Closed Championships 2002/03 at the Harrow Leisure Centre

/ WEMBLEY & HARROW
TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE
News Bulletin / Spring 2003

Closed Championships 2002/03 at the Harrow Leisure Centre

It’s Costas again!

Costas Papantoniou won his fifth Men’s singles title at the Closed Championships in February, and at the same time became the first person to pull off the double of Senior and Veterans’ Men’s singles titles in the same tournament for over thirty years.

In the Senior event, Costas saw off a formidable challenge from Stuart Seaholme, whilst James Sprackling overcame Ian Buchanan, who had reached the semi-finals for the first time. This set up an entertaining final in which James tried hard to gain the upper hand, but found Costas in complete control, the latter winning by three games to nil.

It was the first year that Costas had been eligible for the Veterans’ (over 40s) event, and he has already gained a top-five ranking in England at this level. In the final, Costas defeated the winner in the previous two finals, Gary Morgan. Gary started strongly, winning the first game, before Costas hit back with the next two. Gary came back to level the match at two games all, before Costas won the fifth and the title. Costas received his trophy from League Chairman Michael Close, the last player to win Senior and Veteran Men’s titles in the same year.

There was a clean sweep of Ladies’ titles for Egle Adomelyte, playing her first season in the League. Egle beat Caroline Wilkes in the final of the Ladies’ Singles, teamed up with Hilary Birmingham to defeat Caroline and Sally Bax in the final of the Ladies’ doubles, and then, with James Sprackling, won the Mixed doubles, beating Sally and Geof Bax in the final.

There were other notable performances from Roy Hames, who beat teammate John Cooke in the Intermediate singles and from Rudi Falcao, who beat Neil Frais at deuce in the fifth game after an entertaining final. Mehul Malde continued his rapid progress with victory in the Junior Boys’ singles, beating Nikunj Patel by three games to one. Jacquline Lau won the Junior Girls’ title, and there were first successes for Sean Bailey at Cadet Boys level and Niyutee Patel in the Cadet Girls’ event.

Guest of honour at the Finals Night was Harrow’s Immediate Past Mayor Keeki Thammaiah, who presented the trophies to the winners and runners-up. League Chairman Michael Close thanked all players and spectators for contributing to an excellent evening of table tennis, with special thanks to the team of organisers and especially tournament secretary Steve Dunn for their running of the event.

Results

Men’s Singles Costas Papantoniou bt James Sprackling 11-5, 11-6, 11-7
Ladies’ Singles Egle Adomelyte bt Caroline Wilkes 11-9, 11-6, 11-5

Men’s Doubles Danny Fesehatsion & James Sprackling bt Gary Morgan & Tim Seaholme 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 6-11, 11-9

Ladies’ Doubles Egle Adomelyte & Hilary Birmingham bt Sally Bax & Caroline Wilkes
Mixed Doubles Egle Adomelyte & James Sprackling bt Sally Bax & Geof Bax 12-10, 11-6, 11-7
Veteran Men’s Singles Costas Papantoniou bt Gary Morgan 6-11, 12-10, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4

Veteran Ladies’ Singles Sally Bax bt Hilary Birmingham
Intermediate Singles Roy Hames bt John Cooke 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-1

Minor Singles Rudi Falcao bt Neal Frais 11-7, 11-9, 3-11, 9-11, 12-10

Cadet Boys Sean Bailey bt Joseph Attar
Junior Boys Mehul Malde bt Nikunj Patel 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 12-10

Junior Girls Jacqueline Lau bt Nicola Theis
Junior Doubles Mehul Malde & Nikunj Patel bt Michael Persaud & Yan Xue
Cadet Girls Niyutee Patel bt Jacqueline Lau

Website update

Despite several teething problems, the on-line results service on the League website at www.wembleyharrowtt.f9.co.uk is up and running. This conains a database of teams, players, matches, results and tables, and makes it easy for you to track your team’s performance in your division, the form of your next opponents, and who’s beating whom elsewhere.

Don't forget that the website also contains up-to-date contact information, cup results, records, links and much more! And if you have any ideas for content on the website, or if you have the technical skills to make the website even better, please get in touch via

League acquires new coaching robot

The £1,000 grant from the Awards for All scheme has been invested in a new coaching robot for the League. The robot can feed 100 balls a minute at a pre-programmed speed and spin level, and it is a terrific coaching tool. It will be used at the Leisure Centre coaching sessions on Saturday mornings and head coach Radovan Živković expressed his delight with the new machine "Dobre stolnoteniski robot" he was quoted as saying. Well he would, wouldn't he!

For further information about junior and senior coaching sessions run by the League, please contact George Walsh on (01895) 633552.

Ranking Lists January 2003

Senior Men
1 John Taylor Lowlands
2 Costas Papantoniou Apollo
3 Glenn Wilkes Vagabonds
4 Steve Buck Vagabonds
5 Paolo Cheng Hatch End
6 Stuart Seaholme Vagabonds
7 Tim Waller Vagabonds
8 Gary Morgan Vagabonds 2
9 John McCance Lowlands
10 Tim Seaholme Vagabonds
11 Anthony Budden Apollo
12 David Seaholme Vagabonds
13 Ian Mablin Eastcote

Senior Women
1 Caroline Wilkes Vagabonds
2 Sarah Seaholme Vagabonds
3 Sally Bax Sudbury Hill
4 Hilary Birmingham Headstone 2
5 Hazel Williamson Vagabonds

Congratulations to Iris Moss, who was honoured with a Queen's Jubilee Award winners at the House of Commons in November for services to table tennis. Iris has served table tennis in a voluntary capacity for 56 years at local league, paraplegic, ETTA and above all Middlesex TTA level. Those of you who know Iris will appreciate that this award was fully deserved.

Allons-y! World Championships come to Paris this spring
From 19th to 25th May This May, the Liebherr World Championships will be taking place not a million miles away - at the Palais des Omnisports, Bercy, by the Seine in Paris. It's the first time since 1947 that the tournament has been staged in France. All of the world's top players are expected to be there, participating in the singles and doubles events. For further details of the competition, including the playing schedule and ticket information, visit the World Championships website at www.mondialping.com/angsommaire.php

Cup Draw

Semi-finals draw, ties to be played by 7 March 2003:

Elvin Senior Cup

Vagabonds 2 v London Progress

Eastcote 4 v Vagabonds

Elvin Junior Plate

Edgware v Maccabi

Hatch End v Apollo 2

Elvin Junior Cup

Sudbury Hill v Eastcote 6

Lowlands 3 v Sudbury Hill 2

Elvin Junior Plate

Headstone 2 v Vagabonds 5

Vagabonds 7 v Canons

Harry Finch Trophy

First National Bank v Edgware 4

Oaklands v Sudbury Hill 4

Harry Finch Plate

Greenford Cons. v Eastcote 10

Apollo 6 v L.C.N.L.

Please note that the 2003 Cup finals will be played on Monday 24 March, and the Plate finals on Wednesday 26 March, all at the Harrow Leisure Centre. Everyone welcome!

Book Review

Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins: Ping-pong and the Art of Staying Alive by Jerome Charyn, Souvenir Press, £12.99

This book has table tennis as its main theme, but it is also a part autobiography, part history and part Cold War commentary. American writer Charyn first explains his initiation into the game, and his growing addiction to it as a youth in New York City. He views from close quarters the top US players of the day, including World champion Ruth Aarons and semi-finalist Marty Reisen, and he paints a vivid picture of the dingy, smoky backstreet clubs in which the game was played, usually for money, for 24 hours a day.

Charyn becomes a part-time table tennis journalist, taking him to Japan for the World Championships and to China for the famous 'ping-pong diplomacy' tour by the US national team. They were outclassed by the Chinese, of course, but the home players were encouraged, in the interests of international harmony, to make the games as close as possible. The author also describes in detail the goings-on in the Paris local league in which he played for several years - with the usual struggles to get a team out, hikes to far-flung and inhospitable venues, intra-club arguments and even the odd trophy.

The book is well-written, occasionally humourous and does not suffer for the fact that successive chapters often have little relation to one another. It is a relatively gentle jaunt through table tennis' twentieth-century social history, and worth the read whilst the last match of the evening goes to expedite.

Inter-league results

All matches played Sunday 9 February at Barnet TTC

Victor Barna Trophy (Middlesex Teams, Men)

Wembley & Harrow v West Middlesex, Lost 4-5

Wembley & Harrow v North Middlesex, Won 6-3

Wembley & Harrow v Staines, Won 7-2

Team: Steve Buck, Tim Seaholme, Glenn Wilkes

Norman Pegg Trophy (Middlesex Teams, Ladies)

Wembley & Harrow v West Middlesex, Lost 1-4

Wembley & Harrow v North Middlesex, Lost 1-4

Wembley & Harrow v Staines, Lost 1-4

Team: Sarah Seaholme, Caroline Wilkes

National Junior League