Dumfries Pre – Season Friendly

Chris Main, James Kennedy, Andy Macpherson, Chris Barclay & Martin Johnson travelled to Dumfries Table Tennis Club to compete in a pre season friendly match with players from Dumfries, Carlisle & Penicuik TTC. First 2 hours consisted of a open training session that club coach Dylan De Silva delivered with players from different clubs all mixing in and training with each other.

The 2nd part of the day was an assessment styled tournament with 4 groups of 5. North Ayrshire players, JK, AM, MJ & CB ended up finishing 2nd in their opening groups with all the boys finishing in the top 10. Chris Main finished runners up ahead of Dylan De Silva & behind Callum Main. Thanks to Dumfries TTC for the invite and hope to hold a return fixture in early 2015.

Bronze Medal for Martin in Germany

Scottish No1 under 13 player, Martin Johnson was part of Team Scotland who travelled to Dusseldorf to compete in Andro Junior Open. The Andro Junior Open is one of the biggest and most popular tournaments in Europe with over 1000 competitors from all over Europe. Martin who teamed up with Dylan Curry (Aberdeen) in the under 13 boys team event succeeded expectations from the start. The boys worked their way to the semi finals beating 6 pairings, where they lost 3-1 to the eventual winners. Dylan & Martin are pictured receiving their bronze medal with Scottish coach Li Chao, which is Martin’s first oversea’s medal.

Commonwealth Games Equipment

As part of the Commonwealth Games Legacy Programme, SportScotland invited clubs and associations to apply for the equipment that was used for the Games. NATTC applied and successfully secured 2 tables, 50 barries, 2 nets, scoreboard and umpire table. This equipment which is stored at St Matthews Academy,  will be used when we hold National Senior League, North Ayrshire Open and other regional competitions we hold during the season.

K:A Leisure Community Games

Another successful day at K:A Leisure Community Games which was at St Matthews Academy on September 5th. Over 100 people trying out table tennis which always is the most popular of all the sports on offer. Thanks to Ross Macpherson, Ryan Henry, Joshua Griffiths, Richard Main, Ian Macpherson, Andy Macpherson & Chris Barclay for helping out and knocking with the participants. Thanks to K:A Leisure for the invite and we hope to be back at this event next year.

UK School Games for Jill Taylor

Good luck to Jill Taylor who will be representing Scotland at the UK School Games which will be held in Manchester on September 4 – 7th.  Jill will be joined by Lucy Elliott, Rachel Crawford and Rebecca Plaistow who will all make up the Junior Girls Team. Jill will be competing in the team event and singles event and is one of the biggest multi sports events held annually in the UK. Full results and pictures available to view – http://www.2014schoolgames.com

Queens Baton Relay

Our very own Christopher Main was delighted to be nominated as a Batonbearer as it worked it way through North Ayrshire on July 16th. Chris, who ran with the baton outside the Apollo cinema  in Saltcoats was handed it from Gary Davidson who has represented Scotland at the Paralympic Games at table tennis. Chris said ‘I was great fun to be a Baton Bearer today and to be involved in the Queens Baton’s Relay. Their was a fantastic turnout from my friends, family & members of the table tennis club and had a lovely dinner at St Matthews Academy for the Evening Celebrations.’

NATTC were involved in promoting table tennis during the Queens Batons Festival which was held at Ardrossan beach. We had 3 tables where over the space of our 3 hour slot, over 150 people tried out table tennis and was one of the busiest sports all day. Thanks to Andy Macpherson & Ross Macpherson on helping out and running the table tennis  tent that day.

Ibiza Open 2014

Chris & Richard Main alongside coach Ryan Mitchell headed over to Ibiza to attend a 2 day training camp & compete in the Ibiza International Open. The 3 day competition which is held at Santa Eulalia Multi Sports Complex attracts top players from the major European countries and with Filip Symanski (Pol) & Niagol Stoyanov (Ita) topping the bill, it was always going to be a tough few days of competition.

On the Friday night, the doubles events opened the competition. Richard & Chris worked their way through the opening group stages and overcame 2 local pairings in the QF & SF to set up a final with 2 Spanish Pro B players. Chris & Richard had to win the hard way, coming from 2 sets to nil down to win 3-2 in an entertaining final.

The Saturday & Sunday consisted of the singles events with the Saturday holding the banded events and Sunday the main event. In the Band 1, Richard Main dispatched of his 4 players in the opening group & worked his way to the semi finals. Richard then met Chris Main’s conquerer, a 66 year old Swedish defensive player who is no1 Swedish over 60’s player. Richard overcame Jonas 3-1 and in the final, he beat Rafa Ramirez 13-11 in the fifth set to win the Band 1. Richard who has played in the Band 1 3 years in a row now, has never lost a match and won it 3 consecutive years. Well done Ricardo !!

On the Sunday, both Chris & Richard lost in the quarter finals 3-2. Chris lost in a very close match against top ranked Polish player Filip Symanski. Richard lost to Spanish Pro A player Guillermo Martínez 3-1. If your looking for a fun, enjoyable and competitive tournament with a couple of days sunshine, this is perfect for you. Entry forms and dates of Ibiza Open 2015 are available from the link below.

Pictures and full results can be viewed here – http://www.ttibizaopen.com/fotos

Murrayfield Open

11 of our players competed in this years Murrayfield Junior Open which was held at Royal High School, Edinburgh. Several of our younger players played in their first national event and gained valuable experience. Notable performances can be seen below.

Andy Macpherson – Runners up in Junior Boys with wins over Callum Morrison (Scottish no4)
Nathan Devlin – Quarter Finalist in Junior Boys, losing out to Andy Macpherson
Martin Johnson – Quarter Finalist in Cadet Boys, Semi Finalist in Minor Boys
Jamie Johnson – Winner of u11’s Plate
Robin Wilson – Winner of u18’s Plate
Derrin Lynch – Fantastic win over u13 Scottish no 2 Zaid Khalid

A great new addition to the Table Tennis Scotland calendar in which we hope to see it next year again. For pictures of the event click on this link – http://goo.gl/ueRNH2

3 Years in a Row

The team of Chris Main, Richard Main, Colin Dalgleish & Andy Macpherson successfully retained their National League title for the third successive year at Drumchapel Sports Centre on April 19th. It was always going to be an eventful last day of the league due to the absence of Colin Dalgliesh, as he was on International duty in Luxembourg, which meant Andy Macpherson stepped up from his usual Division 2 team to take Colin’s space. From the start to the finish, the team played and fought hard and with a 4-2 win over Drumchapel B, 5-1 win over Grange TTC and 4-2 win over Drumchapel A. Fantastic achievement for the club in our short 10 year history.

Bronze Medal at British Primary School Championships

The team of Zaid Khalid, Martin Johnson, Danny Bajwa & Dylan Curry won a bronze medal in the team event at the British Primary School Championships 2014. Jersey were the hosts this year and was held on April 4th, 5th and 6th. The boys overcame a strong challenge from Wales who they beat 7-3, they also beat Guernsey 10-0, Jersey B 10-0, Isle of Man 10-0, drew with Ireland 5-5 and lost to a strong England team 7-3.

Martin put in a good solid performance in the singles event, he lost in the last 16 of the singles to the no3 seed Freddie Brown (Eng) in a closely fought 3-2 match. Martin will be training hard and looking forward to travelling to Dusseldorf, Germany for the Andro Open later in August. Pictures of British Primary School Champs can be viewed here http://goo.gl/B2uUMe