Author Archives: Chris Main

Wins at WoS Open

An enjoyable and successful weekend at Scotstoun Leisure Centre for this year’s West of Scotland Open where there were major upsets in the vast majority of the events.

Saturday

Andy Macpherson, Martin Johnson & Kayser Collins competed in the Men’s event on the Saturday which seen good results from all three players . Kayser qualified from his Men’s Band 2 group with wins over Kenny Lee and Paula Callaghan eventually losing 11-8 in the next round.

Andy Macpherson worked his way through to the QF of the Band 1 eventually losing to John Hannah in a close match 3-2. Andy scored a fantastic 3-0 win over Calum Morrison, showing his recent hard work is paying off.

Martin Johnson played some of his best table tennis to date on his way to winning the Band 1 event. With wins over Tam Lawler & Andy McFadyen in the group, he picked up great back to back wins v Calum Morrison (Scottish no2 Junior) 3-2 in the QF and a 3-1 win v Zaid Khalid in the SF. In the final, Martin overcame Edinburghs John Hannah 11-9 in the fifth set to pick up the winners trophy in a strong Band 1 event.

Sunday

Holly McNamara battled brilliantly to win the u13 Girls event with wins over Dumfries’s Shannon Brown, Drumchapels Amelia Smolarek and a win over her team mate Jess Hogg. Jess scored a 12-10 in the deciding game win against higher ranked Shannon Brown (Dumfries) .

North Ayrshire had four of its up and coming players competing in the u13 boys. Top seed Jamie Johnson worked his way to final, Patric Hollywood and Chad Duncan finished in runners up position in their opening group where they meet each other in the first quarter final. Chad started well going up 2-1, however, Patric pegged it back to 2-2 and then went on to win the fifth set 11-7. Nathan Hogg who is currently improving fast, took his team mate Patric Hollywood very close in the group stage, with Patric just edging the win 15-13 in the fourth. Jamie Johnson got the better of Patric in the SF to set up a final against Aberdeens Josef Bokedal. Josef proved too strong for Jamie, who went on to win 3-0.

Martin Johnson justified his top seeding of the U15 Boys, winning the event without dropping a set. Defeating James Forrest in QF, Harvey McDonald in SF & Dumfries’s Danny Bajwa in the final. First year u15 player Jacques Clapham showed great promise in his group stage, losing out in three close matches.

In the Junior Boys Kayser Collins won an hard fought match v Edinburghs Luke Hennesey, 12-10 in the fifth set to qualify into the knockout stages. Robin & Owen Wilson both finished 3rd in their group, Robin picking up a win v South Ayrshires Chris Mexon. Martin Johnson reached the semi finals in the Junior Boys and scored another great win over Calum Morrison 3-2 to win his opening group. Martin then went on the beat James Forrest 3-0 in the QF, and then lost to Drumchapels Yaser Razouk in the SF.

Big well done to all players and looking forward to next weekend’s Edinburgh Open at Bathgate. Entries close tomorrow.

 

Fundraiser – Golf Day

North Ayrshire Table Tennis Club will be hosting their  fundraising Golf Day in aid of their club’s junior development programme. The venue will be the beautiful parkland course –  Largs Golf Club (Kelburn) on Friday 21st April 2017.

Guests will arrive around noon for registration and can take part in the putting competition before heading out for the 1.30pm shotgun start. There will be a 2 course dinner at the end of the day for all to enjoy. Format will be 4 man team event Stableford with 2 best net scores counting.

Max Handicap = 24. Prizes for top 6 teams, longest drive and nearest the pin. Cost is £200 per team (£50 pp) which includes a 2 course meal, green fees, prizes and after dinner speaker.

For more details about the Golf Day please see below attachments and application form. 

NATTC Golf Day Flyer

NATTC Golf Day

Golf Day Entry Form (5) : Entry form for anyone wishing to be a part of our Golf Day.

WoS Schools Qualifier

16 players from North Ayrshire TTC competed at this year’s West of Scotland Schools Qualifier which was held at Drumchapel High School on Saturday 21st January. All players performed well with a number of players moving up to an older age group.

The U16 Boys event was played as a round robin with 7 players in the group. Adam Nicol and Martin Krus who are arguably the two most improved players in NATTC over the past couple of months showed that with their results. Adam Nicol won 2 matches out of 6 in his first competition in that age group and Martin Krus finished in 4th position qualifying for Scottish Schools Final.  Kayser Collins, Robin WIlson and Owen Wilson were unfortunate not to qualify through their opening groups in the U18 category where Ryan Henry worked his way to the SF stage eventually beating Chris Mexon to finish in a credible 3rd place.

12 year old Jamie Johnson (Glencairn PS) worked his way to the semi finals of the u14 boys where he finished 4th after losing out to Michael Zhang (EKTTC) 3-1 in the final play off position. U12 Mixed event was won by Patric Hollywood, where he overcame his team mates Holly McNamara 3-1 in the SF and Chad Duncan 3-1 in the final.

Big congrats on the following who all reached the latter stages and will qualify for Scottish Schools Final.

U18 Boys : Ryan Henry ( St Matthews ) SF
U16 Boys : Martin Krus ( Kilwinning ) 4th Place
U14 Boys : Martin Johnson ( Auchenharvie ) Awarded a by into finals
U14 Girls : Naomi Provan ( Arran High ) Awarded a by into finals
U12 Mixed : Patric Hollywood ( St Matthews ) Winner
U12 Mixed : Chad Duncan ( St Matthews ) Finalist
U12 Mixed : Holly McNamara ( Ardrossan ) SF

NEW TT Club in West Kilbride

North Ayrshire Table Tennis Club are starting a new TT club in West Kilbride and are looking for support from the local community to make it a success.

Find attached Flyer promoting the launch of the club with an OPEN NIGHT this Friday 27th January  where everyone is welcome to come along and try some table tennis, regardless of age and ability.

OPEN NIGHT is at West Kilbride Community Centre 7-9pm and will be 4 tables to play on. Bats and balls with be provided. Any questions please contact info@northayrshirettc.co.uk

4-4 Draw in British Premier League

North Ayrshire Table Tennis Club staged the British League on Saturday 14th January against BATTS London – who sit in an impressive 3rd position in the league – was, for us, the best match of the season so far. We ran a friendly match for some of our junior players against a Glasgow before the match which meant they could witness top class table tennis afterwards – and the match did not disappoint.

This was the largest turnout of spectators we’ve had so far this season with some of our junior players staying to watch after their friendly match in the early afternoon. NATTC’s team of Sean Doherty, Richard Main, Craig Hardie and Christopher Main were up against 4 top players from England. From the first game both teams looked up for it and the intensity was high right from the off. Sean and Craig picked up a good wins over Jack Bennett, both winning 3-2 and Chris Main scored a 3-0 win against Stephen Beerling. Adam Nutland (BATTS no.1 player) proved too strong for Sean and Richard. Peter Cleminson beat Craig 11-9 in the 5th set which could have easily gone either way, and Richard beat Stephen Beerling 3-1.
This meant, going into the last game, NATTC were 4-3 up and Chris Main was playing Peter Cleminson for the win! The match went right to the wire with Peter eventually winning 12-10 in the 5th set in the match of the day to secure the draw 4-4 for BATTS. This put a slight down on the draw however we still feel this was a very good point for us to pick up.  All of our players picked up a very good win each, playing some incredible rallies in the process against a very strong BATTS team. NATTC would like to thank all the spectators who came and showed their support, as well as the volunteers who helped stage the event.
NATTC are now sitting in a credible 5th position in the league, with the next match at home to Cardiff on Saturday February 11th with more information regarding this match to follow.

Classes : Jan – April 2017

North Ayrshire TTC run classes and sessions for all age groups and abilities 5 days per week in numerous venues across Ardrossan, Saltcoats & Stevenston. No need to book in advance, just turn up and play away. If you require any more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

We also run additional training sessions, table tennis festivals, competitions & summer camp which is detailed in our calendar. All classes are under the guidance of qualified coaches and we always welcome new players regardless of age and ability.

NEW : New clubs will be starting in February 201 at West Kilbride Community Centre on a Friday, and at Irvine ( The Portal ) on Wednesday nights. More details to follow.

https://northayrshirettc.co.uk/weekly-classes/

Competitions : Jan – Apr

List of competitions from January to April 2017. Entry forms for competitions can be found below.

January

7 / 8th : UKCC Level 2 Course – St Matts
14th : British Premier League v Batts – St Matts *
21st : WoS Schools – Drumchapel *
22nd : Edinburgh Banded – Bathgate *
28 / 29th : WoS Open – Scotstoun *

February

4 / 5th : Edinburgh Open – Bathgate *
11th : British Premier v Cardiff – St Matts
12th : WoS Junior League – Drumchapel *
18th : Scottish Schools Finals – Bathgate *
19th : Dumfries Youth Open – Dumfries TTC *
25th : British Premier League v Fusion – London
26th : UKCC Level 2 Course – Dumfries

March

4 / 5th : Scottish Nationals – Perth *
11th : British Premier v Halton – Halton
18 / 19th : British League Div 3 – Halton
25 / 26th : Inter League Championships – Perth *
25th : British Premier League v Ormesby – Ormesby

April

1st : Scottish National League – St Matts *
2nd : Edinburgh Banded – Bathgate *
15th : British Premier v Drum – St Matthews – TBC
21st : Golf Fundraising Day – Kelburn
29th : British Premier v BATTS – London

www.tabletennisscotland.co.uk
www.edinburghtabletennis.com

 

British Premier : Draw v Fusion

North Ayrshire TTC 4 – 4 Fusion TTC

Round 5 of the British Premier League seen North Ayrshire take on London team Fusion TTC at St Matthews Academy. North Ayrshire team of Sean Doherty, Richard Main, Craig Hardie & Colin Dalgleish were up against Fusion’s Lorestas Trumpauskas, Niall Cameron, Emran Hussian & James Smith.
North Ayrshire started brilliantly with Sean Doherty & Richard Main putting the home side 2-0 up, Sean beating fellow Scotsman Niall Cameron 3-0 and Richard scoring a fine 3-2 win over English no14 Trumpuaskas.
Fusion started to battle back, winning 3 matches in a row, James Smith overcoming Craig 3-1, Emran Hussian beating Colin 3-0 and Trumpauskas playing great table tennis to get the better of North Ayrshire’s no1 Sean Doherty 3-1.
With North Ayrshire 3-2 down, the spectators were treated to a right thriller of a match when Craig Hardie took on Niall Cameron. Craig took the first two sets 11-9, 11-9 to lead 2-0, then when Craig had 4 match points at 2-0 10-6 up, seen the rally of the day.  Both players were back from the table playing forehands from all area’s of the court with Niall managed to win the rally on the 20th shot which then seen a huge change of momentum. Niall went onto save 4 match points to win the 3rd set 13-11 and  the 4th 11-9. The 5th set was tight affair until Craig took the lead and won 11-8, and the match 3-2.
North Ayrshire 3 – 3 Fusion with two matches to go. Richard was next up and on against Emran Hussian. Emran managed to turn the match in his favour from 1-0 8-3 down, winning the 2nd set 11-9 and the match 3-2.
Final match of the day was Colin Dalgleish v James Smith, with Colin needing a win for North Ayrshire to pick up a point. Colin started the match positively winning the first 11-5, saving 2 set points in the 2nd set on his way to winning 16-14 and then securing the match with a 11-8 win in the third set. Making relatively easy work against a top ranked English junior.
A successful day for North Ayrshire with good attendance in spectators numbers and a junior coaching session before the match. The final result ending in a draw for both teams was fair with North Ayrshire & Fusion happy with their performances. Another point results in North Ayrshire sitting 5th in the British Premier League table.
The full match is available to watch back on North Ayrshire’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/northayrshiretabletennis. 

Christmas Open Night

The Monday before Christmas is always our popular Christmas Open Night which seen over 80 people turn up this year to play in one of our competitions we held. Friends and family of our club members attended and competed in either our hardbat, open doubles, handicap or parents competition with all results available below ;

Hardbat
Winner : Robin Wilson
R – Up : Phil Greenham
Parents
Winner : Suzanne Walker
R – Up : Diane Hogg
Doubles
Winner : Andre Sonnet & Harvey McDonald

Thanks to everyone who attended and to everyone who brought along cakes, sandwiches and drinks for our buffet. More pictures available on our Facebook page.

 

British League : Top of Division

North Ayrshire’s British League Division 3 team had a great weekend at Halton TTC to finished round 10 top of the division. The team of Andy Macpherson, Chris Barclay, Ethan Chapman , Martin Johnson & Chris Main had a important top of the table clash v Guernsey which lived up to expectation. Resulting in a great 6-4 win for North Ayrshire with three matches going the distance. Afternoon match was a 10-0 win v Guernsey III.

Next weekend of matches will be on March 11th / 12th again at Halton TTC, where 3 wins and 1 draw will be enough to clinch the league title and gain promotion to Division 2. Player averages, results and league table here – www.tabletennis365.com/sbl