New Milton Table Tennis Club

There was a break in the Bournemouth and District Table Tennis league last week as the week was given over to the Preliminary Round of the annual Times and Directory Handicap Cup competition. The New Milton Club has entered nine teams into the competition this year, but only four of them were in action as the others had byes straight into the First Round proper.

The E team (Paul Nelson, Steve Cheesman & Bev Scott-Johns) who normally play in Div 2 breezed into the next round as they comprehensively beat Div 3’s Merton J 5-1 down at Mudeford Wood. Ex Merton player Nelson beat his two former club mates and his brace was matched by team captain Scott-Johns. Impressive new signing Cheesman played up two divisions and did well to beat Merton’s very tricky Ray Davis to add one more to the tally.

The Premier’s A team (Brian Vibert, Doug Gerrish & Frank Handy) didn’t fare so well on the same night at Mudeford Wood as they lost 2-7 to Broadstone C from Div 2. It was all over at 1-5, Gerrish having beaten Broadstone’s Mike Greenhall, but it was decided to play the remaining three matches and Vibert did likewise as scant consolation.

The club’s only other win came from the Div 4 F team (Mike Roberts, Ian Linney & Sylvia Smith) as they carried their unbeaten league form into the Cup and scraped a 5-4 win over Merton M from Div 5 away at Southbourne. Milton went 4-2 up, but Roberts and Smith lost their final matches leaving the previously unbeaten Linney to face Merton’s Lewis Pickup in the decider. Despite a -4 handicap Linney (pictured below) won the first set but the Merton youngster regained his composure to take the second to set up a nail-biting finale. Linney caught up at 12-12 with good solid play then the youngster seemed to freeze and Linney won it 21-12 to take his side through to the next round of the Cup.

Unfortunately the club’s other Div 4 team, the G team (Eddie Tompkins, Lewis Reading & Les Smith) will not join their club mates in the next round as they lost 1-5 away against the Premier’s Winton YMCA A. At 0-4 captain Smith kept his team’s hopes alive as he beat Winton’s Julian Hewlett to make it 1-4, but that proved to be their only victory.

However, the losing A and G teams live to fight another day as they go into the consolation “Plate” competition which will be played Week Commencing 18^th January 2016. Full result details are below:-

New Milton A (Prem) 2 Broadstone C (Div 2) 7

(Frank Handy 0, Brian Vibert 1, Doug Gerrish 1)

New Milton E (Div 2) 5 Merton J (Div 3) 1

(Paul Nelson 2, Steve Cheesman 1, Bev Scott-Johns 2)

Merton M (Div 5) 4 New Milton F (Div 4) 5

(Mike Roberts 2, Ian Linney 3, Sylvia Smith 0)

Winton YMCA A (Prem) 5 New Milton G (Div 4) 1

(Eddie Tompkins 0, Lewis Reading 0, Les Smith 1)

The New Milton Club came up with three wins out of seven matches in the Bournemouth and District league last week, all three being maximum four-pointers.

In the Premier league, the A team recovered from their 9-1 drubbing by league leaders Bmth Sports A last week to beat Merton B 10-0 down at Mudeford Wood. Milton were gifted three games as Merton turned up a player short and Russell Wilson, Brian Vibert and new signing Doug Gerrish rubbed it in by all beating Sean McLean and Darren Bellis. Wilson and Vibert combined clinically to see off the Merton pairing in three straight sets to pile on the misery.

The club’s other two wins came in Div 4 where the the G team hammered basement boys Bmth Sports L 9-1 in their own back yard. Captain Les Smith (pictured below) led from the front with an excellent hat-trick and was joined in a treble by Eddie Tompkins and the home-coming Lewis Reading, his first of the campaign.

The still unbeaten H team travelled to Southbourne and beat Merton K 8-2 courtesy of second hat-tricks from new signings Paul Iliffe and John Childs. Dave Strike chipped in with the one win and watched as Iliffe and Childs won the doubles to secure the four points.

Unfortunately it was deja-vu all over again in Div 1 for C team captain Frank Handy as for the second week running his team lost 4-6 despite hat-tricks from the man himself.  Full result details are below:- Read the rest of this entry →

The New Milton Table Tennis Club came up with six wins out of eleven in the Bournemouth and District league last week. Their best win came from the F team who whitewashed Winton YMCA C 10-0 in Div 4 to make it four wins out of four. Ian Linney scored his third hat-trick to remain undefeated and was joined in his treble by Mike Roberts and impressive new signing Steven Cheesman.

It was three wins out of three in Div 4 as the G team beat Bmth Sports K 6-4 thanks to a season’s first hat-trick from Eddie Tompkins and the unbeaten H team beat Shamrock 7-3 due to fine performances from new signing Paul Iliffe and 14 year old Elliott Storr-Smith (pictured below) who both scored hat-tricks and won the doubles.

The newly promoted B team were buzzing about their first win in the Premier league as they beat Bmth Sports B 6-4 largely thanks to an impressive second hat-trick from sensational new signing John Hook. John Millward and Shaun Newcomb added one each to the tally, then Newcomb paired up with Hook to win the doubles to secure the victory.

In Div 1, the promoted C team played two matches, winning their first 6-4 against Ringwood A in their re-arranged match courtesy of a brace apiece from captain Frank Handy, Peter Daish and Gerard Redman. The following evening they played against Ringwood B but lost 4-6 despite Handy coming up with his first hat-trick of the campaign.

Div 2 saw the promoted E team continue their unbeaten start to the season as they beat North Bmth 6-4 aided and abetted by a second hat-trick from 17 year old Peter Daish. Simon Golding came ascloseasthis to joining Daish in a treble as he went two ends up against North’s very tricky Allan Elcock in the last singles of the evening. Golding lost the third 8-11 and then the fourth by an agonising 12-14 to set up a nail-baiting decider which the Miltonian lost 8-11, making it 5-4 to Milton. Undaunted, Golding paired with new signing Paul Nelson in the doubles to win over five ends to clinch the victory.  Full results details are listed below:- Read the rest of this entry →

This summer marked the third consecutive year when the New Milton Table Tennis Club ran a summer pairs’ competition at Mudeford Wood Community Centre. This year the event was enthusiastically supported by 38 club members signing up for the seven teams and a further 10 people who were included in a pool of reserves All table tennis matches took place on Monday evenings in the main hall on 3 tables. This club competition is similar to a conventional table tennis league with teams playing each other twice, once at home and then once away. The competition was open to both club members and non-club members. All scheduled matches were played on the same night.

The names of the seven teams were: Sailors, Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, Vikings, Saxons and Romans. Each team consists of two players although a third person from that team could play in the doubles. We aim to combine a higher division player with a lower league player but it is not always possible to achieve this. Each person plays two Singles matches and one doubles (all five matches are the best of 5 ends). A feature of this competition is that one point is awarded for each end or set won up to 11. The final match score is calculated by totalling the number of ends or sets won by each team over the course of the evening. I show below the teams’ positions at the conclusion of the competition, all seven teams having played each other twice:

Team          Week No.    Sets Won      Sets Lost     Points Total

Vikings         14                    142                     75                    142   – Joint Winner

Airmen         14                    142                     73                    142   – Joint Winner

Romans       14                     103                  108                    103

Soldiers       14                       93                  119                       93

Sailors         14                       90                  114                       90

Marines       14                       90                  122                      90

Saxons         14                       83                  132                      83

At the conclusion of the summer pairs there was a tie for first place between the Vikings and Airmen teams with 142 points each. It came down to a final nail-biting match between the Vikings and Airmen which the Airmen won by 13 to 9. The title was awarded to both teams jointly. If there was an award for “man of the pairs” it would surely go to Gerard Redman for his quite brilliant play and sportsmanship over the summer months. There were also fine contributions by Russell Wilson, Geoff Ware, Philip Daish-Handy and John Millward. A trophy was purchased and presented to Gerard, the senior “A” player for the Airmen who will retain it for the first 6 months and then pass it to the Vikings.

There was a great deal of support and enthusiasm for the pairs over the 14 week period. This was the most successful pair’s competition over its three year history. Thanks are due to all those people who helped with the setting up the equipment at the start of the evening and putting it away at the session’s conclusion. I do hope we can repeat the summer pairs in 2016.

BM Scott-Johns

The New Milton Table Tennis Club came up with three wins in the Bournemouth and District league last week but two of them came at the expense of their own teams in two of three local derbies.

In the Premier, the A team made it two wins out of two as they beat the newly promoted B team 8-2 down at the Mudeford Wood Community Centre, courtesy of a hat-trick from 14 year-old Matthew Daish (pictured below) and a brace apiece from Brian Vibert and Russell Wilson. Impressive new signing John Hook got two back for the B team who were unlucky not to salvage a point as John Millward narrowly lost to Russell Wilson by 13-15 in the fifth and final end.

Div 4 saw the F team beat their club mates in the G team by an even higher margin, 9-1 on the same night down at Mudeford Wood. New signing Steve Cheesman got off the mark with a maiden hat-trick and “old hand” Ian Linney joined him in a treble. The G’s Lewis Reading spared his team’s blushes by beating F team captain Malcolm Nash to avoid the whitewash.

The closest derby came in Div 5 as the K team drew 5-5 with the J team down at the Grange School, Somerford. Teenager Andrew Stainton came up with his first ever league hat-trick for the K team and captain Stuart Burton and thirteen year old James Harper added one each to the tally. Replying for the Jays, Richard Brockbank bagged a brace and Keith Kensley and Geoff Biggs won one apiece, so it was 5-4 to the K team leading up to the doubles. With the K team sensing their second win in two weeks and the Jays going all out for the draw, the doubles was a very tight, drawn-out affair between the teenagers Stainton & Harper and the not quite so young combo of Kensley & Brockbank. Kensley and Brockbank shaded the first end 15-13 and the match ebbed and flowed until they nicked it 12-10 in the fifth and final end to force the draw.

The club’s other win came in Div 2 as the newly promoted E team walloped Merton G 9-1 in their own back yard thanks to hat-tricks from Simon Golding, Paul Nelson and Clive Pitts.

PREMIER

New Milton A 8 New Milton B 2

(A Team: Russell Wilson 2, Matthew Daish 3, Brian Vibert 2)

(B Team: Shaun Newcomb 0, John Hook 2, John Millward 0)

DIVISION 1

New Milton D 3 Merton D 7

(Chris Pusey 1, Terry Jenvey 1, Malcolm Floyd 0)

DIVISION 2

Merton G 1 New Milton E 9

(Simon Golding 3, Paul Nelson 3, Clive Pitts 3)

DIVISION 4

New Milton F 9 New Milton G 1

(F Team: Steven Cheesman 3, Ian Linney 3, Malcolm Nash 2)

(G Team: Graham Underwood 0, Lewis Reading 1, George Roberts 0)

DIVISION 5

New Milton K 5 New Milton J 5

(K Team: Stuart Burton 1, James Harper 1, Andrew Stainton 3)

(J Team: Richard Brockbank 2, Keith Kensley 1, Geoff Biggs 0)

The New Milton Table Tennis Club improved on their two wins from the opening week of the Bournemouth and District league by winning six out of their ten matches in Week 2. The A team who had a bye in the opening week got their Premiership campaign off to a brilliant start with 9-1 drubbing of Broadstone A in their own back yard. Captain Steve Hemmings and Brian Vibert (pictured below) scored hat tricks, pairing to win the doubles, and excellent new signing Doug Gerrish bagged a maiden brace.

The newly promoted E team completely reversed their opening week defeat in Div 2 with a 7-3 win over Broadstone C, courtesy of hat-tricks from Peter Daish and Simon Golding. New Milton have three teams in Div 4 this season and the happy triumvirate all recorded wins. The most emphatic came from the H team who whitewashed Winton YMCA C 10-0 thanks to hat-tricks from Lynn Willrich (captain), Dave Strike and promising new signing John Childs. In Div 5, the K team were gifted three games and a point as Shamrock C turned up a player short at the Grange. Captain Stuart Burton, James Harper and John Parkhouse all beat Shamrock’s Lori Ryder to win the match 6-4 and secure the precious three points.

PREMIER

Broadstone A 1 New Milton A 9

(Steve Hemmings 3, Brian Vibert 3, Doug Gerrish 2)

New Milton B 5 Merton C 5

(John Millward 1, John Hook 3, Shaun Newcomb 1)

DIVISION 1

Bmth Sports C 8 New Milton C 2

(Matt Winter 0, Simon Daish 0, Gerard Redman)

Merton E 10 New Milton D 0

(Chris Pusey 0, Bev Scott-Johns 0, Terry Jenvey 0)

DIVISION 2

New Milton E 7 Broadstone C 3

(Peter Daish 3, Bev Scott-Johns 0, Simon Golding 3)

DIVISION 4

Nimrod B 4 New Milton F 6

(Sylvia Smith 2, Malcolm Nash 1, Mike Roberts 2)

New Milton G 7 Merton K 3

(Graham Underwood 2, Lewis Reading 2, Eddie Tompkins 2)

Winton YMCA C 0 New Milton H 10

(Dave Strike 3, John Childs 3, Lynn Willrich 3)

DIVISION 5

Winton YMCA D 10 New Milton J 0

(Richard Brockbank 0, Mike Gent 0, Keith Kensley 0)

New Milton K 6 Shamrock C 4

(Stuart Burton 1, James Harper 1, John Parkhouse 1)

The New Milton Table Tennis Club had a less than auspicious start in the opening week of the Bournemouth and District league as they only managed two wins out of their eight matches.

The fiercely contested local derby came in Div 4 down at the Grange School, Somerford as the H team slugged it out with their club mates in the G team. Promising new signing Graham Underwood got his G team off to a good start by beating home-comer Dave Strike 3-0 and went on to score a maiden hat-trick. At the end, the H team needed the doubles to clinch victory but the Gees weren’t having any as Underwood & Eddie Tompkins beat the H’s Lynn Willrich & Elliott Storr-Smith in three straight sets to level things off at 5-5.

The club’s more emphatic win came from the F team in Div 4 as they beat Bmth Sports F 8-2 down at Mudeford Wood courtesy of hat-tricks from Ian Linney (pictured below) and Mike Roberts and a brace from Sylvia Smith.

In Div 5, the J team (Geoff Biggs, Keith Kensley & Malcolm Douglas) travelled to Southbourne and beat Merton L 6-4. With the match poised at 4-4, Kensley stepped up and played the perfect blend of tactics and fearless aggression to frustrate Merton’s Dougie Grieve to win in three straight sets. Kensley carried this on to the doubles, combining with captain Douglas to secure a hard fought 6-4 victory.

Full results details are below:-

PREMIER

Winton YMCA A 7 New Milton B 3

(Brian Bickell 0, Shaun Newcomb 0, John Hook 2)

DIVISION 1

New Milton C 3 Merton D 7

(Matt Winter 0, Simon Daish 1, Frank Handy 2)

New Milton D 3 Lynwood A 7

(Terry Jenvey 0, Chris Pusey 0, David Cuddon 0)

DIVISION 2

Bmth Sports F 7 New Milton E 3

(Peter Daish 2, Bev Scott-Johns 1, Paul Nelson 0)

DIVISION 4

New Milton F 8 Bmth Sports L 2

(Sylvia Smith 2, Ian Linney 3, Mike Roberts 3)

New Milton H 5 New Milton G 5

(H Team: Dave Strike 2, Elliott Storr-Smith 2, Lynn Willrich 1)

(G Team: Graham Underwood 3, George Roberts 0, Eddie Tompkins 1)

DIVISION 5

Merton L 4 New Milton J 6

(Geoff Biggs 1, Keith Kensley 2, Malcolm Douglas 2)

Winton YMCA D 9 New Milton K 1

(Stuart Burton 0, John Parkhouse 0, James Harper 0)

The club is always on the lookout for more members, ranging from experienced players to absolute beginners. Club nights are on Sundays and Thursday at the Grange School Somerford and the first session is free. Anybody interested should call Club Secretary Bev Scott-Johns (01425 619552 or simply turn up on the night where you will be made to feel most welcome. The club has a prestigious PremierClub 4 Star Rating and is also an “Ability Club” (actively working with disabled people).

New Milton Table Tennis Club’s only wheelchair player Shaun Newcomb was recently honoured by the Spinal Injuries Association with their Sports and Recreation Achievement Award. This award is presented to an individual who has provided inspiration to others through their outstanding sporting or recreational achievements.

Shaun is a full time wheelchair user, currently a UKCC Level 2 table tennis coach who is working towards completion of his UKCC Level 3 coaching qualification. While Shaun coaches all ages and abilities, he specialises in coaching athletes with a disability, working from beginner standard to Elite level. Shaun was selected to be the coach for the EAD (Elite Athletes with a Disability) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, and in December 2013 he was the GB Team Manager and Head Coach at the World Championships for Players with Learning Disabilities (INAS) in Hong Kong. In August 2014 he was Team Manager and Head Coach at the World Junior Games at Stoke Mandeville where he also runs the Table Tennis event in the annual Inter Spinal Unit Games. Shaun works with the Table Tennis England Association as the South/South East Regional Disability Officer and runs table tennis sessions for rehabilitation in the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Injuries Centre in Salisbury. In addition, he also coaches at New Milton Table Tennis Club and with a Regional Disability Squad in Maidenhead. Shaun also just happens to be Vice President and Development Officer of the New Milton Club.

He was nominated by Table Tennis England’s South West Development Officer Lisa Williams for his work in coaching and inspiring disabled athletes, and he was short-listed to the final three for the Sport and Recreation Achievement Award. As a short-listed nominee, Shaun was invited to attend the “Rebuilding Lives” Awards Ceremony at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel where the awards were presented by Channel 4 Countdown’s Susie Dent.

Susie addressed guests at the beginning of the evening with words such as “passion” and “inspiration”, just two of the very fitting anagrams that she had found within the charity’s name. Passion and inspiration were evident by the bucket load as the 2015 winners were announced during the course of the evening.

A surprised and humbled Shaun said after the ceremony: “The Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) is a marvellous organisation whose strap-line is “Rebuilding Lives After Spinal Cord Injury”. Over the years the SIA have provided me with excellent support and invaluable information, and I became a life member soon after my injury. I am honoured to have been given their “Sports and Recreation Achievement Award”, when there are so many amazing people across the sporting spectrum, giving their time to inspire those with a spinal injury in sport”.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Shaun has been selected along with another colleague by the BTTAD (British Table Tennis Association for People With Disabilities) to undertake a course to become a Medical Classifier for table tennis. Currently there are no qualified classifiers in the UK so any new GB athletes have to travel abroad to be assessed and classified. Shaun will undertake the training in Vejle, Denmark in early October, adding yet another string to his multi-faceted bow.