Twenty six teams, representing the Winners and Runners-up of the Group rounds of the Ulster Schools’ Leagues, met at the Valley Leisure Centre to fight out the knockout stages of the competition.
Royal School Cavan had the majority representation, seven teams, and we welcomed newcomers St Aidan’s Comprehensive Cootehill to their first finals. The holders of the U19 Girls, Victoria College, were prevented by examination commitments from defending their title, and the Under 12 Girls event had already been decided at the group stage. There were a number of close matches: in the Under 14 Boys Quarter-Finals Ballyclare High School edged through over Royal School Cavan by the narrow margin of 225 points to 223 after a 3-all draw, but Royal School won a close match 11 games to 9 against Coleraine Inst in the Under 12 Boys, and in the other half of the Under 12 draw Ballyclare High beat a fancied RBAI 222-202 in the Semi-Final.
In the Under 19 Boys, Fivemiletown College, without their leading light Ashley Robinson, still managed to emerge as champions, led by Jonathan Porter, and the Under 14 Boys was won by a Monaghan Collegiate team with Ryan McConkey playing at Number 1. High School Ballynahinch pulled off another championship at the Under 12 level, though their Final with Ballyclare High was a close fought affair.
In the Girls events, Hannah Lynch-Dawson led Royal School Cavan to a creditable double of wins in both the Under 19 and Under 14 Girls.
The move from the previous venue of Glenburn Methodist Church Hall to the Valley Leisure Centre made for a much more relaxed and comfortable day, and was a welcome innovation.
The ITTF World Individual Championships kicks off this weekend, with 4 Irish players in action. Paul McCreery and National Champion John Murphy are our two Male entries, with Junior player Ashley Givan and Amanda Mogey entered into the Women’s events. Speaking as the team prepares to depart following good preparation at the Luxembourg Open, ITTA Technical Director John O’Donoghue stated:
“Our young squad of players are looking forward to testing themselves against the best in the world. It is a wonderful opportunity to gain valuable experience and to learn from the best players in the world at these top quality Championships. In Ashley Givan and Paul McCreery we have two very young players who have great potential for the future. Both John Murphy (the 5 times National Champion) and Amanda Mogey will bring all their experience and skill to the Championships and will be hoping for good results to improve their world rankings. I wish them and coach Peter Nilsson all the best for the event”
I am sure all members of the Irish table tennis community will be rooting from afar for the Irish players – best wishes to all for a successful tournament. ITTAWeb will feature daily updates from Rotterdam.
Ulster claimed the Victor Barna Shield at the Junior Interpros held in Killarney last weekend. The Aura Leisure Centre proved to be an excellent facility for table tennis and an appropriate setting for some of Ireland’s top Junior players to display their skills and represent their provinces.
Many observers felt Leinster were favourites to take the Barna Shield but this was not to be the case as a number of tight matches and surprising results led to the trophy travelling back to Ulster yet again, while Munster claimed 2nd place overall.
Event Reviews
Juniors
Munster claimed the Junior Girls title, producing an excellent performance to defeat Ulster 7-2 in the deciding match. Laura Finn produced two battling performances recording wins for Ulster over Aisling Healy and Emily Burns, but Edel O’Reilly won all 3 of her games and Healy and Burns took 2 a piece to claim the victory for the hosts.
In the Junior Boys, Ulster claimed a facile victory over Connacht to kick-off their tournament, with Stephen Slater, Neil Irwin and Kieran Reilly all going undefeated. Next up was Munster and Ashley Robinson came into the team. Robinson was impressive in defeating international colleague Declan O’Brien in straight sets and also winning his other two games. Stephen Slater also produced an excellent display to defeat O’Brien and round off a really good 7-2 victory for Ulster. With Leinster beating Munster 5-4 and Connacht 9-0, a deciding encounter between Leinster and Ulster would decide the title. Sam Logue claimed two points for Leinster with victories over Irwin and Slater, but Robinson was imperious – claiming all 3 of his matches. Slater then clinched the match and the title for Ulster 5-3 with a win over Club Donic’s talented Shi Zhao Li.
Cadets
The Cadet Boys was all about Team Leinster, with international team-mates Conor Mullally, Ryan Farrell and Kevin Hutchinson all representing the favourites and ALSAA’s Ciaran Kelly also playing an important role. They blitzed their opponents to claim the title, Ryan Farrell maintaining a 100% record throughout. This is the 3rd win a row for Leinster in the Cadet Boys event.
Ulster claimed the Cadet Girls title, with Hannah-Lynch Dawson leading the way with some impressive displays. They beat Munster into 2nd place following a 6-3 victory over the hosts. Some excellent matches were a feature of this category – Emma Ludlow’s 5 set(11-9 in the 5th) victory over Leinster’s Meadhbh Slattery in particular stands out.
Under 12s
The Under 12s was a difficult category to call in advance and this proved to be the case. Some enthralling encounters ensued – Munster took a 5-4 victory over Leinster in the first match, Karl Walsh holding his nerve to record two wins in 5 setters. Zak Wilson was on top form as Ulster defeated Connacht 6-3. Club Donic’s Evin McGovern then provided a sign of fireworks to come with a 100% performance in a 6-3 victory for Leinster over Connacht, while Ulster cruised to a 6-3 victory over Munster. Munster closed out their tournament with a 5-2 victory over Connacht while Leinster defeated Ulster 5-4 with Evin McGovern producing two fantastic performances to record wins over joint National Number Ones Zak Wilson and Ryan McConkey. This of course led to a three-way tie and the dreaded count back – Ulster eventually emerging as Under 12 Champions.
Leinster were probably just favourites in the Under 12 Girls, but there were some surprise results with the hosts claiming the title. Valentina Puotkalyte was in unstoppable form, posting victories over Elayna and Katie McGlone as well as Primary School International Nga Nguyen in a thrilling 5-4 victory over Leinster. Brielle Brady and Chloe O’Halloran were also in fine form as Ulster was defeated 8-1 and Munster clinched the title with a 9-0 result over Connacht.
In the end, it was another fantastic Junior Interpros, with lots of great matches and talking points. Munster Under 12 Valentina Puotkalyte was selected for the inaugural Colum Slevin Player of the Tournament Award following her clinical displays in leading the Munster team to the Under 12 title. Congratulations again to the Ulster team and thanks to our sponsors STIGA, tournament referee Con O’Ceadaigh and the Munster Branch for all their fine work in hosting this event.
The venue for the Primary Schools Championships this year was the very pleasant Banbridge Leisure Centre where excellent facilities had been set up by Arnold Morgan. Everyone was welcome to the first occasion on which Ulster had organised this event. We lacked an entry from Munster in the Girls’ competition, but otherwise all the provinces were represented. Results were clear cut, so there was no need to use the one game doubles play-off in the event of a draw, nor countback to determine results.
The Boys’ event was dominated by St Teresa’s National School from Kilkelly, though they were pushed hard by both Gaelscoil Ui Fhiaich from Maynooth and Lissagriffin National School from Skibbereen.
In the Girls’ event Guardian Angels National School from Blackrock were clear winners, losing only one individual match.
Many thanks to Ulster Schools sponsor Allianz, Referee Mr.Tony Phillips and Tom Mitchell, Arnold Morgan, Ted Mahaffy and Jamie McConkey for providing Umpire supervision, and to all the players, teachers, coaches and parents for making it a most enjoyable day.
In preparation for the May World Individual Championships, the Irish Men and Women’s Senior teams were in Luxembourg at the Luxembourg Open. The “Luxembourg Open Table Tennis Championships” Event is officially recognized by ETTU and ITTF and all played matches will be taken into account for the World Ranking. The tournament features some top players, led by top seed Pistej Lubomir of Slovakia who is just outside the top 100 Men in the world and Timina Elena of the Netherlands who is Nr.102 in the ITTF World Rankings. The Irish squad is made up of National Champion John Murphy and Paul McCreery, with Ulster’s Amanda Mogey and Ashley Givan on the Women’s team.
Draw and Format
In the first day of play, the Irish Men were drawn against ‘France 2’ in the Team event, while the Women were drawn against Brazil. The Team Events’ matches (Men and Women) is played with teams of 2 players, according to a “reduced Corbillon-Cup system” with 2 single matches ( A1 against B1 and A2 against B2 ) and 1 double match, which shall however be played only if the score after the two single matches is 1:1.
Results – Men
In the Qualifying Round, Ireland produced a good performance to beat ‘France 2’. McCreery beating Pineau in a thrilling five setter before Murphy dropped a match to Brosson, with the Irish eventually clinching victory with a solid Doubles performance to progress. The duo then lost to ‘Sweden 1’, SODERLUND and ANDERSSON. McCreery lost the first -11, -4, -2 while Murphy battled hard against Soderlund taking the first two sets but eventually losing 3-2. Israel eventually clinched the title in somewhat unfortunate fashion as Iran refused to fulfil the fixture.
In the Singles, McCreery lost is straight sets in the 1st Round to Sargu of Romania. Playing for places, McCreery also lost his next match to the Ukrainian Pysar, before claiming two wins over Pineau from France and Roose of Sweden to finish 72nd overall. Murphy also lost 4:1 to Ter Luun of the Netherlands in the first round, before recording his solitary victory over Samsan from Bahrain to finish 78th.
Results – Women
In the First Round, Ireland had a very tough draw against 3rd seeds brazil. A surprise was never on the cards as Mogey and Givan lost both matches without picking up a set. Into the Classification Round and the Irish had a truly nailbiting encounter against ‘Sweden 2’, with each of the 3 matches going to 5 sets. Givan picked up an excellent win in the singles over APPELGREN before the duo closed out the match with a stunning doubles victory. In the Women’ final Belarus overcame Romania with Camelia POSTOACA and Andrada VINCZE.
In the Singles, Givan took the first set but eventually lost 4:1 to GONDERINGER of Luxembourg and struggled to find a win in the event, although came close in a thrilling 4:3 loss to Michelle Quach(11-9 in the 7th).
Mogey eventually claimed a Singles victory for the Irish, beating Michelle QUACH of Sweden 4:2. She then faced top seed Timina in the next round – Timina was too strong and won in straight sets – she went on to win the competition outright. Playing for places, Mogey defeated home player Schlink and Swede Appelgren to finish 36th overall.
Table Tennis makes the claim that it is a sport from the “cradle to the grave” and can be played by virtually everyone. It takes it’s place as one of the most popular sports in the World and is proud of this accessibility. In Ireland table tennis is a minority sport but it still provides both recreational and high performance opportunities for those involved. A clear example of this accessibility is Lissagriffin National School located in the far South West of Ireland 5 miles from the end of the Mizen Peninsular. The school sits on its own, surrounded by the fields of this rural farming community and overlooking Barleycove one of Ireland?s finest Blue Flag beaches and an area of outstanding natural beauty.
The school recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary and is well supported by the parents and local community. With only 27 pupils and two classrooms the future of the school is under threat of closure from the McCarthy Report as many other schools of its kind are, with a student population of under 50 students. With small class sizes and quality teachers many may argue that the children are privileged with the care and attention they receive but it is difficult for a school of this size to provide the varied physical education programmes and opportunities that larger schools take for granted. However the students at this school have approached table tennis with remarkable enthusiasm and they have a success record many larger schools would be envious of.
Over the last few years the school has regularly entered the West Cork Schools Cup, one of the largest schools events in the country and have won the Primary School Mixed title 3 years in a row. With only three players required per team the school has increased its level of participation from a single team to four at the last event, with virtually half the school taking part! The school also entered the Munster Schools Cup in 2010 and won a silver medal in the final. Currently 20 students attend regular training which is held in the local Goleen & District Community Hall with students as young as 5yrs old taking part.
The standard in the school is surprisingly high and two of the students are ranked in the Top 10 in Ireland at U12 and another in the Top 10 U12s in Munster. This year the school celebrated the success of one of its players who was crowned Irish National Under 10 Champion. With all this success it would be easy to focus on the performance aspects of the sport but it is the level of participation that the school and local coach are proudest of.
This year the school intends to make the 600 mile round trip to Banbridge, Co. Down to represent Munster at the All Ireland Primary School Championships, the journey itself will be a remarkable achievement! There are few expectations of titles or medals but the journey both in geographical and in the terms of life experience for the students will provide an experience that will be simply inestimable. For the students who do not travel knowing that the possibility of such experience is possible, even if living in the remotest corner of this country, could provide them with both motivation and inspiration for the future.
Table Tennis caters for all ages and abilities and this is just one example of how a sport of this nature can change peoples’ lives.
Flawless Peter Graham wins the North Antrim Table Tennis Open.
Peter Graham in action
Report by Norman McBride
An excellent turn out of forty competitors travelled to the luxurious environs of Ballymena Academy to participate in the 2011 North Antrim Open. A new champion was assured as last year’s winner Leo Stynen from Germany was studying for his Final examinations. But new Ulster number one Peter Graham headed the seeding along with Ulster number two Philip Wallace, with Ulster’s top lady Amanda Mogey, Ulster’s top veteran Pawel Sulkowski and Wexford’s Brian Devereux all in attendance hoping to claim the vacant title.
To qualify for the Open event the players had to top a group of five players. Anyone in second place qualified for the Grade two event, those third in their groups qualified for the Grade three event and fourth and fifth placed places battled out for the Grade Four event.
In the group stages the top seed Peter Graham qualified from group one unscathed with convincing victories over Ballymena’s Connor White, Coleraine’s James Dillon, Larne’s Byron Graham and Wexford’s Sabina Devereux.
“Fast” Phil Wallace was top of group two defeating Ballyclare’s Hannah Ireland, Dublin’s Anthony Dobbs, Banbridge’s Stephen Turkington and Ulster veteran Roy Coard.
The first upset came in Group three with Wexford’s Brian Devereux finishing second to Pawel Sulkowski who went on to defeat Portrush’s Anselm Brankin, Ballymena’s Jonny Wilson and Robin Agnew.
Group four had the talented Amanda Mogey finish top with victories over Ulster number ten lady Emma Nicholl, Ballymena’s Adam Greer, Ballyclare veteran Ian Davies and Belfast’s Andrew Loane.
Group five was a real tough group with Dawid Sulkowski playing excellent table tennis to take top spot defeating County Antrim finalist Philip Jamison, Ballymena defender Andrew Herbison, Banbridge’s Barry Dickson and Arnold Morgan.
In Group six Academy Strongtower’s Gary Crawford qualified by defeating Belfast’s Rita Okotebe, Ballymena’s Jimmy O’Hara, Belfast’s Ted Mehaffey and Ballyclare’s Richard Davies.
Group seven had top seed Gervis Knox comfortably progress with wins over Ballyclare’s talented Andrew Davies, Ballymena’s Adam McIlmoyle, Belfast’s Mark Gordon and Ballymoney’s Neil Robinson.
The eighth and final group almost brought an upset as Academy Strongtower’s Mark McAllister let two match points slip against eventual group winner Georgi Hubenov. Hubenov went on to defeat Newtownabbey’s Thomas Davies, Ballymena starlet Peter McCrum and Ballymoney veteran Gary McClelland.
The eight qualifiers then formed two further groups with the top two in each group progressing to the semi- finals. The first group saw top seed Peter Graham and fourth seed Amanda Mogey progress to the semi final stages with Dawid Sulkowski and Georgi Hubenov finishing in third and fourth spots respectively. Indeed, the unseeded Sulkowski was a tad unlucky not to progress as he took a set off Graham and lost 12-10 in the fifth set against Mogey. The second group provided a few shocks as Gervis Knox topped the group with the unseeded Pawel Sulkowski finishing second both above number two seed Philip Wallace who secured third spot above his arch-rival Gary Crawford.
The semi-final saw Peter Graham progress in straight sets to the final with a fine win over Pawel Sulkowski. The other semi-final had Amanda Mogey battling against an inspired Gervis Know. The match was a very close affair with two like minded attacking players going toe to toe across the table. However it was Amanda Mogey who prevailed with her devastating smashes penetrating Knox’s defences in the deciding game.
Unfortunately Amanda couldn’t repeat the form of her semi-final victory and Peter Graham clinched the North Antrim title in straight sets. All in all a magnificent display by Graham who only dropped one set in the nine matches he played. But Mogey should take much credit for reaching the final of this prestigious ranking tournament and taking numerous top scalps in the process.
The Grade two event went to Wexford’s Brian Devereux who defeated Philip Jamison in the semi-final. In the final he defeated Academy Strongtower’s Mark McAllister who had edged passed Andrew Davies in his semi-final.
The Grade three event was won by “Battling” Barry Dickson from Banbridge who defeated Robin Agnew in the semi final and veteran Ted Mehaffey in the final. Ted had reached the final after winning a monumental five set thriller against his old adversary Byron Graham.
The Grade four semi finals were contested between Mark Gordon, Anselm Brankin, Arnold Morgan and Academy Strongtower’s Peter McCrum. Mark Gordon won a thrilling five setter against Anselm Brankin while Arnold proved too experienced for the ever improving McCrum. The final was another five set cracker with Gordon managing to outlast Morgan in a game of hit and counter hit.
Brian Orr, the tournament referee, thanked all the competitors for their sporting behaviour, Ballymena Academy and host club Academy Strongtower for the use of the halls, Jimmy O’Hara for doing the presentations and Norman McBride for the hard work of arranging and running the tournament.
Kevin Mackey and Teresa Devaney retained their Singles Titles at the National Championships of the Irish Veterans Table Tennis Society in Lucan on Saturday. Teresa beat Jenny Harrison over four sets in the Ladies final, while Kevin triumphed over legendary Tommy Caffrey in the final of the Harry O’Prey Trophy. Earlier, Tommy had recovered from two sets down to beat Dave Pemberton in an enthralling semi-final. Kariem Sabir won the Over 50s title, beating Brian Finn in the fifth set decider. Tommy Caffrey won the Over 60s event, while Ted Mahaffy maintained his unblemished record in the Over 70s for the season. Several players from England were in attendance, helping to provide a large entry for the Ladies Singles. Good performances were registered by Sharon Brien and Audrey Robinson. In the Men’s events, Michael Cunningham and Ken Ridsdale acquitted themselves well. In a throwback to earlier times, a match in the early rounds saw Robby Davis overcome clubmate Paul Norgrove 21-19 in a titanic fifth set!! In conclusion, the Society is most grateful for the support of the National Umpires Association and Stiga throughout the season. Click here for full results.
At the AGM held at the weekend the following members were elected onto the Veterans Committee: Brian Finn (Chair/Secretary), Kariem Sabir (Treasurer), Ted Mahaffy and Philip Shaw.
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