Table Tennis Wellington

Best wishes from TTW to all players for the holidays and the New Year.

Last week (12/12) saw the second of the one-off trial 2-player handicap-teams events (the first was here). This followed the previous week’s December 5th end of the spring composite teams interclub.

We had more people for this second event where we combined with some juniors and had 10 teams playing
a couple of consecutive rounds on the night. Like before, not a full competition but just a good excuse for some competition and to allow the handicap system to provide some close matches between players who might not normally get to play against each
other in competition.

Results were well balanced with a number of lower-ranked players taking advantage of their points
lead to beat higher-ranked players with a number of 5-set finishes.

There were only two unbeaten teams on the night:
Graham Sole & Issac Noa
and
Frank Fu & Gareth Telfer

Wednesday (7pm @ ETTC on 12/12/12) – handicap teams event to finish off the year – just turn up and we’ll slot you into teams and assign you a ‘handicap number’ and away you go. At least 4 singles 2 doubles each. More details here.

Final Individual Results: TTW 2012 Composite Intercub Final Dec 5 Individuals

Division One

Playoff for positions 1 & 2 Lions beat Pumas 6-5
Playoff for positions 3 & 4 Tigers beat Cheetahs 7-4
Playoff for positions 5 & 6 Panthers beat Cougars 6-5
Playoff for positions 7 & 8 Leopards beat Jaguars 8-3

With the top two teams finishing the round robin separated by only half a point, a close final was anticipated and duly eventuated. The final match between the two number three players determined the outcome with Brendyn Shaw coming out the victor.

Catherine Zhou and Callum Rusbridge shared the individual honours showing consistent form. Several promising performances were recorded by some younger players, suggesting interesting Premier One and Two grades in prospect for 2013.

Division Two

Playoff for positions 1 & 2 Jackals beat Dingos 9-2
Playoff for positions 3 & 4 Hyenas beat Wolves 9-0
Playoff for positions 5 & 6 Terriers beat Foxes 7-4
Playoff for positions 7 & 8 Coyotes beat Hounds 7-4

Early and late withdrawals and no-shows reduced the impact of the playoffs with some interesting contests not materialising. Jackals, which was the most consistent team in the Division comfortably beat Dingos to cement their top placing.

Thanks to all those, in both Divisions, who played in this completion which, at the end of the day is designed purely to provide table tennis for players who seek regular play, whether for enjoyment, improvement or both. Thanks also to those who willingly (and occasionally grudgingly!) filled in to enable to competition to continue.

-Kevin

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Results: 2012 Spring Week 7 Individuals and Teams

NB: The draw is here. Next week (Dec 5) is the finals night. Following that (Dec 12) is a repeat of the Handicap teams night – this will again be based on random teams formed on the night in the order that people turn up so come along and join in, you don’t have to have played in the first night.

Division One

Tigers beat Cougars 7-4
Panthers beat Leopards 6-5
Lions beat Jaguars 7-4
Pumas beat Cheetahs 8-3

Division Two

Jackals beat Hyenas 10-1
Terriers beat Coyotes 6-5
Dingos beat Hounds 7-4

Not too many surprises in Division One this week with the last of the round robin fixtures. The top teams and top players all maintained their status heading into the playoff round next week.

The Hobbit seemed to affect a number of players in Division Two, causing a shuffling of some players between teams and one match being cancelled, but all that were available still had games.

Best of luck to all players for next week.

-Kevin

Results:
2012 Spring Week 6 Individuals and Teams

NB: The draw is here. Next week is the last of the round-robin with the week after being a finals night.

Division One

Pumas beat Leopards 6-5
Tigers beat Jaguars 6-5
Panthers beat Cheetahs 6-5
Lions beat Cougars 8-3

Division Two

Coyotes beat Hounds 6-5
Jackals beat Wolves 6-5
Terriers beat Dingos 6-5
Hyenas beat Foxes 6-5

A night for the handicapper as most results ended up a photo finish. The top teams kept their positions with one more week in the round robin stage.

Individual positions changed a little with some performing above or below expectations and the top group in Division One maintain their form with consistent performances.

Mention of the week goes to Paul Solt, filling in for Division Two on condition he played left handed, still managing three singles wins. Perhaps a one off “wrong hand” competition could be intriguing.

-Kevin

Results:
2012 Spring Week 5 Teams
2012 Spring Week 5 Individuals

Division One

Cheetahs beat Tigers 6-5
Jaguars beat Panthers 6-5
Pumas beat Cougars 7-4
Lions beat Leopards 7-4

Division Two

Jackals beat Hounds 9-2
Dingos beat Hyenas 9-2
Terriers beat Foxes 8-3
Coyotes beat Wolves 6-5

A bit of movement in positions this week, partly caused by replacements but also through some good results. In Division One, Chun-Kiet celebrated selection in a National training squad with three wins, helping Jaguars to a first win. Cougars had a first loss dropping from top spot to be third behind Lions and Pumas, who in turn are only separated by the number of wins.

In Division Two, Wolves without lead player Zhidong, also experienced a first loss, allowing the Jackals to take over top spot. Reuben Reid and Chris Sutton improved already good records with three wins each and Charlie Waddy showed form with a good win over Isaac Noanoa.

With only two weeks of the round robin remaining competition for play off positions remains tight, although both Divisions have sorted out top and bottom groups of four.

Following the last round robin night on 28 November, playoffs between teams 1v2, 3v4, 5v6 and 7v8 will take place on 5 December to determine final positions.

-Kevin

Results from last night:
Teams: 2012 Spring Week 4 Teams
Individuals: 2012 Spring Week 4 Individuals

Division One

Tigers beat Leopards 8-3
Pumas beat Jaguars 6-5
Lions beat Cheetahs 7-4
Cougars beat Panthers 7-4

Division Two

Wolves beat Dingos 6-5
Jackels beat Terriers 7-4
Hyenas beat Coyotes 9-2
Foxes beat Hounds 6-5

Division One is starting to see three teams moving away from the pack, with Pumas registering their fourth 6-5 victory while Cougars “spoilt” their record of three 6-5 wins with a 7-4 victory in taking over the sole lead position. Lions also kept up with the pace, remaining unbeaten.

A good team effort by Dingos in Division Two held front runners Wolves to a close result with the second doubles proving crucial. Based on the number of sets played, the fixture between Terriers and Jackals was the most closely contested with age, experience and cunning probably being the difference.

-Kevin

Results from Wednesday:
* 2012 Spring Week 3 Teams
* 2012 Spring Week 3 Individuals

Division One

Pumas 6 Lions 5
Cougars 6 Leopard 5
Panthers 9 Tigers 2
Cheetahs 8 Jaguars 3

Division Two

Hyenas 6 Terriers 5
Jackals 6 Coyotes 5
Dingos 6 Foxes 5
Wolves 8 Hounds 3

A number of close games this week, noticeable in particular for the closeness of the doubles with the wins being shared in seven of the eight matches. Next week sees the competition moving beyond the mid point of the round robin phase so a better guide to team fortunes may start to become more apparent.

-Kevin

Round 2 saw a few replacements appearing and the potential for some mismatches but these didn’t eventuate to the levels possible with close results still the norm. Thanks to those who filled in on the night.

Two new teams were added to Division Two which has evened out the numbers nicely. Thanks also to the new players for adding to the variety of the competition.

Teams: Composite Week 2 Teams
Individuals: Composite Week 2 Individuals

-Kevin

The Composite Teams competition for 2012 got off to a solid start after the players worked out who their teammates were. Most results might have been predictable but there were a few minor upsets and many close games occurred With the ideal being that teams in each division are closely matched, the number of 6-5 results was pleasing and only a couple of 7-4 results occurred. It is hoped that by week 2, an extra two teams will added to Division Two, rounding out the grade nicely.

Results in a spreadsheet are here: 2012 Composite Results Week 1 Oct 17 (individual results are on sheet 2).

Points to the end of round 1 (Oct 17)

NB: Points are:
1.5 for a team win by 6-5
2 for a win by 7-4 or greater
0.5 for a 5-6 loss.

Wednesday 10th October saw the inaugural TTW Handicap tournament held at Empire. There were 12 keen players who came along expecting some fun and who got an enjoyable night. Teams of 2 players all played 2 matches. One team who dared to call themselves the “Champs” John Gan / Adam Xiong shared “1st prize” with another team who since they hadn’t named themselves were given the name of the “Olds” Ian Talbot / Graham Sole by some administrators! There must be something in a name as the “Ninjas” Mat Hobbs / Martin Xiong and the “2 M’s” Maggie Dyer / Mariana Proctor didn’t win a match, although players did win some games and / or sets (note all start with letter M) . Also playing were Gareth Telfer / Zhidong Yu and Bryan McConnochie / Rod Weston and both these teams won one match.

All in all a good night as I’m sure our one spectator, Garbrielle will agree. There is another of these tournaments scheduled for the 12th December so we hope to see more of you there. Thank you to Mat who organised the handicaps which I think all players considered fair, made more difficult by the fact we play to 11 now”.

-Maggie Dyer

The basic formula (described in an attachment here) was OK looking at the individual matches it still looked like the higher ranked ranked player beat the the lower ranked player most of the time. This means the formula should be adjusted to increase the ‘spread’ even further. Ideally you want the top-seeded player to only win half of the time under a perfect balanced system. In one example Ian Talbot (handicap 8) played Mariana Proctor (handicap 0) meaning each set starts with Mariana 8-0 up and Ian won but only just with -7, -8, 8, 9, 9. There were a few other close ones but there is room to push the handicap further.

-Mat Hobbs

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Kevin Haines has worked hard to get the teams and draws arranged and here they are below. See you all on Wednesday!

Teams: 2012 Composite Teams
Draw: 2012 Composite Draw and Info (full details including reserve information is in here – if you are not listed but would like to play as a reserve let Kevin Haines know).

Division 1

CHEETAHS: Paul Brown, Jason Giles, Frank Fu, Richard Dalziel
COUGARS: John Gan, Raewyn Young, Hui-Ling Vong
JAGUARS: Bryan McConnochie, Chun-Kiet Vong, Russell Buchanan
LEOPARDS: Depak Patel, Scott Higham, Craig Gear
LIONS: Callum Rusbridge, Sean Hanson, Brendyn Shaw
PANTHERS: Chris Talbot, Mat Hobbs, Gareth Telfer
PUMAS: Ian Talbot, Sabine Westenra, Martin Xiong
TIGERS: Catherine Zhou, Martin Young, Adam Xiong

Division 2

COYOTES: Arindom Choudhury, Maggie Dyer, Angus Horan
DINGOS: Peter Douglas, Reuben Reid, Ian Grace
FOXES: Isaac Noanoa, Rod Weston, Hayden Haughey
JACKALS: Graham Sole, Chris Linton, Chris Sutton
HYENAS: Mo Whare, Yvonne Cuthbert, Edwin Rivers
WOLVES: Zhidong Yu, Abram Goh, Tavish Voight