Winter Interclub Series 2 for 2017 finished with a couple of absorbing finals and a full hall as other finishing positions were determined over the three grades.
The premier final between Waterloo Wasps and Empire Entertainers was 2-2 after the first doubles but the second batch of singles saw the Entertainers edge ahead and continue the momentum to run out 6-3 winners, with Bruno Omizu being the rock with 3 singles and 2 doubles wins.
The Division Two final between Waterloo Wolves and Empire Enforcers was a cliff hanger all the way, matches going each way until the Enforcers took a 5-3 lead only for the Wolves to even up the score. This left Craig Gear (Wolves) and Ryan Cronin (Enforcers) to battle for the title with Ryan giving the Enforcers the victory. Ryan had earlier won a match 12-10 in the fifth set, a result which had a major impact on the final outcome.
Empire completed a sweep of the finals with the Egrets closing out their Division Two final with Waterloo Wapitis 6-3.
The annual Primary/Intermediate teams tournament was held on 1 September with 29 boys and 11 girls teams entered by 5 schools.
Most grades experienced some good competition and the standard throughout the divisions was impressive. Thanks to all the players that turned up, plus thanks to school staff who were involved in organising teams before the event and managing them during the day.
There were 88 competitors (66 males and 22 females) at the Saxton Stadium (Stoke) in Nelson. There were players from Auckland, Canterbury, Manawatu, Marlborough, Nelson, Otago, Southland, Waitako and Wellington. 5 players came from Wellington. Yau Yang Low, Andrew Maguire, Depak Patel, Paul Solt and Malcolm Wong. There were 12 tables. Results are on the TTNZ site.
Table Tennis Wellington President, Malcolm Wong, had Wellington’s sole success when he and Mark Nalder (N) won the Over 60 Men’s Doubles (Round Robin). They beat Alastair Naysmith/Stanislav Petrovic (N) 3-0 (11-8 11-9 11-6) and Kevin Neumann (N)/ Mark Wilson (C) 3-1 (9-11 11-7 14-12 11-9). It was their 20th title together. Depak Patel was runner up in 3 events. He lost to Daniel Astle (N) in the Over 40 Men’s Singles 0-3 (9-11 10-12 6-11) and the Over 40 Men’s Doubles with Julian Main (C) to Daniel Astle/ Paul Op den Buysch (N) 1-3 (9-11 8-11 12-10 7-11). Also the Over 50 Men’s Singles to Stuart Armstrong (C) 0-3 (5-11 5-11 7-11).
Over 60 Men’s Doubles Champion Malcolm Wong
No Wellington players qualified from their Open Men’s Singles Group. The closest was Paul Solt who was in a 3 way tie for 2nd in his Men’s Singles Group. He beat Rajitha Samaraweera (MN), a former Sri Lankan Junior Representative, 3-1 (11-9 8-11 11-8 11-7) and lost to Grant Wilson (C) 1-3 (5-11 13-11 6-11 6-11). Rajitha beat Grant Wilson 3-0 (11-6 11-7 11-4) and qualified with the best win/loss ratio (4/3) from Paul Solt (4/4) and Grant Wilson (3/4). Yau Yang Low beat this years Marlborough Open Men’s Singles winner, Alex Wilson (C) in his Men’s Singles Group 3-1 (10-12 11-7 11-8 11-7).
Depak Patel/Yau Yang Low lost in the Men’s B Grade Doubles semi finals to Rajitha Samaraweera/Nathan Watson (MN) 0-3 (9-11 11-13 13-15). Paul Solt was a semi finalist in the Over 40 Singles, losing to Depak Patel 0-3 (2-11 8-11 7-11). Depak Patel/Paul Solt lost in the semi finals of the Over 50 Men’s Doubles to Grant Wilson/Mark Wilson (C) 2-3 (11-8 7-11 7-11 11-9 6-11) as did Malcolm Wong/Mark Nalder to Stanislav Petrovic (N)/Paul Whitehead (WK) 1-3 (9-11 9-11 11-4 9-11).
Thanks to the Tournament Referees, Hamish Rennie and Ron Garrett, and the Tournament Director, Paul Op den Buysch. Also all the Nelson people involved in helping to run the tournament.
– Malcolm Wong
Over 40 Men’s Doubles Finalists: Simon Hoey-Burns (Umpire), Depak Patel, Julian Main (Runner up), Daniel Astle, Paul Op den Buysch (Winners).
Waterloo Wasps v Empire Entertainers 1 vs 2 Titan Terriers v Titan Tomatoes 3 vs 4 Empire Eagles v Titan Trailblazers 5 vs 6 Empire Waterloo Embers v Empire Energisers 7 vs 8
Division One
Empire Enforcers v Waterloo Wolves 1 vs 2 Onslow Ogres v Titan Empire 3 vs 4 Empire Enigmas v Onslow Waterloo Owls 5 vs 6
Division Two
Waterloo Wapitis v Empire Egrets 1 vs 2
Here are the teams & draw for matches starting next week, plenty of teams gunning for payback after Series 1!
The TTNZ North Islands finished over the weekend with some great Wellington results:
Hui-Ling Vong 2nd in the Open Women’s Singles !
Hui-Ling & Michelle McCarthy semi-finalists in the Open Women’s Doubles.
Hui-Ling also a semi-finalist (with Yuhan Gao, North Shore) in the Open Mixed Doubles. Sean Hanson was a quarter finalist in this event as was Michelle McCarthy.
Emma Hanson was a semi-finalist in the B Grade Women’s singles.
Sean Hanson (with Paul Skiffington, WT) 2nd in the B Grade Men’s Doubles.
Paul Solt (with Paul Skiffington, WT) semi-finalist in the C Grade Men’s Doubles.
Paul Solt was winner in the D Grade Men’s Singles!
Paul Solt (with Malcolm Lowe, AKL) 2nd in the O40s Men’s Doubles.
David Buckrell (with Aidong Li, AKL) 2nd in the O40s Mixed Doubles.
David Buckrell was winner in the O30 Men’s Singles!
David Buckrell (with Vivienne Daisley, BP) 2nd in the O30s Mixed Doubles.
Sean Hanson a quarter-finalist in the U21 Men’s Singles.
Hui-Ling Vong won the U21 Women’s Singles.
Sean Hanson (with Jae Lee, MN) 2nd in the U21 Men’s Doubles.
Hui-Ling Vong a semi-finalist in the U18 Girl’s Singles.
Liam Buckrell (with Finn Holden, Southland) a quarter-finalist in the U18 Boy’s Doubles.
Emma Hanson (with Abbey Webb, MN) 2nd in the U18 Girl’s Doubles.
Hui-Ling Vong (with Trevor Pene, CM) a semi-finalist in the U18 Mixed Doubles.
Liam Buckrell a quarter-finalist in the U15 Boy’s Singles.
Emma Hanson (with Abbey Webb, MN) won the U15 Girl’s Doubles.
Liam Buckrell (with Abbey Webb, MN) a semi-finalist in the U15 Mixed Doubles.
Congratulations to all Wellington players who made the trip!
Winner Runner Up
Under 12 singles Tomos Christie Anna Wilson
Under 14 singles Sam James (Man) Yufeng Wang
Under 14 A Plate Anna Wilson Akshay Aneesh (Man)
under 14 B Plate Casey Pearson Brandon Lee (Man)
Under 14 Doubles
Winners Anna Wilson & Yufeng Wang
Runners Up Mei Mun Teh & Erin Huang
Under 17 Singles Jin Shim (Man) Akshay Aneesh (Man)
Congratulations & thanks to everyone who came along! Watch this space for the next event…
Ben Collins (Men’s Singles winner) and Jason Granville (Runner up) There were 43 players on Saturday and 23 juniors on the Sunday. The juniors were up significantly due to the coaching programme carried out by Gordon Stackhouse and Alistair Naysmith. A report on the tournament is attached.
In the Men’s Singles Ben Collins and Jason Granville meet in the final. In a high quality match with many good rallies Ben’s attack was able to overcome the mid range defence of Jason. Ben prevailed 4-2 (8-11 11-6 11-9 12-10 10-12 11-6). These two won the Men’s Doubles against Daniel Astle and Paul Op den Buysch (Nelson) 3-2 (9-11 11-8
9-11 11-8 11-6).
Malcolm Wong, with Mark Nalder (Nelson), were runner up in the Over 50 Doubles against Gregg Davey and Derek Partridge (Canterbury) 0-3 (7-11 4-11 9-11). Malcolm and Mark won the Over 60 Doubles final against Alistair Naysmith and Gary Basher (Nelson) 3-0 (11-8 11-9 11-9).
Ex Titan player Alistair Naysmith won the Over 60 and Over 70 Singles, and the Over 70 Doubles. He beat Mark Wilson (Canterbury) in the Over 60 Singles final 3-1 (7-11 11-7 11-9 15-13) and he beat Gary Basher in the Over 70 Singles 3-0 (11-3 11-7 11-2). Alistair and Gary Basher won the Over 70 Doubles (Round Robin).
Thanks to the Nelson Table Tennis people involved in running the tournament and the cafeteria. Mark Nalder, Malcolm Wong (Over 60 Doubles winners), Alistair Naysmith, Gary Basher (Runner up)
This was held at the ASB Sports Centre in Kilbirnie on Wednesday 24 May, as part of the annual 4 day NZIS Sport Exchange Championship (22-25 May) between Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Wellington is the 2017 winner. The multi sports tournament first started in 2002 and has been won mainly by Wellington. 13 times (2002-2008, 2010, 2012-2015, 2017 ) followed by Auckland twice (2011, 2016) and Christchurch (2009).
Gareth Severin became the first Wellington player to win the Men’s Singles. Previously Auckland players had won 3 times and Christchurch players twice. Linda Kong won both her matches in straight games, becoming the third Wellington Woman in a row to win the Woman Singles. Wellington, by winning both the Men’s and Women Singles, had a unassailable lead going into the mixed doubles. The Singles winners, Gareth and Linda, combined to win the Mixed Doubles for Wellington. Canterbury by beating Auckland in the last mixed doubles finished second. Wellington has won the table tennis for the third successive year and now lead Auckland (2 wins, 2012 & 2014) and Christchurch (1 win in 2013). Malcolm Wong was the Referee. He and Roger Watkin umpired the matches.
Results were:
1 Wellington 3 points
2 Christchurch 2 points
3 Auckland 1 point
Men’s Singles
1 Gareth Severin (Wellington)
2 Matthew Humby (Auckland)
3 Sergio Johnson (Christchurch)
Gareth Severin beat Matthew Humby 9-11 11-7 11-5 11-9
Gareth Severin beat Sergio Johnson 9-11 11-8 11-6 11-8
Matthew Humby beat Sergio Johnson 11-6 11-8 9-11 11-5
Women’s Singles
1 Linda Kong (Wellington)
2 Mahina Mullany (Christchurch)
3 Arohaina Beverland (Auckland)
Linda Kong beat Mahina Mullany 11-6 11-4 11-5
Linda Kong beat Arohaina Beverland 11-8 11-6 11-4
Mahina Mullany beat Arohaina Beverland 14-12 11-6 11-4
Mixed Doubles
1 Gareth Severin & Linda Kong (Wellington)
2 Samuel McGarvey & Te Amo Tomainu (Christchurch)
3 Matthew Humby & Arohaina Beverland (Auckland)
G Severin/L Kong beat S McGarvey/ T A Tamainu 11-8 12-10 11-3
G Severin/ L Kong beat M Humby/ A Beverland 11-5 10-12 11-4 11-7
S McGarvey/T A Tomainu beat M Humby/A Beverland 11-9 11-5
Malcolm Wong and Roger Watkin with the NZIS Sports Cup
Over 60 Singles Semi Finalist Alistair Naysmith, Tony Rutledge, Malcolm Wong and Mark Nalder
Tony Rutledge, Malcolm Wong and Tomos Christie travelled to this tournament which was held at the Simcox Stadium (Blenheim). Only 3 players came from Christchurch as the closure of the Kaikoura road meant a 6 hour trip to Blenheim instead of 4 hours previously. On Saturday there were 20 Men and 7 Women players. On Sunday there were 24 Boys and 5 Girls in the junior events. Results of Wellington players who reached finals are listed below. A tournament report was also published in the Marlborough Express.
Paul Op den Buysch (Nelson) won the Over 40 Men’s Singles against Tony Rutledge 3-2 (12-14 11-6 11-6 10-12 11-9). Paul had big leads in every game but had problems in finishing off Tony. Last years winner Mark Nalder (Nelson) lost in the first round to Alistair Naysmith (Nelson) who is an ex-Titan player. Derek Partridge (Canterbury) and Paul Op den Buysch won the Over 40 Men’s Doubles against Tony Rutledge and Warren Haszard (Marlborough) 3-1 (11-9 9-11 11-3 11-9).
Derek Partridge and Warren Haszard won the Over 50 Doubles against Malcolm Wong and Mark Nalder 3-1 (8-11 11-8 11-6 11-6).
Tony Rutledge retained the Over 60 Singles Title by beating Mark Nalder 3-1 (3-11 11-8 11-6 14-12). Both the semi finals went to 5 games. Tony Rutledge beat Alistair Naysmith 3-2 (11-7 13-15 8-11 11-3 11-4) and Mark Nalder beat Malcolm Wong 3-2 (12-10 11-8 10-12 11-13 11-3). Malcolm Wong and Mark Nalder won the Over 60 Doubles against Tony Rutledge and Peter Welsh (Marlborough) 3-2 (10-12 11-8 6-11 12-10 11-6).
Tomos Christie was runner up in the Under 13 Singles to Rory Osborne (Marlborough) 3-2 (5-11 12-10 10-12 11-7 14-12) and won the Under 15 Singles against the same opponent 3-1 (11-9 11-9 8-11 11-6).
Thanks to Chris Hood, Debbie Stratford and Daryl Jones from the Marlborough Association who ensured the tournament ran efficiently.
As a heads-up Table Tennis Wellington’s latest junior training for beginners & intermediates targeted for ages 8-13 (primary/intermediate school students) will be underway for six Thursdays from 6.30pm to 8.00pm. Notices went to primary & intermediate schools in the Hutt Valley area for inclusion in their school newsletters.
Fun Fast Goal Orientated!
When Term 2: Six Thursdays, 1 June – 6 July inclusive (6.30pm–8.00pm) Fees Term 2: $30 per player for the term (payable at the start)
Coaches ITTF level 1 qualifying coaches
Equipment Sports shoes. Bring your Table Tennis bat if you have one (or borrow one and return it at the end of the session). Comfortable sports clothes (e.g. shorts and t-shirt).
241 participants (127 from NZ) played in teams and individual events from Friday 21 April to Sat 29 April at the Auckland Table Tennis Stadium, Gilles Avenue in Newmarket. The age groups ranged from Over 30’s to Over 80’s, with A and B Grades in each age group.
There were 6 official umpires. International Umpires Val Scarr, Malcolm Wong and Ben Hurr. 3 Junior Umpires from St Kentigern College. Fraser McEwen, Jesse Nui and Kayla Yang. The Umpires umpired team matches on Wednesday (26 April), doubles on Friday (28 April) and singles (29 April). Play commenced 8.30am and finished about 6pm followed by the medal presentation. They umpired in every round with only a break for lunch. Umpiring up to 17 matches in a day requires good concentration and stamina over a long period of time. All the umpires were smartly dressed. either in their International Umpires Uniform or in the St Kentigern School Uniform. Malcolm Wong umpired the last match to finish the tournament on Saturday. The Over 75 Men’s Singles won by Wes Willis against Gerard Lucas 3-2 (6-11 5-11 11-6 11-8 13-11).
The only Wellington player, Ben Collins, played in the Over 30 events. He won a Silver Medal in the Mixed Doubles with Melissa Nottle (Australia). Ben lost in the semi-finals in the Singles to eventual winner John Cordue 0-3 and in the bronze medal play off match to Nathan Lowe 0-3.
Thanks to Alan Moore (Tournament Referee), Paul Jackson (Tournament Deputy Referee), Shane Warbrooke (Tournament Director). David Jackson (Technical Delegate), Cathy Moore (Tournament Controller) and Andrew Jackson (Tournament Control Desk Operator), who ensured the tournament ran efficiently. Also thanks to the volunteers in the table tennis: Eberhard Kleiser, Yi-Chern Lee, Phillip Xiao, Terry and Linda Warbrooke. Lastly thanks to all the umpires for their great work in the tournament.
Over 75 Mixed Doubles Bronze Medal Match won by Robert Dunn/Trish Sinkinson 3-1.
Miki Snell, Peter Snell, Trish Sinkinson, Robert Dunn, Malcolm Wong (Umpire).Over 30 Men Team Match for 5th/6th place won by Royal Air Force One 3-1.
Mervyn Funston, Tony Stead (Royal Air Force One), Malcolm Wong (Umpire) Ben Collins, Ken Yap (Hidden Mix).Over 30 Men’s Doubles Final won by Josh Alexandre/Nathan Lowe 3-1.
John Cordue, Chen Rong, Malcolm Wong (Umpire), Josh Alexandre, Nathan Lowe.Over 75 Men’s Singles Medalist. Gerard Lucas (Silver), Wes Willis (Gold),
Malcolm Wong (Umpire) and Lee Thong Teck (Bronze)Malcolm Wong (Umpire) with the Over 60 Women Singles winner Rieko Wakimura (Japan).Malcolm Wong (Umpire) wearing the volunteers jacket and cap, with the Pit Crew Baton and the Certificate of Appreciation, which were given to all volunteers.
On the last weekend in April a larger than normal entry made for a very good tournament. Good support from locals and outsiders from many parts of the North Island made for an intriguing couple of days. Thanks to all players and tournament sponsors and for their support.
The first week in July saw an enthralling end to Series One 2017 with all grades experiencing tight finals.
Premier saw an arm wrestle between Empire Entertainers and Titan Terriers before Bruno Omizu won the final match for Empire to win 6-5. Bruno maintained his 100% singles winning record win this victory. Congratulations to Bruno, James Harter and Depak Patel on their victory, the first in this grade for Empire for some years, taking away the Brian Hearfield Cup.
Division One also finished in a 6-5 win to Onslow Ogres over Empire Enforcers, after Onslow started well only to be down 5-3 before dramatically winning the last three singles. Win Nguyen also finished the series unbeaten and was well supported by teammates Mat Hobbs and Andy Budden. Onslow thus regained the Chris Williams Cup, presented several years ago by Chris, who sadly passed away recently.
The Division Two final was a win by Empire Egrets over Waterloo Wapitis, 7-4. Doubles was possibly the difference as Empire won both contests, in a match which had five 5 set contests. Maggie Dyer, Leigh Grinlinton and Michael Stechman were the members of the winning team. 2017 Winter Series 1 Premier Winners: Empire Entertainers (James Harter, Bruno Omizu, Depak Patel, with Brian Hearfield)