International Schools Invitational, Cardiff 2002.
Snippits full report to come:
Disappointing results in the team event saw Ireland finish out of the medals finishing 4th in the U14 Boys, U16 Boys, U18 Boys, U16 Girls with U18 Girls finishing 5th and the U14 Girls 6th.

Singles:
John Murphy had the best performance in the singles finishing 2nd.
Peter Graham finished 3rd
John Murphy & Sean Givernaud also took 2nd in the Doubles event
Sean Givernaud, Sabrina Conway & Amanda Mogey won the consolation events in their respective age groups with Rachel O'Connor finishing 2nd.

The ITTA has been advised of the following draw for the European Youth Championships 2002, Moscow Russia;

Junior Boys
Group J: Israel, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ireland

Junior Girls
Group F: England, Latvia, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Ireland

Cadet Boys
Group F: Turkey, Ireland, Lithuania, Georgia

The following selections have been announced by the National Training & Selection Committee;
European Youth Championships, Moscow Russia, 12-19 July2002
Junior Boys
Sean Brady, Colin Byrne, John Murphy, Conor Nolan

Cadet Boys
Peter Graham, Stephen Keenan, Edward Wrynn

Junior Girls
Sabrina Conway, Amanda Mogey, Linda O'Sullivan

Non Playing Captains
Arthur Brett, Richard Butler, John O'Donoghue

The National Training & Selection Committee have announced the following selections for training, 15/16 June, University College Dublin;

Sean Brady Peter Graham Sabrina Conway Colin Byrne Stephen Keenan Amanda Mogey John Murphy Edward Wrynn Linda O'Sullivan Conor Nolan

Sparring Partners:
John Bowe Conor Fahy Sean Givernaud Eoin Byrne Brian Farrell Patrick Green Teresa Devaney Tara Fusco Marcus McDonnell

The 2002 Special Olympics Ireland National Games will take place from June 19th to 23rd in Dublin. These Games will be a collaboration between Special Olympics Ireland and the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games organising committee. 1,600 athletes from the 32 counties of Ireland will participate in the sports of athletics, aquatics, bowling, basketball, equestrian, gymnastics, golf, football, and table tennis. 250 athletes from 21 European countries will participate in the sports of badminton, bocce, cycling, power lifting, sailing, tennis, team handball and volleyball. In addition athletes will participate in two demonstration sports of kayaking and pitch and putt. A comprehensive Motor Activities Training programme will also be offered.

The Opening Ceremonies will take place in Parnell Park with the Closing Ceremonies taking place in the RDS. The Special Olympics Town will be held in Dublin City University.

An initiative which will be offered for the first time at these National Games is the Healthy Athlete Programme.

"We are in the business of sport, but we are also in the business of changing lives" Timothy Shriver - President and C.E.O. Special Olympics Inc

Current World Ranking
Colum Slevin: 166
Andrew Dennison: 460
Daryl Strong: 537
Andrea Glover: 415

The National Training & Selection Committee have announced the selections for the National Squad Session, 1/2 June 2002, IWA Hall Clontarf.
Head Coach: Colum Slevin

Andrew Boland Sabrina Conway Shane Dolan Danielle Douglas Josh Boyd Emma Jane Helen Peter Graham Fiona Downey Edward Wrynn

Colin Byrne Rebecca Lord Stephen Keenan Laura Healy Conor Fahy Amanda Mogey Gervis Knox Fiona Mernagh Conor Nolan

Sean Givernaud Rachel O'Connor Mark O'Flynn Andrea Shorten Patrick Green Linda O'Sullivan Jonathan Ray Amy Tobin

Not considered due to exam commitments
Andrew Blanch
Sean Brady
Ross Cullen
Killian Healy
Jonathan McCarthy
John Murphy
Dane Smith

Teresa Delvaney won the British National Championships over 50 ladies event last week-end.

Junior Interpros Results:
Junior Boys
Leinster beat Ulster lost 6/3
Ulster beat Munster 5/4
Ulster beat Connacht 9/0
Leinster beat Munster 5/4
Munster beat Connacht 7/2

Final Places
1. Leinster
2. Ulster
3. Munster
4. Connacht

Junior Girls
Leinster beat Ulster 5/4
Munster beat Ulster 8/1
Ulster beat Connacht 7/2
Leinster beat Connacht 7/2
Munster beat Leinster 5/4
Leinster beat Connacht 7/2
Ulster beat Connacht 9/0

Final Results
1. Muster
2. Leinster
3. Ulster
4. Connacht

Cadet Boys
Leinster beat Ulster 5/4
Ulster beat Munster 9/0
Ulster beat Connacht 9/0
Munster beat Connacht 9/0

Final Results
1. Leinster
2. Ulster
3. Munster
4. Connacht

Cadet Girls
Leinster beat Ulster 8/1
Ulster beat Munster 5/4
Ulster beat Connacht 8/1
Leinster beat Munster 6/3
Leinster beat Connacht 9/0
Munster beat Connacht 8/1

Final Results
1. Leinster
2. Ulster
3. Munster
4. Connacht

U-12 Boys
Ulster beat Leinster 5/4
Munster beat Ulster 5/4
Leinster beat Munster 9/0

Final Results
1. Leinster
2. Ulster
3. Munster

U-12 Girls
Ulster beat Leinster 5/4
Ulster beat Munster 8/1
Ulster beat Connacht 7/2
Leinster beat Munster 9/0
Leinster beat Connacht 6/3
Connacht beat Munster 8/1

Final Results:
1. Ulster
2. Leinster
3. Connacht
4. Munster


The following selections have been announced by the National Training & Selection Committee;
The following Development teams were selected to play in the following events; Lancasire Junior Select: 4-5th May 2002
Cadet Boys: S. Dolan, P. Graham, S. Keenan, J. Ray
NPC: J. O'Donoghue

Junior Boys: R. Cullen, K. Healy, J. Boyd, E. Wrynn
NPC: R. Butler

Cadet Girls: A. Tobin, F. Mernagh, A. Shorten
NPC: M. McDonnell

International Youth Cup Hasselt: 17-20th May 2002
U12 Girls: C. Nolan, C. Trimble
U12 Boys: N. McDonnell, P. Guy, M. O'Flynn
U14 Girls: A. Tobin, F. Mernagh, A. Shorten
U14 Boys: P. Graham, E. Wrynn, S. Keenan
U17 Girls: L. O'Sullivan, S. Conway, R. O'Connor
U17 Boys: C. Nolan, C. Byrne, S. Givernaud
NPC's: J.O'Donoghue, A. Brett, T. Fusco, R. Butler

All the above are not International events and the players are representing the Association.

Wexford Community Games
On Monday last the County Community Games Table Tennis Finals took place in Coolcotts School. In the Girls events Rathnure defeated Kilanerin/Ballyfad 4-0 while Ballycanew received a walkover from Clonroche/Poulpeasty. Ballycanew then took on Rathgarogue/ Cushinstown in their semi-final with the latter coming out the winners 4-0. Rathnure faced Rathgarogue/ Cushinstown in the final and the eventual winners were Rathgarogue/ Cushinstown on a 4-0 scoreline. Gold medals were awarded to the team of Brid McGrath, Bernadette Franklin, Emma Leacy, Mairead Ryan and Josephine Bourke. Silver medals went to the runners up team of Julie Conran, Sarah Murphy, Katie Murphy and Sandra Carr. The beaten semi-finalists Ballycanew were represented by Clodagh Barker, Orla Power, Zita Power and Paula Power.

In the boys events (quarter-finals) Kilrush/Askamore defeated Kilanerin/Ballyfad 4-1; Clonard defeated Ballycanew 4-0; Rathgarogue/ Cushinstown received a walk-over from Clonroche/Poulpeasty and Ferns had the bye.

Ferns defeated Rathgarogue/ Cushinstown 4-0 and Clonard beat Kilrush/ Askamore 5-1 to set up the final which saw Clonard take their first title in this competition, they won on a 4-2 scoreline over Ferns. Clonard were represented by Kyle Walsh, Peter Tierney, Paul Browne, Roy Elsey while Ferns had Donnacha Kinsella, Paul Morris, Michael Kavanagh and Ben Bernie on their team. The beaten semi-finalists Rathgarogue/ Cushinstown were represented by Seamus Bourke, Kevin McGrath, Eanna Whelan and Padraig Leacy and Kilrush/Askamore by PJ Nolan, Garry Doran, Alan Doran, Keith Finn and Billy Nolan.

Wexford Community Games wish to thank Catherine Morrissey for her smooth handling of the event and Scoil Mhuire for the use of their premises.

National boys Team at the ISF
Writing to you from Senec in slovakia. The championships here are going well.The standard is very good. We lost 7/0 to china.john murphy took a set from one of the chinese! then we lost 6/1 to slovakia.Conor beat the slovak number one 3/1 We lost 5/2 to Israel.John won one and we won the doubles.

A very tough group but the boys played quite well. A bit disappointing then that we lost 4/2 to Latvia.Conor won two but John Murphy was not at his best in this match. Against Puerto Rico in the play off there was an exciting match.we were 3/2 down but we came back to win 4/3.john won two and conor won one but lost in five to the very good number one. in the individuals which were this morning.john went through second in his group only losing to chinese Taipei player but beating an austrian and an israeli. conor was a bit unlucky to lose 3/2 in both games to a greek and israeli defender.

the National select Schools team is Conor Nolan,John Murphy,Andrew Boland,and Conor Fahy
John O Donoghue in Slovakia

ISF WORLD SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS, SENEC, SLOVAKIA. 5th / 12th
April 2002 Report form St.Angelas Coach Owen Kelly

St.Angelas College, Cork All Ireland Girls School Champions are representing Ireland within the girls schools competition. The first match against Greece set the scene for a very tight group. The result going in favour of the Greek team 4/3. The second day was started with a match in the morning against Italy who had previously beaten France 4/3. When Anna Darcy took the fifth set after an exeptional performance against the Italian No.2 this meant that Greece would be favourites to go through. St.Angelas put in a class performance beating the French 5/2. he Greeks however were suprisingly beaten by the Italian 4/3. Leaving an anxious 20 minute wait as the group went into count back. With the teams only being divided by the closest of margins the St.Angelas girls were deeply disappointed to finish 3rd in the group and moved into a fight for the lower places. With a defeat by the Germans in the next round they entered a play off against Israel. Again with all the matches running very close and a good doubles victory things proved very tight. Israel took the 4th and deciding victory leaving the girl 12th over all.

Tuesday will be a day off for all competitors as they will be treated to a visit to the capital Bratislava and an evening of cultural entertainment presented by each of the schools. St.Angelas will team up with Colaiste Choilm, Ballincollig who are representing Ireland in the boys. With a good win against Puerto Rico they will not know their final placing until late on tuesday night. The draw for the singles will take place on Tuesday Night.

St.Angelas College Team Rachel O Connor, Anna D Arcy, Claire Quinlan, Yvonne Hurley

Douglas makes major impact
Ireland grabbed impressive bronze medals in both boys and girls categories at the UK Primary Schools table tennis championships in Dublin while star of the Irish show was Danielle Douglas.

The young Lisnasharragh primary school pupil lost only once throughout the series going down narrowly in five sets to the Scottish No 1 and recording excellent victories over the leading English pair.

Danielle, from the Glenburn club, has gained valuable coaching direction from Jing Y Gao, as part of the Ulster Poett Scheme while her impressive clubmate, Patrick Guy, ensured that there was also a boys bronze medal.

Leading Irish Cadet Peter Graham, also from Glenburn, remained undefeated in the Ulster Senior Graded 3 event at Fivemiletown High School, taking both singles and doubles titles.

Graham repeated his Senior Graded 2 final success over Ivan Jeffers, later teaming up with the Cookstown player to share the doubles success.

Table tennis Championship results - Boys: England 10, Ireland 0; Wales 6, Ireland 4; Ireland 7, Scotland 3; Ireland 10, Guernsey 0.

Final places: 1, England; 2, Wales; 3, Ireland; 4, Scotland; 5, Guernsey

Girls: England 8, Ireland 2; Scotland 8, Ireland 2; Ireland 7, Wales 3; Ireland 10, Guernsey 0

Final places: 1, England; 2, Scotland; 3, Ireland; 4, Wales; 5, Guernsey

European Championships.
4-4-02:
1st Round
Schlager Werner(AUS) bt Slevin Colum 4 - 0
(11:8 11:5 11:4 11:6)

Qual. round 2
Dennison Andrew lst Surbek Dragutin(CRO) 1 - 4
(6:11 11:8 9:11 4:11 5:11)

Qual. round 1
Bowe John lst Rumgay Gavin(SCO) 1 - 4
(4:11 11:6 12:14 2:11 3:11)

Strong Daryl lst Yordanov Teodor(BUL) 0 - 4
(4:11 5:11 7:11 4:11)

Doubles Result: a win for Slevin and Dennison over a pair from Cyprus. They will face the Dutch pair Keen/Heister(NED) in the next round. Strong and Bowe go out to two Italians.
Tziambos/Tsouderos(CYP) Slevin/Dennison 0 - 3
(9:11 9:11 8:11)

Bowe/Strong Bobocica/Casaschi(ITA) 0 - 3
(5:11 11:13 9:11)

Singles: Colum Slevin faces a very tough challenge as he faces top Austrian Schlager Werner(AUS). John Bowe will take on Scotsman Gavin Rumgay while Daryl Strong meets up with Bulgarian No.1 Teodor Yordanov.

European Championships.
Ireland slipped from 34th to 41st at the European Championships. However Colum Slevin only lost one of his matches against Owen Griffiths of Wales and will be hoping for even better form in the singles events starting tommorrow. Dubliner John Bowe had a successful debute winning his first match and helping record Ireland's only win of the tournament against Albania.

MACEDONIA 3, IRELAND 2
Dennison Andrew - Saiti Agon 0 - 3
(11:13 7:11 6:11)

Slevin Colum - Jockoški Djoko 3 - 0
(11:4 11:9 11:4)

Strong Daryl - Barbareev Vane 0 - 3
(8:11 9:11 7:11)

Slevin Colum - Saiti Agon 3 - 1
(11:4 12:10 6:11 11:8)

Dennison Andrew - Jockoški Djoko 0 - 3
(12:14 2:11 2:11)

IRELAND 3, ALBANIA 0
Dennison Andrew - Shabani Ilir 3 - 0
(11:4 11:3 11:8)

Strong Daryl - Tufa Jonuz 3 - 1
(8:11 11:8 11:7 11:7)

Bowe John - Gjata Klodian 3 - 0
(11:7 11:4 11:3)

Colum Slevin has started the European Championships in fine form with 3 out of four wins with an excellent victory of Adam Robertson in 5 sets three of them going to duece. (12:10 12:10 11:13 7:11 9:11). Colum's only loss goes to Ryan Jenkins of Wales.

Andrew Dennison also appears in good form taking Owen Griffiths to 5 sets narrowly loosing 12/10 in the final set. Scotland will play Wales for the top spot in the group at 13.00hrs today. (Sunday)

EUROPEAN RESULTS
Group E. Round 1
Ireland - Scotland 2 - 3
Slevin Colum - Crawford Steward 3 - 1
(11:6 11:13 11:4 11:7)

Dennison Andrew - Rumgay Gavin 0 - 3
(5:11 10:12 6:11)

Strong Daryl - Cameron Niall 1 - 3
(5:11 11:8 6:11 9:11)

Slevin Colum - Rumgay Gavin 3 - 0
(11:9 12:10 11:8)

Dennison Andrew - Crawford Steward 1 - 3
(11:7 13:11 6:11 6:11)

Round 2
Wales - Ireland 3 - 1
Jenkings Ryan - Strong Daryl 3 - 0
(11:5 11:7 11:6)

Robertson Adam - Slevin Colum 2 - 3
(12:10 12:10 11:13 7:11 9:11)

Griffiths Owen - Dennison Andrew 3 - 2
(8:11 11:7 4:11 11:8 12:10)

Jenkings Ryan - Slevin Colum 3 - 1
(12:10 10:12 11:6 11:6)

St.Angelas and Colaiste Choilm will fly out to this event next week World Schools for more information check out ISF World Schools

EUOSPORT COVERAGE - European Championships in Zagreb, Croatia
Tuesday 02 April
16:00-18:30 LIVE Table Tennis: Men's team finals

Saturday 06 April
11:30-13:15 LIVE Table Tennis: Women's semi finals
16:00-17:00 LIVE Table Tennis: Women's finals
19:00-21:00 LIVE Table Tennis: Men's semi finals

Sunday 07 April
20:30-21:30 Table Tennis: Men's finals - Delayed

Easter Challenge 2002
Full results
The mixed tournament produced an extremely high standard of play watched over by Irish National Coach, Colum Slevin. The highlight of the day was a magnificent quarter final victory for Andrew Dennison over Belfast based Chinese student, Na Liu, in an absorbing 5 set match. Dennison was unable to raise him game again in the semi final where he lost to a consistent Daryl Strong. Eoin Byrne came through a tough 5 set semi final against Damien Lynch and beat Strong in a tense 4 set final.(11/6, 12/10, 9/11, 11/8)

Irish Wheelchair News
The Irish ladies Class 3 Team has qualified to compete in the World Table Tennis Team Cup in the Netherlands in July. The Irish team has been selected and will be comprised of Rena McCarron (Galway), Esther Stynes,(Dublin) and Kathleen Reynolds(Dublin). The competition will take place in Roermond from July 2nd to 7th.

Rules Changes Proposals @ ITTF AGM, 5th April – Higher Service Throw-up
The most controversial proposal at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) AGM, being held alongside the European Championships in Zagreb on 5th April, is that during service the ball is thrown up higher - at least 12inches (30cm), as compared with the current 6 inches. The proposal reads: That the ball must rise at least 30 cm after leaving the palm of the server’s hand. An explanation note says, ‘This would help the umpire to see that the ball is projected near vertically and that it is falling before it is struck.’

The proposal would help underline the principal agreed at last years ITTF AGM and being confirmed this year (but in several alternative proposals having different forms of wording), that with effect from September the receiver is able to see the service at the point of contact between the bat and the ball, thus outlawing ‘shielded’ services whereby sight of the ball when struck is obscured by the server’s non-playing arm, body or clothing.It would also help prevent players obtaining extra spin and deception by throwing the ball back on to the bat during service. Currently some players during service bring the non-playing arm up together with the ball (i.e. it is difficult to judge exactly when they have ‘thrown up’/released the ball, and sight of the ball may be shielded), or drop the non-playing arm from the ball to give the impression/illusion that they have thrown the ball up, and a higher throw-up would make it much harder for the server to gain an advantage in these ways. However, with the changes in recent years to a bigger ball, scoring to 11-up (from 21-up) and then to the service rule to prevent shielded services, grass roots players may feel that increasing the height of the service throw-up is a change too far or too soon. The proposal requires 75% (majority) of votes cast, but it is uncertain which way the 186 member national associations will vote. Having had little time to consider the implications, the ETTA are likely to be voting against.

The IITF Executive Committee is also proposing that the junior age limit is changed for next season from under 17 on 1st July 2002 to under 18 on 1st January 2003. If as anticipated this is passed, the ETTA is likely to change its junior eligibility criteria from under 17 on 1st July preceding the season to under 17 on 1st January preceding the season, giving youngsters born in the months from January to June an extra year as juniors.

Primary Schools Team is selected

The Irish schools Team for the Primary Schools Home Countries has been selected. The event will be held in the IWA Clontarf over the weekend of 6/7 April 2002. The Team is:

Girls: Danielle Douglas, Ciara Nolan, Catherine Trimble, AN other. NPC Tara Bollard

Boys: Mark O'Flynn, Patrick Guy, Keith Knox, Gavin Maguire NPC Tommy Fitzgerald

The Home Countries Primary Schools tournament is to be held at the Irish Wheelchair Association Hall in Clontarf, Dublin 3 over the weekend of 6/7 April 2002.

Why not come along and support the Irish Team?

England, Wales, Scotland, Guernsey and Ireland have confirmed their participation. The best Under 12 players from these countries will take part and it will be a great opportunity to see them in action.

European Championships Ireland have been drawn with both Wales and Scotland in their first round group.

The Irish Sports Council Announces Grants of 1.9 million euro under the Year 2002 International Carding Scheme
There have been some changes to the Carding Scheme, notably the system had been changed for Junior athletes to a squad-based system. A total of 110,000 euro has been allocated to 14 sports for their junior squads, with 72 talented youngsters identified and benefiting. There is also a change in the age limits that apply for Junior athletes. In addition, there will be an emphasis placed on sports science education as part of the enhanced support for athletes in this category. Irish Table Tennis have six players who qualify under the scheme. and the total allocation to the squad is 9,600 Euros.
Junior Squad: Eoin Byrne, Linda Mountjoy, Colin Byrne, Conor Nolan, Linda O'Sullivan, Sebrina Conway.

Dennison at the Europeans 11-03-02
Andrew Dennison from Belfast's Glenburn Club started the season well reaching two grand prix finals and winning the STIGA Leinster Open. This was brought to a halt when he suffered an injury affecting his playing arm.

"I was out for two and a half months and it was very frustrating. I was unable to do any technical work on the table and had to concentrate on my physical training. I don't think I have ever been physically fitter than I am now."

Dennison talking after his selection for the Irish Men's Team at the European Championship was delighted to have been selected.

"I am very proud to put on the green shirt again, this will be my first Europeans for 4-5 years. I believe we have Croatia in our group so that means there will be an opportunity to play Primorac one of the top players in the World today. That will be a great challenge."

Dennison's return to the Irish scene was witnessed at the recent Irish Nationals where he beat fellow team mate Daryl Strong in the final.

"The draw really suited me with Alan Monks (twice National Champion) and Brian Fitzgerald (Irish No.1) making surprise early exits. The 11 point game brings in a few shocks, you only have to miss a couple and you can loose the set 11-8."

Dennison admits that he is not in top form yet but will take the next three weeks at the table refining his technique.

"Things are still not right yet, I was lucky at the Nationals as it's just over one day. Over the two days of the Compaq Senior Interprovincials last weekend my lack of practice caught up with me."

Dennison is now very focused on the Europeans this was his main objective for the season and this is what he fought so hard to get back in shape for.

"I do think that Irish table tennis took a massively significant step this season with the appointment of Colum Slevin as National Coach. His experience and knowledge have helped a lot of our seniors since he took up the role at the beginning of the season. Having an Irish coach is slightly different and you can feel his dedication and pride. I remember seeing him at the Europeans in Dortmund where he only lost to Appelgren (SWE) 3-2. Appelgren was European Champion at the time and didn't loose a match in the team event. A lot of Irish spectators and players never got to see him at his best but all that experience in now being returned through his coaching."

Colum Slevin will also travel out to the Europeans in Zagreb for his last appearance. Zagreb was where it all started for Slevin at his first Junior Europeans at the age of 10. It is a fitting place to end his International playing career.

European Championships - Zargrab, Croatia -30th March to 7th April 2002
Irish Team; Colum Slevin, Andrew Dennison, Daryl Strong, John Bowe, NPC Con Higgins.

Stiga Ulster Junior.will not take place on 16 March but on 20 April in Valley LeisureCentre

COMPAQ IRISH TABLE TENNIS INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS AT N.U.I. GALWAY.

RESULTS:
SENIOR:
LEINSTER 10 - CONNACHT 0
ULSTER 7 - MUNSTER 3
ULSTER 7 - CONNACHT 3
LEINSTER 7 - MUNSTER 3
CONNACHT 4 - MUNSTER 6
ULSTER 2 - LEINSTER 6
OVERALL PLACINGS: 1 LEINSTER; 2 ULSTER; 3 MUNSTER; 4 CONNACHT.

VETS:
LEINSTER 5 - CONNACHT 4
ULSTER 6 - MUNSTER 3
ULSTER 7 - CONNACHT 2
LEINSTER 7 - MUNSTER 2
CONNACHT 7 - MUNSTER 2
ULSTER 1 - LEINSTER 5
OVERALL PLACINGS: 1 LEINSTER; 2 ULSTER; 3 CONNACHT; 4 MUNSTER

U-21:
MUNSTER 9 - ULSTER 1
CONNACHT 8 - ULSTER 2
MUNSTER 8 - CONNACHT 2
OVERALL PLACINGS: 1 MUNSTER; 2 CONNACHT; 3 ULSTER.

Compaq Senior Interprovincial Report Leinster won the Compaq Senior Interprovincial Title in Galway on the 9th March defeating Ulster 6-2. Leinster's Eoin Byrne, John Bowe. Damien Lynch, Tara Bollard and Brioni Lane proved too strong for Ulster's Daryl Strong, Willie Cherry, Andrew Dennison, Jing Yi and Janna Cairns. Munster finished third with Connacht fourth.

Munster won their third U21 Title in a row with David O'Rourke, Gary Noonan, Paul Twomey, Louise Long and Jemma Mills.

Full results will be posted as soon as they are available.

Daryl Strong and Ging Yi Gao remained undefeated to ensure an Ulster senior victory over Munster at the Compaq inter-provincial series, with the Veterans also defeating Munster but the U21 side losing out. Willie Cherry was undoubtedly the hero of the hour in the senior side's 7-3 victory when he defeated Irish No 1 Brian Fitzgerald in five sets and the dogged Ulster performance was typified by another five set success by new cap Yana Cairns over youngster Rachel O'Connor.
Senior: Leinster 10, Connaught 0; Ulster 7, Munster 3.
Veterans: Leinster 5, Connaught 4; Ulster 6, Munster 3.
U21: Ulster 1, Munster 9.

Table Tennis in the Kingdom
The Kilcummin boys' table tennis team, gold medal winners. From left: Rory Maher, Kevin McSweeney, Sean Healy, Colm Guilfoyle and Brendan Casey. Things have been busy for Kerry Community Games, with county table tennis finals taking place. The finals were held in Kilcummin where three teams contested both the boys and girls competitions. Some very exciting fare was provided, especially between Duagh-Lyre and An Gaeltacht who were competing for the first time in this discipline. After a succession of games in both singles and doubles, Kilcummin once again emerged victorious in both the boys and girls competitions.

Duagh-Lyre won silver and An Gaeltacht took home the bronze medals.

The Kilcummin teams were as follows:
Girls: Aoife McSweeney, Fiona McSweeney, Aisling Scanlon, Linda Herlihy, Aileen Moriarty.
Boys: Rory Maher, Kevin McSweeney, Sean Healy, Colm Guilfoyle, Brendan Casey.

Wexford: Leinster Finals
In the u16 boys Table Tennis competition, Ferns beat Enfield Co Meath 6-0 in the semi final and went on to win the final beating Stradbally, Co Laois 6-0.

The girls u16 Table Tennis competition saw Rathgarogue/Cushinstown beat Enfield, Co Meath 5-1 but in the final Northways, Dublin won 4-1.

03-03-02: STIGA IRISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Results of Irish National Championships 2002;
Mens Singles
Last 16
M. White beat B. Fitzgerald
E. Byrne beat D. Lynch
C. Byrne beat K. Burke
D. Strong beat W. Cherry
A. Dennison beat P. Wallace
J. Robinson beat D. Pemberton
J. Murphy beat C. Nolan
J. Bowe beat A. Monks

Q/F
E. Byrne bear M. White
D. Strong beat C. Byrne
A. Dennison beat J. Robinson
J. Bowe beat J. Murphy

SEMI
D. Strong beat E. Byrne 7,5,-10, 8
A. Dennison beat J. Bowe 9, 9, 10

FINAL
A. Dennison beat D. Strong 9, 4, 9

WOMEN'S
Q/F
A. Glover beat S. Conway
T. Devaney beat R. Fox
B. Lane beat R. Carpenter
T. Fusco beat L. O'Sullivan

SEMI
A. Glover beat T. Devaney 8, 7, 9
T. Fusco beat B. Lane 2, 7, -8, 8

FINAL
T. Fusco beat A. Glover 7, -10, -3, 8

U 21Final
E. Byrne beat M. White 6, -9, 5, 6

Class 2
O. Adamson beat D. Foley -8, 5, 10, -4, 5

M/D
A. Dennison & W. Cherry beat B. Fitzgerald & M. White 4, -11, 9, 7

L/D
B. Lane & T. Fusco beat T. Devaney & S. Conway -14, 3, -9 7, 8

MIXED
B. Fitzgerald & A. Glover beat A. Dennison & T. Fusco -6, -8, 10, 4, 7

Vets Final
T. Caffrey beat K. Burke

03-03-02: 25 SENIOR INTERPROVINCAL APPEARANCES Terry Dolan will represent Connacht for the 25th time as a Senior member of the Provincial team at the COMPAQ Interprovincial Championships on the 8th/9th of March in association with STIGA. It is by chance that Terry will be taking the stage in his own beloved Province as well as in his home town of Galway. Due to an injury in 2000 and a cancellation of the 2001 Interpros caused by FMD it is now 2002 and it is Connacht's turn to hold the most prestigious team event of the season at the NUIG University. Starting 7.30pm on Friday and continuing from 10.00am - 4.00pm on Saturday the 9th.

Terry Dolan has had a remarkable career so far and he is still playing at the top level of the sport Currently Ranked 11th in the Veterans and 25th at Senior Level he has had a varied career playing at nearly every level for Irish Table Tennis. Terry first started playing with St.Augustine's Youth Club when only 8 years old. The Church Club was run by Joe Flynn and Father John Murphy with the club's table actually located right under the Church. Terry played at the club from 1972 to 1977 and moved on to the Corrib R. & Y. Club from 1977 to 1989 and now plays out of the Commercial Boat Club from 1989 to the present day. His first Connacht Senior Cap came in 1976 at the age of 15, he was ranked No.1 Irish Junior in the 76-77 Season and won the Irish Junior Boys Title beating present Irish National Coach/Captain Colum Slevin in the 1978 final. Terry has won two national doubles titles in his career firstly with Ulster's Andrew Dennison in the 1995 Final and then with fellow Connacht team mate Sean Spelman in 1996. Terry played for Ireland at School Boy & Under 23 level along with 2 Senior Caps and 3 Veteran Caps. He was also the Coach to the Irish Paralympic Team for the 1984 and 1988 Paralympics. Terry has many more opportunities ahead of him with a fine defeat of Irish No.2 Veteran Dave Pemberton in the recent National Championships he is in excellent form for the up coming Interprovincial Championships. There can be few players who could be more proud of their Province than Terry, he wears his colours with great pride and has done so on 24 separate occasions winning 75 Caps against the three other provinces. He spoke emotionally about how much it meant to him and it will be certainly very fitting that it will be in Connacht that this remarkable and quite possibly unique achievement will be witnessed.

FERMANAGH OPEN WIN FOR DARYL
Omagh's Daryl Strong followed up his recent Ulster Senior Championship Belfast & District League Championship successes by winning the Men's Singles title at the prestigious Fermanagh Open Championships held at the Lakeland Forum, Enniskeane, on last Sunday. Daryl, Irish No.3, easily beat Gloucestershire based Ulster player, Brian McRandal, in the quarterfinal 11/4, 11/4, 11/6. In the semi-final, he came up against Chinese player, Patrick Lynn, currently in Dublin and a surprise semi-finalist. Lynn was considered to be a difficult opponent for Daryl. However, after a first set, which Daryl struggled to get to grips with the Chinese player's high quality serving technique, Daryl raised his game to win the next 3 sets 11/6, 11/9, 11/6.

In the final, Daryl met Irish and Ulster team-mate, Andrew Dennison, ranked No.2 in the country. After Daryl's success over Dennison in the recent Ulster Senior Championships Andrew was undoubtedly keen to reverse that result and win the final. What a final and titanic struggle it proved to be between two excellent exponents of the modern top spin game. Andrew won the first set 11/7 but after that the next four sets were evenly contested. Despite having a good lead in the 5th and final set, Daryl had to fight hard to win 12/10. The final result was: D. Strong beat A. Dennison 7/11, 9/11, 11/9, 11/9, 12/10.

In the men's Doubles, Daryl and his Queen's team-mate, Philip Wallace, seeded No.1, were surprisingly beaten in the semi-final by Chinese pair, Patrick Lynn and Peter Graham (Belfast).

21-02-02: News from players who attended the ETTA Grand Prix in Bournemouth
John Bowe won the Class 3 and Eoin Byrne beat Gavin Rumgay(Scot) and then lost to him in the final of the U21s.

20-02-02: Junior British League
Amanda Mogey finished the Junior British League with a 100 percent record with 10 out of 10 wins. The Irish Girls after a poor first weekend put in an excellent performance to finishing 4th in the Division. The Boys playing in the Premier Division recorded some good results and finished an excellent 3rd in the top division. Ormsbey went on to win the overall league. ETTA Report
League Positions and results

7-02-02
Irish Universities Table tennis Championships
University of Ulster, Jordanstown 7th – 9th February

University College Dublin retained their men's team title for the third consecutive year, beating Queens University Belfast in a close contest 8-7. UCD were 7-5 down coming into the final three doubles. UCD's doubles combinations proved to be the deciding factor and created high drama as they came back to win the championships. University College Cork narrowly missed out on defending their title, loosing 8-6 to Queens University Belfast. Linda Mountjoy (UCC) current Irish No.1 went on to beat Jemma Cairns last year's defending champion in the Individual finals.

The men's final saw another excellent contest between Brian Fitzgerald (DCU) and Eoin Byrne (UCD). Fitzgerald current Irish No.1's record against Byrne has not been good, being defeated by Byrne in the last two Munster Opens. The stage was set for a classic final and the players did not let the assembled spectators down. The first set marathon went to 20/18 with Fitzgerald taking the narrow win. The next set again went to deuce with opportunities for both players to win, but Fitzgerald proved the stronger on the day taking the second and then the final set 11/9.

Men's Team Semi Finals Queens University Belfast 10 – 2 Trinity College Dublin
University College Dublin 10 – 2 Dublin City University
Final: University College Dublin 8 – 7 Queens University Belfast

Ladies Team Final: Queens University Belfast 8 – 6 University College Cork

Men's Individual Semi Final
Brian Fitzgerald (DCU) bt Arne Groth (UCD)
Eoin Byrne (UCD) bt Robbie Becker (UCD)
Final: Brian Fitzgerald (DCU) bt Eoin Byrne (UCD)

Ladies Individual Semi Final
Linda Mountjoy (UCC) bt Aoife Walsh (UCC)
Jana Cairns (QUB) bt Jemma Mills (UCC)
Final: Linda Mountjoy(UCC) bt Jemma Cairns (QUB)

7-02-02
Selections for the National Schools Team travelling ISF Championships was announced by the ISTTA earlier today:

Conor Nolan(St.Aiden's,CBS Whitehall),
John Murphy(St Kevin's CBS,BallyGall),
Andrew Boland(Marian College,Ballsbridge)
Conor Fahy(St.Aiden's CBS,Whitehall).
NonPlaying Captain: John O'Donoghue( St Tiernan's C.S.,Balally)

The All Ireland Schools Champions St.Angelas and Colaiste Cholim are to announce their selections after the West Cork Open.

Irish Veterans Table Tennis Society
National Championships

Connaught takes the major prize in the National Table Tennis Championships at the IWA Dublin on Saturday 26th January 2002.

A large entry contributed to a great day's table tennis culminating in some very exciting Semi-finals and Finals. In the men's 40+ category Karim Sabir the Connaught Interprovincial from Athlone had to be at his very best to overcome Peter Clarke (Belfast) in the quarter final, Jeremy Lappin (Fermanagh), conqueror of Tommy Caffrey, in the semi-final and in the final David Pemberton (Dublin) 10, 9, -5, 8 Surprise package of the 40+ was Terry Dolan (Galway) who went out in the semi-finals to Dave Pemberton in five very exciting and tense sets. In the men's 50+ Tommy Caffrey (Balbriggan) had to call on all his vast experience to overcome Pat O'Brien (Dublin) in the semi-final and Norman Nabney (Belfast) in the final, 7, 5, 9 The men's 60+ was a straight fight between Ted Maheffy and Usher Watson (both Belfast) who were only separated by the very minimum in a very exciting final, Ted winning, 8, -8, -9, 8, 9 In the ladies 40+ after a round robin Teresa Deveney (Dublin0 beat Marjorie McNeill (Dublin0 in an excellent final - beaten semi-finalists were Jenny Harrison (England) and Carmel Lokko (Dublin). The lady 50+ was won by Marjorie McNeill beating Pauline Fitzsimons (Dublin) in the final.

The men's doubles event produced some of the best table tennis of the day. The number one seeds, Robinson/Clarke went out in the semi-final to Pemberton/O'Brien who were the number four seeds. In the other half of the draw the unseeded pair of Dolan/Adamson came from nowhere to defeat the number three seeds Caffrey/Nabney in the quarter-final and their Connaught colleagues and number two seeds Sabir/Burke in the semi-finals. The final was a tense affair with both pairs playing some great table tennis. In the end the unseeded pair of Dolan/Adamson triumphed in five sets, 4, -8, 9, -6, 6 The ladies played a round robin with Jenny Harrison/Marjorie McNeill beating Teresa Deveney/Vivienne Barry in the final.

British Veterans League
On the previous weekend 19th/20th January 2002 the second and final weekend of the British Veterans League took place in Widnes in England. The Irish men's team "SHAMROCKS" comprising of Tommy Caffrey, Karim Sabir and Kieran Burke bettered their first round results by winning three games and losing two, to finish in third position in Division 1. Results: Caffrey 7/10 Sabir 5/10 Burke 5/10 The ladies team "COLLEENS" had one of those weekends they would wish to forget about losing all their 5 matches and being relegated to the First Division from the Premier Division.

SENIOR BRITISH LEAGUE – PREMIER DIVISION
YPI SPORTS HALL – HULL - England. 26th-27th JANUARY 2002

Linda O’Sullivan a 16 year old from St.Angelas School, Cork, won her first senior cap for Ireland over the weekend playing for the Irish Senior Ladies team in the Premier Division of the British League. Irish Captain Arthur Brett said she worked hard and showed good commitment and promise, but found the opposition very tough. The team consisting of three players saw Irish No.1 Linda Mountjoy (UCC, Cork) win 4 out of her 10 matches and Tara Fusco (York Road, Dublin) win 6 out of her 10. O’Sullivan was unable to take victory in any of her matches even though many were closely fought 5 set affairs.

The team drew two matches 3-3 against both Hollington and Horsham and was defeated 4-2 by Leeds and 6-0 to Grove, leaving the Irish Ladies one off the bottom. There has been a lot of concern over the Irish Ladies squad with a number of key players unavailable due to other international league commitments as well as negotiating time off work and players taking a break from the game. The Premier Division of the Senior British League is one of the toughest arenas for the women to compete within and the pressure to perform is very intense. It is hoped that teenager O’Sullivan’s first senior performance will stand her in good stead for the future.

ISC announcement of 2002 Grants to National Governing Bodies by John Treacy, Chief Executive Conrad Hotel 24/01/02. Full Speech

NGBs score 'three in-a-row' in funding increases
Irish Sports Council to invest over 11 million in National Governing Bodies of sport in 2002

NCTC to receive 1,102,452 to carry out its work - coach education and services to players and athletes
Full Press Release
Grant Allocations: Table

The following are Irish selections ;
Womens British League: 26/27 January 2002 in Hull
Linda Mountjoy, Tara Bollard, Linda O'Sullivan NPC, A. Brett

ETTA Grand Prix in Bournemouth, 16/17th February 2002
Damien Lynch, Eoin Byrne, Linda Mountjoy, Brioni Lane

Junior British League: 16/17th Feb. 2002 in Stoke-on-Trent
Junior Boys: C. Nolan, J. Murphy, S. Brady
Junior Girls: L. O'Sullivan, S. Conway, A. Mogey

National Training Camp (Senior/Junior) in ESB Sportco on 26/27th January 2002 with Colum Slevin.

Munster Open 2002
The Munster Open is one of the largest tournaments on the Irish Calendar with players competing for Irish Ranking points at both Senior and Junior competition. This year there was the largest entry for a number of years within nearly all the 14 separate events. This year also saw a number of foreign players entering including two time Grand Prix winner Lui Na from China and five Swedish Under 21 players.

The singles events were expectedly dominated by the players from these traditionally very strong table tennis countries. The Ladies Singles saw Cork's Linda Mountjoy Irish No.1 from UCC up against Lui Na in the final. Mountjoy who also reached the final in 2001 against Noelle Lennon was again defeated and will have to wait until next year to try and bring the title back to Munster.

The Men's Singles saw an excellent clash against Swedish visitors from Falköping team-mates, Gustaf Olofsson and Stefan Hjalmarsson. Student Gustaf Olofsson who is currently studying at the Swedish Table Tennis Academy won the final (11/13, 11/9, 12/10, 11/9.). Olofsson was only one of four players last year who was invited to enrol at the top Swedish Academy. The academy enables students to continue their studies full time as well as receive top class table tennis coaching. The men's event saw a major upset when Irish No.1 Brian Fitzgerald was beaten in the last sixteen by last year's champion Eoin Byrne. John Bowe from Leinster was the highest placed Irish player loosing in the semi-final to Stfan Hjalmarsson (11/6, 11/8, 11/8.).
The Under 17 boys event saw some of the closest fought and most exciting table tennis of the weekend. Sean Givernaud created some high drama coming into the event unseeded. This was due to his studies at the French Table Tennis Academy and being unable to attend Irish Ranking events. He first took out Dane Smith in the last sixteen and then Ulster's Peter Graham in the quarter-finals. He was eventually beaten in the semi final by Dublin's Conor Nolan (11/4, 8/11, 11/8, 11/4). John Murphy made it an all Dublin final when he beat Andrew Blanch in the semi final (11/9, 11/8, 11/8.) to set up a thrilling and tense final match. Both players know each other's game well as they have had tremendous success in partnership within men's doubles events, winning the Connaught Open earlier in the year. With both players well supported the match went to five sets with Murphy just having the edge taking the fifth 11/8. (11/8, 6/11, 11/5, 9/11, 11/8.)

There were more shocks and surprises within the U17 Girls event with West Cork's Emma Jane Helen beating Irish No.3 Rachel O'Connor (Cork) in the quarter-finals. This was Helen's first win against Munster team-mate O'Connor. Helen went on to play Irish No.1 Linda O'Sullivan (Cork) in a closely fought semi final. With Helen two points away from a major upset the Irish No.1 showed her greater experience and came back to win 11/9 in the fifth. Cork's title hopes were dashed however in another dramatic final when Dublin's Sabrina Conway took her second title of the season 3/11, 11/8, 7/11, 13/11, 11/3. Linda O'Sullivan was obviously disappointed but was buoyed by the news of her selection to the Irish Senior team for the up coming British League team.

At least one title stayed in Cork this year, this was a certainty even before the final was played when Cork club mates Dan Foley and Tom Elliott met in the Veteran's event. With the stage set the two of them battled it out with some fine play by both players. With points seesawing between the two it was some remarkable forehand smashes by Dan Foley that tipped the balance and enabled him to take the Munster title. The U21 event was expectedly dominated by the Swedish contingent with only one Irish player making the semi final. Cork's Mark White was beaten in straight sets by the recently crowned Munster Senior Champion Gustarf Olofsson. Olofsson was unable to take both titles as team mate Fredrik Anderson upset Olofsson's attacking style with some incredible blocking and forehand topspin drives pushing both players back from the table. The court had to be expanded at one stage as the angles progressively increased. Anderson who won a bronze medal at the Sydney Paralympics was able to take his revenge from the men's singles and take the U21 title. Presented with his winning cheque he spoke on behalf of the Swedish players and thanked the organisers and their hosts in Ballincollig and Kinneigh for the hospitality they had received.

Results:
Men's Final
Gustaf Olofsson (SWE) bt Stefan Hjalmarsson (SWE) 11/13, 11/9, 12/10, 11/9

Ladies Final
Lui Na (CHN) bt Linda Mountjoy (Munster) 11/8, 11/6, 11/8

Junior Boys Final
John Murphy (Leinster) bt Conor Nolan (Leinster) 11/8, 6/11, 11/5, 9/11, 11/8

Junior Girls Final
Sabrina Conway (Leinster) bt Linda O'Sullivan (Munster) 11/3, 8/11, 11/7, 11/13, 3/11

Cadet Boys Final
Peter Graham (Ulster) bt Ed Wrynn (Leinster) 12/10, 11/7, 11/6

Cadet Girls Final
Amy Tobin (Leinster) bt Danielle Douglas (Ulster)11/8, 11/9, 11/8

Under 12 Boys
Gavin Maguire (Leinster) bt Nial McDonnell (Leinster) 11/8, 11/3, 11/13, 11/9

Under 12 Girls
Danielle Douglas (Ulster) bt Ciara Nolan (Leinster) 11/8, 11/3, 11/8

Under 21 Singles
Fredrick Anderson (SWE) bt Gustaf Olofsson (SWE) 11/8, 11/9, 11/7

Class 2 Singles
Dane Smith (Ulster) bt Tom Conroy (Munster) 11/8, 11/8, 11/8

Ladies Doubles
Linda Mountjoy (Munster) / Tarra Fusco (Leinster) bt Lui Na (CHN) / Jenna Mehigan Collins
(Munster) 11/6, 11/9, 11/8

Men's Doubles
Fredrick Hagenstall / Gustaf Olofsson (SWE) bt Eoin Byrne / Colin Byrne (Leinster) 13/11,
11/6, 11/3

Mixed Doubles
Lui Na (CHN) / Tony Sidebottom (Ulster) bt Linda Mountjoy / Brian Fitzgerald (Munster)

05-01-02
STIGA Leinster Junior Open 5-6th January
There was a true international flavour at the first Irish Table Tennis Junior Ranking event. While many juggled their currencies at the tournament shop and extorted the virtues or not of the Euro a number of European countries were represented at the event including Swedish No.6 Cadet Emil Holmsten (Segeltorps BTK) and Frenchman Anthony Glain (Centréisere - Academy Voiron) who was the top seed in the U17 event. Elizabeth Dennett from Cheshire who is currently No.6 as a cadet in England entered along with her younger sister Fiona, an up and coming eleven year-old. After seeing the tournament featured on the Table Tennis Ireland website the Dennett's combined a visit to family and friends with a trip to the IWA in Clontarf. It was no surprise to find Elizabeth in the final of the Cadet girls against Irish No.1 Fiona Mernagh. Fiona had disposed of Fiona in the quarterfinals and Elizabeth was out to restore family pride. Elizabeth went into a significant lead, totally dominating the first set 11-1. Mernagh dug deep in the second but still was unable to put the English girl under pressure loosing 6-11. The third was a tremendous battle that ebbed and flowed with neither girl taking a significant lead. Mernagh finally took the set with a snappy forehand drive (11-9). The fourth was a crucial set for Mernagh to stay in the match and it stayed as tight as it can get with some excellent rallies. Reaching 11-11 the tension was palpable with one girl taking the point then the other Mernagh netted her backhand at 14-14 and then put her forehand off the table to ensure that the new name of Elizabeth Dennett was crowned as Stiga Leinster Cadet Champion. Fiona Dennett also made the final of the U12 Girls and was beaten in a good match by Ulster's Danielle Douglas.

The U19 event saw a final between local Dublin rivals Patrick Green from UCD and Conor Fahy from the ALSAA Club. Fahy who has been in good form of late sprang into an early lead taking the first set 11-5 and a 5-1 lead in the second. Fahy bottled Green with short touch play wide to the backhand keeping Green frustrated and unable to bring his forehand drive into play. Green was unable to recover from Fahy's early lead and found himself two sets down. Green began his fight back in the third with both players taking point for point till 10-10. Green then put two excellent points together, moving well round into the backhand court to drive the winner down Fahy's backhand. With his confidence high Green took a 6-3 lead in the fourth and looked to be in a position to draw the set and take it into the fifth and final set. Fahy recovered to 6-6 and once again Green relied on his service to draw ahead 8-6. His service proved to be a deciding factor as he kept his two-point advantage to take the set 11-8. With all to play for in the fifth both players needed a good start. It was Fahy who took the advantage and pulled away to a 5-2 lead. With the players changing ends Green's Coach Richard Butler called a time out to steady Green and to break Fahy's winning streak. The service changed at 6-4 and Green continued to raise his game. A crucial rally at 7-7 with both players playing long fierce forehand drives back from the table went to Green. Green with his confidence high accelerated over the next couple of points and took the deciding set and the U19 title with a cross-court forehand drive. (5-11, 5-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9)

Lee Bary beat Ed Wrynn 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 in the final of the Boy's U14 Event.

Sundays Results to follow.

SINGLES TITLES GO TO WELSH & CHINESE @ NEWTOWNABBEY GP COUNTY ANTRIM

The Welsh champion and no.1 Ryan Jenkins and Chinese student Liu Na lifted the men’s and women’s open singles at the Butterfly Grand Prix held at Newtownabbey, County Antrim over the weekend. The Newtownabbey event, which has incorporated the Bangor Open, is the first tournament in Northern Ireland to be included in the Butterfly Grand Prix and attracted players from all over Britain and Ireland, as well as from Europe and Asia.

Jenkins, aged 23 and seeded 2, was the only player who was able to rally consistently with former England & Commonwealth champion Alan Cooke, outgunning the no.1 seed from Chesterfield, Derbyshire 6-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 in the men’s final. However, after dispatching Hungarian Gergely Urban 10-12, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 in the quarters, he was fortunate to survive two match points in the 4th game whilst scraping through his semi-final clash with Jason Sugrue (Middlesex), 7-11, 8-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-7. 22 year old Sugrue from Kingsbury, North West London, who is a stalwart of British League champion club London Progress, had caused the shock of the championships when he defeated Scottish and Home Countries champion Euan Walker in an epic 5-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 quarter-final match. Sugrue was so sharp that he is apparently exploring whether he is eligible to play for Ireland – his parents are of Irish origin although he has previously represented England juniors.

In his half of the draw Alan Cooke, 35, had comfortable wins over Scottish junior no.1/ senior no.2 Gavin Rumgay (11-5, 11-6, 11-9), and the former Cameroon international who is currently studying at Middlesex University, Marco Essomba (11-3, 11-5, 11-7) to reach the final and professed not to be too disappointed at not winning: “The top young players are practising all the time and making progress, so I feel happy if I can still beat them. And Ryan (Jenkins) is one of those players who can pull out the extra when it matters.”

18 year old Liu Na, who is studying English at Belfast Institute, was a bit too fast for English women’s champion Nicola Deaton (Chesterfield, Derbyshire), to pick up her second Butterfly Grand Prix singles title (her first was at Newcastle) with her 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 victory. 17 year old Louise Durrant (Worksop, Nottinghamshire), looked quite impressive against Liu in her 5-11, 10-12, 9-11 semi-final encounter (and in fact had taken a game off her in their under 21 women’s singles final, before losing 7-1, 11-9, 5-11, 4-11) and in the round before gained a hard fought 11-4, 11-6, 10-12, 6-11, 11-9 victory over Ulster’s Andrea Glover.

Nicola Deaton, who his finding her Psychology studies at Nottingham University demanding, had a comfortable 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 quarter-final win against Hungarian student Dorks Nagy, but in the semi-finals looked decidedly shaky against another Hungarian, a fired-up Barbara Kiss, who is studying at South Bank University, before fighting through 3 match points against her to gain the 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10 verdict.

Alan Cooke and Ryan Jenkins combined to easily lift the men’s doubles 11-3, 11-3, 11-5 over London Progress pair Marco Essomba & Jason Sugrue. In an excellent women’s doubles final Nicola Deaton and Louise Durrant only just pipped Liu Na and Chinese Ulster coach Jing Yi Gao 14-12, 8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10.

Irish No.1 Brian Fitzgerald had an excellent tournament with a victory in five set in the Band One Final. Fitzgerald has dominated the domestic scene this season and he proved his abilities with a final win against in an exciting match against Niall Cameron (Scotland) 7-11, 13-11, 13-11, 6-11, 11-8.

Finals Results:
Men’s singles (from semi-finals): Alan Cooke (Derbys) bt Marco Essomba (Surrey) 11-3, 11-5, 11-7. Ryan Jenkins (Wales) bt Jason Sugrue (Middlesex).
Final: Ryan Jenkins (Wales) bt Alan Cooke (Derbys) 6-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4.
Women’s singles (from semi-finals): Liu Na (China) bt Louise Durrant (Notts) 11-5, 12-10, 11-9. Nicola Deaton (Derbys) bt Barbara Kiss (Herts) 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10.
Final: Liu Na (China) bt Nicola Deaton (Derbys) 11-8, 11-6, 11-9.
Men’s doubles: Alan Cooke (Derbys)/Ryan Jenkins (Wales) bt Marco Essomba (Surrey)/Jason Sugrue (Middlesex) 11-3, 11-3, 11-5.
Women’s doubles: Nicola Deaton (Derbys)/Louise Durrant (Notts) bt Liu Na (China)/Jing Yi Gao (Ulster) 14-12, 8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10.
Under 21 men’s singles: Gavin Rumgay (Scotland) bt Anthony Glain (France) 11-7, 11-8, 11-4.
Under 21 women’s singles: Liu Na (China) bt Louise Durrant (Notts) 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-4.
Veteran men’s singles: Jimmy Robinson (Antrim) bt Trevor Campbell (Essex) 11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5.
Veteran women’s singles: Teresa Devaney (Ireland) bt Jane Durham (Cleveland) 7-11, 11-9, 11-5, 2-11, 11-8.
Junior singles: Gavin Rumgay (Scotland) bt Nicol Craig (Scotland) 11-2, 11-6, 11-3.
Men’s band 1 singles: Brian Fitzgerald (Ireland) bt Niall Cameron (Scotland) 7-11, 13-11, 13-11, 6-11, 11-8.
Men’s band 3 singles: Brian McRandall (Gloucs) bt Roy Norton (Worcs) 13-11, 11-5, 12-10.
Men’s band 5 singles: Anthony Glain (France) bt John Murphy (Ireland) 11-4, 11-9, 11-9.
Women’s band 1 singles: Jane Durham (Cleveland) bt Linda Mountjoy (Ireland) 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6.

01-01-2002
Irish Senior Rankings
Brian Fitzgerald still holds the number one spot in the Irish Senior Rankings a position he has held for well over a year. Andrew Dennison has moved from third into second overtaking Ulster compatriot Daryl Strong. The biggest move comes from junior Conor Nolan who jumps from thirteenth to seventh after putting together a number of good results. Robbie Becker has also moved into the new top 10.

Even though Linda Mountjoy didn't play in the Leinster Open she retains the number one ranking but her lead has been cut as Ross Carpenter moves to within eighty points. A new name appears in the top four for the first time, as Tara Bollard becomes Tara Fusco. The ladies rankings continue to suffer as the numbers for Irish Senior Ranking events have fallen to worrying levels.

09-12-2001
LEINSTER OPEN 2001
Brian Fitzgerald failed to make his hat trick and take his third Major Provincial title after being beaten in the fourth set by Andrew Dennison. Dennison who had lost to Fitzgerald in the Final of the Ulster Open earlier this year took his first Irish Ranking final for some time and the Ulsterman was delighted at his performance. Fitzgerald along with his Cork team mate Mark White also lost in the Final of the Mens Doubles to the partnership of D.Lynch and D.Pemberton (both loosing singles semi finalists). Fitzgerald who has not walked away from an Senior Open this year without at least one title managed to keep his record in tact partnering Brioni Lane in their victory over the Dublin pair of Junior Conor Nolan and Ladies Veteran Champion Teresa Devaney. Michelle McGreevey had a fine win over Brioni Lane in the ladies singles. Even though the U21 Final was won by Colin Byrne in three sets it was no easy win as each set went to duece. Dubliner Byrne beat Corkman Mark White 12-10, 13-11, 13-11. Now that's nail bitting stuff!

The top players in Ireland will be mixing with the best from the UK and further afield in the upcoming Grand Prix at the Bangor Open. This will be one of the biggest event of the season for Irish Table Tennis and after Christmas will start the second half of the season off with a bang. The action will start on Friday 4th January for three days.

Results of the STIGA Leinster Open
Mens Singles:
Semi-finals
B. Fitzgerald beat D. Lynch -8,-3, 6, 8, 5
A. Dennison beat D. Pemberton 5, -8, 5, 3
Final: A. Dennison beat B. Fitzgerald 12, -9, 8, 9


Ladies Singles:
Semi-finals
M.McGreevy beat R. Carpenter 6, 9, 5
B. Lane beat T. Fusco 4, -6, 4, -8, 10
Final: M. McGreevy beat B. Lane 8, 6, 8


Class 2 Final
G. Romain beat D. McGrath -5, 4, -8, 8, 9


U21 Final
C. Byrne beat M. White 10, 11, 11


Ladies Veterans Final
T. Devaney beat M. McNeill 8, -8, 7, 6


Mens Veteran Final
K. Sabir beat D. Pemberton 10, 9, 10


Mens Doubles Final
D. Lynch/D.Pemberton beat B.Fitzgerald/M.White 5,-5,7,10


Ladies Doubles Final
M. McGreevy/T.Fusco beat R. Carpenter/R.Fox -6, 3, 7, 6


Mixed Doubles Final
B. Fitzgerald/B. Lane beat C. Nolan/T. Devaney 7, 6, 7

GRAND PRIX - BANGOR OPEN
Entries continue to flood in for the tournament to be held in Newtownabbey.
Latest confirmed entries include Nicola Deaton, Alan Cooke and the full Scottish Senior National squad including Euan Walker. 2 of Na Lui's clubmates from China Zi Wang (18) and Jing Wen a 14 year old girl have also confirmed Other entries from Sweden Hungary and France have now been received.

Irish Herald 22-11-01 Lindie Naughton
Sabrina's 'swede' style paying off
Just two days after a memorable week in Sweden, playing for first division club Angby, 17 year old Dubliner Sabrina Conway was back in action at the National Junior Rankings in Clontarf last weekend.

Conway's fast, aggressive style was spotted by Angby coach at a training camp attended by the Irish Junior squad in Sweden over a year ago.

"The coach then came to Ireland and asked me if I'd like to play league table tennis with his club. I couldn't believe it," says Conway, a student at Holy Faith Glasnevin.

The deal involves four weekends away with at least two matches each time. "The standard there is unbelievable. I'm playing at No.2, and not winning yet, but I'm learning a lot."

Sabrina comes from a table tennis family. Her uncle Tommy is the Irish agent for Stiga equipment, which has just signed a major sponsorship deal with the Irish Table Tennis Assoc. and it was big brother James who first introduced her to the sport.
,br> "I was about nine at the time and I just enjoyed it - both the sport and the social side of it," says Sabrina who plays in Dublin for Raven.

By the age of 12 she was part of the Irish Schools team. "I travelled to the annual Home Countries International in Scotland and it was very exciting - a little reward for playing well at home."

The highlight of her career so far was the European Junior Championships in Italy last July.

Her big aim for the year is to win the Irish Under 17 title.

The Junior STIGA Leinster Open have changed days. All Junior and Under 12s are on Sunday with the cadets and 19s on Saturday.

The STIGA Leinster Open
The third of the major Provincial Open begins on December 8th. Brian Fitzgerald will be trying for his third straight win this season, having beaten Daryl Strong in the Connacht Open and Andrew Dennison in the Ulster Open. Brian has a clear lead over the pack in the Irish Rankings with 644 points. His next nearest rival is Daryl Strong on 385 and Andrew Dennison on 343.

In the women's singles has been dominated this year by Linda Mountjoy (Munster), the Cork based player playing out of UCC won the recent Connacht Open and has appeared in 5 finals this season, taking the Connacht Mixed Doubles title with partner Brian Fitzgerald. However she has lost to Ulster's Michelle McGreevey at the Ulster Open and Ulster based Na Lui from China will prove very tough competition. Linda tops the rankings at present with 450 points over her next closest rival Ross Carpenter on 318.

The men's doubles will see Juniors John Murphy and Conor Nolan trying to prove that their recent win at the Connacht Open was not a one off. This time the Dublin based partnership, that shocked the Irish scene last month with their wins over Brain Fitzgerald and Tom Conroy and their Championship win against Daryl Strong and John Bowe, will have the advantage of surprise. First round of the singles is due to start at high noon at the IWA Clontarf, while the doubles begins at 2.00 pm, spectators are welcome.

A Word about Bertie
I don't get to hear much from Bertie Levinge these days, the reason being he has to choose very carefully the tournaments he enters, it hard to get away. I sometimes mention him to some of the younger players and they haven't even heard about him. Well as ITTA PRO I hope this might readdress this. He is arguably the most successful Irish Table Tennis player ever. What would indicate this? You might ask. Correct me if I'm wrong but he is the only Irish player with a major international title. He reached his first International final at the European Veterans Championships in 1995 at 70+, he lost to Osterholm (SWE) in the final. He went on to have his revenge when he beat Osterholm in the semi final at the World Championships in Manchester 1998. Unfortunately he lost in that final to his doubles partner Etheridge (ENG).

"It was 19 all in the last set and I went for two kills and put them both off the end. It's the kind of thing you can wake up in the middle of the night screaming about." Bertie has not lost to Etheridge since! The two of them partnered up at the European Veterans in Denmark last year and they took the European 75+ Doubles title.

"Now that's something to brag about!"

At over 75 Bertie is remarkably fit and still lives and works in Kinsale, Co.Cork. For those of you who are planning to enter the Munster Open in 2002. Look out for the dignified gentleman measuring the net before your game. Experience can count for an awful lot in our game, just ask Mark White at the 2000 Munster Open, really no need to be embarrassed about it Mark, it could happen to anyone!

Veteran News The last 2 weeks have been very busy times for the I.V.T.T.S. On weekend 17/18th Nov. the Irish Veterans Society had 2 teams away playing in the British Veterans League. This was the first of 2 weekends, the second will take place on the weekend of 19/20th Jan 2002. The mens team the Shamrocks competing in the 1st Division won 2 drew 1 lost 2. This result leaves the team in mid division with every reason to expect retention of First Division status.
Individual Results: T Caffrey 6-10 K Burke 6-10 K Sabier 3-10

The Ladies team the Colleens also performed very well achieving the same results as the mens team. Won 2 Drew 1 Lost 2 which again leaves the girls in a very strong position to retain their Premiership Status.
Individual Results T Devaney 7-10 M Mc Neill 2-10 C Wann 4-10.

Last weekend saw a return to Tournament action with the Ulster Veterans Open taking place in the Glenburn Methodist Centre Belfast.Alarge turn out resulted in some of the best Table Tennis seen this year in Veterans events.

Results
Mens 40+ Semi Finals Dave Pemberton bt Tommy Caffrey
Karim Sabier bt Jimmy Robinson
Final Sabir bt Pemberton

Ladies 40+ Winner Teresa Devaney
R/U Jenny Harrison

Mens 50+ Semi Finals Tommy Caffrey bt Roy Coard
Roy Copes bt Norman Nabney

Final Caffrey bt Copes

Ladies 50+ Winner Marjorie Mc Neill
R/U Margerat Cleary

Mens 60+ Semi Final Roy Copes bt C Mc Keegan
Ussher Watson bt Ted Mahaffy

Final Copes bt Watson

Mens Doubles Winners Tonny Caffrey & Norman Nabney
R/U Karim Sabir & Syd Beasant

Ladies Doubles Winners Vivienne Barry & Tesesa Devaney
R/U J Harrison & P O Sullivan

Mixed Doubles Winners N Nabney & T Devaney

TABLE TENNIS MOVES UP A GEAR.
It was a major weekend for the Irish Table Tennis Association, which launched the new Members' Bumper Pack over the weekend at the STIGA Irish Junior Ranking at the IWA, Clontarf. The great and the good including ITTA President Alex Thackaberry, ITTA Secretary Tony Martin, Irish Senior Captain Con Higgins, Irish Junior Captains John O'Donoghue & Arthur Brett and ITTA Sponsors STIGA representative Tommy Fitzgerald from "main stream" table tennis. Representatives from both the Special Olympics, Lola Cooke (Leinster) & Owen Kelly (Munster) and the Community Games Chairman Brian Macmanus and Secretary Maureen Quinlan were treated to an exhibition of top class table tennis by eight times Paralympian Michael Cunningham and current Irish Junior No.1's Sabrina Conway & Sean Brady.

The Bumper Pack is the initiative of the new ITTA National Development Committee and PRO and is available to all ITTA members nation-wide, through the ITTA Regional Development Officers. The pack contains a number of promotional items including an ITTA Car Sticker and Sew on Badge, displaying the new logo that is being launched at the same time. Members will also receive an Irish Newsletter with interviews with all the top players as well as the new National Coach Colum Slevin.

ITTA PRO Owen Kelly who has been working on the project for two years was delighted to see the new pack launched.
"I was delighted to see representatives from a number of organisations that are involved with table tennis in Ireland. Table Tennis encompasses a very broad family delivering the benefits of the sport to such a varied range of groups. The sport is very active within the Community Games and we hope to encourage a greater participation within this important community organisation. Closer ties have already been established within Special Olympics and a number of new unified initiatives have already taken place. We sometimes forget just how many are involved with out sport. My father always used to tell me you can play table tennis from the cradle to the grave."

The guests also had the opportunity to see the top juniors in action as the second Irish Junior Ranking took place in the hall next door. The U17 events saw neither of the previous winners take top honours at the event. Sean Brady was beaten by an in form Conor Nolan as he made his way on the meet John Murphy in the final. The two of them had made the final of the Connacht Open last weekend but as team mates in the Senior Doubles when they surprisingly took the title. This time they were head to head, with lefthander Conor' forehand "Quite the best I've ever seen him play," according to his coach Tommy Fitzgerald. Conor went on to take only his second Irish Ranking title. (14/12, 11/5, 9/11, 11/9) Asked how he saw his prospects for the rest of the season Conor a quietly spoken Dublin lad stated that, "If I play well, I'll do alright."

It wasn't a surprise to see Linda O'Sullivan back at the top of the Junior Girls. This was Linda's 12th Junior win since joining the ranks in 1998. Linda wasn't swayed by her previous loss in Cork a month ago as she lost the first ranking of the season last year as well. "I wasn't put off by loosing to Sabrina last time and I knew I just had to concentrate on playing well. I was spinning the ball well this time rather than just hitting." Linda was not able to take her revenge over Sabrina this time however as Amanda Mogey from Ulster took an excellent victory over the young Dublin girls in the semi final. Linda proved too strong for Amanda in the final however, Linda winning 11/6, 11/7, 11/8.

Special Thanks to: Joe Lamon, John Byrne, Lola Cooke, Tommy Keenan, Brenda Mernagh, Noreen Tobin, Bernie Downey and all those who helped with this event.

2nd STIGA IRISH JUNIOR RANKING - IWA, CLONTARF.
RESULTS
U17 Boys
1st Conor Nolan, 2nd John Murphy, 3rd Sean Brady, 4th Conor Fahy
U17 Girls:
1st Linda O'Sullivan, 2nd Amanda Mogey, 3rd Sabrina Conway, 4th Rachel O'Connor
U14 Boys:
1st Peter Graham, 2nd John Ray, 3rd Stephen Keenan, 4th Ed Wrynn
U14 Girls:
1st Fiona Mernagh, 2nd Amy Tobin, 3rd Andrea Shorten, 4th Jessica Kelleher
U12 Boys:
1st Patrick Guy, 2nd Gavin Maguire, 3rd Keith Knox, 4th Niall McDonell
U12 Girls:
1st Danielle Douglas, 2nd Catherine Trimble, 3rd Marsia Lieghio, 4th Deborah Cluxton

Connacht STIGA Commercial Table Tennis Open 2001 Results:-
Cork players Brian Fitzgerald and Linda Mountjoy continue to top their respective national rankings. Both players have dominated the National events for well over a year. The two of them combined to take the Mixed Doubles Title and Linda went on to take the Ladies Doubles along with Dublin’s Teresa Devaney. Brian and his partner Tom Conroy also from Cork, were surprisingly knocked out of the Men’s Doubles in the Semi Finals by youngsters Conor Nolan and John Murphy from Dublin’s Eastpoint Club. The young pairing went on to shock the spectators at the event by beating the top pairing of Daryl Strong(Belfast) and John Bowe(Dublin). The match was even made more exciting as Conor and John came back from 2 sets to 0 to take the final three 11/7, 11/7, 11/7. Dave Pemberton beat Jimmy Robinson in the Veterans Final.

The event had a great entry overall. There were 54 of the top players in the country competing in the Men’s Singles; 17 in the Ladies Singles; 24 in the Veteran Singles; 20 in the Mixed Doubles; 36 in the Men’s Doubles and 10 in the Ladies Doubles. The quality of table tennis was excellent and the new format game (5 sets up to 11) makes the matches very fast - not for the faint hearted. As usual it was very well run by the Master of Ceremonies the Connacht Honorary Referee:- Mr. Les Hunt who was ably assisted by Ollie Adamson. A special thanks to our Secretary Emer O'Connell, Kathleen Casserley and David and Amy Egan who were brilliant catering helpers.

Next week the Juniors will be in action at the IWA, Clontarf at the STIGA Leinster Irish Junior Ranking. This event will bring all the top juniors together from around the country for the second time this year. All the major names will be there and the ITTA will be launching their new "Member’s Bumper Pack." The pack that has been in development for over a year will include the new ITTA Logo in the form of a sow on badge and car sticker, as well a pin, ITTA newsletter and STIGA magazine. The event will be run over the weekend at Under 12, Under 14, and Under 17 Boys and Girls.

Mixed Doubles
Semi-Finals:-
Brian Fitzgerald/Linda Mountjoy beat Conor Nolan/Teresa Devaney 11/6, 17/15 and 11/6
Colin Byrne/Linda O'Sullivan beat John Bowe/Louise Long 17/15, 7/11, 11/6, and 11/7
Final:-B. Fitzgerald/Linda Mountjoy beat Colin Byrne/Linda O'Sullivan 11/6, 12/10 and 11/7

Mixed Doubles Winners:- Brian Fitzgerald and Linda Mountjoy

Mens Doubles
Semi-Finals:-
Conor Nolan/John Murphy beat Brian Fitzgerald/Tom Conroy 7/11, 11/9, 11/1, 6/11 and 11/4
Daryl Strong/John Bowe beat Anthony Redmond/Kevin Mackey 11/8, 8/11, 11/9 and 11/7
Final:- Conor Nolan/John Murphy beat Daryl Strong/John Bowe 5/11, 8/11, 11/7, 11/7 and 11/7

Mens Doubles Winners:- Conor Nolan and John Murphy

Ladies Doubles
Semi-Finals:-
Linda Mountjoy/Teresa Devaney beat Pauline Fitzsimons/Teresa Egan 11/5, 11/4 and 11/9
Louise Long/Linda O'Sullivan beat Yvonne Hurley/Carol Quinlan 11/8, 11/7 and 11/3.
Final:- Linda Mountjoy/Teresa Devaney beat Louise Long/Linda O'Sullivan 12/14, 11/3, 12/10, 11/6

Ladies Doubles Winners:- Linda Mountjoy and Teresa Devaney

Mens Singles
Semi-Finals:- Brian Fitzgerald beat Dave Pemberton 11/3, 11/6 and 12/10
Daryl Strong beat Damien Lynch 11/8, 14/12 and 11/8
Final:- Brian Fitzgerald beat Daryl Strong 11/6, 11/7 and 11/7

Mens Singles Winner: Brian Fitzgerald

Ladies Singles:-
Semi-Finals:- Linda Mountjoy beat Teresa Devaney 11/8, 6/11, 11/9 and 12/10
Ross Carpenter beat Rhonda Fox 7/11, 6/11, 12/10, 11/5 and 11/3
Final:- Linda Mountjoy beat Ross Carpenter 12/10, 11/7 and 11/7

Ladies Singles Winner:-Linda Mountjoy-

Veteran Singles
Semi-Finals:- Jimmy Robinson beat Sid Beasant 11/6, 12/10, 8/11 and 11/8
Dave Pemberton beat Kariem Sabir 11/6, 11/8 and 11/6
Final:- Dave Pemberton beat Jimmy Robinson 11/8, 4/11, 11/7 and 14/12

Veteran Singles Winner:- Dave Pemberton-

THE STIGA ULSTER TABLE TENNIS OPEN
Mens Singles ¼ Finals:
B Fitzgerald bt J Stephens 4,6,9
J Bowe bt B McRandall 6,-9,3,9
D Strong bt D Lynch 8,13,-9,9,6
A Dennison bt P Wallace 1,8,10
½ Finals:
A Dennison bt D Strong 12,7,10
B Fitzgerald bt J Bowe 7,5,10
Final: B Fitzgerald bt A Dennison 9,7,8

Womens Singles ¼ Finals
Na Lui bt J Harrison 7,4,7
R Carpenter bt S. Conway 3,5,-4,7
S Robinson bt T Bollard 5,7,10
M McGreevy bt L Mountjoy 4,4,7
½ Finals:
Na Lui bt R Carpenter 4,4,5
M McGreevy bt S Robinson 7,5,7
Final: Na Lui bt M McGreevy 4,4,9

Mens Doubles ¼ Finals
Dennison/Cherry bt Mackey/Redmond ,-9,6,9,8
Byrne/Byrne bt Clarke/Graham 9,6,4
Nolan/Murphy bt Stephens/Deering
Strong/Bowe bt Green/McNeill w/o
½ Finals
Dennison/Cherry bt Byrne/Byrne,-8,8,5,-8,3
Strong/Bowe bt Nolan/Murphy,-6,-9,7,11,7
Final: Dennison/Cherry bt Strong/Bowe

Womens Doubles ½ Finals
Mountjoy/Bollard bt Robinson/Mogey,-8,12,6,-7,1
McGreevy/Lui bt Harrison/Carpenter,5,4,5
Final: McGreevy/Lui bt Mountjoy/Bollard 4,8,-7,5

Mixed Doubles ½ Finals
D Strong/M McGreevy bt A Dennison/T Bollard 7,7,8,
B Fitzgerald/L Mountjoy bt W Cherry/Na Lui 10,-7,7,-7,6
Final: D Strong/M McGreevy bt B Fitzgerald/L Mountjoy 5,7,9

U21 Men ½ Final:
T Conroy bt R Becker 7,8,6
D McNeill bt P Egan 4,8,8
Final: D McNeill bt T Conroy ,-9,8,-9,-12,6

U21 Women
1.Na Lui
2.Suzy Robinson
3.Louise Long

Class 2: ½ Final
N Nabney bt T Conroy,-9,9,-7,9,9
K Sabir bt P Clarke 5,8,5
Final:K Sabir bt N Nabney 0,11,-10,-11,8

Results of E.W.L. Porto Oct.6/7
Irl. 1 Por. 3
Irl. 1 Wal. 3
Irl. 0 Esp. 3

A courageous performance against Por.with Brioni beating the no.2 Goncalves, 10, 7, 7.Linda well beaten by Carvalho, 6,6,8. and Tara also well beaten by Enriques,3,5,9.Linda beaten by Goncalves -9,6,6,6.

Linda had a good win over J. Weiss(WAL.) 5, 9, 7. Brioni lost to Natasha Williams/Lake 7,8,6. Tara lost to Naomi Owen 8,7,-8,9. Brioni lost to Weiss 10,-15,10,-7 10.

Brioni lost to Prades (Esp.) 2,1,6. Linda lost to Vila 6,7,4, Tara lost to Dvorak 4,-12,6,8,

STIGA Irish Junior Ranking – Mayfield, Cork 6-7th October

U10 Boys
1. Kevin O’Keefe (M)
2. Aidan Grabe (M)
3. Scott Shellard (M)

U10 Girls
1. Avril Healy (L)
2. Claire Downey (L)
3. Ashleigh O’Callaghan (M)

U12 Boys
1. Niall McDonnell (L)
2. Keith Knox (U)
3. Mark O’Flynn (L)

U12 Girls
1. Ciara Nolan (L)
2. Catherine Trimble (U)
3. Avril Healy (L)

U14 Boys
1. Peter Graham (U)
2. Chris O’Brien (M)
3. Stephen Keenan (L)

U14 Girls
1. Fiona Mernagh (L)
2. Amy Tobin (L)
3. Andrea Shorten (M)

U17 Boys
1. Sean Brady (U)
2. Colin Byrne (L)
3. John Murphy (L)

U17 Girls
1. Sabrina Conway (L)
2. Linda O’Sullivan (M)
3. Rachel O’Connor (M)

STIGA Irish Junior Ranking – Report

The first of five Irish Junior Rankings got underway over the weekend at the Mayfield Leisure Centre in Cork. The event sponsored by STIGA drew over 100 players competing in 8 age groups from around the country. An under 10 event was run for the first time and proved very successful with careful monitoring by the organisers. Avril Healy and Claire Downey travelled from Dublin to take first and second place with Avril Healy taking third place in the under 12 as well. Ashleigh O’Callaghan from Kinneigh, West Cork took third in the under 10’s. The boys event was an all Cork event with Kevin O’Keefe from Ballincollig taking top honours with Aidan Grabe, Kerry Pike taking second and Scott Shellard from Ballincollig taking third.

The U12 events were again well attended Niall McDonnell from Dublin beat Kevin Knox from Ulster in the boys final (11-5, 11-3, 11-4) and Eastpoint. Dublin’s Mark O’Flynn taking third. In the girls Diara Nolan from Dublin beat Catherine Trimble from Belfast in the final with Avril Healy taking third.

The U14 event saw a surprise finalist Chris O’Brien from Ballincollig who was unseeded coming into the event. Chris was however beaten by Irish No.1 Peter Graham from Belfast (11-3, 11-3, 11-6). Dublin’s Stephen Keenan took third. The final ranking in the U14 girls ended up the same as last year’s U12 ranking with Fiona Mernagh from Leinster beating team mate Amy Tobin in the final (11-3, 7-11, 7-11, 3-11) with Andrea Shorten from Kinneigh TTC, West Cork taking third.

The biggest surprises of the weekend came in the U17 events with unseeded Jonathan McCarthy beating 6th seed Dane Smith. Sean Brady from Ulster retained the top spot (9-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-4, 7-11) with Colin Byrne and John Murphy from Dublin taking second and third. There was further upset when third seed Sabrina Conway from Dublin beat top seed Linda O’Sullivan from Cork in the final. The match was a close affair with each player exchanging sets, Sabrina finally took the title with an excellent cross court smash (11-5, 8-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7). Cork’s Rachael O’Connor took a very good third place.

The next STIGA Irish Junior Ranking takes place in Dublin on the 17/18th November.

Selections for Junior British League, Wolverhampton, UK
Boys: C.Byrne, J.Murphy, C.Nolan. NPC M.McDonald
Girls: S.Conway, A.Mogey, L.O'Sullivan. NPC A.Brett.

European Womens League
Selection for 6-7th October.
Tara Bollard, Brioni Lane, Linda Mountjoy. NPC Con Higgins.

Senior Home Countries Championships
Douglas, The Isle of Man, 21st-23rd September

Ireland had mixed fortunes at the Championships played in the National Sports Centre over the weekend. In the team event Ireland disposed of both Guernsey and the hosts, the Isle of Man 10-0. The team struggled against the eventual winners England and went down 10-0. In the match against Scotland the ladies played well to lead 3-2 but the men were unable to capitalise on the women's success and the team eventually lost 7-3. The opposite took place against Wales with the men taking a 3-2 lead and the women struggling against the much-improved Welsh ladies, the team finally lost 7-3. The Individual event saw some good performances from the team with Damien Lynch coming into replace the Irish National Champion Alan Monks, who was unable to attend, made it to the quarterfinal stages. Brioni Lane also made it to the quarters in the ladies event loosing to Kathy Parker (Eng) 3 - 1. Linda Mountjoy also made a second quarterfinal where she was also beaten by an English player Helen Lower 3 - 0.
Women’s singles (from quarter-finals): Helen Lower (Eng) bt Linda Mountjoy (Ire) 11-6, 11-5, 11-7. Katy Parker (Eng) bt Brioni Lane (Ire) 10-12, 11-1, 11-5, 11-3.
Irish Team: B. Fitzgerald, A. Dennison, D.Lynch, L. Mountjoy, B. Lane NPC- C. Higgins

British Women's League
Hereford, UK, 22-23rd September
The Irish ladies were also in action at the Women's British League, an event where many of the top clubs compete over a couple of weekends in a league situation. The Irish ladies play within the very high standard of the Premier League after being promoted. Tara Bollard put in an extremely good performance winning 8 out of her 10 matches. Ireland's first match was against London Progress whose team strengthened by African No.1 Kafobosse won 4-2. The match against Hull Sandhill was very close and finished all square after 6, 3-3. The third match of the very busy weekend saw Ireland take their first win against Horsham Ladies of Janet Dunning, Jose Bongers and Sally Western. Ireland coming out 5-1 on top. Premier League Champions of the last two years Suvi Sport Wear proved too strong for the Irish taking the match 5-1. The final match against Leeds Ladies was also tight with a 4-2 result to the Yorkshire side. The Irish team will be up against it again in the next round where they hope to finish high enough to play in the Top 4 play-offs later this year. Irish National Champion Andrea Glover was unable to play over the weekend, as she was in Fiji, Andrea hopes to reach New Zealand in order to play in the New Zealand Open. Noelle Lennon who had taken a short 5 month break from the game took the available place and put in a good performance but slightly below her own expectations, Noelle is likely to be back to her best when the team play their next series of matches. The ladies will all be back in action very soon with a packed calendar this season, the first of the European Women's League matches is scheduled for 6-7th October. The first of the Irish Junior Rankings will also be held over that weekend in Cork.
Irish Team: T. Bollard, N.Lennon, M. McGreevy, NPC- A. Brett

The 5th Annual Home Countries Veterans International Championships took place in Wrexham Wales on Sat / Sun. 15 /16th September 2001.
Team events on Sat. Individual events on Sun.
In team events Ireland secured Silver medals in both the 40+ and the 60+ categories. In the 40+ Ireland finished in 4th position. England took the Gold in all 3 categories.
Results:
Ireland 40+ V Isle of Man 6 - 2
Scotland 6 - 2
Wales 7 - 1
England 0 - 8

Ireland 50+ V Isle of Man 6 - 1
Scotland 3 - 4
Wales 3 - 4
England 0 - 7

Ireland 60+ V Wales (B) 5 - 2
Scotland 7 - 0
Wales (A) 6 - 1
England 0 - 7


Final team order:
Over 40s; 1st England, 2nd Ireland, 3rd Scotland, 4th Wales, 5th Isle of Man.
Over 50s; 1st England, 2nd Scotland, 3rd Wales, 4th Ireland, 5th Isle of Man.
Over 60s; 1st England, 2nd, Ireland, 3rd Wales B, 4th Wales A, 5th Scotland.

On Sunday the Individual Competitions took place and the 60+ team of Roy Copes, Ted Mahaffey and Dorothy Taylor took pride of place with Roy and Ted taking Gold in the Men's doubles, a first for any Irish competitor in the 5 years of competition, and Roy and Dorothy taking Silver in the Men's and Ladies singles competitions.

Men’s over 60 doubles: Ted Mahaffy/Roy Copes (Ireland) bt Roy Williams/Bernard Carter (Wales) 7-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8.

Women’s over 60 singles: Doreen Schofield (England/Cheshire) bt Dorothy Taylor (Ireland) 11-6, 11-6, 11-1.

The following are the results of the STIGA Junior/Cadet/U12 Inter Pros. held in the IWA, Clontarf, Dublin.

Girls U12	Girls U14	Girls U17
1. Leinster 2. Ulster 3. Connaught 4. Munster	1. Munster 2. Leinster 3. Ulster	1. Munster 2. Leinster 3. Connaught 4. Ulster
Boys U12	Boys U14	Boys U17
1. Leinster 2. Munster 3. Ulster	1. Ulster 2. Leinster 3. Munster	1. Ulster 2. Munster 3. Leinster 4. Connaught

OVERALL SHIELD WINNER: Leinster

STIGA IRISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Abbey Retial Park National TT Championships at Valley Leisure Centre on 8 Sept., 2001 for 2000/2001 season:
A Prize Fund of almost IR 700 pounds was distributed at the event. Top Mens Seed Alan Monks (Eastpoint, Dublin) has been training out in China for the last few months regained his title against current No.1 Brian Fitzgerald in a closely fought final.
Andrea Glover, travelling to the New Zealand Open later this week, took the new Eddie Limberg Memorial Sinlges trophy against Essex-based Jenny Harrison from Belfast who caused an upset in the Women's event by beating Tara Bollard & Michelle McGreevy before losing to Glover in final. She did however get some consolation by winning the Veteran Women event.
Norman Nabney celebrated his 50th Birthday with tiles in Class 2 & later in the Men's Doubles with Andrew Dennison
The event was sponsored by Abbey Retail Park, in a joint venture with Eastonville & Stannifer. Stiga were major equipment supporters.

Results:
MS - SF A Monks bt D Strong 9, -10, 7, 12; B Fitzgerald bt D Lynch -4, 6, -7, 4, 7
Final Monks bt Fitzgerald -12, 8, 6, 1

WS - SF A Glover bt L Mountjoy 9, -7, 4, 6; Jenny Harrison by M McGreevy 7, 14, -4, 7
Final Glover bt Harrison -11, 4, 2, 6

MD Final A Dennison/N Nabney bt A Monks/D Strong 12, 9, 7

WD Final A Glover/M McGreevy bt L Mountjoy/T Bollard -1, -7, 4, 9, 10

XD Final D Strong/M McGreevy bt B Fitzgerald/L Mountjoy -9, 8, 6, -8, 9

Class 2 Final N Nabney bt M McDonnell -9, 5, -4, 8, 6

Veteran Men Final Kareim Sabir (Galway) bt P Clarke (Lisburn) 9, -8, 8, 9

Veteran Women Final J Harrison bt Teresa Devaney (Dublin) -7, 3, 8, 5

Under21 Menn Final Colin Byrne bt D McNeill 6, 9, 8

Teams selected for Home Countries Championships, which will take place in the Isle of Man from 21st-23rd September.
B. Fitzgerald, A. Dennison, A. Monks, L. Mountjoy, B. Lane NPC- C. Higgins

Womens British LeagueTeam Selection taking place in Hereford from 22nd-23rd September. A. Glover, M. McGreevy, T. Bollard, NPC- A. Brett

Home Countries Junior & Cadet Table Tennis Championships
Cheshire, England
31st August - 2nd September

The Irish players had mixed fortunes at the excellent facilities in Cheshire, England. Unfortunately many of the individual results were not produced consistently enough within the team event. All the Irish teams finished 4th ahead of the Isle of Man, in the various age categories. The individual event on the Sunday saw quarterfinal finishes for Peter Graham in the Cadet Boys who was beaten by the eventual winner Tim Yarnell from England and John Murphy and Colin Byrne in the U17 boys' events. Linda O'Sullivan had a competent performance reaching the final of the U17 Girls Consolation and partnered by Sabrina Conway they reached the final of the Junior Doubles event. Another good doubles performance saw Lee Barry and Peter Graham make the Cadet Final. Many players were playing the 11 point game for the first time at international competition and Irish Cadet Captain John O'Donoghue commented on the pace becoming "fast and furious and the players will have to be quicker out the blocks from now on." Most of the players will be back in action at the 2000-2001 Junior Interprovincial Championships being held in Dublin on the 15th September.

Home Countries Junior & Cadet Table Tennis Championships
Cheshire, England
31st August - 2nd September

Team Selections
U17 Boys - S.Brady, C.Byrne, J.Murphy. NPC R. Butler
U17 Girls - S.Conway, L.O'Sullivan. NPC A. Brett
U14 Boys - L.Barry, P.Graham, S.Keenan. NPC J. O'Donoghue
U14 Girls - F.Mernagh, A.Tobin. NPC L.Long

Ireland has had mixed fortunes at this event in resent years. This championship was originally postponed due to the FMD crisis when all major table tennis events were cancelled. Even though the event has had to be postponed from last season only players eligible for this seasons U14 & U17 age groups can play. The last championship saw an All-Ireland final when Conor Nolan took a surprising win against Johnny McCarthy in the U14 boys individual event. Ireland again travel with a strong and confident U14 boys team after their successful 28th placing at the European Youth Championships. Linda O'Sullivan Irish No.1 U17 will be trying to go one better than her sister Jean's second place finish. Ireland will be trying to put their strong individual performances together in the team event and cancel out the poor previous team result. This will be a very young team with many having at least one more year at this age category and could be a good indicator of things to come.

The Irish Senior Classification Table Tennis Tournament
The Irish Senior Classification Tournament at the IWA, Clontarf, Dublin heralds the new series of events which awards point towards the final Irish placings. This year there was an added dimension as the players played the new international format, where they play the best of 5 sets up to 11 points each. This means that players now change service every two serves, Irish Senior Captain Con Higgins said after the event that the matches were actually shorter and the player’s new approach to their service had made a psychological impact. The Men’s event saw defending champion Brian Fitzgerald (Munster) move into the final after beating Alan Monks (Leinster). At the other end of the draw Andrew Dennison (Ulster) defeat Damien Lynch (Leinster) in the semi final. The final itself was a close affair with Andrew Dennison taking a surprising 2 sets to 1 lead. Dennison was unable to take the third crucial set and Fitzgerald took the final 3-2.

In the Women’s defending champion Linda Mountjoy finished top of the league in an 8-player round robin. The final woman’s ranking finished.

1. Linda Mountjoy (M)
2. Brioni Lane (L)
3. Tarra Bollard (L)
4. Rhonda Fox (L)
5. Teresa Delvaney (L)
6. Linda O’Sullivan (M)
7. Louise Long (M)
8. Sabrina Conway (L)