New Milton Table Tennis Club

Now that the Bournemouth and District Table Tennis league programme has finished, the New Milton Club can take stock of the final league tables with a mixture of pleasure and pain. The top three divisions make better reading for the club than the lower three where three of the club’s teams have been relegated to lower divisions.

The A team (Captain Steve Hemmings, Matthew Daish, Phil Handy & Umit Kaya) more than held their own in the Premier to finish third out of six teams.

In Div 1, the B team (Captain Shaun Newcomb, Brian Bickell, Zoltan Karip-Barath, John Millward & Julie Smillie) staved off relegation fears mid-way through the season to finish precisely mid-table thanks to a better games difference than Merton B.

Div 2 saw the C, E & D teams clustered together in third, fourth and fifth places respectively. The E team (Captain Frank Handy, Andrew, Peter & Simon Daish, Bobo Jiang and Gerard Redman) were top of the pile for most of the season and only slipped out of the top two in their penultimate match of the campaign. The in-form C team (Captain Dave Cuddon, Malcolm Floyd, Svet Ignatov & Matt Winter) deprived their E team of third place in their final match of the season against the D team (Captain Terry Jenvey, Bob Fagan and Chris Pusey. The D’s other squad member Roy Hobbs was out most of the season through injury).

The final week saw the F and G teams slug it out together in Div 3 to see who would drop down to Div 4, as they started the week second from bottom and third from bottom respectively. It ended up a draw which meant that the F’s (Captain Malcolm Nash, Ian Linney, Sylvia Smith & Eddie Tompkins) went down instead of the G’s (Captain Bev Scott-Johns, Simon Golding, Bill Page & Clive Pitts) who finished up third from bottom.

Going into the final week, the H team (Captain Les Smith, Kai Major, John Parkhouse & Dan Williams) and the J team (Captain Malcolm Douglas, Geoff Biggs, Dee Flanagan, Keith Kensley & Mike Roberts) were already doomed, so their local derby match simply determined who would end up bottom and second from bottom of Div 4. The J’s lost so they remained bottom, which was particularly disappointing for them as this was essentially the same team who were promoted from Div 5 only last season.

In Div 5, the K team squad (Lucy Craddock, Fern Daish, Campbell Golding, Lisa McGivney, Alex Whitehead & Lynn Willrich) did extremely well to finish up fifth out of eleven teams. The Kays really came into their own in the second half of the season, only losing two out of their ten matches. If the squad remains unchanged for the next season they could well be in contention for a promotion place. Although the L team came bottom, the big squad of Captain Sibyl Bartlett, Richard Brockbank, Richard Clampin, Bill Collinge, Dane Major, Andrew & Dominic Stainton and Sue Wootton-Freeman remained undaunted throughout a challenging season.  Full league tables are below:-

New Milton A had made it through to the final of the Annual Times & Directory Handicap Cup and the C team had got through to the semi-finals of the Plate competition, both against sides from the Merton Club. The A team (Umit Kaya, Steve Hemmings and Phil Handy) were hoping to make it third time lucky as they had come runners-up in 2010/2011 and 2011/2012. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be as they lost 3-5 against fellow Premier team Merton A comprising Patrick Hurley (+7), Mark Butler (+2) and Mark Smith (+8).

Handy playing off +6 kept his team in the match with a terrific hat-trick against very stiff operation, but Kaya (+8) and Hemmings (+6) weren’t able to add to the tally. Kaya came the closer as he just lost to Butler 14-31, 31-26, 29-31 in the fourth match and the pressure was really on in the eighth end as he took on Smith to save the match. Playing off identical handicaps, it was a really tight match but Kaya just tantalisingly lost out 29-31, 29-31.

The C team of Dave Cuddon, Malcolm Floyd & Svet Ignatov (pictured below) were told some days before the match that their opposition Merton G (Div 3) were only able to field two players in their semi-final of the Plate competition. This meant that Milton (Div 2) only had to win two of their matches on the night to go through to the Final, and it got off to a really good start as Ignatov (playing off +16) beat Paul Nelson (+17) in the first match 31-29, 31-29. With the Final only one win away, the wheels then fell off the wagon as Milton lost the next four matches which made it level at 4-4. The pressure was on Floyd (+14) as he took on Ray Davis (+17) and was blown away in the first end to lose 20-31, but recovered to win the second 31-21 to set up a nail-biting finale. Floyd defended doggedly but was often caught out by Davis’s powerful attack on both wings to lose 28-31. So near yet so far!

CUP FINAL
Merton A (Premier) 5 New Milton A (Premier) 3
Umit Kaya (+8) 0, Steve Hemmings (+6) 0, Phil Handy (+6) 3.

PLATE SEMI-FINAL
Merton G (Div 3) 5 New Milton C (Div 2) 4
Svet Ignatov (+16) 1, Dave Cuddon (+15) 0, Malcolm Floyd (+14) 0.
NB: Merton G only had two players.

The New Milton Table Tennis Club came up with three wins in the final week of the Bournemouth and District league, all of which came at the expense of their own teams in the four local derbies. The A, B and E teams weren’t in action as they all had byes in the final week, which left the other teams slugging it out for bragging rights.

It was sweet revenge for the C team in Div 2 as they reversed a first-round 4-6 defeat against the D team with a 9-1 trouncing in their return match. This maximum-pointer leap-frogged them over their E team to third place after a stunning string of results in the run-in.

Div 3 saw the F team vie with their G team for a relegation place as they started the week second from bottom and third from bottom respectively. With both teams fighting for their lives, the F team managed to overcome a 3-7 first-round defeat with a 5-5 draw, but it wasn’t enough to prevent them falling through the trap-door to Div 4.

In Div 4, the H and J teams were already doomed so it was just a matter of who ended up at the bottom of the pile. This encounter resulted in the Jays staying bottom as they lost by 2-8 despite beating their club mates 6-4 first time around. “H” captain Les Smith (pictured below) definitely saved his best for last as he came up with his first (and last) hat-trick of the campaign.

The Div 5 clash between the K and bottom-placed L team went with the form book as the Kays did the double over their stable mates with a 6-4 win at the Arnewood School.

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

The New Milton Table Tennis Club had a poor week in the Bournemouth and District league as they could only muster one win out of ten matches. In their last match of the season, the E team were held to a 5-5 draw against Bmth Sports G whom they walloped by 8-2 at home in the first round of matches. Milton had been top of Div 2 for most of the season but a poor run of results in the run-up deprived them of a promotion slot as they dropped out of the top two.

The C team, also in Div 2, were the only Milton side to register a win as their 8-2 hammering of North Bmth in their penultimate match vastly improved on their first round draw. The C team needed at least a 8-2 win from their last match (against the D team) to take over third place from their club mates in the E team. This looked a tall order as the C’s lost 4-6 first time around but they did it in style as they walloped the D team 9-1 to end up in third place.

A special mention for promising new signing Bill Collinge who marked his Div 5 debut with an impressive hat-trick which gave his L team a point in their 3-7 defeat by Shamrock B in Div 5. Also worthy of a mention in despatches is England veteran Brian Bickell (pictured below) who scored a hat-trick for his B side in Div 1, and new signing Alex Whitehead who played up a division but still came up with a treble for the H team in Div 4.

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

The New Milton Table Tennis Club teams won four out of their eight matches in the Bournemouth and District league last week, three of them representing reversals of first round defeats. In the Premier, the A team beat Merton A 7-3 in their own back yard having lost 4-6 at home, and at the opposite end of the league in Div 5 the K team beat Bmth Sports S 8-2 having lost 3-7 first time around. The biggest turn-round came in Div 1 as captain Shaun Newcomb’s hat-trick helped his B team to beat Lynwood B 7-3 at home having lost 1-9 to them down at Parkstone.

Div 2 saw the C team (pictured below) gain more ground on their E team as the C’s improved on their first round 7-3 win over Merton D with an 8-2 victory chez Merton. The E’s promotion prospects took a bit of a tumble as they lost again to Merton E, this time by 3-7 at Mudeford Wood. For the first time this season, the E team drop out of the top two to be replaced by their victors Merton E. Things got even worse for the E’s as Lynwood C had to concede their match against Bmth Sports F which reinforced Bourne’s title claims thanks to the gifted four points.

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

Alex’s training weekends have become an annual highlight and are always fully subscribed. Please read through the attached Notice for the main details found below. James (Lewis) is the principal organiser of the event this year, though I am helping with processing applications and payments.

We have less sponsorship this year and are grateful to the Poole League and the Dorset Table Tennis Centre for their help in keeping course fees close to last year’s figures. Please note that young players who train or play at Grange School on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Saturdays are classed as members of the Centre and qualify for the lower rate. Please contact me or James if you are unsure about which rate applies to you. If you are not sure about whether to apply for this course or the more advanced one in July, James would be the first and best person to contact – but is away for most of the Easter holiday! Therefore contact me! The fact that as a parent you are receiving this email is a good indication that your son or daughter would be suited to the course.

Places are limited to 28 by the size of the venue. If there are still places available at Easter we will then advertise more widely in order to fill them. Therefore you should apply before then to be sure of a place!

IMPORTANT – At this stage please return the form attached to reserve a place. By post or by email is fine. Please do not send any money at the moment. Payment will be requested once the course membership is finalised.

Alex Perry Coaching Weekend Notice

Alex Perry Coaching Weekend Application Form

Regards

Ralph (Weeks)

There was a break in the Bournemouth and District Table Tennis league last week as the week was given over to the Times & Directory Handicap Competition, ie the semi-finals of the Cup and the quarter-finals of the Plate.

The Premier’s New Milton A (Steve Hemmings, Phil Handy & Matthew Daish) booked their place in the Cup Final as they beat Winton YMCA B (Div 1) fairly comfortably by 5-2 aided and abetted by a hat-trick from Handy. This will be the A team’s third crack at the Final having been runners-up in 2010/2011 and 2011/12, so hopefully it will be third time lucky for them.

There were four New Milton teams left in the quarter-finals of the Plate, but remarkably none of them were drawn against the other. The only team to go through to the semi-finals were the C team (Svet Ignatov, Malcolm Floyd & Malcolm Nash) pictured below, who scraped a 5-4 win over Div 4’s Winton YMCA E. Malcolm Nash played up a division and had his 21 start reduced to 15 as he had to take on the handicap of the Div 2 player whom he replaced. Nash played very well but the five forfeited points proved a bridge too far so he went home empty handed. Ignatov won all three of his matches, while Floyd playing off +14 lost to Duncan Feltham (+23) in the first game of the evening but subsequently beat Duncan’s Dad Harold (+18). And so it was level-pegging at 4-4 when Floyd took on Will Sharpe (+21) in the ninth and final game. Floyd took the first end 31-29, but just lost the second by a nail-biting 30-31 to set up a very tense finale. However, Floyd kept his nerve and defended doggedly to win 31-27 to take his side into the semi-finals.

The G team’s Plate match against fellow Div 3 side Merton G also went right down to the wire in the ninth game, but Bill Page (+21) unfortunately lost to Merton’s Peter Dexter (+17) 27-31, 29-31. Progress also ground to a halt for the D team (Chris Pusey, Terry Jenvey & Bob Fagan) as they lost 1-5 to Winton YMCA C, and the F team (Malcolm Nash, Sylvia Smith & Eddie Tomkins) who lost 3-6 to Nimrod A. Full result details are below:-

Read the rest of this entry →

New Milton Table Tennis Club Chairman Shaun Newcomb and his doubles partner and protege Jack Pegram (Hertfordshire) are the new British Wheelchair Table Tennis doubles champions.

At the BTTAD (British Table Tennis Association for the Disabled) National Championships held recently at the Grantham Meres Table Tennis Centre, Newcomb and Pegram triumphed over stiff opposition, including current and past Paralympic players to take home the Gold.

Having also won the inaugural SportsAble Southern Disability Grand Prix doubles tournament in October, Newcomb and Pegram are a formidable pairing in wheelchair doubles and they went two sets up before the GB squad duo of Jack Hunter-Spivey and Sue Gilroy fought back to level the match. The game seemed to be slipping away as Newcomb & Pegram were down 4-8 in the deciding set but they managed to level and went on to win 12-10, the last few points giving the game a nail-biting finish.

SportsAble Open Singles winner Newcomb narrowly missed out in this Open Final having been two sets to one and 6-2 up in the fourth to the eventual Open winner Kevin Ploughman (Yorkshire), who showed real determination to come back and win the deciding end.

Both Newcomb and Pegram also had to settle for Bronze Medals in their respective disability classes, though as Newcomb said afterwards “three medals from the three tournament events at the National Championships isn’t too bad and it gives us an incentive to train a bit harder for 2015”.

Pictured below, Shaun proudly displaying his gold and two bronze medals.

In a week in which the New Milton Table Tennis Club could only muster three wins out of their ten matches in the Bournemouth and District league, the E team slipped off the top of Div 2. They were held to a 5-5 draw by Ringwood A at Greyfriars whilst Bmth Sports F took Milton’s place with a 8-2 maximum pointer over Merton F. Although only separated by superior games difference on 50 points apiece, Bmth Sports F have a game in hand as do third-placed Merton E (49 points) who beat New Milton D by 7-3 at Southbourne.

The best of the club’s wins came in Div 2 as the C team did the double over lowly Lynwood C, this time with the improved scoreline of 9-1. Captain Dave Cuddon and Matt Winter (pictured below) both scored hat-tricks, but Malcolm Floyd just missed out on his own treble as he lost 12-14 in the fifth and final end against his old nemesis Melvyn Gregory.

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