TTW:Social

This was the 71st NZ Chinese Sports Tournament which is held in Wellington (30 March – 2 April). The table tennis was held at the ASB Sports Centre in Kilbirnie on Friday afternoon (30 March) from 1pm to 5pm. There were 6 Donic tables from the Newtown Stadium and 2 Hart tables from the ASB Stadium. Robert Chung was the Tournament Controller. Only the Men’s Teams were held as there was not the 3 centres entry required to hold the Women’s and Mixed Teams. Wellington won the overall Trophy with 23 points (13 official) from Auckland 7 points (4 official).

There were 12 Men’s Teams from Auckland (2), Canterbury (1), Hawke’s Bay (1) and Wellington (8). In the main draw there had a knockout format (2 person team) with each player playing 1 singles and a doubles (3 matches). The top 4 seeds had a bye in the first round. In Round 2 Hawke’s Bay (4th seeds) lost to Wellington 6 by 2-1 when they lost the doubles 2-0 (11-4 11-5). Hawke’s Bay also lost in the First Round of the Second Round Consolation to Wellington 3 when they lost the doubles 3-2 (11-7 13-11 6-11 7-11
12-10)

The first round consolation (round robin) was won by Wellington 7 (Dave Chan, Peter Hewitt). The second round consolation (knockout) was won by Wellington 3 (Norman Chan, Jason Zhao). The losing semi finalist were Wellington 6 (Wai Chung, Phil Chin) and Auckland 1 (Xiao Jin, Sarwindar Sandhu).

The final was between Wellington 1 (Yang Low, Min Su) and Wellington 2 (Malcolm Wong, Martin Young). In the opening match Min Su beat Martin Young 3-2 (8-11 11-8 11-8 7-11 11-6). Then Yang Low defeated Malcolm Wong 3-0 (11-5 11-1 11-5). The doubles was won by Yang Low/Min Su 3-1 (11-9 11-5 6-11 11-5). A 3-0 win to Wellington 1 who received trophies for winning the tournament.

Thanks to the organisers, Robert Chung, Malcolm Wong and Lisa Yue. Also thanks to Martin Young who transported barriers and flip charts from the Empire Club. There were 6 tables, barriers, flip charts and stands for the flip charts from the Newtown Stadium. Members from the Tournament Committee with Robert Chung and Malcolm Wong were involved in setting up the table tennis area on Thursday night (29 March). These people with Martin Young helped to dismantle the area at the end of the tournament.

Seeds	Teams	Players
1	Wellington 1	Min Su, Yang Low
2	Auckland 1	Xiao Jin, Sarwindar Sandhu
3	Wellington 2	Malcolm Wong, Martin Young)
4	Hawke’s Bay	Tony Law, Hayden Wong
5	Wellington 3	Norman Chan, Jason Zhao
6	Wellington 4	Stan Joe, Yiming Li
	Auckland 2	Kevin Chung, Peter Cheng
	Wellington 5	Aaron Lan, Jordan Chan
	Wellington 6	Wai Chung, Peter Chin
	Wellington 7	Dave Chan, Peter Hewitt
	Wellington 8	Owen Su, Tristan Tong
	Canterbury	Tony Ng, Phil Joe

Results – Main Draw (Knockout)

Round 1	Wgtn 3 v Cant	3-0
	Wgtn 6 v Auck 2	3-0
	Wgtn 5 v Wgtn 7	3-0
	Wgtn 4 v Wgtn 8	2-1, Owen Su (Wgtn 8) beat Stan Joe
Round 2	Wgtn 1 v Wgtn 3	3-0
	Wgtn 6 v HB	2-1, Wai Chung (Wgtn 6) beat Hayden Wong
	Wgtn 2 v Wgtn 5	3-0
	Auck 1 v Wgtn 4	2-1
Semi Finals	Wgtn 1 v Wgtn 6	3-0
	Wgtn 2 v Auck 1	2-1, Xiao Jin (Auck 1) beat Martin Young
Final	Wgtn 1 v Wgtn 2	3-0
Third Place	Wgtn 6 v Auck 1	2-1

First Round Consolation (Round Robin)

Round 1	Wgtn 7 v Cant	2-1
	Wgtn 8 v Auck 2	3-0
Round 2	Wgtn 7 v Auck 2	3-0
	Cant v Wgtn 8	3-0, default
Round 3	Wgtn 7 v Wgtn 8	3-0, default
	Cant v Auck 2	3-0

1st – Wellington 7
2nd – Canterbury
3rd – Wellington 8
4th – Auckland 2

Second Round Consolation (Knockout)

Round 1	Wgtn 3 v HB	2-1, Norman Chan (Wgtn 3) beat Tony Law
	Wgtn 4 v Wgtn 5	3-0
Final	Wgtn 3 v Wgtn 4	3-0

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On Thursday September 15 twenty five people came along to the Wellington Table Tennis Stadium in Newtown for a first ever special evening of table tennis that started more casually with ladder-style table tennis where it seemed everyone pretty much got to play everyone else, rotating up or down tables as skill or fate led them.

Once everyone got settled into one side of the hall of the other then we reversed the direction to mix it up all over again, heading to the opposite end of the hall!

Most people who came along are already connected to table tennis through the Table Tennis in Wellington meetup and via table tennis at the Korean Community Centre on Tuesdays. Some players had played at a high level before with most at an interclub division 2 level and a few who would be at home in division 1.

Later on we rounded up those who wanted to enter a more ‘serious’ style knockout competition to come up with a winner and also a plate (consolation) knockout event for those knocked out in the first round. The others continued to play free style on the remaining tables.

The knockout event final placings were: 1st: Bhushan, 2nd: Vipul, 3rd: Shubham, 4th: Ilkka and the plate event: 1st: Mark, 2nd: Mau, 3rd: Eugene, 4th: Veeral.

All throughout we had a very friendly atmosphere with games played in good spirits and sportsmanship even with a competitive edge especially during the knockout phases! For many it was a level of competition that might have been new to them and I think many would have surprised themselves with the play they were able to achieve, all while having fun and would have learned a great deal.

Also people coming along got a bit of a glimpse into table tennis in Wellington as a whole with interclub, tournaments, & business class competitions being potential pathways for those who are interested in those directions. Most importantly though this kind of event should primarily evolve and grow in a way to meet the needs of social players in Wellington.

Thanks to Ilkka Havukkala and those in the meetup group for helping make this event happen and a special thanks to everyone who came and made this such a fun event!