New Milton Table Tennis Club

There was a terrific turnout for New Milton Table Tennis Club’s Mixed Doubles tournament at Mudeford Wood Community Centre on Monday 10^th June. Initially there were 23 competitors compared to last year’s 18 participants, but there was still a last minute scramble to make the numbers up to an even 24. After a number of frantic phone calls, Kai Major’s mum Nicola delivered an unsuspecting Kai to be paired up with Malcolm Floyd, who had initially offered to stand down (nothing at all to do with him wishing to spare his poor old back!).

The Mixed Doubles is always a bit of light relief in between the club’s more “serious” singles events, with the pairings being drawn out of the hat on the night. The individual’s handicaps are then averaged to give a handicap for each pairing. The 24 nicely lent itself to two groups of 6 pairings, and once again it was decided to restrict the group stages to two sets.

One group comprised Keith Kensley & Bob Fagan (+18), Les Smith & Phil Handy (+14), Fern Daish & Chris Pusey (+19), Matthew & Peter Daish (+15), Sylvia Smith & Ian Linney (+19) and Eddie Tompkins & Bev Scott-Johns (+20). The explosive pairing of Matthew and older brother Peter Daish only lost two sets to win the group, one of them against Les & Phil in their last match of the group stage. The brothers Daish lost 26-31 in their first set against Les & Phil but came back to win the second by the mind-boggling 38-36, a real crowd-pleaser. Their only other loss was at the hands of Eddie & Bev who came runners-up.

The other group contained Gerard Redman & Roy Hobbs (+15), John Parkhouse & Geoff Biggs (+21), Andrew Stainton & Simon Daish (+21), Andrew Daish & Terry Jenvey (+18), James Lewis & Shaun Newcomb (+12) and Kai Major & Malcolm Floyd (+17). The very tricky combination of wheelchair player Shaun and fellow Div 1 player James only dropped two sets all evening, including one against runners-up Gerard & Roy. It is fair to say that Malcolm and Kai struggled a bit, but Kai’s head never went down and he played some lovely shots (can’t say the same for Malcolm!). Their consolation came in their last match of the evening as they claimed a set against Gerard & Roy, the eventual runners-up.

The winners and runners-up go straight through to the semi-finals which were held over to the Grand Finals Night on 24^th June. Brothers Matthew & Peter Daish take on Gerard Redman & Roy Hobbs, while Shaun Newcomb & James Lewis will face Eddie Tompkins & Bev Scott-Johns. Roy came runner-up with Dave Sutton last year, and as the only “surviving” finalist he is looking forward to a second bite of the cherry with new partner Gerard.

Roy Hobbs wants another crack at the Doubles title.

Following a break for the bank holiday, the New Milton Table Tennis Club’s annual tournaments resumed with the “Handicap Singles” event at Mudeford Wood Community Centre on 3^rd June. The 23 entrants, slightly up on last year’s 22, were split into three groups of six and one group of five. Because of the high entry, once again it was decided to restrict the group stage to two sets per match.

The first group of six comprised Kai Major playing off a handicap of +21, Shaun Newcomb (+13), last year’s winner Phil Handy (+6), Dan Williams (+21), Terry Jenvey (+15) and Bev Scott-Johns (+21). The Premier’s Phil breezed through the group, dropping just the one set, while Shaun only lost to Phil and Bev to go through as runner-up.

In the second group of three were Dane Major (+25), Julie Smillie (+13), Richard Barrett (+23), Malcolm Floyd (+14), Ian Linney (+19) and Andrew Stainton (+24). Ian won the group, and Julie pipped Malcolm to second place. Malcolm played tentatively after a lay-off with a bad back but beat Julie 31-29 in their first set. It was nip and tuck throughout the second set, but Julie eventually won 34-32 to deprive league teammate Malcolm of a place in the quarter-finals.

The final group of six comprised Sylvia Smith (+20), Lucy Craddock (+25), Fern Daish (+23), Matthew Daish (+12), Angela Farmer (+23) and Mike Roberts (+20). Matthew fought valiantly to try to overcome the high differentials, but in the end Mike won the group with Lucy coming runner-up.

The group of five contained last year’s runner-up Peter Daish (+19), Bob Fagan (+16), Andrew Daish (+21), Chris Pusey (+16) and Steve Hemmings (+6). Steve won the group to join Premier teammate Phil in the quarter-finals and Peter Daish came second.

The quarter-finals reverted to “best of three” and Ian Linney’s match with Peter Daish was the only match to go all the way. Playing off the same handicap (+19), Ian took the first set 31-26 but then Peter turned the tables to win the second 31-26. Ian’s forehand attack proved more consistent in the third and he shaded it 32-30 to proceed to the semi-finals.

It was opposite ends of the spectrum as Phil Handy from the Premier took on Lucy Craddock from Div 5. Lucy had to accrue 6 points to win each set as against Phil’s mammoth 25 points target, but it was not to be as Phil won both sets 32-30.

Phil Handy, looking for his second Handicap Singles title in a row.

Shaun Newcomb (+13) booked his place in the semi-finals as he saw off Mike Roberts (+20) in two straight sets 31-26, 32-30.

Julie Smillie (+13) was looking for revenge against Steve Hemmings (+6), as she had already lost to him in this year’s Vets 40+ (Handicap) semi-finals and last year’s Vets 40+ (Handicap) final. Normally Steve’s stoic defence is the perfect counter to Julie’s forehand loop, but Julie appeared the fresher after a long evening’s table tennis and overcame Steve in two straight sets, 31-29, 34-32.

The semi-finals were held over to the Grand Finals Night on 24^th June when Ian Linney will take on Phil Handy, and Julie Smillie will face league teammate Shaun Newcomb. Shaun who plays off the same handicap as Julie (+13) will be looking for revenge as he lost to her in this year’s quarter-final of the Vets 40+ (Handicap) event.

They say the sun shines on the righteous – well the various sporting clubs of the New Milton area must be doing something right as we nearly had the perfect June day, if only the wind had been a little less it would have been 10/10.

Having had a kind offer from Steve Hemmings who was all set to transport a table from Mudeford Wood, at the eleventh hour I received a phone call from Jamie Burton at New Forest District Council to say how please he was that we were taking part and would it be useful if he brought a couple of the “PING!” tables to the event for our use. We had one inside a fairly decent sized square tent and one just outside, Jamie parking his large van alongside to create a further wind break. Despite the gusts which made for interesting play on the outside table in the morning, this largely settled down later in the afternoon and all participants seemed to thoroughly enjoy their table tennis experience.

An ingenious device to encourage the youngsters’ participation was that they were each given a card with spaces for coloured stickers granted when they had taken part in each sport – having tried at least six sports they could collect a nice medal from the organisers – so we had no shortage of takers.

First on the scene at crack of dawn as usual was Julie Smillie, followed soon by me and Malcolm Floyd. Steve Hemmings, Frank Handy, Cameron Golding and Silvia Smith who were all a tremendous help. Other club members showing support including Malcolm Douglas and our club President Bob Fagan, both of whom could afford a more brief visit but who also enjoyed this.

Many other sports were represented along with displays in the arena with welcome refreshments including burgers, ice cream (of course!) – a beer tent and a few more healthy options. All in all a really good day from which I’m sure we’ll pick up a few new members.

The Annual Tournaments of the New Milton Table Tennis Club continued last week with the Vets 40+ (Handicap) event at the Mudeford Wood Community Centre. Thirteen club members took part and were split into three groups of three and one group of four.

The group of four comprised Richard Barrett playing off a handicap of +23, Les Smith (+22), Dan Williams (+21) and Terry Jenvey (+15). Williams won all of his matches to win the group, whilst Smith only lost to Williams to come runner-up.

In the first group of three were Chris Pusey (+16), Sylvia Smith (+16) and last year’s Vets 40+ runner-up Julie Smillie on +13. Pusey won both his matches to take the group and Smillie won one to go through as runner-up.

The next group of three was the heady combination of Club President Bob Fagan (+16), General Secretary Bev Scott-Johns (+21) and last year’s Over 40+ champion Steve Hemmings (+6). Hemmings overcame a tough handicap to win both his matches and Fagan beat Scott-Johns to come second.

The final group of three comprised Club Chairman Shaun Newcomb (+13), Ian Linney (+19) and John Parkhouse (+22). Newcomb staked his place in the quarter-finals by winning both his matches and Parkhouse came second after winning a tough three set encounter with Linney (29-31, 31-29, 31-28).

In the quarter-finals Dan Williams beat Bob Fagan 31-25, 31-25, John Parkhouse beat Chris Pusey 27-31, 31-28, 31-25, Steve Hemmings got the better of Les Smith by shading the second set at deuce 33-31, and Julie Smillie surprised herself by beating league teammate Shaun Newcomb 31-23, 23-31, 31-28.

The semi-finals saw Dan Williams get the better of league teammate John Parkhouse 31-26, 36-34, and then there was a reprise of last year’s final as Julie Smillie took on Steve Hemmings. Smillie really got her forehand loop going, but once again Hemmings’ tenacious defence coupled with the occasional ferocious backhand attack won him the match (31-29, 35

And so it’s Dan Williams versus Steve Hemmings in the Vets 40+ final which will take place at the Club’s Grand Finals Night at Mudeford Wood Community Centre on 24^th June. Next up however is the Handicap Singles event at Mudeford Wood on Monday 3^rd June.

Steve Hemmings has set his sights on his third Vets 40+ title in a row.

Just to let you know that NMTTC are taking part in a ‘Have a Go, Fun Day’ at New Milton Rugby Club in Ashley this Saturday 8th June. The event is from 10am until 4pm and lots of sports and clubs will be there so you try out new activities and have fun! All club members, friends and family are welcome to come and join us for FREE .
For further information you can visit the Rugby Club’s web site

http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/newmiltondistrict/

The club is situated in Norman Road, Ashley, BH25 5FN
Hope to see you there!

The New Milton Table Tennis Club’s annual tournaments got underway with the Juniors event at the Arnewood School. Sixteen eager youngsters entered this event which nicely lent itself to four groups of four. Not unexpectedly, Matthew Daish won his group without dropping a match and Sammy Thompson came runner-up. Simon Daish repeated his younger brother’s feat whilst Matt Procter came runner-up in their group. Peter Daish followed his brothers’ lead and Ralph Roberts came second to Daish in their group. Finally, Lucy Craddock won her group with Campbell Golding coming runner-up.

In the quarter-finals Matthew Daish saw off namesake Proctor, Peter Daish did likewise to Campbell Golding, Simon Daish beat Sammy Thompson and Lucy Craddock got the better of Ralph Roberts. True to form, Matthew Daish despatched older brother Peter in their semi-final, and Simon Daish denied Lucy Craddock a place in the final. And so Matthew Daish will face big brother Simon in the final.

Next up was the Ladies Handicap Tournament which also took place at Arnewood School. Four ladies took part in this event (Fern Daish, Angela Farmer, Julie Smillie & Sylvia Smith), the first time for years that the club has run a “ladies only”. Angela Farmer playing off +25 won the group by beating Julie (+13) and Fern (+23) in straight sets, only losing to Sylvia (+20) over three sets. Julie also won two by beating Sylvia and Fern, but Sylvia took a set off Julie who therefore had to settle for runner-up. Julie will try to exact her revenge over Angela in the final.

Julie Smillie will play Angela Farmer in the Ladies Singles Final.

The club would love to have more lady players and were really pleased to welcome Angela back after an injury. Any ladies wishing to join our very friendly club should call Julie Smillie on 01425 614784 or club secretary Bev Scott-Johns on 01425 619552. Read the rest of this entry →