Author Archives: Chris Main

Andre Sonnet visits Borussia Dusseldorf

Club coach, player and volunteer Andre Sonnet visited the top table tennis center in Europe, Borussia DΓΌsseldorf for a full weeks coaching course. The course which ran Monday to Friday and lasted 6 hours a day touched on all aspects of coaching where Andre is picking up plenty of new training and coaching ideas to bring back to some of our club sessions.

Andre currently coaches at Argyll Centre session every Thursday 11am-1pm and helps out at our Junior session which runs every Monday 6-7.15pm.

Pictured below from left to right – Andre at Borrussia Dusseldorf TT Centre. Andre coaching u15 girls Scottish team in January at the Scotland v Ireland friendly match.

Scottish National League Champions

C H A M P 1 0 N S – Celebrating 10 SNL Division 1 titles

Congratulations to the North Ayrshire team of Hugo Torngren, Martin Johnson, Jamie Johnson & Chris Main on beating Stirling and Murrayfield today to clinch their 10 Scottish National League title.

North Ayrshire team finished the SNL season with 7 wins from 7 on 14 points, 2 points ahead of second place team JK Carnbo and 4 points ahead of third place Murrayfield A.

North Ayrshire B team of Nathan Hogg, Ryan Henry and David Hay finished on 8 points in fourth place.

West Kilbride TT – Aria Fund

Aria – Ayrshire Rural & Island Fund

West Kilbride TT Club continue to grow as our classes increase from 1 a week to 3 a week and we welcome funding from Aria Fund to purchase a range of new equipment including 8 brand new tables.

Funding from the Ayrshire Rural & Island Fund allowed us to purchase brand new tables, barriers, nets, balls and bats which look great and give our players and members new and the best equipment to play on. The new equipment will mean West Kilbride TT Club have great equipment now and for the future where we are increasing participation, growing the membership and the number of classes.

See below of our classes and information on our club

  • West Kilbride TT Club on every Friday 7-9pm – Open to all
  • Bat and Chat Adult Only session every Thursday 1-3pm
  • Wednesday Night Drop In 7-9pm
  • West Kilbride Team in West of Scotland Junior League this season for first time
  • West Kilbride team will be entered into the newly formed Ayrshire TT League
  • New qualified coaches in club, passing their L1 course, First Aid & Child Protection
  • People of all ages and abilities playing
  • Leaving a legacy for West Kilbride with equipment the public can use for many years to come

Our club committee would like to thank the Aria Fund for their support.

North Ayrshire Open 2024 Results

Results from both days of our flagship annual event, North Ayrshire Open 2024. Pictures, videos and interviews are available on our Facebook page – Facebook

Mens Singles
πŸ₯‡ Colin Dalgleish
πŸ₯ˆ Martin Johnson
SF – Danny Bajwa, Chris Main

Women’s Singles
πŸ₯‡ Emily Flynn
πŸ₯ˆGrace Looney
SF – Joy Daniels, Shannon Brown

Open Doubles
πŸ₯‡ Dalgleish / Yuan
πŸ₯ˆ Johnson / Bajwa

Band 1
πŸ₯‡ Keiran Walker
πŸ₯ˆ Joe Sheard

Band 2
πŸ₯‡ Jackson Macfarlane
πŸ₯ˆ Junior Close

Band 3
πŸ₯‡ Euan Hanna
πŸ₯ˆ Conor Smith

Band 4
πŸ₯‡ Lilly Smith
πŸ₯ˆ Callum Quinn

Over 55s
πŸ₯‡ Derek Lundie
πŸ₯ˆ Brian Irvine

U19 Boys
πŸ₯‡Gavin Yuan
πŸ₯ˆ Joe Mulhern

U19 Girls
πŸ₯‡ Grace Looney
πŸ₯ˆ Amelia Smolarek

Open Junior Doubles
πŸ₯‡ Tibbetts / Blackhall
πŸ₯ˆ Walker / Schogger

U15 Boys
πŸ₯‡ Joe Mulhern
πŸ₯ˆ Rory Thomson

U15 Girls
πŸ₯‡ Nichole Lee
πŸ₯ˆ Eimear Hutchinson

U13 Boys
πŸ₯‡ Bohao Chen
πŸ₯ˆ Karsten Close

U13 Girls
πŸ₯‡ Alexandra Hart
πŸ₯ˆ Eimear Hutchinson

Banded Doubles
πŸ₯‡ Pentleton / Fediai
πŸ₯ˆ Murray / Murray

Banded Singles
πŸ₯‡ Issac Ishmael
πŸ₯ˆ Joe Murray

West of Scotland Junior League Round Up

West of Scotland Junior League kicked off last month with our club entering 4 teams in the league. This season the WoS JL is held at our club with teams travelling from all over the region to compete in the 2 divisions of 8 teams. We have 14 players signed up for the league with a number of them playing their first competitive matches which the players are all enjoying.

Team of Padma, Tama and Ben are sitting top of Division 1 so far with two rounds of matches left.

A team – Padma Unnam, Tama Martin, Ben Lee
B team – Adam McNab, Lucy Pentleton, Ryan Wilson & Mason Wilson
C team – Dmytro Fediai, Alfie Booth, Kenzie McCormack & Fransisco Mendez
West Kilbride team – Alfie Mills, Ben Ascough, Campbell Gray

Link to all results, player averages and future fixtures – Results Archive – Leagues Index for West of Scotland Table Tennis League (tabletennis365.com)

Next fixtures of WoS Junior League will be on April 28th at St Matthews Academy.

North Ayrshire Open – Draw

North Ayrshire Open 2024 draw is available to view on the link below. We would like to thank all entrants, clubs and leagues for their support of our event and we are sure there will be some fantastic matches over the weekend.

Over 160 players are competing on Saturday and Sunday and we will have 18 match tables in total with 15 tables in main hall and 3 tables in the small gym hall. The hall will be opened from 8.20am with play starting at 9am. A general let will be called at 8.55am to announce the first groups so please sign in at the top table once you arrive to let us know you arrived.

Any questions, queries or last minute call offs please contact Billy@nattc.co.uk or Jordan@nattc.co.uk

Estimated playing times are below, please arrived at least half hour before your first event of the day.

Saturday
9am – Men’s Singles & Women’s Singles
11.30am – Open Doubles
1pm – Band 2, Band 3 and Band 4
3.30pm – Band 1 & Over 55s

Sunday
9am – Open Junior Doubles
9.30am – U19 Girls, U13 Girls, U13 Boys
10am – U19 Boys
1pm – U15 Boys, U15 Girls, Banded Singles

Venue
St Matthews Academy, Saltcoats, KA21 5NT

North Ayrshire Open – Start Times & Info

We are looking forward to this weekend’s North Ayrshire Open. A bumper entry for both days of competition with a Scotland v Ulster Friendly International on the Friday evening too. Club volunteers and the organising committee are working hard this week getting everything ready for the event which will no doubt be a great weekend of table tennis.

Start times of the events below and the draw will be out tomorrow evening, Wednesday 24th January.

Saturday
9am – Men’s Singles & Women’s Singles
11.30am – Open Doubles
1pm – Band 2, Band 3 and Band 4
3.30pm – Band 1 & Over 55s

Sunday
9am – Open Junior Doubles
9.30am – U19 Girls, U13 Girls, U13 Boys
10am – U19 Boys
1pm – U15 Boys, U15 Girls, Banded Singles

-Hall will be opened from 8.25am both days and we will be doing a canteen with drinks and snacks
-All start times above are estimated and could be slightly earlier or later
-Butterfly r40 balls will be used in all events
-Live stream of the latter stages of Men’s & Women’s event will be livestreamed on Ayrshire Film Co Youtube Channel
-Draw will be online the evening of Wednesday 24th January
-Friendly International match between Scotland and Ireland on the Friday evening will start at 6pm, full info on TTS —Website – Scotland v Ulster – Table Tennis Scotland
-All info and enquiries regarding NA Open – Billy@nattc.co.uk or Jordan@nattc.co.uk

Clubs Finishing up for Christmas break

We have the last week or two of clubs and sessions running, see times below of when the clubs finish for Christmas break and start again in the new year.

North Ayrshire at St Matthew’s
Last session is next Monday 18th 7-9pm and restarts on 8th January.

Largs TT Club
Last session is this Wednesday 13th 7-9pm and restarts on 10th January.

Argyll Bat & Chat
Last session was last Thursday 7th 11am-1pm and restarts on 18th January.

Performance session
Last session is this Thursday 7-9pm and will restart back on 18th January.

Over 50s at St Peter’s
Last session is this Friday 15th 1-3pm and restarts on 12th January.

West Kilbride TT Club
Last session is this Friday 15th 7-9pm and restarts on 5th January.

North Ayrshire Open – 2024 Entry Form

Entries are now OPEN for the North Ayrshire Open 2024 which will take place on Saturday 27th & 28th January at St Matthews Academy, Saltcoats. Senior events on the Saturday and Junior events on the Sunday. As always we welcome players of all standards and ages to enter and hope to get a great entry again with players from all over Scotland and the UK entering.

Entry form is available here β€“ https://forms.gle/2XgsjYiuD8X1rsXr6

Sat: Mens & Womens Singles, Open Doubles, Over 55’s & Banded Events

Sun: U19 Boys, U19 Girls, U15 Boys, U15 Girls, U13 Boys, U13 Girls, U15 Beginners and Open Doubles.

Deadline: Monday 15th January

Prize Money: Over Β£900 worth of prize money and Teessport Vouchers

Each player is permitted to enter 2 singles events and doubles per day. All relevant info is on the entry form and for further info please contact Billy Main or Jordan McGinlay on billy@nattc.co.uk or jordan@nattc.co.uk

Hotels: If anyone is travelling and need a hotel for either the Friday or Saturday night, below are a list of hotel recommendations close by;

Red Squirrell Lodge by Martsons Inn – Stevenston – 5 mins drive from hall
Edenmore B&B – Ardrossan – 5 mins drive from hall
Riverside Lodge Hotel – Irvine -15 mins drive from hall
Premier Inn – Kilmarnock – 20 mins drive from hall

North Ayrshire TT Centre – Funding Announcment

We are delighted to announce that we have been successful in securing funding from the first round of The UK Prosperity Fund.

This funding is to enhance our current club structure and by setting up North Ayrshire Table Tennis Centre at our main base, St Matthew’s Academy, Saltcoats.

This long term plan is now coming to fruition where we will have new top of range equipment at St Matthews for our members and the general public to use. We will also be delivering more table tennis sessions and activities alongside our partners KA Leisure, TT Scotland and Active Schools.

This project is funded by UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, The Department for Levelling Up of Housing & Communities and North Ayrshire Council. We would like to send our thanks to all the above who main aim is the improve pride, place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities by supporting local clubs, businesses, people and skills.

Our club has been awarded Β£10200 for new club equipment such as tables, barriers, bats and balls to ensure we attract top level players and competitions to the area. On top of our weekly sessions and league matches we have events and additional training opportunities in the calendar for 23-24 season. Our flagship event The North Ayrshire Open is now confirmed for January 27th & 28th 2024.

The Centre and sessions will be run by our development officer, Chris Main and the team of coaches at our club. This is an exciting project for us where we will continue to create more opportunities to play an indoor sport and to keep fit in our local community.

Email : chris@nattc.co.uk
Facebook – northayrshiretabletennis
Twitter – @NorthAyrshireTT
Instagram – @NorthAyrshireTT