TTW:History

Blast from the Past – 1991 A Reserve Grade Remembered

1991 A Reserve Grade Champions Te Rama.
Martin Young, David Robinson and Malcolm Wong.
(photo taken at the Te Rama Championships, 1999)

There were 8 teams in the grade and 2 rounds were played. Te Rama (Malcolm Wong, Martin Young and David Robinson) convincingly won the Grade (13 wins 1 loss) with 39 points, 10 clear of runner up Onslow (Adrian Sutton, Les Foy, Tony Tziakis).

Malcolm Wong first played for Te Rama in C Grade (1982) with his brother Peter and Mike Burke. In his first match Te Rama beat Johnsonville 12-0. He played interclub for Te Rama (1982-98) and was in Premier 2 (1994-98). He has won 10 Te Rama Club Singles and the Titan Club Singles (1995). He was in the Te Rama team that won C Grade (1986) B Grade (1989) and A Reserve Grade (1991 & 1993). Also the Pre Christmas Division 2 A (1986) and the Autumn A Grade (1997) where in the final against Onslow, Malcolm won all his 3 singles which included defeating 2 current NZ Junior Boys Representatives. He won the 1982 Regional C Grade Doubles (with Brian Roberts), 1989 B Grade doubles (with Henry Anastasi), A Reserve Singles (1990 & 1991) and Doubles (1989 with Henry Anastasi & 1991-93 with Martin Young), and 1995 & 1996 Open Grade Doubles (with Matthew Hobbs).

Malcolm later played interclub for Titan, Onslow and Empire, including Premier 1 for Titan and Empire. He was a National Councillor (1987) and the Wellington Table Tennis Association President and Chairman (1990-91). He was to be Wellington Treasurer (1993 and 1996-98) and Secretary (1998). Malcolm was elected as a Wellington Vice President (1999). He is a qualified coach, with Table Tennis New Zealand Level One and Coaching New Zealand Level One Certificates (2001). He qualified as a National Referee (2007) and International Umpire (2008). Malcolm has been on the TTNZ Umpires and Referees Committee since 2012 and was this year on the Oceania Table Tennis Federation URC. He was the TTNZ National Official of the Year (2013). To date he has won 85 Tournament Titles. His first title was winning the 1995 Wellington Regional Over 40 Doubles with John Lelliott, against Adrian Lust and Nha Nguyen. At this years NZ Chinese Sports Tournament Malcolm with Martin Young were runner up in the Men’s Doubles and were in the winning Wellington Men’s Team.

Martin Young had originally played for Ling Tse and was in their team that won the C2 Grade (1987) and C Grade (1988). He headed the C Grade singles averages in 1988 with 34/36 (94%). He and Martin Gee won the C Grade Doubles that year. He joined Te Rama in 1989. Martin was in the Te Rama Team that won the A Reserve Grade (1991 & 1993) and he won the A Reserve Singles (1993) and A Reserve Doubles (1991-93). He was to have the top singles average in Premier 2 in 2003 with 24/27 (89%) when playing for Johnsonville. He has won 16 Te Rama Club Singles and the Johnsonville Men’s Club Singles twice. Martin was in the GP Print Dragon Boat Team the won the Wellington Corporate Section (1993). He currently plays for Empire in Premier 1 and has been on the Empire Club Board since 2011.

David Robinson was a NZ University Representative (1964) and has a doctorate in Physics from Auckland University (1964). He played for Takapuna in the North Shore competition and for Auckland University in the Auckland competition. In the North Shore Grade Championships, he won the C Grade Doubles (1957), B Grade Singles (1958) and A Grade Men’s Doubles (1961) with his older brother Max. David was in the Auckland University Team that won the table tennis at the NZ University Tournament (1964). He also won the Mixed Doubles with Ann Mutch. David played in England (1966-69) at Harwell, Oxfordshire, for his work team, Atomic Energy Research Establishment, in the local league. He moved to Wellington (1969) but did not play again until 1988 for Ling Tse in the Pre Christmas Summer Interclub (Division 2) prior to joining Te Rama in 1989. He also has an interest in music and has played the bassoon in various orchestras.

Runner up Onslow had Adrian Sutton, Wellington Association Secretary (1990) who was in the winning A Reserve team with Newlands (1989) with his wife Pam, Bob Bell and Brian Neale. He won the 1990 A Reserve Grade Doubles with Jason Granville. Also in the team was Les Foy and Tony Tziakis. Tony was in the same 1977 Wellington College Team as current Wellington Junior Coach Paul Solt. He is now playing again at the Titan Club.

Third placed Titan A had Virgil Kan, now The Club Captain at Onslow. Geoff Fletcher, who had originally played for PSA, and was to win the Titan Over 40 Singles (2000). Bruce Stewart had set up the first work trust and was the founder of the Tapu Te Ranga Marae in Island Bay. The Marae entered teams in Wellington interclub in 1983 (C and D Grade) and 1984 where the C Grade team (Bruce Stewart, Maru Corbett, Dean Stewart) finished second in the grade. Dean is Bruce’s son and another son James played table tennis at the Titan, Empire and Belmont Clubs. Another son, Sam played rugby league for New Zealand. Bruce Stewart was to win the A Reserve Singles (1994).

Newlands had Bob Bell, Kerry Duggan, and the father and son pair of Tony Fisher and Ross Fisher. Ross Fisher was in the Wellington Boy’s under 15 Team (1990) and Under 19 Teams (1991-92) and was to win the Wellington Secondary Schools Boys Singles (1992). Bob Bell, Kerry Duggan and Ross Fisher would be in the Newlands A Team (with Ray Hardy and Brian Neale) that would win the A Reserve Grade in 1992.

Titan B had Allan Rassmussen, who had won C Grade with Spartan (1981) and PSA A (1984) and D Grade with NAC A (1969). He won the C Grade Singles (1981 & 1989) and C Grade Doubles (1982 with Dave Pyle). He won all his 39 matches in 1981. Colin Hicks was in the PSA A Team that won C Grade (1984) and he and J Milne won the 1981 C Grade Doubles. He was President of the Public Service Association (PSA) from 1983 to 1988. Colin died in 2010. Dave Pyle had been in the University team that won D Grade (1979) and the PSA team that won D Grade (1981) and C Grade (1984). He won the 1964 2nd Grade Singles and Doubles (with T Ng), C Grade Singles (1983) and Doubles (1982) and D Grade Singles (1978-1980) and Doubles (1978-79 with H Yee and 1980-81 with Jim Delahunty). Dave was on the Wellington Association Committee (1980-85) and would be in the Apollon team that would win the A Reserve Grade (2006). Elizabeth Groblinger was number 5 in the Wellington Women rankings that year.

Apollon had Chris Papanicolaou Alan Bond, Stuart Prince and Peter Varuhas. Chris Papanicolaou had been the Apollon B Grade winning team (1979). Alan Bond had been in the winning C Grade Team with Sony (1978) and Royals (1989). He won all his 27 matches in 1989. He won the C Grade Singles (1972 & 1989) and 1989 Doubles (with Ron Haward) and 1972 D Grade Singles and Doubles (with Brian Biberstein). Peter Varuhas is a Romanian Greek who arrived in New Zealand in 1951 and first played for the Apollon Club in 1952. Already playing for the club were Nick Gousgounis and Chris Papanicolao. Peter (1975-79), Nick (1980) and Chris (1980-85) were on the Wellington Association Committee. Nick and Chris have since died. Peter Varuhas would play for the Apollon Club until 2006 when he was 78. Peter was in the Apollon team that won D Grade (1975), C Grade (1976), B Grade jointly with University A (1979) and A Reserve (2006). In those winning teams was his younger brother Nicholas (1975 & 1976), who has since died, and his son Costa (1979). After 2006 there were insufficient teams to have a A Reserve Grade competition at the Newtown Stadium, Wellington. The players in his Apollon team did not want to play in the B Grade competition at the Empire Club (Petone) so the team stopped playing interclub.

Karori had juniors Simon Reed, Grant Hardy and Mark Jurgeleit. Simon would be in the Wellington Boy’s under 19 Boy’s Team (1992-94) and be the top ranked Wellington Under 19 Boy (1994). He was in the Wellington College team that won the Wellington Secondary Schools Boys Teams (1991). Simon would serve on the Wellington Association Committee (1993-2002). He was also coach of the Wellington Under 19 Boys Team (1998-2001). The 2000 Team (John Cordue, Evan Kramer, Cameron Gordon, Quentin Rew) won the NZ Boys Under 19 Teams Title. (John Cordue would be number 1 on the NZ Men’s Ranking list (2009) and has represented NZ at the World Championships and this years Commonwealth Games. Quentin Rew would represent NZ at the 2012 Olympics in the 50 km Race Walk.) Mark Jurgeliet was in the Wellington Under 15 Boy’s Team (1990) and won the C Grade Singles that year. He was in the Wellington College Team (1991) and Onslow College Team (1992) that won the Wellington Secondary Schools Boys Teams. Grant Hardy was in the Wellington Under 15 Boy’s Team (1986-87) and he won the 1987 Wairarapa Open under 15 Boys Singles and Doubles.

Hardshots had Brian Neale who had played A Grade for Victoria University and Newlands. Brian was in the Victoria University Team that had won the table tennis at the NZ University Tournament (1963) and he was runner up in the Men’s Singles. He was then selected in the New Zealand University Men’s Team that toured the South Island. Brian was in the Newlands team that won the A Reserve Grade (1971,1986 and 1989). He won the A Reserve Grade Singles (1986) and Doubles (1971 with Robert Yee). Brian has won 10 Newlands Club Singles. He was on the Wellington Association Committee in 1964 and 1983-89. Brian was the Wellington Association’s Secretary (1983-89) and was elected a Wellington Vice President (1994). He had the top singles average in the Grade with 35/39 (89.7%). Brian O’Connor and Alan Dunn originally played for Johnsonville, with Bill Stevens. When the Club folded up they formed the Hardshots. The team had won the C Grade in 1990 and had the top 3 players in the interclub averages. Alan Dunn and Bill Stevens were top equal with 43 wins in 45 matches (95.6%). Brian O’Connor was 3rd with 36 wins in 45 matches (80%).

In the A Reserve Grade Championships, Malcolm Wong won the Singles against Martin Young. Malcolm retained the title he won the previous year against Jason Granville, a Wellington Under 19 Boys Representative and future Wellington Player. Malcolm Wong and Martin Young won the Doubles against Adrian Sutton and Simon Reed, and they were to retain the doubles title in 1992 and 1993.

In the Grades Match against Hutt Valley (11 August), The Wellington A Reserve Team lost 4-7.
Statistics for 1991: 1991 WTTA A Reserve Grade
– Malcolm Wong

October 26, 2014

Blast from the Past (25 years ago)

from Malcolm Wong

1989 Wellington B Grade remembered

There were originally 7 teams entered in the B Grade, with an additional team, Onslow, entering towards the end of section play. Te Rama and Titan had 3 teams each, with one from Apollon and Onslow. There were 9 Affiliated Clubs and 30 interclub teams in 5 grades in the Wellington winter interclub that year.

The first round was called Section Play. The Te Rama teams completely dominated and finished in the top 3 places. Te Rama A won all its matches. Brian Hearfield and Henry Anastasi had been in the Te Rama A team (with Ken Mitchell and Roger Watkin) that was runner up in the B Grade the previous year. They were joined by Malcolm Wong, who had played A Reserve in 1988, and was to win 10 Te Rama Club Singles. Brian and Malcolm were in the Te Rama Team that had been runner up in C Grade (1985), won C Grade (1986) and were runner up in B Grade (1987).

Their main rivals Te Rama C had regulars Roger Watkin and Peter Wong, joined by David Robinson and Martin Young, who had previously played C Grade for the Ling Tse Club which had folded up. Regular interclub players included Chris Papanicolau and Peter Varuhas (Apollon), Reg Seddon (Titan A), Ken Hindson, John Lister, Jeff Larsen, Giles Moiser (Te Rama B) and David Pyle (Titan B).

In the Championship Round Te Rama had won all its matches prior to the last round. They then lost to Te Rama C 4-8. Both teams finished with 12 points but as Te Rama A had 71 points compared to Te Rama C’s 65, they won the title. Team results and interclub averages are attached here.

Te Rama players dominated the interclub averages taking the first 6 places. Henry Anastasi headed the averages with 36 wins out of 39 games (92.30%) ahead of Brian Hearfield (27 /30) 90%. Te Rama also won the Sportswear Models Trophy awarded to the club gaining the best average of interclub wins, based on their 3 most successful teams. Te Rama had previously the Trophy in 1974, 1977, 1981 and 1987. A final win was to be achieved in 1990.

In the B Grade Championships (4 July), Henry Anastasi was the first winner of the Brian Hearfield Cup (B Grade Singles) when he defeated his team mate Malcolm Wong 21-16 19-21 21-13. The B Grade Doubles was won by Henry Anastasi and Malcolm Wong who won against Ian Searle and Rith Kim 21-10 21-14. Henry and Malcolm also won the A Reserve Grade Doubles (6 July), beating Jason Granville and Andrew Milburn 24-22 21-17. Malcolm’s previous success was the 1982 C Grade Regional Doubles with Brian Roberts. Henry had won the 1982 D Grade Regional Singles and Doubles (with B Hislop) and 1982 D Grade Open Doubles (with Richard Chung). He also won the 1988 B Grade Doubles with Bruce Lawrence.

In the Wellington v Hutt Valley Grades match (13 August) the Wellington B Grade Team (Henry Anastasi, Brian Hearfield, Malcolm Wong), lost 5-6. This was the last year that these 3 players were to play interclub together. Henry Anastasi moved to Australia the following year. Brian Hearfield remained in B Grade. Malcolm Wong moved up to A Reserve and later on to Premier 2 and 1.

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April 24, 2014

Blast from the Past: 1981 The Premier Grades begin

1981…

After a number of years of discussion for a stronger interclub competition, The Wellington and Hutt Valley Associations reached agreement to have a combined Premier Grade. The top 4 teams from each association were placed in the Premier 1 Grade and the next 4 teams into the Premier 2 Grade. Matches were played at the Newtown Stadium (Wellington) and the Empire Club (Petone).

The Premier 1 Grade was won by Empire, undefeated with 13 wins and one draw, who were 6 points clear off runner up Onslow. This was despite Onslow having the top 2 players in the singles averages, Peter Miller and Lloyd Richards. Lindsay Ward is the only player from Premier 1 still playing interclub today. Current Table Tennis Wellington Life Member and committee member Bruce Northover played for Waterloo B.

Premier 2 was won by Empire A. After the final Round Titan had 22 points and 110 Matches. Empire A had 20 points and 111 matches. Under the then rules, as Empire A had won the most matches, a playoff was necessary against Titan. Unfortunately for Titan their top player Murray Coppen was unavailable and Empire won easily. Tony Rutledge is the only player from Premier 2 still playing interclub today. Tony Radford (Johnsonville) was a future NZ Men’s Representative.

The result summary and singles averages are here: Premier 1 and Premier 2.

-Malcolm Wong

Thanks to the Empire club for these photos:

1981 Premier 1 winners Empire (Hone Ridley, Pat Low, Anthony Arraj)

1981 Premier 2 Winners Empire A (John Lelliott, Chris Clegg, Tony Rutledge)

March 10, 2014

Lloyd Macintyre – a never say die battler

Lloyd MacIntyre

Lloyd was born in Wellington (1940). He started playing table tennis at age 7 because there was a table tennis table at his home. He and his father, brother and sister played. Audrey Hughes (1947 NZ Women’s Singles Champion) use to visit occasionally and play table tennis with the children. When Lloyd was 10, he played table tennis socially at the Cashmere Community Centre (Khandallah). Lloyd played football at school, as a centre back. He joined the Onslow Table Tennis Club at the age of 15. He recalls Ivan Houghton and Gary Roselli from his early days at the club. Paul Escott was to join the club 2 years later and they were to play in the same interclub team in the early 1960s. Lloyd received the most improved player award at the Onslow Club (1960).

After school Lloyd served a 5 year apprenticeship (10,000 hours) and qualified as an Upholsterer. He played football for Waterside and Johnsonville. In 1968 Lloyd joined the Tawa Club, which had been started by Colin Alexander and Richard Hull. He was to be in the same team as those two in the Kapiti A Grade Competition as well as Reg Hall, Bruce Lockhart, Chris Talbot, Ian Talbot and Murray Talbot. Lloyd was a member of a number of Kapiti Men’s Team that went to the New Zealand Championships between 1981 and 1992. He was the top ranked Man in Kapiti (1980).

In 1977 Lloyd joined the Johnsonville Men’s Club. He was to become Vice President (1997-2011) and was elected a life member (2008). He is still the welfare officer there. Lloyd has won the Johnsonville Men’s Club Singles 12 times. In Wellington Interclub Lloyd has played in the Wellington A Grade and then the Premier 1 and 2 Grades (1981-2012), mainly for Johnsonville. His team included Tony Radford, Ann Gyongyos, Nha Nguyen, Ian Talbot, Martin Young, Colin Alexander, Bob Bell, Jim Pandelidis and Paul Escott. Lloyd won the 2000 Wellington Masters Games Over 55 Men’s Singles and Doubles.

Lloyd has a keen interest in motorbikes and owns 7 bikes. He joined the the Ulysses Club (1980) for motorbike riders over the age of 40. Lloyd has been on the Brass Monkey Rally, held over Queen’s Birthday weekend, at Oturehua (Central Otago) on 15 occasions. He has also been on the Cold Kiwi Run, held south of Waiouru, and the Cold Duck Run, in Waipawa.This year Lloyd has became the CEO of The Rusty Nuts Motorcycle Club. The Club organises rallies, including the Grand Challenge, a 1,000 miles (1,609 km) 24 hour event each October. Also the Southern Cross Road Rally (6 day event) from Cape Reinga to Bluff (6,500 km) which is held every 2 years.

This year Lloyd has stopped playing interclub table tennis. He is teaching a community education course in Upholstery at Onslow College three nights a week and on Saturday morning. In his leisure time Lloyd enjoys being on the water in yachts and boats. He is a great grand father and loves looking after his 2 great grand children (both boys). He still plays at the Johnsonville Men’s Club and intends to play at the 2014 World Veterans Championships in Auckland.

-Malcolm Wong

1981 NZ Championships – Kapiti Men’s Team
L/R: Warren Evans, Lloyd McIntyre, Robin Radford (manager),
Tony Radford, Murray Talbot

Kapiti Men’s Team (1982)
L/R: Murray Talbot (manager), Michael Radford, Chris Talbot, Lloyd McIntyre, Tony Radford

Kapiti Teams (1989)
L/R: back: Martin Smithies, Chris Talbot, Lloyd McIntyre
front: Jean Radford, Caron Watson, June Campbell

Kapiti Teams (1992)
L/R back: Lloyd McIntyre, Chris Talbot, Alan Baines
front: Jean Radford, Caron Watson, Lyn McKay

November 28, 2013

Blast from the past – Wgtn A-reserve interclub 20 years ago

Malcolm Wong has a lot of old records and sent in a story about the interclub grade he was involved in 1993, 20 years ago (pre-merger with Hutt Valley so it is only the Wellington teams). For those of you who have been around long enough some of the names will be recognisable and many are still playing today!

Blast from the Past

1993 Wellington A Reserve Grade remembered.

There were ten teams representing seven clubs, with Titan providing three teams. After the first round the top six teams qualified for Divison 1 and the bottom four teams for Division 2. Team results, and individual averages attached.

The first round was won by Onslow A (22 points) ahead of Karori (20) and Te Rama (19). The Onslow A team were all juniors. Their top player was Jamie Lennox, who had won the NZ under 13 Boys Doubles (1992). He would be selected for the New Zealand under 17 Boys Team (1995-96). Jonathan Armstrong was to win the NZ Under 21 Men’s Doubles (1996). Andrew Wiggins was the Wellington Secondary School’s Boys Singles winner that year.

Karori had the veteran, Ken Hindson, and two juniors, Simon Reed and Mark Jurgeleit. Ken had won the Te Rama Club Singles (1989) and would be in the Te Rama Team (with Matthew Hobbs and Malcolm Wong) that would win Division 2 at the Manawatu Teams Tournament (1996). Simon would be later involved in coaching Wellington Junior teams (1998-2001) and was the Manager/Coach of the Wellington Under 19 Boys Team that won the NZ Under 19 Boys Teams Title (2000) beating Canterbury 5-4 in the final.

Te Rama had an experienced team. Malcolm Wong and Martin Young were in the Te Rama Team had won the A Reserve Grade (1991) with David Robinson. Malcolm was in the Te Rama Team that won the C Grade (1986) and B Grade (1989). He has won 9 Te Rama Club Singles and also the Titan Club Singles (1995). Martin was in the Ling Tse Team that won the C2 Grade (1987) and C Grade (1988). He has won 15 Te Rama Club Singles. Brian Neale had played A Grade for Victoria University and Newlands. He was in the Newlands Team that won the A Reserve Grade (1971,1986 & 1989). He has won 10 Newlands Club Singles.Brian was in the Victoria University Team that won the NZ University Teams Tournament (1963) and he was runner up in the Men’s Singles.

Another good junior was Graeme Windley (Onslow B) who played mainly B Grade that year. He was NZ Under 17 Boys Singles runner up (1995) and won the NZ Under 19 Boys Doubles (1996) and NZ Under 21 Men’s Doubles (1999).

Other players still involved today were Kevin Haines (Onslow B), Bob Bell (Newlands)[recently moved to Napier] and Matthew Hobbs (Titan C). Bob won the Newlands Club Singles (1996) and Onslow Club Singles (2011). Matthew won the Onslow Club Singles (2012).

In Division 1 Te Rama won all their matches. There were 2 crucial matches. In the third round Te Rama beat Karori 6-5 despite Ken Hindson winning his 3 singles. Then in the penultimate round Te Rama played the leaders Onslow A, who were leading by 2 points. Te Rama needed to win by 7-4 or more to gain 3 points and move into the lead. Onslow started well and lead 4-2 only for Te Rama to win the last 5 matches. Malcolm Wong won all his 3 singles for Te Rama. In the last round Te Rama beat Titan A 9-2 to win the Grade. Division 2 was won by Titan B.for whom Ross McFarland starred.

In the grade match against Hutt Valley (8 August) two A Reserve Grade teams were selected. A Reserve 1 (Malcolm Wong, Martin Young and Hamish Rennie) and A Reserve 2 (David Buckrell, Nick Julian and Matthew Hobbs). The Hutt Valley A Reserve 1 Team (Staff Marshall, Stan Joe and Brett Pottinger) won 7-4 and their A Reserve 2 Team (Jeremy Evans, Steve Westmoreland and Darren O’Brien) won 8-3

In the A Reserve Grade Chanpionships (25 August) Te Rama had more success. Martin Young won the Singles against team mate Malcolm Wong (1990 & 1991 winner). In the Doubles Malcolm Wong and Martin Young won for the third successive year when they beat Jonathan Armstrong and David Buckrell.

Statistics from this grade in 1993: 1993 WTTA A-reserve Interclub.

Te Rama’s 1993 A Reserve Champion Team reunite after 20 years: Malcolm Wong, Brian Neale and Martin Young.

May 13, 2013

Brian Hearfield – Technical/Te Rama Stalwart

This is the latest player profile from Malcolm Wong:

Brian Hearfield in 2011

In 1950 Brian (then 15 years old) joined the Technical Table Tennis Club in Wellington. There were 2 tables in the Technical Old Students Tennis Pavilion in Taranaki Street, which is today occupied by Massey University. On Sundays Brian would often play from noon to late at night. He recalled that players had to prove they were a certain standard to join the club. There was a limit on the membership and good players were asked to join the club, rather than the other way around.

The Technical Club was formed in 1936. The Club has won 32 Wellington interclub titles including 6 A Grade (1939-41, 1943-44 & 1946). The A Grade team included Frank Mooney, Wellington’s top ranked man (1943) who was also a wicket keeper in the NZ Cricket Team (1949-54). The W M Jackson Shield (Most interclub points) was won twice (1946 & 1977). The Sportswear Model Trophy (Highest point average for 3 nominated teams from a club) was won 6 times (1974, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1989 & 1990). The most interclub teams entered were 11 in 1971 & 1977.

Club members were involved in several notable achievements. Max Gosling was selected for the first ever NZ Team in a match against the touring Hungarian Team (1938). Eric Boniface was selected for the first NZ Team to travel overseas (1939). The team travelled to Australia for matches against state teams. John Crossley and John Stewart were in the first NZ Team at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary (1950). Crossley won the first international title by a New Zealander when he won the Scottish Open Men’s Singles held in Edinburgh (1950). Gosling (1939), Boniface (1940-41) and Crossley (1944) were ranked Number 1 in Wellington and all won the Wellington Open Men’s Singles. Crossley was North Island Men’s Singles Champion (1949).

29 New Zealand Open Titles were won. The first was achieved in 1940 when Dawn Croxton won the Women’s Doubles with Leonie Kennedy, and the Mixed Doubles with Max Gosling. This was the first year of the NZ Inter-Association Teams Championships and Wellington won both the Men’s and Women Teams Title. Club members representing Wellington were Max Gosling and Eric Boniface (Men) and Leonie Kennedy, Dawn Croxton and May Wareham (Women).

In 1950 Club members were in all 5 NZ Open individual finals. John Crossley lost to Bob Jackson (Auckland) in the Men’s Singles. John won the Men’s Doubles with Neville Brightwell (Canterbury). Margaret Hoar won the Women Singles, Woman Doubles with Thyra McGregor, and the Mixed Doubles with Owen Jaine (Auckland). As well, Murray Dunn won the NZ Under 16 Boys Singles that year. Murray was to win a record 9 Wellington Open Men’s Singles and also 4 NZ Men’s Singles (1960-63).

Margaret Hoar was the number 1 ranked Wellington and NZ Woman (1949-50) when she was at the Club. She was the Wellington, North Island and NZ Women’s Singles Champion in those years. Christine Beasley (nee McGregor) was the number 1 ranked Women for 7 consecutive years (1973-79) and won 10 Wellington Open titles including 5 Women’s Singles (1973-74, 1976-78). She was also an excellent tennis player and won the Wellington Tennis Open Women Singles (1979), achieving a unique tennis/table tennis double.

In 1967 the club moved to the Te Rama Tennis Pavilion in Kilbirnie when the Technical Tennis Pavilion had to make way for new buildings. In 1972 the club changed its name to Te Rama to meet city council requirements to stay at the site as the tennis club had folded up. In 1984 the club moved to the Kilbirnie Gym due to the Aqua Centre being built where the Tennis Pavilion was. In 1985 the club moved to St Giles Church Hall and later to the Newtown Stadium. A team was last entered in interclub in 2001.

Brian Hearfield started off in F Grade and was in C Grade the following year. He played mainly in B grade. He recalls filling in at A Grade interclub and playing Murray Dunn, Geoff Jennings, John Crossley, Ron Foster and Ivan Houghton. In 1956 at the Hutt Valley Open, Brian and Bill Stewart (both C Graders) upset Mike Beder/Stan Ferguson ( NZ Boys Doubles Champions 1955) to reach the quarter finals where they lost to the top seeds, Murray Dunn/John Crossley (NZ Men’s Doubles Champions 1954). Brian has been in 9 Technical/Te Rama winning winter interclub teams (See below).

A Reserve A Grade 1963 Brian Hearfield, Foon Chin, Thyra McGregor

B Grade 1966 Brian Hearfield, Jack Ngan, Diane Bates
1974 Brian Hearfield, Ray Bryan, Dawn Perks, Judy Sharman
1977 Brian Hearfield, D Hitchcock, Roger Watkin
1989 Brian Hearfield, Henry Anastasi, Malcolm Wong
1990 Brian Hearfield, Roger Watkin, Peter Wong
1993 Brian Hearfield, David Feist, Roger Watkin, Giles Moiser

C Grade 1959 Brian Hearfield, John Wilcox, Andy Curran
1986 Brian Hearfield. Malcolm Wong, Jeff Larsen, Olaf Leijon

Brian had the highest interclub average in B Grade (1990, 1991 & 1993). His best result was 37 wins from 39 matches (94.9%) in the B Grade (1985, 1990). He won the B Grade Singles (1966) and the B Grade Doubles with David Fry (1965) and Bruce Mills (1966). Brian represented Wellington in the annual match against Hutt Valley 7 times. C Grade (1959), B Grade (1965, 1966, 1974, 1989, 1990) and B/C Grade (1993). Wins were achieved in 1959 (7-5) 1965 (10-2) 1966 (9-3). He donated the Brian Hearfield Cup for the B Grade Singles at the Wellington Grade Championships. The first winner was fellow club member Henry Anastasi in 1989.

Brian has been Secretary, Treasurer and Club Captain for the Club. He served on the Wellington Committee (1962-77) and (1992-2009). He was a long serving member of the interclub subcommittee and chaired it when there were 167 interclub teams. Brian was the Secretary/Treasurer (1999-2001) and Secretary (2002-2009). He was a regular sight on night duty at interclub. Brian is a Life Member of the Te Rama Club (1980) and the Wellington Association (1994).

Brian played cricket for Institute Old Boys, Wellington South Institute, Technical College Old Boys and Onslow. His 1971-72 Onslow team included Trevor Mallard (Labour Member of Parliament since 1984 and former Minister (1999-2008). He was a batsman/wicket keeper with a highest score of 85 not out. Brian was in three winning teams: Technical College Old Boys 3B (1958/59); Technical College Old Boys 5th Grade (1960/61); and Onslow 3C (1972/73). The Onslow 3C Team also included a young Kevin Haines, the current TTW Treasurer.

Wellington Table Tennis Association AGM (1997)
Brian Hearfield (Life Member and Committee), Paul Escott (Life Member and President), Malcolm Wong (Secretary/Treasurer) and Eric Tindill (Life Member, The first Treasurer 1933, Double All Black)

Te Rama Club Championship (1999)
Martin Young, Roger Watkin, Brian Hearfield, Malcolm Wong, John Lister and David Robinson.

– Malcolm Wong

April 26, 2012

Lindsay Ward – The Titan Warrior

Thanks again to Malcolm for his latest player profile, this time on local celeb Lindsay Ward!

Lindsay Ward in the early 70s

Lindsay Ward in 2011

Lindsay first played Wellington A Grade interclub in 1972. Almost 40 years ago! He was also a former Wellington Regional 1 tennis interclub player for more than a decade. Lindsay is the only person to win both NZ Veterans Tennis and Table Tennis Titles. In his school days he was a fast sprinter and represented his primary and secondary school in athletics. His speed helped him in his rugby and he was a winger in the Wellington Intermediate Schools Team that won the Southern North Island Tournament (1968) where he scored 2 tries in the final. Today Lindsay is also a keen cyclist.

Lindsay first played tennis at age 10 and was a Wellington Primary Schools Representative. He won the Wellington Boys Under 15 Singles (1969). Lindsay was the Club Singles Champion at Vogelmorn (4) Miramar (2) and Wellington (5). He played Regional 1 tennis for Miramar and Wellington. In a Dominion Post story he was nick-named The Surgeon for the way he dissected his opponents. In 2000 Lindsay won the NZ Veterans Tennis Over 45 Men’s Singles, the Over 45 Men’s Doubles with Terry Poynter, and Over 40 Mixed Doubles with Robyn Flynn.

Lindsay first played interclub table tennis in 1969 for Kilbirnie RSA. By 1972 he was playing in their A Grade team with Brian Kennedy, Adrian Lust and Boris Halama. He won the Wellington Secondary Schools Table Tennis Boys Singles and Doubles title and was a Wellington Junior Representative that year. In 1973 his Kilbirnie RSA team won the A Grade title (Gerald Bell Memorial Cup). Lindsay was ranked number 1 (Wellington Junior Boys) and Number 10 (Wellington Men’s) and won the Under 18 Boy’s Singles and U21 Men’s Singles at both the Wellington Regionals and Wellington Open Tournaments. When the Kilbirnie RSA folded up, the players formed Kilbirnie United. Kilbirnie United (Lindsay with Brian Kennedy, Adrian Lust and Warren Mak) won the Wellington A Grade Competition in 1974.

1979

In 1976 Lindsay joined the Titan Club and has represents them in interclub ever since. In 1978 the Titan team (Lindsay Ward, Adrian Lust and Warren Mak) reached the final of the Rothmans National Club Competition in Auckland where they lost 4-7 to Manurewa. The Titan Team (Lindsay with Warren Mak, Adrian Lust and Nha Nguyen) won the A Grade in 1980. Lindsay was a member of the Titan team that won the Wellington Premier 1 competition for 5 consecutive years 2002-2006. Robert Chung was the only other player in the team for all 5 years. Other players included Jie Zhang, Harry Singh, Nha Nguyen and Catherine Zhou. Lindsay has also won the Titan Club Singles 7 times ( 2001-2002, 2004-2006, 2009-2010).

In the top grade Lindsay has won more than 1,000 matches. He has been the top Wellington player in the averages 18 times. Since the Premiers Grades began in 1981 Lindsay has maintained an overall average of over 83%. His best year was 2008 where he won 36 out of 37 matches played (97.30%) but was surprisingly only ranked 7th on the Wellington Men’s list. He is the only person playing Premier 1 in the first year of the competition (1981) still playing in the grade today.

In 1982, L/R: Lindsay Ward, Peter Miller, Ann Gyongyos, Kay Kelly,
Adrian Lust, Dianne Ord, Lloyd Richards, Robert Kerr

Lindsay was first selected in the Wellington Men’s Team (with Lloyd Richards and Ron Foster) for the NZ Teams Tournament in 1976. He last played for the top Wellington Men’s Team at this tournament in 2005 and would still be a contender for this team if available. Lindsay was a member of the Wellington Over 45 Men’s Team that won the NZ O45 Teams in 2004 (with Bryan McConnochie and Chris Talbot) and 2008 (with Chris Talbot and Depak Patel).

Lindsay was the Wellington number one ranked Man 17 times during the period 1978-2005. He has won the Men’s Singles at the Wellington Open 7 times over 28 years (1978, 1983, 1984, 1986, 2002, 2003, 2006) and was a losing semi finalist this year. He has also won the Men’s Singles at the Hutt Valley Open, Kapiti Open, Wairarapa Open and the Manawatu Open. In 1978 he reached the semi finals of the NZ Men’s Singles and was ranked number 9 in NZ that year. At the NZ Open Lindsay won the Over 45 Men’s Singles twice (2001 and 2008) and the Over 45 Men’s Doubles with Ian Talbot (2003). He was selected in the Over 50 NZ Men’s team in the test against Australia (2008).

This year Lindsay won the Over 50 Men’s Singles at the North Island Tournament for the third year in a row. He won the Over 30 and Over 50 Singles at the Wellington Open. Lindsay lost a close match with Craig Dye in the NZ Men’s Over 30 Singles final. He still has many years of table tennis ahead of him!

Lindsay made it to the semi-final of this year’s Wellington Open:

Lindsay is currently 51st on the TTNZ Men’s open Ratings list (the 3rd placed Wellingtonian there).
(Thanks to the TTNZ Archives for the older photos and Win for the video.)

December 27, 2011

Warren Evans – A lifetime in table tennis

1960!

It all started way back in 1952 when Warren (10 years old) went to a coaching session at the Taita Table Tennis Club run by the English Coach, Ken Stanley. His father, Vincent, a Life Member of the then Hutt Valley Table Tennis Association, was his first coach. Both Warren and his younger brother, Barry, keenly took to the game and improved rapidly.

Warren had an outstanding junior career, winning five New Zealand Junior Titles, including the Under 16 Boys Singles (1956) and Under 18 Boys Singles (1958). In 1957, on the same day, his brother Barry won the North Island Under 16 Boys Singles while Warren won the South Island Under 16 Boys Singles.

Warren went on a table tennis OE to England (1960-62). He joined the Putney Club in London where he meet World Men’s Singles Champions Victor Barna and Johnny Leach. He played in a number of interclub leagues during the week and won the Willesden League Men’s Singles (1962). Warren formed an excellent doubles combination with South African, Derek Wall (who was to represent England and Canada). They won the Men’s Doubles at the North of England (Manchester) and West of England (Exeter) Tournaments in 1962. The highlight of the trip was playing in the European Champions (1962) in Berlin.

On his return to New Zealand Warren showed the benefit of playing overseas by twice beating former Australian Champion, Geoff Jennings, in Wellington interclub (1962). He was a member of the Wellington Team which won the New Zealand Men’s A Grade Teams Title in 1962 and 1963.

Warren then joined the Empire Club and was in teams that won 6 Hutt Valley A Grade interclub titles (1964-67, 1969 and 1972). He has won the Empire Club Men’s Singles on four occasions in four different decades (1965, 1986, 1990 and 2002). He won the 1972 Wellington Open Men’s Singles.

The highlight of his table tennis career was reaching the New Zealand Open Men’s Singles Final in 1970. He beat Gary Frew (Last 16), Richard Lee (Quarter finals) and Alan Tomlinson (Semi finals) before losing to Gary Murphy (Otago) in the final 21-15 16-21 17-21 17-21.

As a veteran Warren won the New Zealand Open Over 35 Men’s Singles (1986) and Over 45 Men’s Singles (1988 & 1990). He also won the Over 40 Men’s Singles (1988) at the NZ Veterans Championships.

Warren is still a keen member of the Empire Table Tennis Club and has a great knowledge of all aspects of table tennis and is currently on the Table Tennis Wellington executive committee.

At the Marlborough Open (1960)

L/R rear: Barry Radford (Men’s Singles winner, Mixed Doubles winner with Audrey Eden),
Warren Evans, Peter Thompson (Men’s Doubles winners)
front: Miss Audrey Eden (Women’s Doubles winner with J Sara),
Miss Jennifer Sara (Women’s Singles winner)

Winners Hutt Valley A Grade Interclub (1964)

Empire Club team: L/R Warren Evans, Malcolm Evans, Keith Pointon

. – Player Profile by Malcolm Wong Facebook

May 20, 2011

Table Tennis Wellington

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