In a week in which the New Milton Table Tennis Club could only muster three wins out of ten matches in the Bournemouth & District league, the club’s two teams in Div 2 were both involved in 10-0 whitewashes; one for, one against.

The C team dished it out to basement boys North Bmth B in their own back yard at the Winton YMCA thanks to hat-tricks from brothers Simon & Peter Daish and Graham Underwood who was playing up a division. The brothers Daish combined well in the doubles to pile on the agony and beat the North pairing 3-1 to complete the rout. This did their clubmates in the second from bottom D team a great favour as they prevented North from gaining ground on them.  A picture of a triumphant Simon Daish appears below:-

The D team (Chris Pusey, Bob Fagan & Roy Hobbs) were unlucky in their 0-10 defeat against Merton F as all three of Pusey’s games went all the way to five ends without reward. He had only just lost to Merton’s Russell Yearworth 9-11 in the final singles of the evening when he joined with Fagan to try to get something out of the doubles. They just lost the first set 10-12 then won the second 11-9. Things looked promising when they pipped the third 12-10, but then narrowly lost the fourth 9-11 to take it right down to the wire to spare the blushes. Unfortunately Milton ran out of steam in the fifth and final set to lose 5-11 to tormentor Yearworth & Ryan Pickup. Full results details are below:- Read the rest of this entry →

Out of their nine matches played in the Bournemouth & District Table Tennis league last week, the New Milton Club only lost one of them, a record for the club so far this season. Their seven victories included first wins of the season for the B team in the Premier and the D team in Division 2, although both teams remain second from bottom in their respective divisions.

The local Div 3 derby between the F team (Steve Cheesman, Sylvia Smith & Malcolm Nash) and the G team (Graham Underwood, Bev Scott-Johns & Ben Greene) ended up in a 5-5 draw, the first of the club’s derbies to end in a tie this season. The F’s looked to have had the edge at 5-3 courtesy of yet another hat-trick from Cheesman, but Gees Underwood beat Smith in the final singles and then Underwood & Greene got the better of Smith & Nash in the doubles to level things off.

Ben Greene (pictured below) deserves a special mention in despatches as he played in two matches simultaneously on the same night and won five out of his six matches. He played up a division and bagged a brace in the G team’s draw against the F team in Div 3, and scored a hat-trick for his own J team in their spectacular 9-1 victory over Nimrod B in Div 4. He even played in both doubles matches which he helped to win and crown an epic night’s performance.

There was a stark contrast at extreme ends of the league as the previously unbeaten A team were hammered 10-0 by Merton A in the Premier, while the L team won 10-0 by default in Div 5 as Shamrock B were unable to put out a team.

In Div 2, all of the E team’s results so far involve a 6-4 scoreline, last week’s victory making it three wins out of six. 18 year old Peter Daish came up with his second hat-trick of the campaign, older brother Simon bagged a brace and Clive Pitts added one more to the tally. Full results details are below:- Read the rest of this entry →

Table Tennis England, the Sport’s National Governing Body, recently launched a search for the unsung heroes who go the extra mile to make the sport great. The annual Pride of Table Tennis Awards seek to honour the volunteers, officials, coaches and personalities who are the heartbeat of the sport around the country.

The New Milton Club had no hesitation in putting forward its club secretary Bev Scott-Johns for this honour. The club’s citation read: “Bev is not only the General Secretary of the club, but he is also Volunteer Co-ordinator, Match Secretary, Tournament Organiser, Team Captain, Team Player and General Factotum.

Bev is also a Director of the Mudeford Wood Community Trust which looks after the day to day running of the Community Centre which is the club’s main venue for league matches. Bev also sits on the committee of the Bournemouth & District Table Tennis Association to which the New Milton Club is affiliated. Bev is also a qualified County Umpire and Tournament Organiser.

Bev has always worked tirelessly on behalf of the club; this year he sadly lost his wife Valerie on 25th March after a long illness, but he still soldiered on valiantly for the club. The Management Committee tried to scale down his duties but he was having none of it! As usual, he organised the club’s weekly practice nights, the club’s annual individual tournaments and the club’s Annual Summer Pairs Tournament. In addition to captaining a team in the Bournemouth & District league, he played in the Poole Pairs and the Merton Summer Pairs competitions and generally kept a weather eye on the club’s other teams in the various leagues.

Bev continued to be supportive of the club’s activities in the community, including the annual New Milton Rugby Club’s Fun Day, as well as events run at the Mudeford Wood Community Centre.

Bev would under normal circumstances be an obvious contender for Club Volunteer of the Year, but carrying on so selflessly despite losing his wife gives him even higher credentials!”

Table Tennis England duly issued the certificate which was presented to a very surprised but delighted Bev by Club Chair Steve Hemmings at a small ceremony at a recent club night at the Grange School, Somerford.

Bev will now be in contention to win a Regional Award for Volunteer of the Year, with all Regional Award winners going forward to the Pride of Table Tennis National Awards to be announced in March next year.

There was a break in the Bournemouth & District Table Tennis league last week, with play given over to the Preliminary Round of the Annual Times & Directory Handicap Cup competition. Four of the New Milton club’s teams were in action with two of them winning through to the First Round proper.

The F team (Malcolm Nash, Sylvia Smith & Steve Cheesman) who normally play in Div 3 and only just missed out in last year’s Cup Final, booked their place in the next round with a convincing 9-0 thumping of Div 5’s Bmth Sports P in their own back yard. This was achieved without dropping a single set, but captain Malcolm Nash was gracious enough to concede that the handicapping did Bourne no favours.

The Div 4 J team (Lynn Willrich, Ben Greene & John Parkhouse) had a real fight on their hands as they took on Merton H (Div 3) but ended up beating them 5-4. Greene’s league form continued into the Cup as he won a hat-trick without dropping a set, and captain Willrich and Parkhouse added one each to the tally by beating Rob Searle.

The Premier’s B team (John Hook, Shaun Newcomb & Rob Blackmore) were on the wrong end of a 4-5 scoreline as they lost to Merton C who play one division lower in Div 1. Milton were missing captain John Millward and he was gamely replaced by Rob Blackmore, who although from a division lower had to take on Millward’s handicap. It was nip and tuck all the way through the match with Hook and Newcomb bagging a brace apiece, but Blackmore’s handicap proved a bridge too far so he came away empty-handed.

The G team (Graham Underwood, Elliott Storr-Smith & Bev Scott-Johns) who normally ply their trade in Div 3, were beaten 3-5 by Bmth Sports G from Div 2, although it could easily have gone the other way. Underwood bagged a brace and 15 year old Storr-Smith added one to the tally having narrowly lost to Bourne’s Arthur Bartram 20-21 in their third and final set. Captain Scott-Johns drew a blank but was most unfortunate to lose out to ex Premier player Eric Buckley 20-21, 20-21.

The losing B and G teams live to fight another day however as they go into the consolation “Plate” competition which will be played Week Commencing 9^th January 2017.  Full results details appear below:-
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The New Milton Table Tennis Club had their best week in the Bournemouth and District league so far this season as their teams won seven out of their eleven league matches. 14 year old James Harper from Milford on Sea (pictured below) was celebrating his first ever league hat-trick after helping his L team to their second 6-4 win in a row in Division 5, this week away against Nimrod C.

James’ team were last season’s fall-guys as they ended up bottom of the league, but his performances have helped elevate them to a very respectable mid-table position, only below their K team on games difference. James went on first and beat Nimrod’s David Coward 3-1, then saw off ex Milton player Chris Courage over five sets and did likewise to another ex Miltonian Mike Melaniphy. It was in that match that James displayed a maturity beyond his tender years as he just pipped the first set 14-12 then kept his cool to win his fifth and final set 12-10 against old-stager Melaniphy.

Milton’s other wins included two 9-1 maximum-pointers as the Div 1 C team (Frank Handy, Gerard Redman & Andy Tipsana) socked it to basement boys Broadstone C home at the Grange and the G team (Svet Ignatov, Ben Greene & Graham Underwood) did likewise to Merton G in their own back yard in their Div 3 encounter. C team captain Frank Handy led from the front with his first hat-trick of the campaign and was joined in a treble by Redman and Tipsana, also his first of the season. For the Gees, Ignatov (pictured below) marked his homecoming with a hat-trick, Underwood came up with his third treble and Greene played up a division to bag a very creditable brace. 

Full results details appear below:-
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Two New Forest youngsters represented Hampshire at the National County Junior Table Tennis Championships in Northamptonshire over the weekend of 8th-9^th October. The Hampshire Under 18 team of five included New Milton TTC’s Matthew Daish and Brockenhurst’s Katie Holt who plays her club matches for Waterside TTC.

The stand-out player for Hampshire was 15 year old Daish (pictured) with 10 wins from 14 matches including a victory over the England U18 number 9 Harry Dai.

The Hampshire side had a bad start to the tournament but rallied with victories over high-flying Sussex, Devon and last year’s champions Lancashire to just hang on to retain its position in the Premier Division next season. Yorkshire were the newly crowned champions, with Sussex finishing as runners-up.

The New Milton Table Tennis Club won five out of their twelve matches in the Bournemouth & District league last week, two of the wins coming against the same side, Winton YMCA D in Division 5. The newly-promoted F team (Sylvia Smith, Steve Cheesman & Malcolm Nash) were celebrating their first win of the season in Div 3 as they beat Bmth Sports L 7-3 in their own back yard at Chapel Gate. Cheesman bagged his third hat-trick in a row, Smith scored her first hat-trick of the campaign and then captain Nash combined well with Smith in the doubles to win over four sets.  Pictured below are l-r Malcolm Nash (captain), Sylvia Smith & Steve Cheesman:-

Winton YMCA D were glad to see the back of New Milton last week in Div 5, as first of all the K team (Mike Gent, Dave Burns & Geoff Biggs) beat them 6-4 at Winton courtesy of Gent’s first hat-trick of the season. The following evening Winton entertained the L team (James Harper, Stuart Burton & Maggie Brown) who beat them by the same scoreline in their re-arranged match.

At the opposite end of the league in the Premier, the unbeaten A team (Steve Hemmings, Russell Wilson & Paul Iliffe) beat the struggling Merton B 6-4 in their own back yard at Southbourne. Captain Hemmings came up with his second hat-trick in two weeks but Wilson had to settle for a brace, needing the doubles for a win. The A’s haven’t lost a doubles match so far this season and so it remained as Hemmings & Wilson beat the Merton pairing to secure victory.

Full results details appear below:-
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The New Milton Table Tennis Club won five out of their eight matches in the Bournemouth & District league last week, albeit two of those wins came at the expense of their own teams in local derbies. The J team were celebrating their first win of the season as they beat Bmth Sports M 8-2, thanks to hat-tricks from Ben Greene and Andrew Stainton, and one win from captain Lynn Willrich (pictured below) to get her season off the mark.

The Premier saw the A team (Steve Hemmings, Russell Wilson & Paul Iliffe) trounce their B team (Shaun Newcomb, John Millward & Andy Tipsana) 9-1 down at Mudeford Wood. Tipsana, playing up from Div 1 spared his team’s blushes as he beat Iliffe, his team-mate from the C team, who bagged a creditable brace for the A’s.

In their Div 2 derby, the E team (Simon Golding, Andrew Daish & Peter Daish) claimed bragging rights over their D team (Terry Jenvey, Bob Fagan & Chris Pusey) as they beat them 6-4, thanks to hat-tricks from Simon Golding and Peter Daish.

The C team continue their winning start in Div 1 as they beat newly promoted Bmth Sports F 8-2 in their own back yard at Chapel Gate, courtesy of a hat-trick from Gerard Redman and a brace apiece from captain Frank Handy and new signing Rob Blackmore.

The H team remain unbeaten in Div 4 as they beat Nimrod B 7-3 thanks to yet another hat-trick from Dave Sutton, a brace from stand-in captain Eddie Tompkins and one win from Bill Collinge playing up from Div 5.

The G team were unlucky not to take a draw from their match against newly promoted Bmth Sports K in Div 3. Captain Graham Underwood won two of his singles and Elliott Storr-Smith and Bev Scott-Johns had chipped in with one apiece to make it 4-5 before the doubles. Underwood & Scott-Johns combined valiantly but just lost the fifth and final set by 10-12 to lose their unbeaten run by 4-6. 

Full results details appear below:-
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The New Milton Table Tennis Club could only muster three wins out of ten matches in the Bournemouth and District league last week, one of them coming at the expense of one of their own teams in a Div 5 derby. The other results were three draws and four defeats, one of them a whitewash for the B team in the Premier.

The club’s best performance came in Div 3 as the G team saw off Bmth Sports L 7-3 in their own back yard at Chapel Gate, a repeat of Milton’s last week’s scoreline. Captain Graham Underwood came up with his second hat-trick, impressive new signing Ben Greene played up a division to bag a brace and Bev Scott-Johns chipped in with the one win. Greene also came up with his first league hat-trick to help his own J team take a point off Merton J in their 4-6 defeat in Div 4. Greene (pictured below) has really made his mark on the club since joining, especially as he travels up from Shaftesbury to take part in league matches and practice.

Div 1 saw the C team beat Merton D 6-4 down at the Grange School, Somerford thanks to a maiden hat-trick from new signing Rob Blackmore and a brace from fellow new recruit Andy Tipsana. The doubles were needed for the victory, and Blackmore and Tipsana duly obliged over four sets.

The K team (Mike Gent, Malcolm Douglas & Geoff Biggs) claimed bragging rights over their club mates in the L team (James Harper, Adam Titcombe & Stuart Burton) as they beat them 6-4 in their Div 5 derby. Captain Douglas came up with a maiden brace as did Biggs, and Gent added one more to the tally. The light in the tunnel for the L team was a maiden hat-trick from promising new signing, 13 year old Adam Titcombe, and one win from 14 year old James Harper. The Kays needed the doubles to secure the victory and Douglas & Biggs combined clinically to beat captain Stuart Burton and young Harper in three straight sets. 

Full results details are shown below:-
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The new season of the Bournemouth & District league got underway last week and the New Milton Club came up with four wins out of nine matches. Thirteen year old Jack Trafford (pictured below) greatly impressed in his league debut as he bagged a brace for his E team in their 4-6 defeat by Breamore in Div 2. His only defeat came at the hands of ex-Premier player Geoff Ware, a former Milton club member.

The club enjoyed two 8-2 maximum pointers, one of them at the expense of one of their own teams in the first local derby of the season as the H team put their J team to the sword in Div 4. The Jays’ only reply came from promising new signing Ben Greene whose maiden brace made his trip all the way up up from Shaftesbury all the more worthwhile. The H team’s Dave Sutton returned from a long lay-off due to illness and got off the mark with an impressive hat-trick to go along with two wins each from Eddie Tompkins and Lewis Reading.

The club’s other 8-2 scoreline came in the headier heights of the Premier as the A team (Doug Gerrish, Gerard Redman & Russell Wilson) took maximum points off newly promoted Lynwood A at Mudeford Wood. Stand-in captain Gerrish joined Wilson in a treble, and Redman played up from Div 1 to chip in with the one win. He was unlucky not to bag a brace as he just lost out to Lynwood’s John Blisset by 9-11 in the fifth and final set.

Full results details are below:- Read the rest of this entry →