NEW IRISH CAPTAINS SELECTED
The 2001-2002 Irish Captains have been confirmed with the new appointment of Colm Slevin as Irish National Coach and Senior Captain along with Con Higgins. Richard Butler remains Junior Boys Captain, Arthur Brett as Junior Girls, John O'Donoghue Cadet Boys and Tara Bollard as Cadet Girls. The appointment of Colm Slevin as Irish National Coach will be received with much enthusiasm as one of the most successful Irish Internationals ever. Colm will continue to play for Ireland on occasion and it is hoped that his vast experience will help many of the new and aspiring Irish players.

European Youth Championships Terni Italy, 20-29th July. Irish Cadets move into top 30. Rain Stops play for Irish Girls. Sean Brady takes a win against Estonia. For more news European Youths

European Youth Championships Terni Italy, 20-29th July. Irish Cadets garanteed top 30 finish. More News

Handshake seals the deal
It was smiles all round as the ITTA and STIGA representative Tommy Fitzgerald sealed a fantastic long term contract for the Irish teams to wear the latest STIGA gear. For the next four years the Irish team will be proudly wearing the traditional green shirts of STIGA
"The STIGA name adorned the Irish shirts in the eighties and 14 years later it is great to welcome them back as the Irish Team sponsors" said Alex Thackaberry the Irish TTA Chairman.
"The quality and style of STIGA products is well known worldwide in Table Tennis and we are very proud to accept this sponsorship from STIGA"

International Youth Cup Selection, Hasselt, Belgium June 1st-4th
U14 Girls: E-J. Helen, G.McKenna, F.Mernagh, A.Tobin. NPC T.Bollard
U14 Boys: L.Barry, J.Boyd, P.Graham, K.Healy. NPC J.O'Donoghue
U17 Girls: S.Conway, R.O'Connor, L.O'Sullivan. NPC A.Brett.
U17 Boys: S.Brady, C.Byrne, D.McNeill, J.Murphy. NPC R.Butler

ITTF AGM
VOTES IN GAMES UP TO 11 & NEW SERVICE RULE, OSAKA
The annual general meeting of the International Table Tennis Federation held at the World Championships, Osaka, Japan has by a large majority voted to change the scoring system from games up to 21 to games up to 11, with effect from 1st September 2001. Service will change every 2 points as opposed to after every 5 points as in games up to 21, with deuce at 10-10 after which service will change after every point until a player has a lead of 2 points to win the game. Sets will now normally be the best of 5 or 9 games, and players will change ends when the score reaches 5 in the deciding game.

The intention of the change, proposed by the Athletes Commission and the ITTF Executive Committee, is to create more key/crisis points, and more tension and excitement, hopefully leading to table tennis improving as a spectacle, particularly on television. However, the up to 21 scoring system has been adopted by the ITTF since its inception in 1926 and there has been resistance to the prospect of a change. Recent surveys conducted by the ETTA at Butterfly Grand Prix tournaments in England, at which up to 11 games have been experimentally employed, have found players 2 to 1 against the new system, a breakdown of the figures broadly showing older and weaker players against up to 11 games but better and younger players in favour.

Whilst games up to 11 may be controversial, the service rule change, jointly proposed by England and the ITTF Rules Committee and passed with a large majority despite opposition from China, may have a more fundamental effect. The change, to the effect that during service the ball at all times is above the level of the table and is struck in front of the furthermost part of the server's body or clothing so that it is visible to (not hidden from) the receiver, will disallow services shielded by the server's body, free-arm or clothing thus making spin services easier to read and return. Some top players have derived a huge advantage from shielded services, but it is argued that table tennis both as an active sport and as a spectacle has been diminished by them as they have reduced or eliminated rallies. The change will be implemented on 1st September 2002 to give players time to adapt their service techniques.

These changes follow the introduction of the larger 40mm ball to replace the old 38 mm ball, passed by the AGM last year. The perception at the current world championships is that rallies are a little longer as a result. The 2001 AGM also chose Paris, France to host the May 2003 individual events World Championships, and Doha, Qatar to host the 2004 team event World Championships, the present championships at Osaka, Japan being the last time both individual and team events are held together, the championships as a whole becoming too big (players from128 countries are competing in Osaka) to manage.

World Championships Osaka Japan. The Irish Womens team has moved up to the second division on the withdrawl of the Portugese from the event. This raises the Irish women above the mens team who will face their first match in the 3rd Division on 22nd April at 12.00pm. Good luck lads.
Irish Men’s Draw: 3rd Division: Group R: Group 2 Ireland Venezuela Cyprus New Caledonia
Irish Womens Draw: 2nd Division: Group N Austria Ireland Denmark
The draw for the World Championships Team event will be made on the 20th April. Results and information can be found at http://wttc-osaka.com
Irish Team Men's Selection: Brian Fitzgerald, Colum Slevin, Jonathan Cowan, Eoin Byrne. NPC Con Higgins.
Irish Team Women's Selection: Linda Mountjoy, Michelle McGreevey, Andrea Glover. NPC Arthur Brett.
Team Manager: Tony Martin.

BRITISH PRIMARY SCHOOLS
Five countries will be represented at the Primary Schools Championships in Largs Scotland. The team selections are as follows.
Boys Team :
Daniel Keenan, Sacred Heart, Ballgall, Dublin.
Patrick Guy, Carryduff Primary School, Belfast.
Niall McDonnell, Scoil Treasa, Firhouse, Dublin.
Gavin Maguire, Bellgrove, Clontarf, Dublin.
NPC: Tommy Fitzgerald

Girls Team :
Fiona Mernagh, Dunboyne N.S. Co.Meath
Amy Tobin, Santry, Dublin
Andrea Shorten, Ballymoney N.S. West Cork.
Fiona Downey, Dublin
NPC: John O'Donoghue
Report
This event has now been postponed 24/04/01
IRISH NATIONAL TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS RESCHEDULED (originally scheduled for March 3rd)
We are pleased to report that the Abbey Retail Park Irish National Championships have been re-scheduled for 5 May 2001 at the Valley Leisure Centre, Newtownabbey. This should suit those players who have been competing at the World Championships in Japan and ensures the THE NATIONALS are held in this season. Entries by Email to Alan Strong at wa.strong@ulst.ac.uk

Ulster Junior Open, 31/3/01 - Valley Leisure Centre.
U17 Boys: 1st John Murphy, 2nd Colin Byrne, 3rd Conor Nolan.
U17 Girls: 1st Linda O'Sullivan, 2nd Amanda Mogey, 3rd Sabrina Conway.
U14 Boys: 1st Josh Boyd, 2nd Peter Graham, 3rd Ronan Flanagan.
U14 Girls: 1st Abigail Mogey, 2nd Faye Gibson, 3rd Grainne McKenna.
U12 Boys: 1st Ian Jones, 2nd Daniel Keenan, 3rd Niall McDonnell.
U12 Girls: 1st Fiona Mernagh, 2nd Danielle Douglas, 3rd Orna Smith.
Top 8 Results
122 players entered, which was a good entry considering so many were unable to travel due to FMD.

NCTC Coaches Of The Year 2000
Congratulations to Owen Kelly who was nominated as an NCTC Coach Of The Year in the category of "Developing Talent."

Junior Interpros The Munster Branch has withdrawn the Junior Interprovincial Team from the competition to be held in Dublin on April 7th. It was felt under the climate of concern over the Foot & Mouth Crisis that as the team contains a number of high risk farm children and that as a case of the disease has been confirmed in the Leinster Province that it would not be appropriate to send a large group to the event. The Munster Branch hopes that the event can be postponed and that they will then be able to participate.

FMD 16/03/01:
Sport in Ireland is set to return to some semblance of normality after the Department of Agriculture issued an ‘all-clear’ for a number of sports as measures taken to combat the spread of foot-and-mouth disease are relaxed.
FMD Hit ITTA. 07/04/01
The Foot and Mouth Crisis has hit the calendar very hard. The Stiga Irish National Championships, The Senior Interpros, U12/U14 Training Camp have been cancelled and the Ulster Junior Open and Junior Interpros could be effected.

Intervarsity Championships, Dublin City University 8-10 RESULTS

The Primary Schools Home Countries to be held in Largs on April 21/22 2001
Boys Team : Daniel Keenan,Patrick Guy,Niall McDonnell,Gavin Maguire NPC: Tommy Fitzgerald
Girls Team : Fiona Mernagh, Amy Tobin, Andrea Shorten, Orna Smith NPC: John O'Donoghue

FMD 16/03/01:
Sport in Ireland is set to return to some semblance of normality after the Department of Agriculture issued an ‘all-clear’ for a number of sports as measures taken to combat the spread of foot-and-mouth disease are relaxed.
FMD Hit ITTA. 07/04/01
The Foot and Mouth Crisis has hit the calendar very hard. The Stiga Irish National Championships, The Senior Interpros, U12/U14 Training Camp, Ulster Junior Open and Junior Interpros have all been affected.

Intervarsity Championships, Dublin City University 8-10 RESULTS

National Veterans Championships
Ladies Over40 Final - C. Wann beat T. Devaney 21/17,22/20
Ladies Over50 Final - M.McNeill beat E. Kelly 21/7, 21/12
Mens Over40 Final - T. Caffrey beat N. Lovie 21/13,21/19
Mens Over50 Final - T. Caffrey beat N. Nabney 21/14,21/13
Mens Over60 Final - R. Copes walkover U. Watson(injured)
Mens Doubles Final- N. Lovie/D. Pemberton beat R. Copes/P. Shaw 21/16,21/11
Ladies Doubles Final- C. Wann/M. McNeill beat T. Devaney/V. Barry 21/10,21/13

National Inter - County Table Tennis League Entry Form

New Year's Challenge, Belfast 6th January 2001. by John O'Donoghue (Eastpoint Website)
FULL RESULTS
Alan Monks returned to form with a great win at the New Year Challenge. He beat Andrew Dennison 21-16 21-12.John Bowe was fifth. He lost in three sets to Andrew Dennison in the quarter Finals.
Alan had played Andrew in his group where he had also won. In the quarter Finals Alan had beaten Phillip Wallace and in the Semi-Finals he faced Darryl Strong. Having lost the opening set 10-21, Alan recovered to win 21-10 21-16 in the other sets to clinch a place in the Final.
Andrew beat Eoin Byrne 21-16 21-16 to seal his final place where Alan was too good on the day winning in straight sets to claim his first title this season. the current Irish No.3 will now have his sights set on the Munster Open title. Well Done Alan!!

Leinster Junior Open 6-7th January 2001
Saturday 6th
The Leinster Junior Open was the first event of the New Year, with juniors travelling from all corners of the country to the Irish Wheelchair Association sports complex in Clontarf. The first day's competition included the under 17 and under 12 events in both girls and boys. A strong girls under 12 competition saw an all Leinster final with Fiona Mernagh establishing her No.1 position by beating Amy Tobin in the final. Munster's Andrea Shorten beat Ulster's Orna Smith for third and fourth. The boys' competition saw the return of Chris O'Brien to the Irish Rankings, Chris from Munster established himself as a leading contender for this year's top spot but this was his first appearance in the season. Patrick Guy from Ulster nearly caused an upset in a very high standard and exciting semi final but had to settle for third as team mate Ian Jones beat Leinster's Daniel O'Connor in the other semi final. Chris went on to beat Ian in the final.

The Junior Boys competition saw some excellent matches with none of the players showing the effects of the Christmas break. With the top eight players so equally balanced it was extremely difficult to predict the final placing. The new 40 mm ball has supposed to have slowed to sport down, it may well have increased the length of the rallies as there were many spectacular points played around the hall. With some players forced back against the barriers in order to counter-attack their opponents. Colin Byrne who has been close to winning an Irish Junior Ranking for some time has had to be patient, but with an added swagger in his demeanour his confidence was obviously high. A top class final against Sean Brady from Ulster brought out the very best in both players and entertained enthusiastic spectators. Colin won out in the tense final to win his first Leinster Open title on home ground.

The Junior Girls event is also very close to call, Munster's Linda O'Sullivan has hit a good vein of form, as well as Leinster's Vivienne Ray. A hard fought and entertaining final saw Linda add the Leinster Open title to her Ulster junior Ranking title. Linda's St.Angelas team mate Rachael O'Connor put in an excellent performance to take third place from Leinster's Margaret Burke.
RESULTS

Leinster Senior Open 3rd Dec. 2000 RESULTS
Noelle takes Ladies final in a 3 set clash against Linda Mountjoy. Eoin Byrne upsets Brian Fitzgerald in the semi final and goes on to beat Darren Strong in the final. Doubles wins for Fitzgerald/White, Fitzgerald/Mountjoy and Glover/McGreevy. 6 out of 8 finals went to 3 sets!

Irish Junior Ranking Results, Belfast Top 16..25 November

World Rankings Sept 2000
Women's Ranking
352(354): Jennifer Thompson
361(363): Nora Tallon
364(366): Brioni Lane
367(371): Michelle McGreevey
375(379): Tara Bollard
379(385): Andrea Glover

Men's Ranking
154(151): Colum Slevin
392(386): Jonathan Cowan
468(469): Andrew Dennison

Connacht Open 4-11-00
The entry was down from last year but the quality of table tennis was excellent. As usual it was very well run by our Master of Ceremonies the Connacht Honorary Referee:- Mr. Les Hunt and the Connacht Branch and Commercial Boat Club Table Tennis Committees. Unfortunately for Connacht Sean Spelman was unable to play due to unavoidable commitments. Ronan Rooney just back from the Paralympics in Australia also took part. It is his first time using the new table tennis ball as the 38mm one was use in the Paralympics. The results can be found on the Connacht Results section.
Brian Fitzgerald won the Connacht Open to make it three out of three at the Irish Senior Rankings. Brian bt fellow Cork player Mark White in a replay of the recent Ballydehob Open. Brian partnered Mark in the doubles final against Alan Monks and John Bowe, the Cork pair took the title. Brioni Lane also completed the double when she defeated Noelle Lennon in the final. A suprise win for Louise Long in the quater finals put paid to another Linda Mountjoy victory. Brioni partnered Tarra Bollard to take the doubles title against Linda Mountjoy and Noelle Lennon.

Roskilde Open
Men's Class 1:
Semi Finals; C.Byrne lost Kasper Schubeler. -16, -9.
Men's Class 2
Quarter Finals; S.Brady bt Christian Arnot. -15, 12, 19.
Quarter Finals; C.Byrne bt Sebastian Murphy. 7, -19, 16.
Semi Finals; C.Byrne bt S.Brady. -13, 8, 18.
Final; Byrne lost Jonas Rasmussen. -13, -15.

Junior Boys
Quarter Final;
J.Murphy bt Lars Jensen
S.Givernaud bt Kristian Raben
D.McNeil bt Jesper Stuhr. 14, 14.
Semi Final;
J.Murphy bt Katja Petersen
D.McNeil bt S.Givernaud. 18, 18.
Final
D.McNeil bt J.Murphy. 19, 16.

Doubles
Quarter Finals; S.Brady/D.McNeil lost K.Nielson/C.Rusmussan -7, -15.
Men's Class 2 Doubles
Quarter Finals;
S.Brady/D.McNeil lost A.Thuresson/K.Nylander. -15, -9.
C.Byrne/D.Smith bt P.Jorgensen/T.Duholm. 18, 11.
Semi Final;
C.Byrne/D.Smith lost E.Ahman/L.Ryden. -18, -18.



European Womens League, Cardiff.
1st Division Group B, Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Portugal, Wales, Ireland
The Irish ladies had an excellent result in the group finishing 3rd. Ireland were defeated by both Portugal and Spain and had to beat Wales to improve on their seeding. Bethan Daunton had a 100% record in all her matches and it was unlikely Ireland would claim a victory against her. Noelle Lennon came close loosing 21-19 in the second. However great performances by Noelle, Linda Mountjoy and Andrea Glover insured a 3-2 win over the Welsh team. The whole team put in good performances, there are great demands on fitness and consistency at such a high level and such a strong win will insure the increased confidence of the team for future Internationals.

ULSTER OPEN RESULTS (Unofficial)
Brian Fitzgerald was very nearly put out by Daryl Strong in the Semi Final being 20-16 down in the third. Brian had an incredible come back to eventually win the match 23-21 in the third. Brian continued to suprise when he came back from a sound first game defeat to beat the fancied Jonathan Cowan in a tense and highly entertaining final.
Ladies Singles
Semi Finals
Tara Bollard (Dub) bt Linda O'Sullivan (Cork) 2-1
Roz Carpenter (Dro) bt R Fox (Dub) 2-0

Final
Tara Bollard beat Roz Carpenter 2-0

Mens Singles
Brian Fitzgerald (Cork) bt Daryl Strong (Oma) 2-1
Jonathan Cowan (Bel) bt Andrew Dennison (Bel) 2-0

Final
Brian Fitzgerald bt Jonathan Cowan 2-1

Ladies Doubles
Linda O'Sullivan & Louise Long bt Tara Bollard and Roz Carpenter 2-0

Mens Doubles
Andrew Dennsion & Willy Cherry bt Jonathan Cowan & Daryl Strong 2-1

Mixed Doubles was cancelled due to time constraints

Ronan from the Paralympics, Sydney, 23-10-00
thanks for the good wishes... i've just had my final training session before tomorrow's singles. i'm playing well - it was a very good session. the first guy i play is austrian - i've never beaten him but had match point against him a couple of times. i've no fear of him, which is good. if i play well i'll beat him. that's at 10.40 am tomorrow. then i play a german and a czech. i just want to play well and am not worrying about medals etc.
i got good wishes from many in ireland -- thanks to them all...
Ronan

Junior British League
Update: Linda, Alison and Sabrina are back from playing the British Leagues in Wolverhamton and they came 2nd in it. All the girls won five matches out of 10.
Junior British League - Wolverhampton 14-15 October 2000
Teams:
Girls: Sabrina Conway, Linda O'Sullivan, Alison Parke
Boys: Sean Brady, Colin Byrne, Dane Smith
NPC: Arthur Brett, Richard Butler

European Womens League - Cardiff 21-22 October 2000
Team: Andrea Glover, Noelle Lennon, Michelle McGreevy, Linda Mountjoy.
NPC: Arthur Brett.

IRISH JUNIOR RANKINGS, IWA DUBLIN
ROMANIAN GIRL, IRISH No.1
Loredana Tica is an under 14 girl who is a refugee from her home country of Romania, who took the first Irish Table Tennis rankings by storm. Her welcome introduction into Irish Table Tennis turned up the heat in an already competitive age group. Loredana took on Jenna Mehigan Collins in a semi final and after a close three set competition booked her place in the final. In the other semi final an extraordinary performance from Fiona Mernagh an under 12 from Leinster saw her beat unseeded Emma Jane Helen who had disposed of No.1 seed Veronica Burke, to move into the final. Loredana showed her greater experience in a good final and took her first Irish title. Loredana was eventually beaten by an Irish under 14 Emma Jane but only in the U17 Competition the following day. The U17 Girls competition saw the return to for after injury of Alison Parke from Ulster as she beat No.1 seed Linda O'Sullivan in the semi final and Vivienne Ray in the final to take the No.1 spot. David McNeill from Leinster was an unexpected finalist in the U17 boys but didn't manage to turn the tables on Sean Brady from Ulster in the final. Other good performances saw wins for Niall McDonnell in the U12 Boys, Amy Tobin in the U12 Girls, Ross Cullen in the U14 Boys.

The South County Dublin Table Tennis Championships
The South County Dublin Table Tennis Championships were held in CYM Sports Club, Terenure over Friday and Saturday 29th and 30th of September. This was the second Irish Ranking tournament of the 2000/01 season and the majority of Ireland's leading male and female players took part.

Results
Ladies Singles Semis:
Linda Mountjoy (Cork) bt Noelle Lennon (Dublin) 21-18, 19-21, 25-23
Michelle McCreevey (Belfast) bt Brioni Lane (Athlone) 21-18, 21-14

Final:
Michelle McCreevey bt Linda Mountjoy 15-21, 21-18, 21-12

Mens Singles Semis:
Brian Fitzgerald (Cork) bt Mark White (Cork) 21-16, 21-15
Alan Monks (Dublin) bt Daryl Strong (Omagh) 10-21, 21-18, 21-18

Final:
Brian Fitzgerald bt Alan Monks 21-17, 14-21, 21-11

Ladies Doubles Final:
Tara Bollard & Brioni Lane bt Linda Mountjoy & Noelle Lennon 16-21,21-16, 21-14

Mens Doubles Final:
Brian Fitzgerald & Mark White bt Eoin Byrne & Damien Lynch 21-16, 23-21

Mixed Doubles Final:
Alan Monks & Noelle Lennon bt Brian Fitzgerald & Linda Mountjoy 21-16,16-21, 21-17