0 to Ukraine and 3:1 to Bulgaria, the only bright spot coming in Lynch-Dawson’s victory in 5 sets of Maria Yovkova.

The Girls moved into their second group, looking for a win. They were drawn against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan and Armenia. They started well, with a fantastic 3:1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, combining very well to claim a doubles victory 11:9 in the 5th, with Lynch Dawson also claiming two excellent victories in the singles. They then lost out 3:1 to Azerbaijan, Lynch-Dawson again on the mark, before closing out the group with a titanic 3:2 loss to Armenia. Again the girls combined well to record a doubles victory and Lynch-Dawson also claimed a win over Diana Khojagoryan(12:10 in the 5th) but it was not enough to prevent the defeat.

Finally, the Girls faced Luxembourg in their play-off game, claiming a 3:0 victory, with another strong Doubles performance and Lynch-Dawson and O’Halloran both recording Singles victories. The team finished overall in 33rd place. 

Junior Girls Team

Ireland had a tough draw in Group H against Austria and Bulgaria. The team made up of Ashley Givan, Edel O’Reilly and Elayna McGlone struggled in their first encounter against the host nation, suffering a 3:0 defeat. They fought back in their 2nd match against Bulgaria in what was a thrilling encounter. The girls raced in to a 2:0 lead, with Givan and O’Reilly recording victories. McGlone was then beaten before Bulgaria caused a bit of a surprise, with Petrova beating Givan deuce in the 5th set and Lazarova also defeating O’Reilly in the final set to claim the match for Bulgaria.

Ireland then moved into their 2nd group, where they would face San Marino, Armenia and Belgium. Ireland claimed their first match over San Marino, with Ashley Givan recording two wins and McGlone storming to a win in an impressive performance over Chiara Boffa. In their next match, the girls again just missed out on the victory over Armenia in an agonising 3:2 defeat, Givan and O’Reilly claiming wins before O’Reilly was beaten by Llana Muradyan by the narrowest of margins, losing out 13:11 in the 5th set. In their final match, Ireland were comprehensively beaten by a classy Belgian team who claimed the group victory.

In their play-off game, the Irish faced Kosovo and claimed 33rd place with a 3:1 victory – Givan again consistent with two victories and O’Reilly also on the mark.

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Death of Keith Ponting, ETTA President

by TTI News

The Association is saddened to hear of the death of Keith Ponting, President, English Table Tennis Association.  Keith had been a volunteer in the sport for more than 60 years and gained the ultimate honour in the English Association by being appointed President in 2011.

“Many of us who travelled to tournaments in England, including the Junior British League, have met Keith. Our experience of him has been that of an extremely efficient organiser who has always been very helpful to us at all times and a perfect gentleman,” said ITTA International Director, Ken Strong. “We tender our sympathy to his wife, Rosemary, and family.”

http://etta.co.uk/news/keith-ponting-obituary/