New Club Sponsor – FRESHII

Successful National Championships

Senior Events
Andy Macpherson reached the last 16 with wins over Paul Monteth & club mate Ryan Henry, Andy fought hard v Drumchapel’s Yaser Razouk but eventually lost out 3-0. Martin Johnson & Kayser Collins drew in same group alongside Colin Dalgleish & Dumfries’s Keir Morton. Martin got better of club mate Kayser and followed it up with strong win v Keir, 11-9 in deciding set. Martin put up some fight  but went down to Sean Doherty, 17-15 in the fourth in last 16.

Chris Main worked his way to QF with wins over Danny Bajwa and Edinburgh’s Calum Morrison, Chris drew Scottish no2 Craig Howieson, and lost 3-1 in a close and entertaining match. Chris teamed up with Sean Doherty to reach final of Mens Doubles and teamed up with club mate Holly McNamara where they reached QF.

Jill Taylor alongside Alisa Khalid finished runners up in Women’s Doubles with a good win over Aberdeen pairing Isla Scott & Tessau Yau to secure 2nd spot.

Junior Events

Nathan Hogg won two super close matches in his opening group stage v Aberdeen’s Johnathan Pan & South Ayrshire’s Aron McDonald to qualify to QF of U13 Boys, where he lost out to no4 seed Charlie McGowan.

Chad Duncan worked his way to last 16 of U15 Boys Event in an eventful group stage, coming back from 2-1 8-2 down to qualify. Chad lost out to a strong Borui Chen 3-0. Holly McNamara played brilliantly in both U18 Girls & U15 Girls event, Holly won 2/3 matches to progress to the semi finals of U15 Girls event, where she lost to eventual winner & top seed Faye Leggett.

Kayser Collins who has played his first season for NATTC in British League this season, was unfortunate not to qualify through his group stage, losing out to the improving Tony Nelson & top seed and eventual winner Calum Morrison. Ryan Henry qualified through his group in 2nd place, and pushed no2 seed Dylan in both the second and third set. Ryan lost to club mate Martin Johnson in last 16.

Naomi Provan who has shown great improvement throughout the season and has recently been selected to represent Scotland as part as the U18 Girls schools team at British School Championships. Naomi lost out in several close matches and failed to qualify from group stages.

Martin Johnson lived up to his top seed billing, winning the U15 Boys National title without dropping a set. He beat an in-form Y Fang in a fast paced final 3-0. Martin also teamed up with Dumfries’s Danny Bajwa to win the Junior Doubles title, saving several match points v top seeded pairing of Keir Morton & Calum Morrison to win the title.

Report by Charlie Ellis

Full List of Winners of SNC 2018

Full results of all age groups 

Golf Day Fundraiser Results

Another successful Golf Day Fundraiser at Kelburn GC in aid of our junior development programme. Thanks to everyone who entered, donated prizes and participated in our raffle / auction. Big thanks to Billy Main for all his continued hard work in organising this event and hope to see everyone back again for next years edition.

Team Winner : Northern Services, Captain John Clements.
Team R-Up : G Campbell, S Campbell, J McNamara & R Main.
3rd Hole Longest Drive : Tilney Investment, John Blair.
8th Hole Nearest the Pin : Pure Forged Golf, Fergus McAinsh.
14th Hole Nearest the Pin : Paterson Accountants
1st Hole Nearest the Pin : Phil Greenham’s team

Big thanks to Billy & Veronica Main for all his continued hard work in organising this event.

British League Team Secure 2nd Place

A fantastic season for both our british league teams has finished, which seen 10 players / coaches travel to Dudley for the 4 weekends of matches throughout the season. British League is the premier competition for all performing clubs throughout the UK, with each division being competitive and challenging. North Ayrshire players and coaches kept a spirited and positive attitude through-out proving a great experience for all involved.

Division B2 : Andy Macpherson, Martin Johnson, Ethan Chapman & Danny Bajwa.
Coach : Chris Main

Division C2 : Harvey McDonald, Ryan Henry, Jamie Johnson, Kayser Collins & Charlie Morton.
Coach : Jordan McGinlay

Huge congratulations to Martin , Andy , Danny & Ethan on securing 2nd place in Division B2 of British League. An incredibly tough league where the boys just finished 2 points behind eventual winners Milton Keynes. The team finished ahead of a strong TT Daily team, Woodfield team and Sycamore team and hope to do 1 better next season and gain promotion.

Link to the final league table – British League Division B2 Table 

Link to the final league table – British League Division C2 Table 

Fantastic Five Are Called Up

Article from Ardrossan & Salcoats Herald

Five fast emerging players from the three towns club will fly the flag for their country in a national event later this year. A quintet from North Ayrshire Table Tennis Club recently qualified to represent Scotland at the British Senior Schools Championship in London in June.

Playing in the Scottish Schools Finals in Edinburgh last week the following players won their way through after a hard fought mumber of tense matches where the top four qualified from each age group.

U14 Girls – Holly McNamara (Ardrossan Academy), Jess Hogg (Largs Academy)
U14 Boys – Jamie Johnson (Auchenharvie Academy), Chad Duncan (St Matthews)
U16 Boys – Martin Johnson (Auchenharvie Academy)

The Johnson brothers are both top of their age group ranking with Martin no1 in u15 Scottish rankings and Jamie no1 in U13 Scottish rankings. The NATTC players have all came through our junior development programme over the years, and all have represented Scotland in the British Primary School Championships previously.

Special mention to Chad Duncan who defeated the number two seed from Aberdeen to qualify. Chad who was number 9 seed on the day, was tied two sets all and 10-6 in the final set, only to see his lead slip away and suddenly found himself match point down. However, Chad showed great courage to win the next three points and clinch his place in the Scotland team.

TTS Regional Training with Stephen Gertsen

During the February school holidays, National Youth Coach Stephen Gertsen visited our club for two days training as part of Table Tennis Scotland’s Regional Training Initiative.

Stephen delivered two sessions on Tuesday, 11-1pm for intermediates and 1.30 – 4.30 for advanced players which saw a great mix of players from North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire TTC taking part. Stephen commented on the great work rate and potential of all players involved and hopes everyone left the session with some new ideas and tips for their game.

The following day seen 8 of our top junior players involved in 1-1 sessions with Stephen and club coach Chris Main, which was mainly multiball and fitness based. We would like to thank TTS and Stephen for their efforts over these two days and hope everyone who attended found the training beneficial and enjoyable.

From Table Tennis Scotland website :

Table Tennis Scotland have been providing Regional Training Days to regions, leagues and clubs across the country. Over the past few months Stephen Gertsen has been delivering coaching sessions to players and providing coach education opportunities to coaches on the ground. The regional training days have proven very popular with sessions being held in Aberdeen, Dundee, Stirlingshire, Dumfries, North Ayrshire, West Lothian and Edinburgh.        

Table Tennis Scotland would like to thank all our members, coaches, players and parents for all their support. Our clubs, leagues, and regions are doing a great job and your efforts do not go unnoticed.

Thanks

Stephen Gertsen

Main ‘Buzzing’ after ‘Unexpected’ League Title

North Ayrshire A have again won the Scottish National League – now making it 5 titles since the league was reconstituted in 2010. They will again have the opportunity to compete in the ETTU Cup. Richard Main described the victory as ‘absolutely amazing’, especially as they had been unsure of whether they could field a strong side for the final set of fixtures.

The win was, according to Richard Main, somewhat ‘unexpected’ as they had to face a strong Drumchapel A side in their morning match. Prior to the match Chris Main felt that it was ’50-50′ and that the final result remained uncertain even when his team took a 3-0 lead. Drumchapel were bolstered by Victor Guang fresh from his bronze medal in the men’s doubles (with James Hobson) at the English Nationals. Richard Main was delighted with his victory over Guang (8, -12, 7, 9)- one of his best in recent months. Main also recovered from 1-2 down to win versus Sepehr Bidari. The victories helped his side to an excellent 5-1 victory which virtually guaranteed them the title. They completed things with a 6-0 victory over their young B team who themselves have had an excellent season in Division 1. Another key to North Ayrshire A’s victory was Sean Doherty (coming in to cover Colin Dalgleish’s absence) who produced three good victories (he lost narrowly to Guang), although young Ethan Chapman did push him fairly close (Chapman’s bat felt the full force of his post-match frustrations!). Andy Macpherson also put up a good showing versus Richard Main (Main winning 14-12 in the 4th). As Main commented the Division 1 of the 2017-18 season was a ‘strong league’ with ‘greater strength in depth’ and far fewer near ‘walkovers’ than in previous seasons.

Taking the runners up position were Murrayfield A. They began slowly with their no. 1 (Johannes Laute) struggling past Robert Toth and Gillian Edwards (both in 5 sets), While Calum Morrison narrowly avoided a shock loss against Grant Williams-recovering from 4-8 down in the 5th (-10, 3, 3, -8, 11). Morrison and Laute both found form in their afternoon match against Drumchapel A, with the former recording a fine win over Victor Guang (-7, 7, 8, 9). Even more entertaining was Guang’s match against Laute which included some very high quality and entertaining table tennis (one rally included 7 lobs from Guang!)- Guang fighting back from two sets down (-11, -8, 6, 7, 8). The match featured the rally of the day which included numerous smashes, long-distance lobs, drop shots, & a smashed barrier before Guang brought the spectators to their feet with a sensational backhand winner (the next point was a service fault!). In the final match, Yaser Razouk completed a fine personal season with a win over John Hannah to earn Drumchapel A a draw.

The top of division 2 was equally tight: Murrayfield B, Dundee and District & South Ayrshire all in the mix. South Ayrshire took the title courtesy of two commanding 6-0 victories. Murrayfield could only follow up their hard fought 5-1 win versus Dundee & District with a draw against Glasgow South A for whom young Charlie Morton picked up 2 good wins. Central to South Ayrshire’s title win was the form of their two rapidly improving youngsters: Harvey McDonald and Rebecca Plaistow. While disappointed to have lost their match versus Dundee & District, McDonald was delighted with his team’s overall performance and was really looking forward to returning to Division 1. He felt that Plaistow had played well, gaining key wins in their vital victory over Murrayfield B- and that her form had been ‘much better’ in recent weeks. Roy Claxton hopes that Rebecca and Harvey will have a strong third player (possibly a recruit from down south) to accompany them next season-they hope to be ‘more competitive’ than when they last played in Division 1. McDonald’s ‘dream’ is to challenge the top 4 sides in the league but admits that the priority will be avoiding relegation. Claxton is ‘delighted’ that 3 teams from Ayrshire will compete in the top division next season.

In Division 3, Murrayfield C finished their successful season with two ‘solid’ 6-0 victories over Brunswick and an under-strength Grange side. Team captain Keith Dingwall was also grateful to Roy Claxton’s South Ayrshire B side whose 5-1 victory over Edinburgh International was ‘crucial’. Their loss to South Ayrshire B caused Edinburgh International to slip from 3rd place from 1st to 3rd place and thus miss out on promotion.

In Division 4, North Ayrshire C completed their season with two 6-0 victories while Murrayfield D saw their title challenge go up in smoke via a draw against Garnet.

Many thanks to all those who assisted during the season. Particular thanks to North Ayrshire TTC for hosting the final set of fixtures in their customarily professional manner. The SNL committee are particularly grateful to Catherine O’Neill for stepping in to cover top table duties and to Roy Claxton for helping out with the league table calculations.

SNL league winners & runners-up 2017-18:
Division 1: North Ayrshire A. Murrayfield A
Division 2: South Ayrshire A. Murrayfield B.
Division 3: Murrayfield C. South Ayrshire B.
Division 4: North Ayrshire C. Murrayfield D.

http://tabletennisscotland.co.uk/main-buzzing-after-unexpected-snl-victory/

West Kilbride TT Club

West Kilbride Table Tennis Club has been going from strength to strength since it was founded and started just under a year ago in February 2017.  Running weekly every Friday with the help of Billy Main and Phil Greenham, the club is at West Kilbride Community Centre with the sessions for juniors 7-8pm and adults 8-9pm.

West Kilbride TT Club has a wide range of ages and abilities and is open to everyone, it’s a great additional to the community, offering a new indoor sport which is different from the usual sports offered. Our adult sessions are mainly recreational players and is a great opportunity for anyone interested in starting up playing table tennis or coming back into table tennis.

4 tables are available every week to all participants, and tables are available to book out anytime between 4pm and 10pm on weeknights and in afternoon at weekends. Contact KA Leisure on 0844 736 0077 or details of WK CC below.

West Kilbride Community Centre
Corse St, West Kilbride KA23 9AX
01294 822144

NATTC Golf Fundraising Day

North Ayrshire Table Tennis Club are organising their 2^nd annual Golf Day in aid of our junior development programme. Last years event was huge success and a great day enjoyed by all, we hope for the same turnout this year with the format being a team of 4 with the best two scores at each hole counting. Stableford.

Two course meal, after dinner speaker, major prizes and raffle / auction. Closing Date is the Friday 23rd March, application form is available from the link below

Golf Day entry form – golf day entry form 2018

WoS Schools Qualifiers

Fantastic day at Drumchapel High School on Sunday 14th January, where 10 of our junior members qualified to the Scottish Schools Finals in their respective age category. Martin Johnson representing Auchenharvie Academy won the u16 Boys beating Glasgow’s Zaid Khalid in final. Holly McNamara representing Ardrossan Academy won the u14 girls event where fellow club member and Largs Academy pupil Jess Hogg reached the semi finals and also qualfied for the finals.

It was an all North Ayrshire affair in the u14 boys event, where three out of four players qualifying from the West of Scotland region where NATTC players. Jamie Johnson won the event, with Patric Hollywood beaten finalist and Chad Duncan losing out in semi final. Well  done to all players listed below who qualified.

U18 Boys Event 
Semi Finalists
Kayser Collins (Ayrshire College)
Ryan Henry (St Matthews Academy)

U16 Girls Event
Finalist 
Naomi Provan (Arran High School)

U16 Boys Event 
Winner
Martin Johnson (Auchenharvie Academy)
Semi Finalist 
Martin Krus (Kilwinning Academy)

U14 Girls Event
Winner 
Holly McNamara (Ardrossan Academy)
Semi Finalist 
Jess Hogg (Largs Academy)

U14 Boys Event
Winner
Jamie Johnson (Auchenharvie Academy)
Finalist
Patric Hollywood (St Matthews Academy)
Semi Finalist
Chad Duncan (St Matthews Academy)