When the League season finishes towards the end of April, our regular sessions in the sports hall will continue as normal on Friday nights and Saturday mornings right through the summer.  There will be some disruption while exams take place in the sports hall (end of May through June), however, I am hopeful we will again have access to the end of the Sports Hall, as well as the Dance Studio, so we should still have at least 10 tables available.  

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 League 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 and NA Buzzards are in a battle for the runners-up spot, as realistically no-one is likely to catch the formidable Torbay Academy 1 team at the top.  Kevin Nicholls, Jon Cheung and Dennis Gibbs are all in the top 6 of the averages, with over 75%. Shaun Gibbs and Naomi Jackson also make it into the top ten.

Although sitting in 3^rd place at the moment, NA Falcons are now favourites for the Division Two title, just 6 points off the lead with 3 games in hand. NA Eagles sit just one point behind the Falcons in fourth. The NA Hawks, newly promoted into the 2^nd Division, have found it tough but should have done enough to play another season at this level. Giles Tushingham leads the averages with over 90%, Ed Crawford and Jim McIvor are 3^rd & 4^th, and Andy Tyrrell 8^th.

NA Falcons - Ed Crawford, Giles Tushingham, David Davies 

Our only team in the 3^rd Division, NA Kestrels, have had a decent season, with all their players contributing. They are currently in 5^th place and could still improve on that.

As usual we have thrown in quite a lot of youngsters and newcomers into the 4^th Division with some excellent performances. Our most successful team being our more established NA Owls, who are currently 3^rd, level on points with the runners-up and only 3 points behind the leaders. NA Kites lie in 5^th, NA Ospreys 6^th and the Vultures, fresh from a victory over the leaders, sit in 8^th. Richard Salt, Sam Hiles and all 3 Bayliss’s, Rowan, Rob and Dylan, feature in the top 10 of the averages.

Team Handicap Cup Competitions

NA Eagles have again reached the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, and have to play the winners of Torbay Academy 1 and NA Buzzards for a place in the final.  Our only survivors in the Dyment Doubles are NA Ospreys who face Denbury Tykes for a place in the semi-finals.

South Devon & Torbay Closed Championships

The Annual Closed Championships take place at Torbay Leisure Centre on Sunday 22nd April 2018.  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 Tony Halse.  There are competitions for different 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 Tony. While the tournament is primarily for League players there are some Junior events free to enter and open to all players in those age categories, whether League players or not.  

Link to Entry Form:

https://www.tabletennis365.com/southdevonandtorbay/MediaLibrary/Download/Oxt207sy602AwkcAWUcx4Q/40455

2017 Mixed Doubles finalists 

Newton Abbot TTC Junior ‘CLUBMARK’ Challenge – The Don Blatchford Cup

We are hoping to hold this annual event in May/June. This is a Singles event open to all regular attending juniors (Div 4 and non-league) 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 youngsters will not know Don, he is always very keen on encouraging juniors.

We will keep the juniors informed to ensure nobody misses this event.

 Trophy winners 2017 with Chairman Dennis Gibbs

Coaching and Club Sessions through the Summer

Table Tennis England Coach, Jon Cheung, is hoping to run more structured coaching and competitions through the summer and will be talking to you all over the next few weeks to seek your views on improving the club sessions.  Please let him know what you would like to see going on during the close season.

Non-League Players, recreational players, beginners.......

I am very conscious that this whole newsletter seems to revolve around competitive League table tennis.  I would like to stress that our club is fully committed to supporting and helping all players at any level, whether beginners, recreational players, or old hands who have forgotten what it was all about.  We encourage participation at all levels and are open to any ideas you may have to improve your experiences at our club.

Intro to Coaching Course

The South Devon TTL in conjunction with BeTT are running an "Intro to Coaching" course available to all members.  This is an overview of coaching aimed at those who are interested in learning more about coaching but who haven't done formal coaching courses before.  All are welcome.

Date: Sunday April 15th

Time: 9am till 12 noon

Venue: Torbay Leisure Centre

Cost: *FREE*

If you wish to register please contact David Davies or Tony Halse.

This is a really good opportunity to learn about coaching from Table Tennis England experts and is offered free of charge as part of the league and clubs’ involvement with Table Tennis England’s BeTT initiative.  A good response from our club would be appreciated, and should give you the confidence to help others at our club improve.

Exeter & District Table Tennis League

Three of our club coaches, Dennis Gibbs (Batmen), Kevin Nicholls (Buzzards) and Jon Cheung (Buzzards) join forces to play in the top Division in the Exeter League.  Following their 17^th successive win they have now successfully retained their title with 3 matches still to play. Congratulations Dennis, Kevin and Jon.

Exeter League 1 Winners 2017-18 Dennis Gibbs, Jon Cheung, Kevin Nicholls 

Buzzards swoop on London (contributed by Kevin Nicholls)

Newton Abbot Buzzards (without our table tennis bats) enjoyed a fantastic weekend in London. Jon Cheung doubled up as our excellent tour operator and gourmet chef for the weekend. It was a gorgeous day, albeit a chilly one, so Jon’s breakfast was gratefully received by the team. After Jon just managed to squeeze the luggage into his boot (first surprise of the morning was that my suitcase was larger than Sonja’s) we set on out travels to our wonderful capital city. Sonja had strategically organised the seating arrangements and claimed the heated front seat (no surprise there), however just as Tony and myself were relaxing in the rear seats, looking forward to our journey and taking the opportunity to take in all the great sights on our lengthy journey, Sonja surprised us and put us to work! With Mother Day’s just around the corner, Sonja briefed us on the task – making bows out of raffia. We fully embraced the challenge with only a few grumbles and references to slave labour and 4 hours and many bows (it felt like many hundreds) later we arrived in London. I believe that Jon has a video of club legend Tony making these top-quality bows shortly to be posted on you-tube (ha-ha).

We then had a very pleasant stroll viewing some of the best sights in London, including the London Eye, Big Ben and the Millennium Bridge, before being thoroughly entertained at the splendid Novello Theatre by the cast of Mamma Mia, a most exhilarating smash hit musical (and yes we were all on our feet). After a good night’s sleep we had a hearty five-star breakfast cooked by our very own gourmet chef (including the best Eggs Benedict I have ever tasted), before heading off to the Copper Box Arena to see some of the very best table tennis players in action on the final day of the ITTF Table Tennis World Cup. A superb weekend full of great memories in the company of some awesome people! Look forward to our next adventure (although no raffia bows next time please skipper, I’m still having nightmares about them now)”

South 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:

https://www.tabletennis365.com/SouthDevonAndTorbay

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