Welcome
Since our last newsletter we have welcomed Rory into our Saturday beginners session and we hope he will enjoy a long membership with us.
Plymouth 4-Star Junior Tournament
Last Sunday, Rex Wong, our club’s top junior, entered the Plymouth Junior tournament. As a 4-star rated tournament it is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the table-tennis calendar.
I am delighted to say that Rex was in top form. After beating three opponents in his qualifying group Rex received a bye into the last 16 of the knock-outs. He beat Nathaniel Smith of Kent to reach the quarter-finals where his opponent was Jake Davidson, ranked number 9 in England and the event’s second seed. A straight sets victory ensued, pitting Rex against Oscar Nikoli of Middlesex who was dispatched 3-1 in the semis. In the Final Rex faced Pablo Ramirez Rioja of Herts, the England number 27. Yet another impressive performance came from Rex who took the winner’s trophy 3-0. We are delighted for Rex whom some of you will have seen training at Free Church on Saturday mornings. No one works harder than Rex to reach his level and I hope you all share in the pride we all have in having such a wonderful and talented role model in our midst. Please may I extend a big thank you to Chris Mulligan, our Director of Coaching, who accompanied Rex to Plymouth.
British Junior and Cadets League
Our junior squad of Tudor Draghici, Sam Groom, Shivam Gupta, Johan Pretorius and Toby Roe competed on Day 3 of the above League based in Wellingborough at the end of January. Playing in the third of 4 divisions this young and largely inexperienced quintet did well to finish 4 th of the 6 teams. There is one more day to go. Many thanks to Radu Draghici, Susheel Gupta and Chris Roe for their excellent support and advice.
Our cadet trio of Anay Aroon, Leon Hayward and Thomas Pinnington also played at Wellingborough in Division 4 of 6. At the end of Day 3 they sit second of the 4 teams in their division. Again may I thank coach Owain Jones for his skills. Both teams have Day 4 to look forward to in March.
Area schools team event
Our club was delighted to provide two of the 4 players who represented Warwick School’s
under 16 team as Warwickshire Champions. They faced 5 other County Schools Champions
in the Area finals and won all 5 matches, notably defeating the pre-event favourites, St
Georges School of Edgbaston 6-2.
Development League
In conjunction with Eathorpe table-tennis club we have organised a second development or starter league. Its aim is to introduce our less experienced players to competitive table-tennis. We tweaked the format for the Spring, fielding three players per team who each play two singles but best of 3 rather than 5. Our three teams have all performed well and several players look as if they will be serious candidates for the League proper next September., a journey that Stiaan Van Rensburg has already travelled, transferring to Leamington division D in January. The support of the parents involved, who have shown enthusiastic sportsmanship of the highest quality, is greatly appreciated. As an indicator of how important this platform to the League could be, Stiaan is playing alongside Harry Davenport and Campbell Turner in Division D and their team is currently top.
Girls Pilot League
In an effort to increase girls’ participation in table-tennis, Table-tennis England are organising a pilot under 15 girls League at various centres across England. It will be a 2-a-side League played on 3 Sundays in May, June and July. We have entered one team and are considering entering a second before the closing date. To prepare our girls, all of whom are far younger than under 15 (three of them are under 10 and two under 11) we have set up a girls focus group which is meeting on Friday evenings. It is led by our Top Lady Player, Monika Tomaszek, and our Top Junior Girl, Susie Swan. However, whilst participation in the pilot league is our short -term aim, we have included 10 girls in the group knowing that several of them will come through in future seasons rather than this season.
We have a few vacancies in our Saturday beginners group at Bishops Tachbrook school due to recent promotions and would be delighted to hear from interested girls, especially those
in Y7 or below. Boys of that age are also welcome to enquire.
Club Tournament
Our club is holding a club tournament at St Nicholas Leisure Centre in Warwick on Saturday 7th March. We urge all of our League players and Development League players to consider entering. The entry form is on our club web-site and the fee is discounted for club members.
If you need advice on what to enter please contact me or another of the coaching team.
We need more volunteers to help run the competing groups and spread the load. One of our newest parents, Alastair, has already volunteered his skills and I am sure there are others who could do a great job for us. We will give you ample chance to “serve your apprenticeship”. Please contact me for more details.