Category Archives: News

Essex Schools Spectacular

January 27, 2015 admin

ESSEX SCHOOLS TOURNAMENT 16 JANUARY 2015

Batts held the Essex Schools Tournament on the 16Th January and there were some fantastic games and a great atmosphere in the hall .

Many thanks to Arthur ,Neil and the Batts team , and the Volunteers who made it run so smoothly .

Here are the results from the day .

LIST OF WINNERS

UNDER 11 GIRLS

3 JESS BAXTER (Alleyn Court)

2 LOIS PAGE (Cann Hall)

1 ALANA MANSFIELD (Freshwaters)

UNDER 11 BOYS

3 CONNER HALL (St. Johns)

2 ALEXANDER BETTLEY (Holmwood House)

1 WILLIAM BETTLEY (Holmwood House)

UNDER 13 GIRLS

3 DEVISHI METHUR (Chelmsford County High)

2 ELEANOR WHITE (Chelmsford County High)

1 GRACIE FIRKINS (Tendring Technology)

UNDER 13 BOYS

3 GEORGE CAMPBELL (St. Nicholas)

2 DANIEL ZEFFIE (Greensward)

1 CASEY MANSFIELD (Burnt Mills)

UNDER 16 GIRLS

3 LARA ESQUIVEL (Trinity)

2 REBECCA LOWMAN (Ormiston Rivers)

1 STEPHANIE CROSS (Trinity)

UNDER !6 BOYS

3 BENJAMIN HOLLAND (Trinity)

2 CHRISTIAN GIBSON (Trinity)

1 SAM HUME (Tendring Technology)

UNDER 19 GIRLS

3 REKEKAH WHEALY (Trinity)

2 SARAH HARRIS (Chelmsford County High)

1 EMILY WOOD (Chelmsford County High).

UNDER 19 BOYS

3 ENIEKAN AKPAN (Trinity)

2 CHRIS DENYER (Moulsham)

1 ALEXANDER HOLLAND (Trinity)

County Juniors, General, News, Tournaments

Great day , at Essex Junior Closed

January 20, 2015 admin

ESSEX JUNIOR CLOSED 2014 – 2015

The Essex Junior Closed was held at BATTS Harlow on Saturday 10 January 2015. At the Closing Date there were 53 entries and with the acceptance of late entries the final entry figure was 57 as against last year’s 73, with one more accepted on the day. Groups of three players in in most events and even with this we overran by just over an hour.

The opening event was the Under 13 Boys but with only two Girls entering their event they were transferred to the Boys event which thus became on Open event. There were eight Groups (two having four players). One player did not turn up so the only player looking for a scratch entry could be accommodated. Two seeds failed to win their Group, Alexander Bettley (Bra) defeating Daniel Zeffie (Sou) 3-0 and Alana Mansfield defeating William Bettley (Bra), also 3-0, to set up a first round match between the brothers which William won 3-0. Only one match went to a fifth game decider, Zak Norman squeezing through 12-10 over Reece Harris-Griffiths (Sou) to go through to the KO Stage. The top four seeds all got through to the semi finals, Casey Mansfield having the toughest match to overcome Gracie Edwards (Cla) 10, 8, 7.In the semi he met No. 1 seed Rahul Jindal (Mossford). Saving two match points in the third game he went on to a narrow -3, -10, 10, 6, 9 win. In the other semi No. 2 seed Ray Yan (BATTS) met Jaden Aulakh (Mossford) and after a gripping match just managed a -9, 3, -9, 9, 9 win. The final also went the full distance with fortunes going one way, then the other before Ray eventually won 7, -4, 6, -4, 8.

At this stage Gracie withdrew from the U15 and U18 Girls events leaving us with just three girls in the U15 event (Zoe Davies (Sou) first, Alana the runner up and Jaz Harvey third) and Zoe defeating Lauren James (Col) 3, 3, 7 in the U18 event.

There were 9 Groups in the U15 Boys event (7 of three players and 2 of four) but No. 2 seed Jack Stockdale(Havering) failed to arrive (more later). The remaining eight seeds all won their Groups although for Xudong Wang (Eastbury) it was on countback as the players all beat one another and he was the only casualty of round one losing to Jamie Morgan (Col) 9, -11, 7, 11. With some quarter finals having started Jack Stockdale arrived and it transpired that I had given him the same start time for both U15 and U18 events in error (first time that I can remember that I have done this). After discussions and after all it is a closed event and the mistake was mine it was agreed that Jack would be fitted in in his No. 2 position and the event proceed accordingly. In the top half No. 1 seed Sam Hume (Cla) had a 3-0 win over Jamie Morgan with Syed Hussain (Eastbury) defeating Casey Mansfield 10, 3, 4. The semi went to five games with Sam winning –6, 5, -8, 6, 4. Catching up with matches in the bottom half Jack defeated Matthew Stringer (Sou), Ray Yan and Ali Cangir (Eastbury) 3-1 each time to reach the final. In the final, which was played after the Groups of the U18 event were played, Jack won 10, 8, 7.

When Daniel Young failed to qualify from his U15 Group the U11 Open event was commenced earlier than scheduled with two Groups of three in play. William Bettley gained his revenge for his earlier defeat by Alana with a 3-0 win in his Group and with Alexander losing a five game thriller to Daniel Young 9, -10, -9, 6, 7, in the other Group the brothers met again in the semi final, William again the winner, this time 3-1, to reach the final. In the other semi Alana beat Daniel 8, 3, 11. The final was thus a repeat of the Group match and this time William had to come back from 2-1 down to take the U11 title.

For the U18 Boys event there were five Groups and as she only played one match in her U18 event Zoe Davies replaced the absent Adam Hill. Only seed not to win his Group was Jack Stockdale, defeated by Zoe Davies -8, 12, 8, 7 but in the quarter final she lost to Jonathan Ma (Col) 7, 8, 9. The other three quarters were all close, No. 2 seed Luke Jones defeating Matthew Nariel (Sou) 14, 12, 11, Jack defeating Justin Jeffrey (Sou) -3, -4, 10, 3, 8 and saving two match points in the third game, and Sam Hume struggling to beat Casey Mansfield -7, 4, 5, -13, 5. In the semis Sam gained his revenge for his previous defeat by Jack by winning 11, 4, 10 whilst Luke beat Jonathan 4, 10, 9. In the final Luke won 11, 5, 9.

The last event of the day was the U18 Boys Restricted Singles and seven groups of three. In the semis Casey beat Matthew Stringer (Sou) -9, 8, 9, 7 while in the other semi Louis Jones (Eastbury) beat Daniel Payne (Sou) -5, 9, 5, 6. In the final Louis beat a tired Casey 7, 9, 9

My thanks to Umpire John Jennings for his stalwart duties and Alan Wood for obtaining such nice trophies and Chairman Ken Field presenting the trophies. I think a good day was enjoyed by all

Arthur C. Clark
Junior Match Secretary and Tournament Organiser.

County Juniors, General, News

A GREAT DAY FOR THE ESSEX COUNTY CADET TEAM

December 8, 2014 admin

CADET COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS
DIVISION 1B, 29 NOVEMBER 2014

The first round of County Cadet Division 1B matches were played at Cippenham on Saturday 29 November 2014. The Division originally consisted of ten teams but Herts and then Middlesex 2 withdrew. To avoid two teams sitting out on each round of matches and adjacent Counties arranging one match between themselves the Fixture List for the Division matches was completely reconstituted (by me) so that there would be four matches to be played each round and original home and away fixtures maintained. It was agreed that four rounds of matches would be played on the first day. All matches would be played on two tables.

The selected team squad for the day was Sam Hume, Jack Stockdale, Joe Walker, Syed Hussain, Tiana Dennison, Zoe Davies and Gracie Edwards. Tania had to withdraw two days beforehand when she had no transport as dad John was competing in a Vets Tournament at Norwich. Stuart Gibbs was also there and he had persuaded Howard Grant to coach the team.

In the opening round of matches Essex had to play neighbours Suffolk. Jack had to play opposition No. 1 Kian Burgess ranked 68 places above him. They traded the first four games but Kian got off to a good start in the decider to win it 11-3.On the other table Joe played Alex King and won 6, 4, 12. Zoe and Gracie then played Hannah Page and Holly McGerty respectively. It took Gracie a game to wake up and both matches were then won comfortably. Sam then beat Daniel Shelley 3-0 but Jack struggled against Alex before finally winning 4, -8, 9, -9, 5 to put the Essex team 5-1 up. The two girls were then on, Gracie having no troubles against Hannah (3-0) but Zoe never really got going and lost three straight to Holly, who is ranked 66 places below her, a girl she beat 3-1 in the Regional Trials two months ago. In the battle of the number ones Sam, ranked 19 places below Kian, won 11, -6, 3, 9 whilst on the other table Joe lost to Daniel, ranked 179 places above him, 8, -8, -8, 5, -5. A 7-3 win was a good start for the team.

In the next round the East Anglian battle continued with a match against Norfolk. Syed, in his first match for the County, beat Cameron Verney in a very close match 10,6,12 whilst on the other table Jack lost to the Norfolk number one, Louis Moyes, ranked 22, 3-1. The girls matches were also shared, Zoe comfortably over Georgina Sunter 3-0 whilst Gracie had England No. 12 cadet Mollie Patterson to play. She did, however, take a game off her. Essex went 4-2 up when Sam beat Thomas Connelly 3-0 and Jack a comfortable victory against Cameron. With Gracie’s win over Georgina 10, 4, 8 Essex were assured a draw. Zoe had a very close match with Mollie, losing -9, 7, 9, 9. In the last two matches Sam lost 11, 6, -9, 6 to Louis and Syed to Thomas, ranked 53, by a similar 7, 8, -10, 9 games scoreline. Thus a draw it was and both teams dropped to equal third place in the Table

For round three Essex had to play early leaders Surrey 2. With Syed and Joe losing their opening matches 3-1 and 3-0 respectively to Kishal Patel and Matthew Hazell this was not a good start although both opponents were higher ranked. Once again the cavalry girls came to the rescue with easy wins over Federica Tazartes and Medha Verma and did so again later on in their reverse singles. In between Sam won his match with Ajithan Amurtherajan but Syed, after winning the first game, lost to Matthew. Sam gave Essex the win three straight against Kushal but after being 2-1 up Joe lost 11-8 to Ajithan. So the 6-4 win put the Essex team back equal top with three teams one point behind.

For the last round match Essex had to play Kent 2 who had only one girl and thus had to concede two matches to Essex.With it being Sam’s turn to rest and Jack to take on the number one position. In his opening mach he was taken all the way by Hammad Ansari and finally squeezed the last three points to win 11, -7, 7, -6, 8. Joe beat Mahmood Kelani 3-0 after a tight first game 13-11and Gracie, having surprisingly lost the first game to Scarlett O’Neil 11-9, heeded the pep talk and sailed through the next three. Syed although only losing his first game 13-11 with rising star Chamika Weerasinghe, younger brother of Helshan, was no match for him in the next two games. When Joe won his match against Hammad on four 8’s the match was won and with three 3-1 wins for Zoe, Jack over Chamika 10, 9, -5, 9 and Syed 11-9 the 9-1 win would help the sets difference.

Although equal top with Bucks 1 the Essex team are still behind on sets difference. However they still have Beds and Bucks 2 to play where on the evidence of the first day’s play they should achieve good wins. Before these two matches however they have the crunch match with Bucks 1 to play as the opener to Day 2 at the Ellenborough Table Tennis Club, Enfield on Saturday 21 March.

A great day for the Essex team and many thanks from us all to coach Howard Grant standing in for Stuart Gibbs.

Current Table

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Bucks 1	4	3	1	0	31	9	7
Essex 2	4	3	1	0	27	13	7
Surrey 2	4	3	0	1	28	12	6
Norfolk	4	2	2	0	23	17	5
Suffolk	4	2	0	2	23	17	4
Bucks 2	4	1	0	3	15	25	2
Kent 2	4	0	0	4	12	28	0
Beds	4	0	0	4	1	39	0

Arthur C. Clark
Essex Junior Match Secretary and Cadet Division 1B Organiser.

News

Len Hoffman, Essex Life Time Achievement Award

June 17, 2014 admin 1 Comment

Len (seated) surrounded by players ready for the presentation

On April 5th 2014, a packed Saturday morning @ the Mossford Table Tennis Club, Junior Section’s Meeting, at the Palmer Academy, saw the Essex County Table Tennis Association present Mossford’s legendary Len Hoffman with a Life Time Achievement Award.

There to join Len in his celebrations, were former International ranked Juniors and Seniors who Len coached: the Juniors of the impressive Mossford TTC; the Officials and helpers of the Mossford Table Tennis Club.

Len’s former pupils included Stuart Gibbs (former England No. 2 at Junior and Senior Levels and Vets No 1: Stuart reaching the last 16 of the World Men’s Singles), Skylet Andrew (former England Junior and Senior No 1; Skylet a Commonwealth Men’s Doubles winner)) and former Junior Internationals: Alex Abbott, Maxine Abbott and Leon Smith.

Hosting the Presentation were Mossford stalwarts David Humble and John Spero, together with key Mossford members: Phil Ashleigh, Tony Cantale and 18 year old Josh Dye.

From the Essex Committee were Essex President Stuart Gibbs, Essex General Secretary Jayne Johnson and myself.

Jayne and I arrived at 10.15 and the Hall was full of activity. The Mossford youngsters were all playing. Stuart, Skylet, Alex, Maxine and Leon were all knocking with the youngsters: a great atmosphere.

The Mossford Coaching Team, were all coaching and in the middle, was Len Hoffman, running a contest for the children, oblivious to what was about to happen.

With the Interval looming, David Humble called for everyone to gather around the area where Len was sitting. Dave introduced myself with some very nice words and I said some fitting words for the Lifetime of devotion to Junior coaching of Len, spanning an amazing 65 years.

I commented on Len’s Lifetime of Coaching and the high standards that those present today had reached: from Len’s early days with Chester Barnes and Stuart Gibbs, to the next generation of Skylet Andrew, Alex and Maxine Abbott, Shelley Ruocco and Grant Solder and many, many more. In his younger days, Len also coached Football and coached Harry Rednapp and Frank Lampard senior. Much of this information came from an article that Mossford’s John Spero had written for a Presentation last year that the Mossford Table Tennis Club made to Len: an amazing lifetime commitment to the enjoyment and skills of so many young people.

A nicely engraved Glass Tankard on a nice stand was presented to Len by Stuart Gibbs. Stuart added his appreciation: giving us all an insight into the fun times they all had as youngsters learning Table Tennis with Len and how much enjoyment they have all had throughout their lives. For many, success at the highest level: all emanating back to the early efforts of Len in creating a lasting interest in Table Tennis. Len as always was totally modest, accepting his Award with a warmth that everyone loved and eager to get back to the Tournament he was running during the Mossford Morning session

Stuart then passed the floor over to Skylet Andrew to heap more praise on Len. Skylet delivered a most exhilarating chat; joining Stuart in attributing much of his success in life, to those early days with Len. Skylet had the youngsters laughing as he recalled some of his young experiences. Skylet then went on to say how table tennis had played a major part in equipping him for the successful career he has had so far, attributing much of this to Len Hoffman.

After, Skylet joined the children and gave them some lessons on serving with his legendary high ball throwing: Skylet had the youngsters laughing, given them high fives once they had mastered his serves, with his help. He had the total attention of everyone; the sheer enjoyment was clear on all the youngsters’ faces.

Our thanks to the very successful organisers of the Mossford Table Tennis Club

And our thanks to Len Hoffman, the likes of which may never be seen again: an amazing Life Time Commitment to the enjoyment of youngsters: possibly thousands.

Ken Field
Chairman
Essex County Table Tennis Association
14th May 2014

News

BRIAN ROWLEN 1940 – 2014 : AN APPRECIATION

March 16, 2014 admin

The table tennis community will be saddened to learn of the death of Brian Rowlen, Chairman of the Clacton and District Table Tennis League, aged 74 years. Brian was involved in table tennis both locally and nationally for over six decades and it is no exaggeration to say that, for the last 40 years, he has been the mainstay of the Clacton League.

Brian began playing table tennis in 1952 and continued until 2002 when injury intervened to end his playing career. During that time he won a handful of trophies, most notably the Junior Boys Singles in 1956 and 1957, the Mens Doubles in 1959 and the Handicap Singles in 1998. But it is as a volunteer administrator and organiser that Brian made his mark.

He joined the Management Committee of the Clacton League in 1956 and, apart from three years in the 1960s when he worked in the Midlands, he has been a Committee member ever since.

From 1973 until 1984, Brian was the League’s Press and Records Secretary, building up a strong relationship with the local Press, meticulous in ensuring reports were sent in regularly.

In 1976, Brian had also been elected League Vice-Chairman and, on the retirement of Gordon Denton in 1984, Brian became League Chairman, a post he continued to hold until his death.

As Chairman, Brian took an active interest in all aspects of the League (which currently has over 160 players) and was a constant source of sensible advice and encouragement. He was closely involved in the work of the League’s three Sub-Committees (Tournament, Development and Cup) and, with his background as a bank manager, he was a wise head in all matters financial.

But Brian was far more than just a Chairman. For over 30 years, he was the Referee for the League’s three annual Tournaments. This included spending interminable hours scheduling matches beforehand which, for the Closed Championships – with twelve events spread over two full days – was a mammoth organisational task. Until recent years, Brian also compiled the League’s annual fixture list and assembled the League Handbook at the start of the season.

In recognition of his lifetime of service to the League, Brian was made a Vice-President in 2008. In the same year, Tendring District Council recognised Brian’s lifetime of work as a volunteer organiser when they awarded him a trophy for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sport in the Tendring District’. It speaks volumes that he was originally nominated for the category ‘Volunteer of the Year’ but the organisers felt it appropriate to create a brand-new award to recognise Brian’s very special commitment and long service.

As well as his League responsibilities, Brian was Secretary of the Brotherhood Table Tennis Club for 23 years. The Brotherhood, which currently has eleven out of the League’s 39 teams, is one of the three largest Clubs in the League. Brian ran the Club from start to finish, from organising the composition of teams at the beginning of the year to sorting out problems during the course of the playing season. And, rather than take a well-earned summer break, he even organised the Brotherhood Summer League as well.

Brian had also been involved in the Essex County Table Tennis Association (ECTTA) and, at one time, was its Chairman. He was one of only 32 Life Members of the ECTTA and, in 1986, he was presented with the Corti Woodcock Memorial Award by the ECTTA, presented annually in recognition of service to table tennis in Essex.

Brian was a qualified International Umpire, and umpired at many international and European events. The highlights of his umpiring career were officiating at two World Championships – in Birmingham in 1977 and Manchester in 1997 – and at the European Championships held in Birmingham in 1994.

In 1988 and 1989, the National Top 12 Tournament (for the top twelve men and top twelve women players in the country) was held in Clacton. The 1988 Tournament was the first major sporting event held at the newly-built Clacton Leisure Centre and it was largely Brian’s reputation nationally that ensured Clacton hosted the event.

Throughout all this, Brian received the loyal support of his wife, Shirley. For over 25 years Shirley was League Secretary and latterly she was the League’s Minutes Secretary. With both their son Paul and daughter Donna also playing in the League at one time, table tennis became something of a family affair. The thoughts and good wishes of us all go to Shirley, and to Paul, Donna, and their families, at this sad time.

Until his death, Brian continued to be as keen and enthusiastic about table tennis as ever. Without his unstinting effort and devoted dedication over a life-time, League table tennis would not have flourished in the Clacton area. Brian could rightly claim to be ‘Clacton’s Mr Table Tennis’ and he will continue to remembered with affection, respect and gratitude by all those associated with the Clacton and District Table Tennis League.

Brian’s funeral takes place at Weeley Crematorium on Thursday 27th March at 11.00 am.

General, News

November Table Tennis Action – in Essex and nearby!!!

November 2, 2011 nbrierley

Hannah Hicks selected for Senior Six Nations at Basildon

Senior Six Nations – 11^th – 13^th November – Basildon Sporting Village, Basildon – FREE ENTRY

English Cadet and Junior National Championships – 19^th – 20^th November – Hertfordshire Sports Village, Hatfield – FREE ENTRY

ITTF Pro Tour – 24^th – 27^th November – Excel Centre, London

There is a very full calendar if you looking to watch some live Table Tennis in November. It all kicks off on the 11^th/12^th/13^th November at Basildon Sporting Village, Gloucester Park North, Cranes Farm Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 3GR. The event starts on Friday evening, 6pm – 9pm, then Saturday 9am-8pm and Sunday 9am – 4pm. All the teams have been announced with the exception of Isle of Man.

The players selected for England are:-

Men: Darius Knight and Chris Doran
Women: Hannah Hicks and Emily Bates
Coaches: Jia Yi Liu and Alan Cooke

See a full preview here.

The following weekend it’s the turn of our younger players with the English Cadet and Junior National Championships taking place in Hatfield at the Hertfordshire Sports Village, De Havilland Campus, Hatfield Business Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9EU. It is a full two days of play on the 19^th and 20^th November with many up and coming cadets and juniors from the East Region taking part. Once again free entry to this event so please come along enjoy some great table tennis and support our local players.

THIS, is the big one. The ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals.

Watch the world’s top table tennis players in the London 2012 venue of ExCeL, from Thursday 24th until Sunday 27th November 2011. Run as a test event prior to next year’s Olympics, the players will be competing for the largest ever prize fund pot in English table tennis history, $325,000.

The English Table Tennis Association is managing the event on behalf of the ITTF.

Running alongside the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals will also be a Team GB v World All Stars match for both the men and women, to help mirror the set up of next year’s Olympics.

Men	Women
Paul Drinkhall	Joanna Parker
Andrew Baggaley	Kelly Sibley
Liam Pitchford	Liu Na

Riding on a crest of a wave, Kelly Sibley and Joanna Parker were part of the undefeated European Championships team which gained promotion to the top division. Liam Pitchford will also be hoping to continue his run of form after outstanding wins against the World number 9 and 20 in the championships.

Be sure not to miss out on your chance to watch World and Olympic champions competing in London prior to London 2012.

Schedule & Ticket Prices
Day	Adult	Concession
Thursday	£15	£10
Friday	£20 £12 after 17:00	£15
Saturday	£25	£20
Sunday	£25	£20
Thursday & Friday	£25	£20
Saturday & Sunday	£40	£30
All four days	£55	£40

View the schedule for a full order of play.

Find out more about the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals at etta.co.uk/grandfinals

County Juniors, News

ESSEX JUNIOR ASSESSMENT TRIALS REPORT 2011

October 28, 2011 nbrierley

Essex Junior Secretary reports on the Junior assessment trials held recently

The Essex Junior Assessment Trials were held at BATTS, Harlow on the weekend of 01/02 October. All the Girls events were played on the Sunday, but with no girls entering the Under 11 event there was obviously no event. In the Under 11 Boys event there were only three entries and one withdrew on the day so they ended up playing one another in the Under 13 and Under 11 events, each winning once. There were ten tables in play on both days.

The Saturday was devoted to the Under 18 Boys event and the results would form the basis of selection for Essex’s two junior teams, one less than last year. With 46 entries, 4 more than last year, the players were divided in to six groups of six players and two groups of five players based roughly on national rankings. With the top ranked Alex Holland withdrawing with a broken toe just a few days before event, second ranked Scott Dowsett attending a work induction day, another entrant also injured, four others not turning up on the day and one entry accepted on the day we then had eight groups of five players. This meant we finished two hours ahead of schedule. The next two players in the ETTA Ranking Order were moved up before matches started to fill the vacant seed spaces left by Alex and Scott and three other players moved to create the five equal Groups.

In the first round of matches all the Group seeds came top of their Group. Closest match was that between Aaron Crisp (Southend) and Elliott Attrill (Clacton) where Elliott came back from 2-1 down to win 12-10, 15-13 and take third place in the Group. In second round of matches every one of the eight players in the Group winners Group lost at least two matches giving a headache for sorting out the Essex rankings where National rankings also have to be taken in to account. There were three equal firsts, two equal fourths and two equal sixths and an odd point here and there in deuce games could have made a considerable difference to the Group finishing order. On count back of the three equal firsts James Denyer (Clacton) was first, Robert Shrimpton (Chelmsford) second and Charlie Bates (Southend) third.

Sunday saw the remaining events. There was more interest than in past years in the Under 15 Boys event as Essex had entered a cadet team in the County Championships this season. Ryan Williams and Ben Holland withdrew some three or four weeks beforehand, Ryan to take part in the Milton Keynes Two Star Tournament which he won. This left the top seed as Charlie Williams but he did not turn up on the day and I later found out this was because he had no transport. From three Groups of six and two of five in the first round we ended up with four Groups of five and one of four. The only Group seed not to win his Group was Navdeep Panesar (Mossford) beaten 11-8 in the fifth game by Neil Mendoza (Eastbury). In the second round matches Kleber Silva (Eastbury) won his four matches comfortably to head the Group with Livingstone Nadarajah (also Eastbury) second and Samuel Lowman (BATTS) third, Samuel missing out on second place by losing the fifth game to Livingstone 15-13 in the closest match of the event.

In the Under 13 Boys event, the first event of the day, there were originally three Groups of four players but two players withdrew. The three Group winners, Sidney Dorn (Southend), James Knudsen (BATTS) and Ryan Gooday (Chelmsford) won easily but it was much closer in the second round between the three. Had Ryan have been able to clinch one of the match points he held when losing the fourth game of his match with Sidney 18-16 there would have been a three way tie.

In the Under 11 Boys event Rahul Jindal (Mossford) beat Sam Fullick (Southend) 11-8 in the fifth game having earlier in the day lost to Sam 3-0 in the Under 13 event.

There were good entries in the Girls events, 5 in the Under 13’s and 9 in the Under 15’s and Under 18’s. With all events to be played as round robins Jane Li (Colchester), who entered all three events, would have had to play 20 matches in the day. I considered this too many for any player and thus restricted the girls to only playing one another once during the day with the result of any match between the two players in the first event of the day counting as the result in later events where the two players were again due to meet.

The first girls event of the day was the Under 15’s and with Sarah Austin withdrawing injured and Lucy Burton withdrawing two days beforehand the Group was reduced to seven players. Stephanie Cross (BATTS), seeded 3, saved a match point against her in the fourth game of the match against Shannon Conway (Eastbury) before winning the deciding game and thereafter won her remaining matches 3-0 to top the Group. Top seed Jane Li also lost to Lara Esquivel (BATTS) in five and this result gave three equal runners up with Cheridan Thompson (Mossford) who had only lost to Jane as well as Stephanie.

In the Under 13 Girls event Stephanie and Jane only had to play Zoe Davies and Rebecca Parker (both Southend) and won all four matches 3-0. Thus the Under 15 match between them was the match that determined the top two positions.

The Under 18 Girls event also ended up as a Group of seven. Emily Godfrey (Southend) came back from 2-1 down to defeat Jane and head the Group, having won all her other matches. Lara Esquivel only lost to Emily and therefore finished runner up in the Group by virtue of her earlier win over Jane in the Under 15 event but had had to come back from 2-1 down in a fluctuating match to defeat Shannon Rolfe (Southend).

In the issued Essex Junior Ranking List those players who did not turn up on the day and did not subsequently give a valid reason have not been ranked. Those players who were off injured or who gave an acceptable valid reason for absence were considered for ranking and ranked as appropriate.

News

Success for Essex Clubs in ETTA Club of the year awards

April 14, 2011 admin

Essex County Table Tennis Association would like to congratulate the Essex based clubs who achieved success at the ETTA club of the Year awards.

Mossford TTC based in Woodford Green were runners-up in the Advanced PremierClub of the Year award and were winners of that award for the London Region. For more information about Mossford visit their website at Mossford TTC

NETTS based at Earls Colne near Halstead were the East Region Excellence PremierClub of the year. For more information about NETTS visit their website at NETTS

BATTS based at Old Harlow were the East Region Advanced PremierClub of the year. For more information about BATTS visit their website at BATTS

BNCA TTC based at Black Notley near Braintree were the East Region PremierClub Mark Club of the year. For more information about BNCA visit their website at BNCA TTC

To see the full list of winners across the county visit Coaching, Volunteer & Club Awards 2011

News

Essex Life Member, Ron Gore

November 30, 2010 admin

You will all be saddened to hear that Ron Gore, Essex County Table Tennis Association Life Member and a winner of the Corti Woodcock award passed away last week at a nursing home in Ashford Kent. Ron had suffered a severe stroke a year earlier. He was 80 years of age.

Ron was County Coaching Officer through the late seventies and early eighties and responsible for the setting up of an effective county squad training system. He was also responsible for training many coaches in and around the Essex area.

Amongst those Ron coached were David Newman, Kenny Jackson, Stuart Kimm, Steve Tilson (former Southend United FC player and Manager) David Cole, Peter Hayden, Rik James and Steve Kerns. Ron’s daughter Helen was also a top county junior player.

Ron moved to Kent in the early 1980s where he continued to coach county wide and was still coaching in after school clubs until the week before his stroke.

He will be sadly missed by all his family, friends and those he coached.

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