Jack with Rob in 2002I have sad news to report with a notice (attached) of the passing of Jack Blackmore, a stalwart club administrator for many years including with the Wellington association, and was still active even being the recent over-80s winner at the Titan club champs this year. I knew Jack in the mid 90’s and he was dedicated to Titan and the association, and contributed for as long as he could – even on the table winning the over 80 singles at the Titan club champs recently.
A service for Jack will be held at the Barnabas Church, 106a Mana Esplanade, Plimmerton on Wednesday 11am. Several from Titan are coming and I will come too. The notice includes: “In lieu of flowers, donations to the Heart Foundation of NZ, PO Box 5357, Wellington 6145 would be appreciated.”
Jack with Reg Seddon 1997
BLACKMORE, John Desmond (Jack). – 13.01.1930 – 16.12.2011.
Suddenly at home. Dearly loved husband of Elizabeth and loved father and father in law to Don and Jill, Susan and Stu, Graham and Nicky, and Lynda and Andy. Treasured Grandad of Emma, Steven, Matthew, Amy, Ryan, Joshua, Dion, Melissa, Zak and Chad. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Heart Foundation of NZ, PO Box 5357, Wellington 6145 would be appreciated. Messages to the ‘Blackmore Family’ may be sent to PO Box 13-546, Wellington. A service for Jack will be held at the Barnabas Church, 106a Mana Esplanade, Plimmerton on Wednesday, 21st December 2011 at 11am followed by a private cremation.
Ninness Funeral home (04) 237 4174
It was a 3-way tie for first in division 2 (Bobcats, Caracals, Ocelots) but on countback Ocelots win (Chun-Kiet Vong, Adam Slocombe, Chris Sutton)! The Cheetahs win division 1 (Ian Talbot, Paul Brown, Craig Gear). Congratulations to Ian Talbot for topping the division one %s and Chun-Kiet Vong for topping the division 2 %s. Thanks to Chris for all the work with the spreadsheet this year.
Congratulations to all players and thanks for coming. Have a great break and see you all in 2012. Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year from TTW to you.
Thanks Reg Fuez for this update on the recent 2011 Karori club championships:
The Karori Club finished off its 2011 season on the 21st of November. On the night the club watched the Senior A Grade Singles final between Frank Su, previous 3 times Senior Champ, squaring off against first time finalist Tim Hills. Frank prevailed in 3 games: 8, 6, 6. Below a photo of action in the 3rd game, with club president Roger Watkin officiating and junior Matt Carmichael in the background acting as a ball chaser.
Frank Su takes on Tim Hills in the Senior A final
And listed below the results of our competition which was held during October and November.
KTTC Club Champs Competition 2011 Winners and Runners Up
Junior Singles
Ben Westenra: Winner;
Chun Kiet Vong: Runner Up Junior Doubles
Owen Su & David Van Drimmelen: Winners;
Chun Kiet Vong & Zhong Jin Huang: Runners Up Senior B Grade Singles
Peter Stoeveken: Winner;
Danny Yee : Runner Up Senior B Grade Doubles
Danny Yee & Steve Montgomery: Winners;
Peter Stoeveken & Tim Fussell: Runners Up Senior A Grade Singles
Frank Su: Winner;
Tim Hills: Runner Up Senior A Grade Doubles
Tim Hills & Ben Westenra: Winners;
Frank Su & Russell Jackson: Runners Up
New Titan Club Champion: Ian TalbotIan Talbot won his first Titan Club Singles Title when he beat the defending champion Lindsay Ward in the final 4-3 (2-11 9-11 13-11 8-11 11-8 11-7 11-8) After being down 1-3 Ian became more relaxed and adopted a more aggressive approach as he sensed that Lindsay’s attack was waning. Ian’s previous best result was runner up to Depak Patel in 2007. Ian has won the Titan Doubles on 4 occasions (2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007) and the Over 40 Singles twice (2004 & 2006).
Ian had been a leading Wellington junior and he won the Wellington Primary Schools Boy’s Singles (1966), the Wellington Secondary Schools Junior Boy’s Singles (1967) and the Hutt Valley Open Under 18 Boy’s Singles (1971). He stopped playing in 1975 and did not resume playing again until 1995. Recent successes include winning the Wellington Open Over 40 Singles the last 2 years.
In the Club Doubles Depak Patel/Elias Villanueva beat Keith Aldersley/Paul Brown 3-1 Lindsay Ward retained his Over 40 Singles when he beat Bryan McConnochie 4-3 (11-9 9-11 9-11 11-9 9-11 12-10 11-5). Bryan held 2 match points at 10-8 in the 6th game when Lindsay called a time out. Lindsay then slowed the game down and won the next 4 points to take the game and then ran away with the 7th game to take the match. Jack Blackmore won the Over 80 Singles beating Norman Bishop 3-1 (12-10 11-6 7-11 11-5).
Ian Talbot, Lindsay Ward, Depak Patel and Malcolm Wong – all Titan Club Singles Champions
The Titan Club Championships were only started in 1994. Lindsay Ward has won the most singles (7). Ian Talbot and Malcolm Wong share the most doubles wins (4). The Club Singles and Doubles winner are listed below:
Singles Doubles
1994 Nha Nguyen Not held
1995 Malcolm Wong Win Nguyen & Jake Yang
1996 Nha Nguyen Danny Lam & Jake Yang
1997 Nha Nguyen Matthew Hobbs & Malcolm Wong
1998 Win Nguyen Malcolm Wong & William Yang
1999 Win Nguyen Malcolm Wong & William Yang
2000 Win Nguyen Nha Nguyen & Win Nguyen
2001 Lindsay Ward Malcolm Wong & William Yang
2002 Lindsay Ward Philip McConnochie & Jens Schuering
2003 Catherine Zhou Chris Talbot & Ian Talbot
2004 Lindsay Ward Bryan McConnochie & Ian Talbot
2005 Lindsay Ward Robert Chung & Bryan McConnochie
2006 Lindsay Ward Chris Talbot & Ian Talbot
2007 Depak Patel Chris Talbot & Ian Talbot
2008 Depak Patel Nha Nguyen & Lindsay Ward
2009 Lindsay Ward Depak Patel & Raewyn Young
2010 Lindsay Ward Nha Nguyen & Lindsay Ward
2011 Ian Talbot Depak Patel & Elias Villanueva
Hmmm, I need to remember to bring the camera next time to make this a more interesting posting!
On that front, I have a couple more posts from Malcolm in my inbox – one a Titan club champs report and the other yet another great player profile – coming soon, stay tuned.
Also the Empire club dinner was on Saturday and awards were announced and presented, when the newsletter comes out I’ll crosspost here.
Forward to me any end of year results from your club and pictures too if you have any would be great: secretary [at] ttwellington.org.nz
On the TTNZ site the 2011 Rankings are available, click here. The (W)’s in there are:
OPEN MEN
8. Thom Nguyen
OPEN WOMEN
7. Sabine Westenra
U18
3. Thom Nguyen
U15 Girls
9. Angela Chapman
Congratulations to Thom, Sabine, & Angela!
Summer Composite Round 1 had a few upsets on the night which augers well for an interesting series! The pdf with the team & individual stats is here: 2011 Composite Interclub 1109-Rd 1
As an overview on what table tennis is on and when during the summer period here is some information. (If you have any info to add please comment or let me know.)
Summer Interclub
Summer interclub (team competition, a bit more casual than the main winter interclub season) is broken into two distinct (unrelated) phases, first the Composite Interclub (see here and here). Second the ‘pre-season’ (late summer) summer interclub round with a format to be determined. For more details watch this blog or keep in contact through your club.
Your club
Some clubs remain open with a small break, others close for a summer break. Consider visiting a different club every now and again – chances are you’ll play people you’ve never played before.
Waterloo: starts again early March (probably the first week).
Onslow: starts again late March.
Tawa: Porirua East School, 8 Martin Street, Porirua East (turn right to hall prior to parking area). Operates from 7pm each Wednesday night April to October.
Titan: open through the summer except for 4 weeks off from mid December. Key hire for the Newtown stadium is available too, contact Table Tennis Wellington.
Belmont: running until the 25th of November and is starting up again in the middle of March.
Karori: finishes November 21, starting again late February or early March, to be determined.
Empire: The the last Monday night is Dec 12, the last midweek – Tuesday Dec 20 then opening casually from Jan 17 (officially Feb 2), and the last Junior club is Friday Nov 11. Opening dates for Mondays & Fridays to be determined.
Moonshine & Victoria University: – refer to club contact information here.
For more details or for other clubs refer to the club contact information here.
Exercise
Summer is a good time to start and get into a regular fitness pattern, if you find one that fits your schedule and you can enjoy it, then you’ll be more likely to keep it up through the whole year (um, this is do as I say, not as I do). I remember talking to a veteran player who noted that he would tend to win more often as the winter wore on, as other people got less fit! A fair-weather runner like myself will be one of his easy victims come Composite Interclub…
Elite squad coach Stephen Hirst recommends: “… it is always good in the off season to build your base fitness, i.e. lots and lots of cardio, skipping, running running and more running. As you get about 2 months out before the season starts I liked to taper off the running and start to replace that with more speed work like shuttle runs between two cones 20 metres apart. Start introducing more strength stuff with weights like squats for your quads. My favourite was jumping over a wooden bench traditionally found in schools 3 x 1 minute, it really kills you but gets you very explosive for the start of the season. Also continue this exercise throughout the season… This is all I used to do and can highly recommend it.”
My tip: paint the fence – if it worked for The Karate Kid it will work for you.
At least get out there and mow the lawn…
Helping
There are probably a hundred unpaid volunteers of some kind that help run and facilitate table tennis in the Wellington region. If you’re not already one of this bunch, think of something you enjoy doing that could contribute in any way. Put your name forward!
There is probably a table tennis table at one of your friend’s houses – go there and play and give them a lesson. Nothing will give you more pleasure. Just don’t forget to bring your own bat otherwise you’ll be battling to a 15-all deuce in the 3rd set against their 11 year old son because trying to topspin using their pimple-out no-sponge half-torn up left-in-the-sun fly-swatter only leaves you looping directly into the carpet at your feet.
The ulterior motive is that you could have some more people to bring along to your club. Lend them your real bat or a spare and open their eyes to what it is all about.
Summer project?
You might not have space for a table-tennis table in your own house but…
make a mini table tennis table… then become the best in the world.
Teams and schedule (SECTION 1 NOW UPDATED)… if you did not enter in a team but would like to be available as a reserve please let Bruce know.
REMINDER for those used to the Tuesday winter interclub grades… this is for WEDNESDAYS (7pm) at Empire!
2011 COMPOSITE INTERCLUB – DIVISION ONE
TEAMS
1 Tigers Bryan McConnochie, Elias Villanueva, Ben Westenra
2 Jaguars Phillip McConnochie, Harry Chen, Russell Buchanan
3 Lions Sabine Westenra, Martin Young, Jeremy Evans
4 Cougars Chris Talbot, Paul Griffin, Brendyn Shaw
5 Cheetahs Ian Talbot, Paul Brown, Craig Gear
6 Leopards John Gan, Tony Rutledge/Paul Solt, Matthew Hobbs
DRAW
Round 1 9 Nov
Tigers v Leopards
Jaguars v Cheetahs
Lions v Cougars
Round 2 16 Nov
Tigers v Cheetahs
Jaguars v Lions
Cougars v Leopards
Round 3 23 Nov
Tigers v Cougars
Jaguars v Leopards
Lions v Cheetahs
Round 4 30 Nov
Tigers v Lions
Jaguars v Cougars
Cheetahs v Leopards
Round 5 7 Dec
Tigers v Jaguars
Lions v Leopards
Cougars v Cheetahs
2011 COMPOSITE INTERCLUB – DIVISION TWO
TEAMS
1 Servals Graham Sole, Jacob Gates, Lucas Westenra/Ian Thomas
2 Bobcats Gareth Telfer, Rod Weston, Hui-Ling Vong
3 Ocelots Adam Slocombe, Chris Sutton, Chun-Kiet Vong
4 Caracals Mats Olsthoorn, Vladimir Vysotskiy, Reuben Reid
DRAW
Round 1 9 Nov
Servals v Caracals
Bobcats v Ocelots
Round 2 16 Nov
Servals v Ocelots
Bobcats v Caracals
Round 3 23 Nov
Servals v Bobcats
Ocelots v Caracals
Round 4 30 Nov & Round 5 7 Dec - to be confirmed
FORMAT:
Round robin only – NO playoffs
Points: 2 for any win, 0 for any loss. You can lose points for disciplinary reasons as per 2011 Code of Conduct.
The latest Empire newsletter is here: Empire Table Tennis Club October 2011 Newsletter
Hungry Empire members read this for details of the annual dinner (Saturday, Nov 19) and the midweek annual Xmas lunch (Thurs Nov 24).
Also I copied this news for wider interest:
Midweek Doubles Tournament: 15 September
The annual Midweek Doubles Tournament was held on 15th September and was organised by Arthur Lee and Melanie Armstrong. Arthur has submitted a full report to the Board. Here are the highlights:
• There were 96 participants, of whom 52 were Empire members.
• Teams came from Kapiti, Levin, Wairarapa, Wainuiomata, Tawa and Miramar. Miramar was a newcomer to the tournament.
• Empire winners were Alfred Chin & Stan Joe and Ken Moy & Karl Johnston.
• Empire teams finished runners up on seven of the eight tables.
• There was a cash raffle and a grocery raffle. The grocery items were donated by Empire club members.
• The tournament prizes were again sponsored by Wellington Star, Mercedes Benz dealer, and we than them for their continuing support. The Empire Board also donated prizes.
Many thanks to Arthur and Melanie and to all the other helpers who contributed to such a successful day. Thanks too to Norman Chan for securing the Wellington Star sponsorship.
Last year’s popular composite team interclub was a lot of fun and is on again. This competition works by teams being arranged to be more even with a top, middle, and lower ranked player allocated to each team. This makes for closer and interesting match-ups every week (Wednesday) is a chance for mentoring of lower ranked players and is less formal that the winter leagues. Also it’s a chance to play with team-mates you may not otherwise get a chance to play with.
Clubs/players are invited to submit entries for the 2011 composite interclub event being run from 9 November to 7 December. Please note that all grades play on a Wednesday night.
All matches will be played at the Empire Stadium, Marine Parade, Petone. The stadium will be open from 6:30pm each interclub night. Interclub matches are due to start at 7:00pm.
Matches are 3-player, 11-match format (same as winter interclub, fees are also the same).
Wed 2 Nov: Entries close for all grades
Wed 9 Nov: commence
Wed 7 Dec: Final round
ENTER TO BRUCE BY WEDNESDAY NOV 2 with your name, your club affiliation, contact phone number(s) & email, and whether you are unavailable for certain dates (refer to the form above).
Until this starts, here is an idea of what to do with your table-tennis balls in the meanwhile:
The Barna Cup for Sportsmanship, etiquette and general behaviour was awarded to Team 3 Robbie
Chung, Kai Xu, Jeffrey Chin and Delano Lam which was judged by an independent panel of students.
The Womens Team narrowly missed out by half a point in the women’s equivalent.
More general results are found on the TTNZ site (click under Events).
Check out Matt Heatherington’s excellent blog for news and pictures on the Nationals, to quote:
“It was a great day of table tennis today in Palmerston North, especially for Wellington coach Stephen Hirst who was overwhelmed when a gold medal opportunity game Wellington’s way. An incredible feat of team work and great skill shown by the combination of Thom Nguyen and Hayden Tapp who defied all odds to win gold in the Open Mens Doubles.” [click for more…]
Gold medal for Hayden Tapp & Thom Nguyen in the men’s doubles!
Some good earlier teams results too (for details see here):
Women’s Wellington – 2nd (Catherine Zhou, Sabine Westenra, Lisa Yue)
Men’s Wellington 1 – 8th in A Grade (Thom Nguyen, Hayden Tapp, Callum Rusbridge, Andrew Rieper)
Men’s Wellington 2 – 2nd in B Grade (Bryan McConnochie, Depak Patel, Phillip McConnochie, Paul Solt)
Men’s Wellington 3 – 3rd in B Grade (Robert Chung, Jeffrey Chin, Delano Lam, Kai Xu)
Men’s Wellington 4 – 6th in B Grade (Chris Williams, Craig Gear, Brendyn Shaw)
Got any pictures or more links? Let me know or post as comments here.
Congratulations to the winning teams, some close results on the Finals night:
Senior grades:
Premier 1: Belmont Bananas (Callum Rusbridge, Thom Nguyen, Hayden Tapp) 6-3 winners over Titan
Premier 2: Empire Dangerous (Chris Williams, Bruce Connolly, Uy Tang) – a nail-biting 6-5 win over the Waterloo Wizards
Premier 3: Karori Kometz (Darrin Carmichael, Ben Westenra, Reg Fuez) 6-4 over Empire Xiong, reversing an in-season loss to Empire Xiong.
A second Wellington Junior Development tournament was held on Sunday Sept 11, 2011 at Empire Stadium.
Another successful tournament where Wellington’s developing players were on display. This included many players from the successful Silver and Bronze level coaching groups. Thank-yous to The Southern Trust for helping support the Silver group and to Pelorus Trust for helping support the Bronze group.
Thanks to all the juniors who played in the tournament, all in very good spirit. It was also great to see all the girls who entered – well done for playing, girls!
In a first ever for a Wellington tournament, we had a brother sister sibling final. The Under 17 Mixed Singles final was contested between Ellen Xiong and brother, Adam. And it was the younger sibling Adam who prevailed in the final. Well done to both Xiongs for contesting a brother vs. sister final!
Thanks to Bruce Northover and Paul Escott for running the tournament, with great assistance from Alan Costley.
The winners and runners-up’s of the tournament were:
Event:
Winner:
Runner-up:
Under 12 Mixed Singles
Hui-Ling Vong
Chris Linton
Under 12 Plate Singles
Tauariki Matthews
Liam Buckrell
Under 12 2nd Plate Singles
Josh McPhee
Taine Eade
Under 12 Doubles
Liam Buckrell/Mason Tangatatai
Chris Linton/Chris Pearson
Under 14 Mixed Singles
Adam Xiong
Yao(Frank) Fu
Under 14 Plate Singles
Henry Stoupe
Chris Pearson
Under 14 2nd Plate Singles
Tauariki Matthews
Max Turner
Under 14 Boys Doubles
Ben Westenra/Yao (Frank) Fu
Adam Xiong/Kieran Mouton
Under 17 Mixed Singles
Adam Xiong
Ellen Xiong
Under 17 Plate Singles
Chun-Kiet Vong
Henry Stoupe
Under 17 Boys Doubles
Adam Xiong/Kieran Mouton
Ben Westenra/Chun-Kiet Vong
Under 17 Girls Singles
Angela Chapman
Abbey L’Estrange
Under 17 Girls Doubles
Angela Chapman/Ellen Xiong
Angelica Aberia/Abbey L’Estrange
There is video footage from the tournament uploaded onto Youtube (edited and uploaded by Win Nguyen). There are presently 4 videos, with another one or to two video parts to come. Check these out (along with heaps of other t.t. videos) at:
FYI, the annual Manawatu Rep match is this year being held at the Empire Table Tennis Club stadium Saturday (Oct 1) from around 10:30-4pm. If you’re not playing, pop in for a look.
Next Tuesday Oct 4 (7pm as usual) will be the finals night for the 1st vs. 2nd ranked teams from each grade to play off for the win. Also a good spectator opportunity. A grade-champs night will be held after the nationals but just prior to the pre-Christmas summer interclub (which was composite teams last year) – keep summer interclub in mind, there is the pre-Christmas and the February one – each one round round-robin with a possible final playoff night or two depending on entry counts and number of grades. Both summer interclub mini-seasons are independent and may have different formats.
Next week is the last regular-round play. Tuesday October 4th will be the 1st team vs. 2nd team finals night for all senior grades. Feel free to come even if you are not playing!
Onslow club champs finished this week, I’ll be posting results and pics soon, last night for the Onslow senior club is Thursday next week (29/9) and will be a casual social night. If your club has also had its club champs just send me some text or pics and we can post it here too.
Next week is the last regular-round play. Tuesday October 4th will be the 1st team vs. 2nd team finals night for all senior grades. Feel free to come even if you are not playing!
Table Tennis Wellington 
