NEWSLETTER - April 2016
Club sessions - Continue through Easter.
This year Teign School have staff to allow us to keep the sessions going through Easter Weekend, so please support the sessions on Good Friday evening 25th March and Easter Saturday morning 26th March
We are hoping to keep the sessions going, on a regular basis, on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings right through the summer, however this will depend on the continued support from all members. There will be some disruption while exams take place in the sports hall (end of May through June), however we will endeavour to keep the club running in the dance studio, although we will have to work off fewer tables.
As a reminder to all: our Club Sessions run from 7.00 – 10.00 every Friday night and 9.00 – 12.00 every Saturday morning throughout the year. When you pay for a session (after your first free trial session) you automatically become a ‘member’ of the Club, there is no fee. You just pay a session fee of £2.50 students and £3.50 adults with reductions for families. Coaching is available, although limited on Friday nights during the season.
South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League
Excellent performances all round and real progress from our juniors in the South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League.
In the top division NA Batmen are just 4 points off the lead however, top side Denbury Imports, have a game in hand and are unlikely to be overhauled.
NA Buzzards currently lead the 2nd Division by 11 points. NA Eagles are currently 5th. Buzzards’ Ed Crawford sits at the top of the averages with Eagles’ Jim McIvor 3rd and Buzzards’ Mike Dummett 4th.
In the 3rd Division, NA Hawks have just moved up to 2nd place with Mike Coxhead 3rd in the averages.
Our 3 teams of mainly juniors in the 4th Division have made great strides. NA Kestrels are currently 2nd with NA Kites 3rd. Juniors Richard Salt, Luke Robins and Harry Usher all feature in the top 10 averages alongside Peter Tarjan. Archer Snow & Mark Halse are only missing out as they have not played enough matches yet.
NA Buzzards are in the Challenge Cup semi-finals and will be joined by another Newton Abbot side as Eagles are playing Kestrels in a quarter-final.
NA Owls reached the semi-final of the Dyment Doubles with an incredible fight back over previous winners Taverners, with Owls recovering from 1-4 down to win the match 5-4. Both the Eagles and Buzzards just missed out in the quarter-finals to Torbay Academy sides.
Best of luck to all our teams as they challenge for honours in the last few weeks of the season.
Devon Schools Games
Several of our juniors took part in the Devon Schools Winter Games held at Paignton recently, involving 12 teams from across the county. Jess & Ben Lee were part of Stover School’s team which won all its group matches and finished the tournament in 4th place. Jess was also given a special award for determination. Sam Hiles, Alex Walmsley, Josh Abrahams & Adam Sercombe, representing Teign School, finished in 3rd place. A fine achievement from those involved and a credit to our club – Well Done
Stover School's Jess Lee v Teign School's Adam Sercombe
South Devon & Torbay Closed Championships
The Annual Championships take place at Torbay Leisure Centre on Sunday 24th April 2016. This is an all-day event with plenty of table tennis to be played. We would like to see a good contingent of players from the club taking part in this event, which is organised by Nick Halse. There are competitions for age groups and Divisions as well as the major events where you can get a chance to play against the top local players. For more info speak to Nick or Tony.
While the tournament is primarily for league players there are Under 13 & Under 11 events free to enter and open to all players in those age catergories, whether league players or not.
Link to Entry Form http://www.tabletennis365.com/southdevonandtorbay/MediaLibrary/Download/8clgeqnt4EusuIFoWb-ORA/18644
Newton Abbot TTC Junior ‘CLUBMARK’ Challenge – The Don Blatchford Cup
We are hoping to hold this annual event in early May, probably Friday 6th or Saturday 7th. This will be a Singles event open to all regular attending juniors and will feature the main Cup competition for the winners and runners-up of each group, and a Shield competition for the other competitors, ensuring lots of table tennis for all. Juniors will be competing for the Don Blatchford Cup, a fine trophy purchased in recognition of the man who got the club up and running in Newton Abbot, originally at Dyrons. Although the students will not know Don, he is always very keen on encouraging students.
We will keep the juniors informed to ensure nobody misses this event.
Travis Graham current Don Blatchford Cup holder Ross Embury receives the Clubmark Challenge Plate
Club Tournament
During the summer, if we have enough support, we are hoping to introduce some club tournaments, possibly on the first Friday of the months of July, August & September. ie July 1st Handicap Singles, 5th August Handicap Doubles, 2nd September Open Singles.
New Coaches
We are very fortunate to have acquired the services of 2 more coaches. Sonja Ryland, who in a previous life coached top youngsters in Germany will be available most Friday nights and hopefully some Saturday mornings (when not on the golf course!) and Kevin Nicholls, who is one of our top local players and has just become a Table Tennis England accredited coach. This gives the club 5 coaches, along with many league players willing to help and support, which means there should always be someone to help, if you want it.
New coaches - Kevin Nicholls & Sonja Ryland
Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League’s Website
Keep an eye on all things table tennis locally by logging on to the League’s website at: www.tabletennis365.com/southdevon
A link to this newsletter is sent to all those players who have attended our practice sessions at Teign School in the last few months. If you do not wish to be included on my circulation list please let me know. tonyhalse@hotmail.com
