News Archive - Nov 2011

East Sussex School Team Finals Night

East Sussex School Table Tennis Association’s Under 13,16,19 boys team finals take place on Friday 2nd December at St Leonards Academy, Edinburgh campus - the old Filsham Valley site, Edinburgh Road, TN38 8HH. The winners will have the opportunity to go on the zone finals and will need to get their forms in for this by 8th December.

The schedule is as follows

3.30pm

Under 16 Willingdon v St Leonard’s Academy

Under 13 Bishop Bell v William Parker

4.00pm

Under 16 Patcham v St Leonard’s Academy

Under 19 William Parker v Bexhill College

4.20pm

Under 19 City College v Bexhill College

Under 13 Bishop Bell v Patcham

4.40pm

Under 16 Patcham v Willingdon

Under 13 Patcham v William Parker

5.10pm

Under 19 City College v William Parker

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Woodlands TTC – a Sussex TT Success Story

Woodlands Table Tennis Club in Rustington near Littlehampton has just entered its sixth year and stands as a fine example of a Sussex TT success story.

Its main night is Tuesdays, pay-and-play starting at 5.30pm and running until and then from 7.30pm league matches. In the summer there is open play from 5.30. More recently high demand has merited in the club opening up a second night on Fridays at a church hall in Littlehampton.

This year the club had 12 additional players from its pay and play session (which generates an average attendance of 24 players) that wanted to play in the league which increased its league teams number to nine, involving over 40 players, in the Worthing and District League.

The club has an excellent social side including activities such as skittles, outdoor bowls, quizzes, walks, barbeques, theatre trips and an annual dinner which is always popular. Annual, end-of-season club tournaments held in the evenings always generate a high turnout.

This year to mark the passing away of Jim Holden, the club’s secretary, a pre-season memorial tournament was staged involving 20 members split into groups where competitors had to swap bats. It is now planned to hold this event annually, with a different twist being introduced each time.

The club mainly concentrates on its strength in catering for older players of all abilities. A large majority of its members are over 60 and includes characters such as Dennis Rhodes, who plays in Division 2 and who will be 90 in January and Lawrie Fountain in Division 1, a 78 years old enjoying a so far unbeaten start to this season...and he's not yet reached his peak!

Club stalwart Dave Richardson, a man who did so much to build up Horsham TTC in the past, has done much to foster the growth of this relatively new operation since his move to the Littlehampton area. He supports new people to get going in the game and, if they are competitively minded, to progress into the club’s lower division teams.

Dave commented, “We receive a steady stream of new people coming along and it is encouraging to hear how they enjoy themselves and feel part of the club quickly. Putting people at their ease, helping them get started and lots of encouragement appear to be key factors underpinning our growth.”

Woodlands TTC plays at the Woodlands Memorial Hall on Woodlands Avenue in Rustington. For further information contact Dave on gorranhaven@tiscali.co.uk

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Forest Firepower Pays Off

A powerful Forest School team dominated tonight's Crawley and Horsham Schools U16 team championships held at Holy Trinity School, Crawley. They won the overall team award by a comfortable margin and their best four players will represent the area at the West Sussex finals at which they'll be favourites to progress to the zone stages of the English Schools TT structure.

The 39 players that attended the local event were split into four ability bands to score points for their team according to the placing they achieved.

In Band A Tanbridge's Dan Pound was individually triumphant winning all his matches but opponents Josh Biggs, James Arnold and Holly Holder will all be pleased to have taken a set of the eventual winner. In the end Biggs, Arnold and Holder all tied on two wins each so it took countback rules to adjudicate that Biggs took bronze courtesy of his victory over Arnold and Holder's weaker sets for and against record saw her have to settle for fifth place overall.

Matt van Yperen (Forest) came second and will have been disappointed not to have pushed Pound harder in the crucial match. He may take some consolation from the fact that both he and Pound will be back for their final time in next year's event so he has 12 months to plot his revenge.

Forest's domination of Band B was striking. At the end of the event their six players at that level occupied the six highest placings out of a field of 11. At the top of their pile two Chinese brothers - Xiu Qi Yuan and Xiu Cheng Yuan - battled it out for the winners spot and it was Cheng who won the family bragging rights despite losing the first set against his brother when they met. Chris Brent took third and managed to pose the Yuan brothers a few problems.

Band C provided another opportunity for Forest players to impress with Felix Dibsdall and Jacob Dean topping that chart. Dibsdall just shaded the battle with his teammate for individual glory with a 15-13 fifth set win. Holy Trinity's Jamie Brazier took third and Lukaz Falski was St Wilfrid's' highest placed performer in fourth.

Owen Wales from Holy Trinity exploited home advantage to the full to win Band D, beating teammate Slate Gray 15-13 in the final set of the band final. St Wilfrid's player Dominic Kerr won the third place play-off in a close match against David Cotton, another Holy Trinity player.

Well done to the girls who formed a spirited gender minority in all the bands. Whilst the experienced Holly Holder held the female torch with distinction in the top band Holy Trinity's Lucy Halliday gave a good account of herself in a strong Band B despite ending up in last position and Millais' girls in the lower bands all gained good experience that will place them in good stead next time they compete at a tournament. Millais' top four players win the right to represent the area at the next levels up of the English Schools TT process.

PLACINGS:

OVERALL TEAM STANDINGS

1^st Forest 354pts

2^nd Holy Trinity* 431 x 10/15 = 287pts

3^rd St Wilfrid’s 147pts

4^th Tanbridge 132pts

5^th Millais 106pts

*Holy Trinity’s total reduced proportionately as they had extra players over the maximum of 10

ESTTA REPRESENTATION

ESTTA is the English Schools Table Tennis Association – the organisation which organises the Zone, Regional and National finals events which teams from local qualification events feed into

Scores compiled as best aggregate of each school’s top 4 players’ scores (minimum 4 players to qualify)

BOYS

1^st Forest 174pts

2^nd Holy Trinity 162pts

3^rd St Wilfrid’s 102pts

GIRLS

1^st Millais 95pts

INDIVIDUALS

Band A 1^st Dan Pound (Tan) 2^nd Matt van Yperen (For) 3^rd Josh Biggs (HT)

Band B 1^st Xiu Cheng Yuan (For) 2^nd Xiu Qi Yuan (For) 3^rd Chris Brent (For)

Band C 1^st Felix Dibsdall (For 2^nd Jacob Dean (For) 3^rd Jamie Brazier (HT)

Band D 1^st Owen Wales (HT) 2^nd Slate Gray (HT) 3^rd Dominic Kerr (StW)

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East Sussex School Team Champs Update

East Sussex Schools TT dynamo Teresa Bennett has been hard at work pulling things together for the ESTTA competition in the east of the county and as ever has made good progress.

Winners East Sussex schools Under 11 Boys – Christchurch, Runners Up Salehurst; Girls – West St Leonards

Winners Brighton area – Under 13 and Under 16 Boys Patcham High, Under 19 City College Brighton, Girls Under 16 – Brighton Aldridge Academy

Hastings area Under 16 to be played Thursday 17^th Nov at William Parker – attending William Parker, St Leonard’s Academy and Rye (Claverham pulled out); Hastings area Under 13 to be played Wed 23^rd Nov at St Leonards Academy – attending William Parker, St Leonard’s Academy and RYE

Eastbourne area to be played - Under 13 on 22^nd Nov at Bishop Bell – attending Bishop Bell, Lewes Priory and tbc; Under 16 Thur 24^th Nov at Bishop Bell with Bishop Bell, Willingdon and tbc attending

The finals have been set for FRIDAY 2^ND DEC AT ST LEONARDS ACADEMY Under 13,16 – as the forms have to be in by Dec 8^th for teams wishing to go on to the zone finals.

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Tantastic Four

Tanbridge House School's U13 boys team impressed to win the right to represent the Crawley/Horsham secondary school community in the West Sussex play-offs which will decide who represents West Sussex in the English Schools table tennis team championships. Forest School, traditionally the area's school TT powerhouse, also figured strongly by winning the overall U13 trophy by virtue of their strength in depth.

Tanbridge's dominance from the representative standpoint was illustrated by the fact that their top four players ended up occupying the top four spots in Band A at the business end of the competition. Sam Dallas was the main man in the quartet seeing off teammates Luke Baldwin in four sets in the semi and George Hazell by a similar margin in a good final. Chris Purdy provided evidence of the improvement his determination has brought him by taking third spot.

Five Forest School players figured next in the Band A standings headed up by the promising David Poole and beneath another Tanbridge player two Holy Trinity lads brought up the rear to give a highly stratified look to the placings list.

Band B was an interesting contest in which the only two girls in the event performed with distinction. Lauren Pound's strong drive play on both wings made her the dominant force although Forest's Tom Farr gave her a good game in the group stage and teammate Caroline Wirth took her to a deciding set in their semi-final. Wirth got over her disappointment by winning her third place play-off against Forest left-hander Harvey Hayden whilst Pound confidently beat another Forest leftie, Sam Chantrill, in straight sets in the final.

Forest's team will take some consolation in their overall team win which compared the total score of each team's players (up to a maximum of 10 players; if more players the score adjusted proportionately). Their 242 point score beat Tanbridge's by a margin of 24 and showed the value of maximising player take, Forest bring a total of nine players compared to Tanbridge's seven.

Holy Trinity youngsters again occupied the lower end places in Band B but well done to them all for applying themselves in good spirit despite having less experience in the game than their other school opponents.

CRAWLEY AND HORSHAM SCHOOLS U13 TEAM TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011 - RESULTS

 

HONOURS BOARD

OVERALL TEAM STANDINGS

1^st Forest 242 pts

2^nd Tanbridge 218 pts

5^th Holy Trinity 188 x 10/11 = 171 pts

 

ESTTA REPRESENTATION

ESTTA is the English Schools Table Tennis Association – the organisation which organises the Zone, Regional and National finals events which teams from local qualification events feed into

Scores compiled as best aggregate of each school’s top 4 players’ scores (minimum 4 players to qualify)

BOYS

1^st Tanbridge 142 pts

2^nd Forest 126 pts

3^rd Holy Trinity 90 pts

 

GIRLS

No school had the minimum 4 girls in order to qualify for representation in the ESTTA competition

 

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS

Band A 1^st Sam Dallas (Tan) 2^nd George Hazell (Tan) 3^rd Chris Purdy (Mill)

Band B 1^st Lauren Pound (Tan) 2^nd Sam Chantrill (For) 3^rd Caroline Wirth (Tan)

 

 

Growing Recognition for Brighton City

Brighton City TTC is one of Sussex's fastest growing junior table tennis set ups and people are starting to take notice. Listen to the Tim Holtam interview from the Sports Mission website.

Also see the written article on the site.

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Digital Olympics at Brighton City

Brighton City TTC is to undertake a digital Olympics at their home base next year. The club is used to being a the forefront of innovation but this time they haven't just pushed out the boat they've put a rocket under it.

'Ping Pong Obscura' will be the table tennis element giving people a chance to play the game like never before but the event will go much wider than just TT. Other events will include:

Mind Control Scalextric - drive a car with your mind
Exercise Bike Controlled Scalextric - you peddle, you win
Beat Boxing - boxing digital interface
Multi-Dance Mat digital dance floor - make music with your feet
Sports Band - physical interactions trigger sounds
Skate Digital Interactions - the art of skating
Fluxus Olympiad - ridiculous games for all the family to enjoy!!
Confused? Yes, aren't we all. However it looks fun, Brighton City TTC always deliver and perhaps the bit of extra information attached will provide enlightenment...or at least a little bit
Further details will be published once received so watch this space.

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Alliance Backing for Bryant

The Sussex Table Tennis Alliance has agreed to make a £200 contribution towards the extensive costs of Craig Bryant, ETTA South-East Regional Coach, undertaking a two-year postgraduate Diploma in Elite Sports Coaching and Talent Development through the University of Central Lancashire.

Alliance Secretary, Ian Ford, commented, "We have limited funds at our disposal and some key commitments to service so unfortunately this contribution has to be an exceptional one. However Craig's input to the Alliance's Sussex Junior Elite Centre operation has been invaluable and we want to recognise it with this gesture."

The Sussex Junior Elite Centre has a plenty of talented kids in its ranks so he'll have plenty of guinea pigs to apply his learning with.

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Y Goes TT Crazy

Youngsters at the Horsham Y Centre have been receiving a crash course in table tennis skills courtesy of Horsham Table Tennis Club coaches Steve Denman and Fred Bridges.

Fred has been operating the TT robot whilst Steve has been talent spotting...with some success as it looks like he's unearthed two or three players who'll be able to hold their own in a stronger playing environment.

The programme has been funded through Sport England's Sportivate scheme which is aiming to get 14-25 year olds more active.

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Mourning Roger Chandler

The Sussex table tennis community is mourning the loss of one of its greats – Roger Chandler has lost his battle with cancer.

Roger first won the County Junior title in 1961 and senior titles followed as won 12 of the 16 final he played in (1962,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,74,75,76,77,78,79 and 80). He was also won the men’s doubles five times and the mixed doubles three times.

Funeral details have yet to be announced but the address for cards is 5 The Drove, Brighton, BN1 5NN

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Henzell's Olympic Journey

Another great spot from the Marc Burman web TT search engine. Australia's top player William Henzell has produced an interesting video diary of his preparations for 2012.

The four videos are provided in order below...

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Robotic TT Wonder

Marc Burman has picked out another TT gem from the realm of You Tube. Table tennis robots are nothing new but it looks like the Chinese have taken them to a new technological level by creating ones that can actually rally.

Congratulations to China for such fantastic innovation however it should be pointed out that unless the robots start doing some irregular practice they're not going to improve very much.