Table Tennis in May

Monday
3 – 4pm : After School Class
7 – 9pm : Open Club Night

Tuesday
4 – 6.45pm : 1 to 1 sessions
6.45 – 8pm : Intermediate Session
8 – 9pm : 1 to 1 sessions

Wednesday
1 – 1.30pm : Ardrossan Academy LT Club
3.45 – 4.30pm : Ardrossan Academy AS Club

Thursday
3 – 7pm : 1 to 1 sessions
7 – 9pm : Advanced Sessions

Friday
12.30 – 1.15pm : Irvine Royal LT Club
12.30 – 1.15pm : St Matts LT Club
7 – 9pm : West Kilbride TT Club

All above classes running from 1st May, if anyone would like to know more info about a class, book or cancel 1 to 1 sessions let a club coach know, message us on our FB Page or email info@northayrshirettc.co.uk.

No Wednesday sessions running through May, as no league matches. KA Leisure always available to book a TT table from 6pm – 10pm every night of the week.

West Kilbride TT Club runs every Friday, Seniors 7-8pm and Juniors 8-9pm.

British Premier v Drumchapel

North Ayrshire TTC hosted newly crowned League Champions Drumchapel Glasgow in Saltcoats on Saturday 15th April. The atmosphere was electric for this local derby as it was NATTCs last home match of the season and there was a lot of travelling support from Glasgow.

NATTCs team consisted of Richard Main, Craig Hardie, Chris Main and Andy MacPherson. Drumchapel had yet to lose a match in the British League as they boast world class players such as Liu Song, He Zhi Wen , Huang Yen Che and Chris Wheeler. Richard battled gamely against past Olympians Liu Song and He Zhi Wen, but ultimately losing 3-1 to both in closely fought matches.

Chris also battled hard losing close 4 set matches to Huang and Liu. Craig battled well agaisnt Chris Wheeler, but just falling short at key points to lose 3-1. Andy held his own in his matches in his only 3rd match of the premier league, however the Chinese contingent was too strong for the Ayrshire locals.

NATTC travel to London on Sunday 30th April to play BATTS which is the final match of the league and is of significant important to NATTC, as a draw would almost guarantee them finishing in an amicable 5th position in the league and will set them in good stead for next season.

Easter Camp Success

Thanks to everyone who attended North Ayrshire TTC’s Easter Camp which was held during the school holidays. Great to see a strong squad of motivated players attending from a variety of clubs across Scotland and training hard for the full week here at St Matthews.

North Ayrshire will be running two weeks of Summer Camps during the school holidays, with full info and times available online from next week ( Monday 1st May), if anyone would like information directly sent, please email info@northayrshirettc.co.uk.

National League Div 2 Winners

REPORT via TTS : The Scottish National League 2016-17 concluded on April 1^st with all four divisions played at St Matthew’s Academy, Saltcoats where Andy Macpherson, Chris Barclay & Martin Johnson finished winners of a tight Division 2 and gained promotion to Division 1.

The conclusion to Division 2 was particularly tight with three teams challenging for the title and promotion. North Ayrshire took the Division 2 title just a year on from winning Division 3. They completed their season with 4-2 victories over North Merchiston and Glasgow South A. Martin Johnson winning all four of his matches to complete an impressive season. North Ayrshire will have two teams in Division 1 next season. Fair City are the other promoted side with Robert Toth their top player. North Merchiston were the unlucky ones to miss out – suffering final day losses to their two main rivals. In part they can blame Gillian Edwards (who plays for North Merchy in the ELTTL!) who inflicted vital wins over Graeme Sutherland and Stewart Armitage.

Drumchapel A claimed the Division 1 title with a win and a draw. Going into the day level with Murrayfield A, their morning clash with the Edinburgh side would be critical.

In truth they were rarely troubled by a Murrayfield A side shorn of their of their strongest player (Kenny Lindsay). Murrayfield probably should have claimed the opening match in which Calum Morrison failed to convert a two-love lead against Calum Main whose forehand was misfiring. Main scrambled back and took a nervy fifth set 11-9. From then on it was one-way traffic with Liu Song far too strong for Calum Morrison and John Hannah. Drumchapel eventually easing to a 6-0 victory. Murrayfield A will still be happy with their runners-up position-the best the club has achieved since the re-formation of the SNL.

In the final Division 1 match, host club North Ayrshire showed their pedigree by drawing with Drumchapel A. Liu Song was again a class above but each member of North Ayrshire’s team (Colin Dalgleish and the Main Brothers) chipped in with a win to secure the draw. Sepehr Bidari’s loss to Richie Main was his only reverse of the season- he ended on a high with a 3-1 win over Chris Main. In turn, Chris finished well-beating Calum Main 3-0 in the final match of the season, ensuring that his side finished in 3^rd place.

Many thanks to all those involved – North Ayrshire TTC for hosting the final day and laying on the buffet.

Bronze Medals at British Primary Championships

British League Division C Champions

Big congratulations to Ethan Chapman, Andy Macpherson, Chris Barclay & Martin Johnson winning British League Division C – 4 in what was a tough 4 weekends of matches through-out the season. The team overcame Halton, Isle of Man, Ormesby V and Ormesby VI in the last weekend to secure the win and promotion to Division 2 next season.

Andy, Chris, Martin & Ethan picked up 27 out of a possible 28 points with player percentages as follows ; Andy – 86, Martin – 90%, Chris B – 60% and Ethan 82% which shows it was a great team effort from start to finish.

https://tabletennis365.com/BritishLeague/Tables/Seniors_2016-17/National_C-4 – View Final League Table.

New Qualified Coaches

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