The top players in the world will converge there for a week of the best table tennis play in the world. As well as competing this will be a massive experience for Lisa and we all wish her congratulations and best wishes on behalf of all table tennis players in Wellington & NZ.
“This is going to be the biggest World Table Tennis Championships ever in the history of Hungary. In numbers, it means that more than half a billion people will watch the games on TV worldwide. Around one hundred colleagues are working on the event right now to reach one goal: organise another great event with huge success in Hungary.” – Roland Nátrán, President of Hungarian Table Tennis Federation
If you happen to be passing through Hungary around that time get some tickets otherwise we can keep up to date with the results online!
You might know we have been running various junior training sessions and for Term 1 in particular is a new Thursdays beginner section from 7-8pm at Empire.
Please forward this to anyone you know who is or has a junior with a gap on Thursdays!
A small, but competitive group of players competed in the 2019 TTW Veterans Tournament. Only Over 40 and Over 50 events were held as insufficient entries were received in the over 60 and 70 age groups. Here are the results of the finals:
Over 40 Singles: Ben Collins bt. Lindsay Ward
Over 50 Singles Depak Patel bt. Lindsay Ward
Over 40 Doubles Ben Collins & Sabine Westenra bt. John Gan & Zhidong Yu
Over 50 Doubles Darrell Brown & Depak Patel bt. Lindsay Ward & Leigh Grinlinton
Congratulations to the Achievers (John Gan & Chris Talbot) winners of Division 1 and to the Fighters (Michael Stechman & Leigh Grinlinton) winners of Division 2! Thanks to everyone who competed – it was a hard fought competition for all the five action-packed weeks. Time for a wee break before the Autumn Open and winter interclub.
21 Men and 9 Women entered this tournament. There were singles, doubles and mixed doubles events. From overseas were Rohan Dhooria (AUS), Vicki Wu (FIJ), Wang Qi (FIJ) and Gary Nuopula (SOL) in the men’s competition. Also Jian Fang Lay (AUS), Parleen Kaur (AUS), Grace Yee (FIJ) and Loata Neli Duncan (FIJ) in the Women’s competition. This is one of a series of 6 Tournaments in Oceania.
The others are in Tonga (Nuku’alofa) 29-30 June, Australia (Gold Coast) 25-26 August, Fiji (Suva) 8-9 September, Tahiti (Papeete) 3-4 November and Vanuatu (Port Vila) 9-10 February 2019. The players, in the singles, earn points towards qualification to the 2019 Oceania Cup Tournament.
Joachim Kusche and Alan Moore were the Referees. There were 12 umpires, with only Ron Garrett (Southland) and Malcolm Wong (Wellington) not from Canterbury. They were International Umpires Alan Moore, Ron Garrett, Hamish Rennie and Malcolm Wong. National Umpires were Mimi Walle , Akiko Goto and Gregg Davey. The other umpires were Lydia Mercer-Beumelburg, Suniko Yoshioka, Ruhi Advilker, Ulrike Kusche and Steve Moore.
The schedule was light for the umpires. On the Saturday I umpired a mixed doubles match between Nathan Xu/Jiayi Zhou and Wang Qi/Loata Neli Duncan won by Xu/Zhou 3-0 (6, 7, 3,). Also the Women Singles Group A which was won by Jian Fang Lay, with Jiayi Zhou 2nd and Lisa Yue 3rd. Play finished at 4pm on Saturday.
On the Sunday I umpired the last 16 Men’s Singles match between Teng Teng Liu and Simon Fenwick won by Liu 4-0 (3, 6, 1, 2 ). Then the Women Singles Semi Finals between Jenny Hung and Jiayi Zhou won by Hung 4-1 (3, 7, 8, -9, 3 ). My last match was the Women Doubles (Last match in a round robin of 3 pairs) between Parleen Kaur/Jiayi Zhou and Zhiying Cheng/Lisa Yue won by Kaur/Zhou 3-1 (3, -3, 5, 13 ). Play finished at 4.45pm on Sunday.
Lisa Yue was the only player from Wellington. She was 3rd in her Women Singles group. She had another chance of qualifying as the 3 third place players in the groups were put into the Women Singles Stage 2 Qualification Group. Lisa won the group to qualify for the Quarter Finals where she lost to Jenny Hung 4-0 (3. 3, 3, 2 ). Lisa, with Zhiying Cheng, lost both her Women’s Doubles matches (Round Robin of 3 Teams). In the Mixed Doubles, Lisa with Kelsey Amor, reached the finals where they lost to Rohan Dhooria/Parleen Kaur 3-0 (6, 4, 8).
Other final results (below).
Men’s Singles
Teng Teng Liu (NZL) beat Rohan Dhooria (AUS)
4-1 (6, 5, -9, 5, 2)
Women Singles
Jian Fang Lay (AUS) beat Jenny Hung (NZL)
4-0 (2, 3, 8, 7 )
Men’s Doubles
Dean Shu/Nathan Xu (NZL) beat Rohan Dhooria (AUS)/ Paul Innnes (NZL)
3-2 (-4, 8, 8, -7, 10)
Women Doubles (Round Robin)
1st Paurleen Kaur (AUS)/Jiayi Zhou (NZL)
2nd Loata Neil Duncan/Sally Yee (FIJ)
-Malcolm Wong
Mixed Doubles presentation. Gary Williams (TTNZ Chairman), Lisa Yue (WGN), Rohan Dhooria, Parleen Kaur, and Yi-Sien Lin (Tournament Director)
Standing: Gary William (TTNZ Chair), Malcolm Wong (Ump), Grant Wilson (Media and Broadcast Liason). Seated – Yi-Sien Lin (Tourn Dir) and Joachim Kusche (Tourn Ref).
The tournament was held for the first time in Australia in Bendigo, Victoria. It is a city of 95,587 population (June 2016). Bendigo was a former gold rush boom town (1850s). The tourist attractions include the Central Deborah Gold Mine and the Golden Dragon Museum which is dedicated to the history and culture of the Chinese people who immigrated to the region.
Bendigo is 91 minutes (135.3 km) away from Melbourne Airport. The venue was Bendigo Stadium and held on 8 tables with live streaming on Tables 1 and 2. There were 4 Referees and 35 Umpires (19 from Australia). Malcolm Wong was the sole New Zealand Umpire at the tournament. The umpires were provided with 4 short sleeve shirts and 2 long sleeve shirts, sponsored by Li-Ning (China).The umpires were accommodated in apartments at Quest Bendigo, as was the New Zealand Boys and Girls Teams. Unfortunately Quest Bendigo was miles away from anywhere. Malcolm was in an apartment with Jonathan Whitaker (Scotland) and Bruce Doughty (Australia). He had previously umpired with Jonathan at the 2009 Commonwealth Championships (Glasgow). Malcolm umpired mainly with Jonathan Whitaker (3 days) and Ben Cao (China) for 2 days. He also umpired with Rahul Jaiswal (India) and Mark Patane (Australia). There was air conditioning in the Stadium. Temperature outside reached 39 degrees Centigrade.
In team matches Malcolm umpired Australia v Singapore (Boys) won by Singapore 3-0 (Table 1) on 2 Dec. Also Belarus v Brazil (Girls) won by Brazil 3-2 (Table 6) on 3 Dec. And Poland v Singapore (Boys) won by Singapore 3-2 (Table 4) on 4 Dec. China won the Boys Team Final v Japan 3-0 and the Girls Final v Japan 3-1. See here for all results.
Malcolm umpired players from 20 countries. In the Boys Singles Quarter Finals he umpired Xu Haidong (China), the Boys Singles and Doubles winner. Also the Mixed Doubles Quarter Finals he umpired Xu Yingbin/Shi Xunyao (China) who would win the event. Shi was also the Girls Singles runner up and Girls Doubles winner. China won all 5 individual titles.
The umpiring schedule meant the lunch and tea breaks were often late. Malcolm had lunch once at 3.15pm and tea once at 9.10 pm. 8 days is a long time to be umpiring. Malcolm was also on racket control duty twice. Averil Roberts, formerly from Wellington, and now living in Melbourne (Australia), umpired the Junior Girls Doubles Final.
The NZ Girls Team finished 3rd out of 3 teams in Group 1. NZ lost to the Russian Federation 3-0 and to Belarus 3-1. Hui Ling Vong beat Marharyta Baltushite (BLR) 3-1 (11-9 13-11 7-11 11-6). For team positions 9 to 16 NZ lost to France 0-3. They then beat Australia 3-0 (team position 13 to 16) with Hui Ling Vong beating Parleen Kaur 3-1 (11-8 3-11 11-5 11-8). NZ finished 14th when they lost to Belarus 3-0 in the playoff for team position 13 to 14.
In the individual events Hui Ling Vong lost all 3 singles matches to finish 4th in Girls Singles Group 16. Her best match was against Anastasi Bondareva (Germany) who won 4-2 (11-8 8-11 11-9 12-10 6-11 11-9). In the Girls Doubles she and Jianyi Zhou lost 0-3 (9-11 5-11 4-11) to Jokic Tijana /Sabina Surjan (Serbia). In the Mixed Doubles with Nathan Xu, they beat Nikhill Kumar/Rachel Yang (USA) 3-2 (9-11 14-12 11-3 10-12 11-2) in the Round of 64 before losing to Guilherme Teodora/Bruna Takahashi (Brazil) 0-3 (7-11 7-11 5-11).
An after tournament function was held at the All Seasons Hotel (Bendigo) on the evening of Sunday Dec 9, which was attended by many officials, coaches and players.
Thanks to the Oceania Table Tennis Federation who organised the tournament. Also to the volunteers. I was meet at Melbourne Airport and directed to the mini bus that took me to Bendigo. There was a continental/cooked breakfast at the hotel. Lunch and tea was provide at Bendigo Stadium. There was a bus from the hotel to Bendigo Stadium every half hour from 7.40 am to 7.40 pm and from the Stadium to the hotel from 8.30 am to 8 pm.
It was a great experience to be at the World Junior Championships. Meeting new people and umpiring many exciting matches.
Standing (Back Row) Samuel Miller, Shaun Koh (SGP), Pak Hong Lee (HKG), Evgenii Klykovski (RUS), Klara Vaculovicova (CZE), Jan Vrabec (CZE), Bruce Doughty, Mark Patane, Kirsty Whitaker (SCO -Volunteer), Kameron Chan, Stephen Gillespie, William Almasi, Joseph Fung, John McMullan, Ahmad Almasri (JOR). Standing (Row 2) Tatiana Kamenskaya (RUS), Hau Yi Lau, Rahul Jaiswal (IND), Cyril Sen (MAS -Evaluator). Seated (Row 2) Ben Cao (CHN), Paul Schiltz (LUX – Evaluator) Neil Montfort, Malcolm Wong (NZL), Glenn Errington, Marie Pinkewich, David Villalta (ESA), Boggdan Barrientos (GUA), Insook Park (KOR), Mijung Bong (KOR), Wing Au. Seated (Front Row) James Lew, Jonathan Whitaker, Averil Roberts, David Delpratt (Deputy Referee), Steen Anderson (DEN – Referee), Niwat Semangern – (THA – Deputy Referee), Yini Yang (CHN – Deputy Referee), Yuka Braun, Arnold Puts, Jock McNeil, Satheese Attoor (IND). NB: Umpires (light blue Shirts), Referees (Dark Blue Shirts). Only country abbreviations for non Australians officials.
We hope you are enjoying your summer, it’s been a good one so far while most of us have the table tennis bats in storage and summer interclub is perhaps a month away from starting to get teams together (watch this space). Last year clubs were having end of season championships and results for your interest are below (will add to this as we gather more):
* Champ: Depak Patel, also Depak & Paul Brown are the doubles champions
Karori
* Champ: Mr Wong (not Malcolm) with runner-up D Robinson, in the doubles: champions Reg Feuz and Karn Tabernacle with runner-ups: Dave Robinson and Danny Yee.
Onslow
* Champ: M Hobbs with runner-up M Wong (see below) & doubles: M Hobbs & M Wong.
Waterloo & others (TBD!)
Also Malcolm Wong had submitted this report after the Onslow club champs:
2018 Onslow Club Championships
The Onslow Club Championships were held at the Ngaio Town Hall on Thursday nights (20 & 27 September and 4 October).
The Over 40 Singles (20 September) had 2 round robin groups of 4 won by Matthew Hobbs and Malcolm Wong. The group winners and runner ups qualified for the semi finals. In the Final Matthew Hobbs beat Malcolm Wong 3-0. Matthew had previously won 2010-2012.
The Men’s Doubles (4 October) was won by Matthew Hobbs/Malcolm Wong against Isagani (Inag) Alamani/ John Haswell 3-0. It was Malcolm’s 9th Men’s Doubles Title (2007-10 with John Gan and 2011-2013, 2015, 2018 with Matthew Hobbs) which equaled the record of John Warrington (1987-95). John had won with Robert Chung (1987-88) and Keith Aldersley (1989-95).
The Men’s Singles had 2 round robin groups of 4 (27 September) won by Matthew Hobbs and Malcolm Wong. The group winners and runner ups qualified for the semi finals (4 Oct). In the Final Matthew Hobbs beat Malcolm Wong 4-2. Matthew had previously won the Singles in 2012.
Dianne Taylor beat Pauline Northrup to win the Women Singles (4 Oct) 4-0 for the 29th time. She has also won the Women Doubles (15) and the Mixed Doubles (18). Unfortunately the Women Doubles were not held this year.
The Mixed Doubles (Oct 4) was won by Isagani (Inag) Alamani/ Dianne Taylor against John Haswell/ Pauline Northrup 3-2.
The club’s breakup was held on October 10. Thanks to Virgil Kan and his daughters, Michelle and Kimberly, who have been running the Junior Club and Club on Thursday night.
– Malcolm Wong
Onslow 2018 Men’s Doubles champions Malcolm Wong and Matthew Hobbs
Onslow 2018 Mixed Doubles Champions Isagani (Inag) Alamani and Dianne Taylor
Onslow 2018 Mixed Doubles runner up John Haswell and Pauline Northrup
This tournament first started in 2003 and has been played every year with the exception of 2017.
This year there were 18 competitors in the Open Singles.
Fiona Zhai (from China studying in Wellington) beat Yang Low 3-0 in one semi-final. Yang had beaten Dave Cheung 3-1 in his quarterfinal.
Rob Chung beat Min Su 3-1 sets in the other semi-final. In their quarterfinals, Min Su had a very close 3-2 sets win against Martin Young and Rob beat Zhidong Yu 3-1.
In the final, Rob upset Fiona in a close match 3-2 (9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9).
In a playoff for 3rd/4th, Yang beat Min 3-0 .
There were 4 women in the Womens singles – Fiona Zhai, Xiaoping Lu, Qing Lan Feng, and Ling Wang. A round robin was played with Fiona comfortably winning. Qing Lan Feng came 2nd with 2 wins and Ling Wang was 3rd with 1 win.
Thanks to Stephen Wang, Chairperson of the Wellington New Chinese Friendship Association and Min/Rob/Martin for running the tournament on the day!
Wellington were represented by a Men’s Team, Women’s Team, Under 15 Girls Team and a Under 13 Boys Team at the tournament held at the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre in Tauranga. Sean Hanson was the main junior coach supported by Martyn Barry, Tim Wilson (ITTF Level 1 Coach) and James Wang (ITTF Level 1 Coach).
Table Tennis Wellington President, Malcolm Wong (International Umpire, National Referee, ITTF Level 1 Coach), was one of two Referees at the tournament and he was there for the whole 8 days of the tournament. This is the fourth time the tournament has been held in Tauranga (previously in 1970, 1973 and 1976). There were 18 tables with a canteen run by Nomad Food and Wine from 10am to 6pm.
Under 15 Girls Team
The Under 15 Girls Team (Mei Mun Teh, Erin Huang, Anna Wilson) easily won all their 4 matches, in a round robin, to win the Grade. They all have another year in the Under 15 grade and will be able to defend their title next year. Their result summary:
v Waitemata 5-2
v Canterbury 5-2
v Otago 6-1
v Hawke’s Bay 7-0
SinglesMei Mun Teh 7/8 Anna Wilson 7/8 Erin Huang 5/8
Yashka Rabichand (Wellington) was a draft player for the Southland Girls Under 18 Team which finished 3rd. She won 4 out of her 8 singles. Yashka has another year in the Under 15 grade.
Under 13 Boys Team
The Under 13 Boys (Yufeng Wang, Aaron Lan, Tom Christie, Ben Riddell) were second in group 1B and qualified for the Semi-Finals where they lost to Auckland. In the playoff for third/fourth place against Canterbury they reversed the result of their group clash and won 4-3 with Tom Christie winning the deciding match against Jayden Ralston 3-0 (11-9 11-8 12-10). This is Tom and Ben’s last year in the Under 13’s while Yufeng and Aaron have two more years. Their result summary:
Group 1B v Canterbury 2-5
Group 1B v Auckland B 5-2
Group 1B v Waitako 6-1
Semi-Finals v Auckland 0-4
3/4 playoff v Canterbury 4-3
SinglesYufeng Wang 6/8, Aaran Lan 4/8, Tom Christie 3/7, Ben Riddle 1/4
Yufeng Wang was runner up in the Under 11 Boy’s Singles won by Timothy Choi (Auckland) 3-0 (11-9 11-2 11-3) and the Under 11 Boy’s Doubles (with Aaron Lan) won by Allen Zhu/Timothy Choi (Auckland) 3-1 (11-4 10-12 11-7 11-7).
The Junior Individuals needed an extra day as they finished at 9.30 pm (8 Oct) and 10.20pm (9 Oct). This is far too late for juniors to be still playing.
Women’s Team
The Women’s Team (Ye Zhai, Lisa Yue, Manon Soury-Lavergne (Draft – NCL)) won their grading match against Waitako 4-3 to qualify for the A Grade where they finished 4th.
v Canterbury 1-6
v Auckland 1-6
v Southland 4-3
v North Shore 1-4
SinglesYe Zhai 7/9 Lisa Yue 2/10 Manon Soury-Lavergne 0/9
DoublesYue/Zhai 2/5
The Team found the going tough in A Grade with Ye Zhai still winning 5 Singles. Lisa Yue’s singles and double win (with Ye Zhai) in the grading match against Waitako and in the A Grade match against Southland ensured Wellington two wins.
Ye Zhai (6th seed) beat 2nd seed Jenny Hung (Canterbury) in the quarter finals of Women Singles 4-1 (8-11 11-7 11-6 11-8 11-8) and reached the final where she lost to the top seed Tianyi Li (Auckland) 4-0 (11-6 11-4 11-8 11-4). Tianyi Li won the Women Singles for the 5th year in a row. Ye Zhai/Lisa Yue were semi finalist in the Women Doubles losing to Jenny Hung/Avon Liu (Canterbury) 3-0 (11-2 12-10 11-3).
Men’s Team
The Men’s Team (James Harter, Yang Low, Paul Solt) placed 2nd in 2B Grade. Paul Solt won a crucial match against Simon Luo (Auckland Senior Men Red) 3-2 (4-11 9-11 11-9 11-8 11-3). Yang Low had three 2-3 losses. James Harter was in impressive form winning 9 out of his 10 singles which kept the team in contention in all their matches.
They lost in the semi finals to Waitemata 2 and in the 3/4 playoff to Nelson. Against Nelson two close matches went to Nelson making the difference.
Group 2B v Auckland Senior Men Red 4-3
Group 2B v Otago 4-3
Group 2B v Manawatu 2 3-4
Semi-Final v Waitemata 2 2-4
3/4 playoff v Nelson 3-4
SinglesJames Harter 9/10 Yang Low 4/6 Paul Solt 1/9
DoublesHarter/Low 2/5
Yang Low was a semi finalist in the Men’s B Grade Singles. He beat the C Grade Men’s Singles winner, Jack Chen (Auckland) in the Quarter Finals 3-2 (11-5 8-11 11-8 10-12 13-11) before losing to Mark Page (Waitako) 3-0 (11-4 11-4 14-12). Yang won the C Grade Men’s Doubles with Jimmy Caunter (Waitako) against David Jarvis (Bay of Plenty)/Paul Kyle (Waitako) 3-0 (11-5 11-5 13-11). Low and Caunter had previously won the NZ D Grade Men’s Doubles in 2015.
There was a lack of qualified umpires to umpire in the afternoon final session. The players who made themselves available to umpire were of a good standard. Paul Solt umpired the Men’s Singles Final.
Thanks to all the officials who ran the tournament. John Lea (Tournament Director), Paul Henderson (Deputy Tournament Director), Ron Garrett (Tournament Referee – Juniors), Malcolm Wong (Tournament Referee – Seniors), Grant Wilson (Media & Broadcast Liaison), Matthew Hetherington (Media & Promotion), Christine Young (Tournament Controller) and Jessica Macaskill (Tournament Controller).
A social dinner was held at the nearby Daniels in the Park on the last night and the TTNZ Annual Awards were announced.
-Malcolm Wong
Under 15 Girls Team medal presentation
L->R: Gary Williams (TTNZ Chairman),
Lydia Mercer-Beumelburg, Vanessa Wood-lin, Aarya Advilkar (Canterbury – Silver), Anna Wilson, Erin Huang, Mei Mun Teh (Wellington – Gold)
Under 13 Boys Team medal presentation
L->R: Gary Williams (TTNZ Chairman),
Ben Riddell, Aaran Lan, Tom Christie, Yufeng Wang (Wellington – Bronze), Keanu King, Robert Zhung, Alex Liu Cao, Leo Mamedov, Timothy Choi (Auckland – Gold), Ingamar Siegruhn, Andrei Casareo, Finn Brown, (Southland – Silver).
New Zealand Women’s Singles
L->R: Gary Williams (TTNZ Chairman), Ye Zhai, Tianyi Li (A), Jin (Kim) Wang (A), Liting Guo (NL)
New Zealand Women Doubles
L->R: Gary Williams (TTNZ Chairman),
Avon Liu & Jenny Hung (C), Jin (Kim) Wang & Tianyi Li (A),
Lisa Yue & Ye Zhai.
NZ C Grade Men’s Doubles Champions Yang Low and Jimmy Caunter (WK)
NZ B Grade Men’s Singles
L->R: Gary Williams (TTNZ Chairman),
Mark Page (WK), Jun Tamaura (A), Jessie Wilson (C), Yang Low
Yufeng Wang (Silver Medal – Under 11 Boys Singles and Doubles) and Aaran Lan (Silver Medal – Under 11 Boys Doubles)
OPEN 7:00pm, OPEN from 6:40pm or call the stadium 04 568 6054 if late or can’t make it (or pre-arrange with us if at all possible). Group play to start soon after.
FORMAT Each Wednesday round-robin groups for singles matches will be formed semi-randomly. Afterwards are doubles-play bonus points. A combination of skill & luck will determine your destiny.
DIVISIONS The number of distinct grade divisions will depend on the entry count.
POINTS One point per opponent you beat in the round-robin group plus bonuses below.
TERMINATOR BONUS One bonus point for the winner of each round-robin group.
BEING-THERE BONUS Two bonus points for each competition night you complete.
BUDDY BONUS Up to one bonus point each competition night for winning at least one doubles match. To get a BUDDY BONUS point you must win any doubles match:
With any player from any group as a partner so long as all four players must have completed their round-robin groups.
The match is the best of 3 games by mutual agreement.
While you can’t earn more than one BUDDY BONUS each Wednesday you can play as many doubles matches as you like for the benefit of your partner(s) or for your own amusement until we kick you out.
PIED PIPER BONUS For each affiliated player you bring to play who hasn’t played TTW interclub in the last five years (or ever) both that player & you get a two point bonus (only one ‘bringer’ per player).
Speaking of national events I have a report from Malcolm Wong on the 2018 South Island Championships held earlier on July 7-8:
There were 104 players at the tournament in Christchurch. Fiona Zhai Ye, Lisa Yue and Andrew Maguire travelled from Wellington.
Fiona Zhai Ye became the first TT Wellington(*) player to win the South Island Women Singles when she won all her matches ( round robin of 5) from Mimi Walle (C), Shelley Smith (S), Lisa Yue and Anny Li (A). (*)Previous winners from Hutt Valley were Raewyn Young (1993) and Sabine Westenra (1995).
Lisa Yue and FionaZhaiYe were runner up in the Women Doubles to Shelley Smith/Mimi Walle 3-0 (11-6 11-6 14-12). Lisa Yue with Hongyi Li (C) were runner up in the Mixed Doubles to Ivo Mikulec (C)/Mimi Walle 3-1 (6-11 11-5 11-7 11-5).
Andrew Maguire with Shelley Smith were runner up in the Over 30 Mixed Doubles to Yikai Tian (C)/Akiko Goto (C) 3-1 (11-6 11-6 8-11 11-5). Andrew with Dave Samson (C) were runner up in the Over 40 Men’s Doubles to Abhay Joshi (C)/ Lyndon White (C) 3-0 (11-5 11-3 11-8). In the Over 30 Men’s Singles (Round robin of three) Andrew lead the winner Vladmir Ivanov (C) 2-0 before losing 3-2 (8-11 9-11 11-4 11-7 11-4).
– Malcolm Wong (South Island Championships report)
TTNZ (and us) are pleased to announce that Hui-Ling Vong has been selected by TTNZ to represent New Zealand in the Junior Girls Team to the 2018 World Junior Championships to be held in Bendigo, Australia from 2nd to 9th December.
Best of luck and success to Hui-Ling from all of us for both the upcoming Youth Olympic Games and well as the following World Junior Championships!
You are all welcome to attend an open-to-all umpiring course run by Malcolm Wong on Sunday the 23rd of September from 1-3pm at the Table Tennis Wellington Stadium in Newtown (after Titan club).
Please RSVP to me if you can come so we get an idea in advance of a head count.
Malcolm will cover material relating to basic, junior, and regional umpiring courses.
North Island Open Mixed Doubles Champions Sean Hanson and Fiona Zhai Ye.
Wellington won 10 gold medals achieved in the Open (1), Grades (1), Juniors (3), and Veterans (5). In the Open events Wellington had success in the Mixed Doubles where Sean Hanson and Fiona Zhai Ye beat Yuhan Gao (North Shore)/Hui-Ling Vong 3-0 (12-10 11-7 11-5). This was the Wellington area’s first victory in the Open Mixed Doubles since Shane Laugeson (A) and Tracey McLauchlan (HV) won in 2001. Hui-Ling Vong was runner up in the Women Singles to Jin (Kim) Wang (Auckland) 4-2 (11-13 11-3 11-7 13-15 11-4 11-5. Vong had defeated fellow Wellington player Fiona Zhai Ye in the semi finals 4-3 (12-14 11-7 11-6 11-7 9-11 10-12 13-11). In the Men’s Doubles Sean Hanson/Dinyar Irani (A) were runner up to Kelsey Amor/Victor Pollett (WT). In the Women Doubles Fiona Zhai Ye/ Lisa Yue were runner up to Jin (Kim) Wang/Tianyu Zhang (A) who won 3-0 (12-10 11-7 11-5).
In the B Grade Men’s Singles James Harter was runner up to Mark Page (WK) who won 3-1. Together they won the B Grade Men’s Doubles against Depak Patel/Yang Low 3-0 (11-5 11-4 11-8). Yang Low won a bronze medal in the B Grade Singles, losing in the semi finals to James Harter 3-1 (11-9 11-9 5-11 11-8). Darrell Brown had upset Yang Low in B Grade Group play 3-0 (13-11 11-9 11-9). Martin Young won a bronze medal for reaching the semi finals of the C Grade Men’s Singles, losing to Jimmy Caunter 3-0 (11-7 11-9 11-4). In the Women C Grade Doubles Anna Wilson/Erin Huang were runner up to Emily Jin/Minette Whitehead (WK) 3-0 (11-7 11-9 11-9).
In the Juniors, Hui-Ling Vong won the Under 18 Girl’s Singles defeating Zhiying Cheng (NS) 3-0 (11-5 11-8 12-10). This is the first Wellington victory in the U18 Girls Singles since Michelle McCarthy won in 2005. In the Under 15 Girls’s Doubles Mei Mun Teh with Vanessa Wood-Lin (ML) won the round robin (3 pairs) with the crucial match against Emily Jin / Minette Whitehead (WK) won 3-2 (10-12 11-4 11-7 8-11 12-10).
Aaron Lan won the Under 11 Singles (round robin of 3) upsetting Yufeng Wang in the crucial match 3-0 (13-11 11-9 11-7). Yufeng Wang was runner up in the Under 13 Boys Singles to Alex Liu Cao who won 3-1 (8-11 11-4 11-3 11-5) and in the Under 13 Combined Doubles with Tomos Christie.
Depak Patel won the Over 40 men’s Singles against Miko Kirschbaum (MN) 3-2 (7-11 10-12 11-6 11-5 11-5). This was his third win as he had previously won in 2006 and 2009. Martin Young won the Over 60 Combined Singles for the first time by beating Dave Scott (BP) in the last round 3-1 (8-11 11-5 12-10 14-12). Both made 4 wins and a loss. As Martin had beaten Dave he won the gold. Martin’s only loss was to Malcolm Wong who won 3-1 (14-12 11-6 9-11 11-8).
Bryan McConnochie won the Over 65 Combined Singles (Round Robin) by defeating Dave Scott (BP) 3-2 (15-13 5-11 10-12 11-4 11-9). This was his third win as he had previously won in 2015 and 2016. Bryan also won the Over 70 Combined Singles for the first time by defeating Jim Jarmin (MN) 3-0 (11-6 11-4 11-5).
In the Over 30 Men’s Doubles Harry Chen/Martin Young were runner up to Andrew Leonard (WK)/ Tim Seaholme (MN) 3-2 (12-10 3-11 11-6 6-11 11-5). The Over 40 Men’s Doubles Final was won by David Jarvis (BP)/ Paul Kyle (WK) who beat Darrell Brown/Depak Patel 3-2 (9-11 11-8 5-11 13-11 11-5). The Over 50 Men’s Doubles was won by Harry Chen with Paul Whitehead (WK) who won against David Jarvis (BP)/Paul Kyle (WK) 3-0 (11-5 11-5 11-8). The Over 60 Men’s Doubles was won by Russell Winkley (HB)/ Dave Scott (BP) who defeated Malcolm Wong/Martin Young 3-0 (11-4 12-10 11-2).
North Island Under 18 Girls Singles Champion – Hui-Ling Vong
North Island Under 11 Boys Singles Champion Aaron Lan
Under 15 Girls Doubles Champions – Mei Mun Teh and Vanessa Wood-Lin (ML)
Martin Young, Harry Chen and Malcolm Wong
Martin Young won the Over 60 Singles, runner up in the Over 30 and Over 60 Men’s Doubles and a bronze in the C Grade Men’s Singles. Harry Chen won Over 50 Men’s Doubles and was runner up in the Over 30 men’s Doubles. Malcolm Wong was runner up in the Over 60 Men’s Doubles.
North Island Over 65 and Over 70 Men’s Singles Champion Bryan McConnochie
Daniel Rosner, Harry Chen and Ian Talbot were Wellington’s three representatives at the 19th World Veterans Championships (18-24 June) in Las Vegas, NV (USA). Ian Talbot was the only player to make the main draw in the singles. He lost to the winner Jianjiang Huang (CHN) in group play and to the semi-finalist Zhang Hua Pang (CAN) 2-3 in the second round of the main draw. Ian Talbot and Harry Chen qualified for the main draw of the Over 55 Men’s Doubles but had to default when their match was changed from Thursday to Friday as Harry had left Las Vegas.
Daniel Rosner in Over 40 Mens Singles Group action Harry Chen – Over 55 Men’s Singles Group 106 Ian Talbot and Harry Chen – Over 55 Men’s Doubles Group 28Ian Talbot with Zhan Hua Pang (CAN)
Malcolm Wong wins 4 Doubles Events and reaches 100 Tournament Titles
Mark Nalder and Malcolm Wong – Nelson Open Over 50 and Over 60 Men’s Doubles winners. They have won 24 Doubles Titles together.
The tournament was held at Saxton Stadium in Stoke, Nelson. There were 30 Males
(1 junior) and 7 Females (no juniors) playing on the Saturday. On the Sunday there were 13 juniors, including 1 girl. Malcolm Wong, Paul Solt and Andrew Maguire were the Wellington players in this event.
Malcolm with Mark Nalder (N) won the Over 50 Men’s Doubles against Alister Morice (C)/ Phil Osborne (N) 3-1 (-3 11 9 6) and the Over 60 Men’s Doubles final against Graeme Mathieson/Gary Basher (N) 3-0 (9 8 4). Malcolm with Glenda Ferguson (N) were runner up in the Over 40 Mixed Doubles to Daniel Astle(N)/Mimi Walle (C) 0-3 and they won the Over 60 Mixed Doubles against Peter Welsh (ML)/Melody Nicholls (N) 3-0 (7 6 -4 4). Malcolm, with Melody Nicholls (N) won the Over 50 Mixed Double against David Watson/Debbie Watson (N) 3-0 (6 8 9). He was also semi finalist in the Over 40 Men’s Doubles, Over 50 and Over 60 Men’s Singles. In winning the 4 doubles titles Malcolm has reached 100 Tournament Titles. It takes his Nelson Titles to 30 and it was also his 10th Nelson Over 50 Men’s Doubles Title. Malcolm’s first title was the 1995 Wellington Regional Men’s Over 40 Men’s Doubles with the late John Lelliott where they defeated Adrian Lust/Nha Nguyen.
Paul Solt won the Second Grade Singles defeating Phil Osborne (N) 3-0 (11 9 9).
These two were in the Wellington College Table Tennis Team in the late 1970s. Paul was also a semi finalist in the Men’s Singles losing to the winner Jessie Wilson 0-4. He defeated this year’s Marlborough Open Men’s Singles winner, Nathan Watson, in group play 3-0 (11 7 7).
Paul with Andrew Maguire were runner up in the Second Grade Men’s Doubles to Phil Osborne/Alan Vigar (N) who won 3-1 (8 -3 7 7) and in the Over 40 Men’s Double to Daniel Astle/Paul Op den Buysch (N) who won 3-2 (-7 -6 6 5 9).
Andrew Maguire was unfortunate to play Paul Solt 3 times in the singles (once in MS Group and in knockout in the 2nd Grade (SF) and O40 MS (QF)), with Paul wining each time. This should not have happened as they were the only two Wellington players in those events. They should not be in the same group in the MS and should have been on the opposite side of the draw for the knockout in the 2nd Grade and O40 MS). Andrew’s best win was beating the Over 50 Men’s Singles winner Phil Osborne in the last 16 of the O40 Men’s Singles 3-1 (8 -5 10 7).
Series 2 of Winter Interclub finished recently. Premier played for the Brian Hearfield Trophy for Series 1 but for series 2, the Tommy Williams Cup was at stake. The Empire Enforcers retained the Cup by beating a Waterloo/Titan composite team 7-3 in the final. The same four players (Bruno Omizu, james Harter, Daniel Rosner and Depak Patel) won in 2017 and 2018. The final contest was exactly that, with only three matches of the ten being won in straight sets.
Titan Terriers finished third by beating Empire Entertainers 6-5 and Empire eagles beat an understrength Titan Tomatoes 6-5.
Division One contest the Chris Williams Trophy in each Series and the Onslow Ogres retained the Trophy by beating old foes Waterloo Wolves 7-3. The final mirrored that of Premier with only three matches being straight set victories.
Division Two final was played between Waterloo Whales (top after the round robin) and Titan Youngsters. The Youngsters got off to a fast start and raced away to a 9-2 victory.
Both these divisions played Grade Championships the week after their finals. Eight players competed in Division One with Mat Hobbs (Onslow) beating Michael Onganon (Empire) 11-9 in the fifth set. Liam Johnston (Empire) beat Craig Gear (Waterloo) in the third/fourth playoff. Six played in the Division Two event with Reg Feuz (Karori) winning the round robin from Peter Lowe (Empire) with Josh Brown (Empire) third.
Val Muirhead died at Waikanae at the age of 84. She was a former Epuni Club/Empire Club member and Hutt Valley Table Tennis Representative. Val was a Empire Club/Hutt Valley Association Committee Member and a Hutt Valley Life Member.
Val had a open attacking style. She joined the Empire Club in 1955 from the Epuni Club. Val was in the following Empire winning interclub teams. 1955 B Grade Team (with Ron Menchi, Murray Sherlock, R Inglis) and the 1960 A Reserve Team (with Merv Burns, Ron Menchi, John Ogilvie). She played Hutt Valley A Grade for the Empire Number 2 Team (1959-72) with her best result 50% in 1965 (18/36) and 1967 (12/24). At the Empire Club Val won the Best Sportsperson Award jointly with Eddie Harris (1958) and the Most Outstanding Performance (1959). At the Empire Club Championships Val won six Women Singles (1963, 1964, 1966, 1968-1970), nine Women Doubles (1958-62, 1967-68 with Joan Brown, 1963 & 1970 with Merle Harding) and four Mixed Doubles (1959, 1963-64 with Keith Pointon and 1970 with Hone Ridley).
As a junior Val won the 1950 Wellington Open Under 18 Girls Doubles with N A King (W). She was a Hutt Valley Women Team Representative (1956-71) to the NZ Championships. In most of these teams was Joan Brown (1953-62, 1964-65, 1967-72). Val won the 1958 Bush Open Women Singles and the 1963 Hutt Valley Closed Women Singles. In Women’s Doubles she won: six Hutt Valley Closed tournaments (1962,1964-65,1967, 1969 with Joan Brown, 1963 with R Bush); five Hutt Valley Opens with Joan Brown (1961,1965,1969), with Gwen Schneider (1963), with Jeanette Wilson (1967); four Wellington Opens with Joan Brown (1965, 1967-69); the 1971 Kapiti Open with Gillian Kemp; the 1967 Manawatu Open with Joan Brown; the 1959 Wairarapa Open with Mary Anderson; the 1964 Wanganui Open with Joan Brown. In Mixed Doubles Val won the Hutt Valley Closed twice (1963 with Peter McLauchlan and 1964 with Albert Roberts); the 1963 Bush Open and the Wairarapa Open with Geoff Jennings; the 1966 Hutt Valley Open with Denis Thorner. In 1963 Val played in the Australian Open.
1959 was Val’s best year. She was ranked Number 8 on the New Zealand Women’s Ranking List. She represented the North Island (with Barbara Packwood (Captain), Joan Brown, Neti Davis) against the South Island ( Pat Purdon (Captain),June Shadbolt, Thelma May, Pam Crowe ). Won 7-5 by the North Island. In the NZ Championships Val and Joan Brown were runner up in the Women Doubles to Mary Anderson (HV)/Val White 21-12 15-21 21-8 17-21 21-19. In the North Island Championships Women Singles Val beat the seeded Pat Purdon (3rd round) and Mary Broadbent (Semi Finals) and was runner up to Joan Brown 21-14 21-14 10-21 21-11. Val and Joan Brown were runner up in the Women Doubles to Pat Purdon (C)/Pam Deans 11-21 21-16 22-20 21-19. In the Hawera Teams Tournament Empire Club (Joan Brown, Val Muirhead, Betty Gardner, Bev Christensen) beat Wanganui (Gwen Schneider, Cynthia Gifford-Moore, P Haywood, Joyce Williams) in the Women’s Final 6-4.
Val was on the Empire Club Management Committee (1957-72) and was one of the fifteen signatures when the Club applied to be an Incorporated Society in 1961. The Certificate of Incorporation was registered on December 19, 1961. She was also on the Hutt Valley Table Tennis Association Executive Committee. The Empire Golden Jubilee Book said she served for 20 years on the Hutt Valley Committee. In 1965 history was made when the Hutt Valley Association appointed her as its sole selector. The first time a woman has held that position. Hutt Valley beat Wellington 21-7 to win the Jack Croudis Memorial Shield and Canterbury to win the Brightwell Trophy to win both matches for the first time in the same year. She was elected a Hutt Valley Association Life Member and became a Table Tennis Wellington Life Member when the Wellington Association and the Hutt Valley Association merged in 2002. She was also on the NZ Executive Committee (1971-72). Val also served on the 1980 NZ Championship Committee.
Information for the article was provide from the Alexander Turnbull Library, Val Darroch, Empire Table Tennis Club Annual Reports, Empire Club Golden Jubilee Book (1934-1984), Empire Club website, Table Tennis NZ website and Wellington Table Tennis Association Annual Reports. Unfortunately I have been unable to locate Hutt Valley Table Tennis Association Reports for this period. Also some Empire Club Annual Reports were missing (1934-36, 1939-45, 1954,1955,1970). No information was founded from her time at the Epuni Club.
Victor Barna Cup, Hutt Valley Women’s team (1956). L/R back: Fay Inglis, Val Muirhead (c), Pam Oben; front: Mary Garden, Joan Brown
and Anny Li (A). (*)Previous winners from Hutt Valley were Raewyn Young (1993) and Sabine Westenra (1995).
Val Muirhead died at Waikanae at the age of 84. She was a former Epuni Club/Empire Club member and Hutt Valley Table Tennis Representative. Val was a Empire Club/Hutt Valley Association Committee Member and a Hutt Valley Life Member.
