The Irish Veterans international season gets underway this weekend with the Six Nations in Guernsey. 17 of Irelands top veterans will travel to Guernsey on Friday to take part in the three day event. The ITTA would like to take this opportunity to wish the team the very best of luck. Check back next week for a full report.
Veterans Team Selection for Six Nations:
40s: K. Devaney, R. Davis, D. Gibbons; Sharon Brien, Gillian Richardson.
50s: K. Sabir, B. Finn; Teresa Devaney, Jenny Harrison, Helena Dennett.
60s: M. Pickles, T. Caffrey, B. Dickson; Audrey Robinson.
Photo – Paul McCreery(with thanks to ETTA Facebook)
Bristol Grand Prix – Results
A number of Irish international were in action last weekend at the Bristol Grand Prix. Some great results, including a great win by Paul McCreery over Great Britain Olympic hopeful Darius Knight. Some highlighted results below;
MEN’S SINGLES
Paul McCreery beat Darius Knight 3-1 in the semi-final. English International Knight is on the British Long List for the London 2012 Olympics. McCreery lost in the Final to Gavin Rumgay of Scotland, also on the Long List for 2012. Paul lost 3-1, but had a chance to draw level at 2-2 when he led 10-8 in 4th set before losing.
Ashley Robinson lost to Darius Knight 3-1 in 2nd round, while Gavin Maguire lost in the last 32.
BAND 1
McCreery justified his number 1 seeding in the Men’s Band 1 Singles by making the title his. En route to the final Paul saw off Tomasz Rzeszotko and Ryan Owen. Lining up alongside him was Garth Kinlocke, he took out Ashley Robinson 3-1 and Victor Guang Shi 3-0. The final match of the day started well for Paul with an 11-6 first set win, and looked like one way traffic with him 8-2 in the second set, but Garth had other ideas. He pulled back to take the second end 14-12, Paul managed to make that second set just a blip taking the next two games 11-7 to claim the title.
Gavin Maguire lost in the Quarter Final to Ryan Owen of Wales.
UNDER 21
Ashley Robinson beat Garth Kinloch in Q/F, and lost to Matt Ware in S/F
Some lively proceedings emanated from the Qualification Tournament held in Lucan. Kariem Sabir won the Over 40s event, accounting for Kevin Mackey and Kevin Devaney enroute. Worthy performances were registered here by Paul Norgrove, Tommy Fitzgerald and Brian Finn. Martin Pickles gave an outstanding display to beat Kariem in the final of the Over 50s. This followed a marvellous semi-final between Kariem and Kieran Burke.
Recently retired Tommy Caffrey continued with business as usual, winning the Over 60s. Ted Mahaffy beat Ronnie Drain in the 70s decider. Sharon Brien won the Ladies round robin. Catherine Harnedy is to be commended, travelling all the way from Cork just for this event! Kryzstof Karczewski accounted for Alan Taylor and John Finn in the Men’s Consolation.
Once again, our thanks go to STIGA for their generous support. An enjoyable day’s play saw Jim Storey, Mark McAlister, John Harrison and Neil Shanahan, among others, committing to the Veterans programme for the rest of the year. Now, it’s onwards to the Six Nations in Guernsey!
There was a super display of table tennis in Banbridge Leisure Centre last Friday evening.
Top class table tennis came to Banbridge in the form of Spanish Super League playing duo Oriol Monzo and Daniel Torres who faced an Irish Select team which included the current Irish No 1 John Murphy, Ulster No. 1 Peter Graham and International Keith Knox.
The players were welcomed to the area by the Chairperson of Banbridge Council Mrs Joan Baird MBE, who presented gifts to the players and match official Tom Mitchell to mark this first international table tennis match to be held in the area and the first in Northern Ireland for some years.
The event was organised by Ulster Table Tennis and Banbridge Table Tennis Club would like to thank Fitzgerald’s Table Tennis, Andrew Dennison Sport, Tayto, Iveagh Movie Studios, Shoefair Sports, Total Hockey and Sterling’s Chemist for their generous sponsorship of the event.
The format for the evening required the Irish select team members to play the Spanish pair in a series of singles matches. The audience including Chairperson Baird MBE, and fans from all parts of the country as well as players and non players from the local area, were not disappointed.
The quality of table tennis was truly amazing and entertaining. Rally after rally saw opponents using the entire length and width of the playing area which, although laid out to Olympic standard, was not large enough, and players frequently were seen jumping over the barriers to return shots – some by necessity, some for sheer entertainment value!
High point of the evening was the Monzo v Torres exhibition match which was simply the most amazing display of table tennis seen in Banbridge.
Frequently the audience would see what they assumed was going to be a winning shot, only for it to be somehow retrieved. Cross table angles defied imagination and returns around the net post were almost common place.
Comments from experienced players in the audience usually included words such as brilliant, amazing, and unbelievable as the visiting players put on a display of power, skill, imagination and humour, all kept in order by top International umpire Tom Mitchell from Dublin, assisted by Luke, Scott, Frazer and Lewis some of the junior section club members.
The result of the contest was an overall victory for Spain’s Monzo and Torres. However Murphy, Graham and Knox put on a fantastic show in the hotly contested matches, taking a number of sets off the visitors, which was no mean feat.
Considering Danny and Oriel have played against and practice with the world’s best including Timo Boll, the world number one and Vladimir Samsonov, the number six, this was not really a surprise result.
What has been achieved as far as the home players is concerned, is that they will have had a world class training session against two quality players, which helps them prepare for their coming season.
All in all this was a great night for table tennis. Everyone in the audience was asking for more and the organizers hope this can be arranged, given the success of this event.
Anyone wishing to play table tennis is invited to come along to Banbridge Table Tennis Club at the Leisure Centre any Friday night – junior 7.30pm and adults 9.00pm.
Banbridge District Council Chairman Cllr Joan Baird MBE presented Banbridge Plaques to visiting Spanish Super League players Daniel Torres and Oriol Manzo from Team CTT Olesa at the start of the Table Tennis Exhibition Match against the Irish Select at Banbridge Leisure Centre – Edward Byrne Photography INBL34-207EB
Photos are courtesy of Banbridge Leader Newspaper.
To register for one of these sessions, you need to register online at the above website address. Alternatively, contact the Project Manager Conleth Donnelly on 028 9038 3232.
This is a fantastic opportunity for clubs within Northern Ireland to avail of some much needed funding. For help with completing applications, or providing templates for a constitution or child protection policy please contact [email protected] or 028 90383811. I have attached the guidance notes regarding the application process, however there is a wealth of information available on the SportNI website (address listed above).
I strongly urge that clubs attend the information sessions to get as much knowledge as possible regarding the application process. There is huge demand all ready for this programme so attending one of these sessions may help you to get a clearer idea of what SportNI are looking for when assessing your application.
Photo: Tony Oudot/Richard Lane Photography UK School Games 2008. Table Tennis. 30/08/2008. Annalise Walker of Northern Ireland gets instructions from her coach.
Table Tennis Ulster is delighted to announce the return of Jing Yi Graham as coach for our Elite, Development and Futures Squads for the remainder of the 2011/2012 season. Jing Yi, who is well known and highly respected in table tennis circles, will commence regular coaching sessions at the Valley Leisure Centre and other locations. We would like to welcome back Jing Yi to table tennis coaching and wish her well in this new role.
IRISH NATIONAL CHAMPION TUTOR’S YOUNG LAOIS TALENT
TOP class current and future table tennis stars from across Co Laois and beyond have spent the last fortnight receiving expert tuition in Castletown. The community centre there hosted the first ever Laois Table Tennis Summer Camp, where up to 60 of the best players from around the county were put through their paces by top class coach and Irish national champion John Murphy. Special guest coach was Irish junior team manager and ITTA technical director John O’Donoghue who said that he was really impressed with a number of young players present. He also commented that a camp such as this gives players a great chance to improve their skills with the possibility that more local children will follow Amylou Hayes in playing for Ireland in the comming years.
Mountrath coach Jimmy Hayes, who also works with a number of clubs in the county and who organised the camp, thought that it was a great 2 weeks. He said that the players really enjoyed it and showed great enthusiasm throughout the event. “It was also great to see so many senior players and coaches come along on different days to help out. The general view expressed by all is that a table tennis centre of excellence in the county is a must in the near future if we are to continue the progress made by many of the young gifted local players”.
The Munster Junior Girls Table Tennis team of Ballincollig’s Emily Burns and Leah Daly, and Kinneigh’s Aisling Healy had a hugely successful weekend at the Junior British League Qualifying event in Grantham, Lincolnshire. The girls sailed through their programme of matches to a thrilling play-off against Burton Uxbridge at the end of the day.They finished in 1st position, beating their English opponents 3-nil. Emilly, Leah and Aisling secured a place for the Junior Girls in the next stage of the League in Wolverhampton in October. The Munster Cadet team of Ballincollig’s James O’Reilly, Gearoid O’Donoghue and Alan Walsh got off to a shaky start with some tough matches against Team London. They drew that match 3-3 and went on make some spectacular wins. However the match ratio went against them as the day wore on and the team failed to qualify for the next round. They finished 3rd in their group of 6 – an excellent result for three u14s in their first British League event. Better luck next year! The Junior Boys team of Kinneigh’s Barry and Brian Kelleher, Damien Tobin and Killarney’s Michael Lagan also had a very eventful day. They faced tough opposition from the very start and though all boys played exceptionally well and won many matches, they didn’t finish in the top two in their group. The Junior Boys learned a lot from their weekend, got experience against players with different styles of play and look forward to using that experience on the domestic scene from September. The Cadet Girls team of Killarney based Valentina Poutkalyte, Devon and Brielle Brady and Courtney Drummond had a great day in Grantham. They won some fantastic matches. The young girls, none of whom have played at this level before, gained valuable experience which will benefit them hugely at Munster and Irish Rankings in the season ahead. All in all, while the entire Munster Junior British League Team had a successful and enjoyable weekend in Grantham, the weekend undoubtedly belonged to Emily, Leah and Aisling. Well done girls and congratulations to Coach, Alan Hurley. Thanks to Colette O’Reilly for the report and photo
Ireland’s first day at the European Youth Championships got off to a disappointing start. First into action was the Cadet Girls, who faced off against Belgium at 9am this morning. Ashley Givan was first into action against Florence Vanacker. Givan raced into a one set lead, but Vanacker fought back to take the next three sets and edge Belgium into a 1:0 lead. Edel O’Reilly, making her debut at the European Championships, was ice cool as she defeated Evi Janssens in straight sets to level the match. Next up were the crucial Doubles, and the Irish duo pushed Belgium all the way in a thrilling 5 setter, before eventually succumbing 11:9 in the 5th set. Givan was immediately back in action, levelling the match at 2:2 in another 5 setter. That set up a final match showdown between O’Reilly and Vanacker. Again, O’Reilly took a one set lead, but Vanacker was on the comeback trail again and took the next 3 sets to take the match for Belgium. But this was an encouraging performance by the Irish Cadets who will look to take a win against either Israel or Ukraine in their next group matches.
At lunch time today, the Junior Boys were into action against Luxembourg. This was a match that the Irish were hoping to win and they will have to work hard to pick themselves up from a disappointing less. Paul McCreery took two wins as expected, defeating Jan Thews and Sven Hansen, dropping just one set along the way. This is a big tournament for McCreery, capping off a fine season for the National No.1, and he will be delighted with his start. Teammates Robinson and Logue would have hoped to pick up that crucial 3rd win. Logue was closest, taking a 2 set lead against Eric Glod. Glod fought back to take the 3rd 14:12 and from there cruised to the victory. Robinson lost out to Jan Thews and Sven Hansen. The Junior Boys will be back in action at 9am tomorrow(7am Irish time) – which will be streamed live here:
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