County Antrim Table Tennis League

Co. Antrim Table Tennis League News

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CATTL AGM Held

20th Jun 2008

The League's 2008 AGM was held in Greenisland War Memorial Sports Club on 2nd June 2008.

Of note: progress was made with the Co. Antrim Open, which turned a small profit in 2008 after making a loss in its first year, 2007.

Committee posts for 2008-9 were filled as follows:

• Chairman: David Nicholl (re-elected)
  
• President: Alvis Wright (re-elected)
  
• Secretary: Mike Maguire (re-elected)
• Assistant Secretary: Steve Clarke (re-elected)
• Treasurer: Mike Maguire (re-elected)
• Press Secretary: Norman McBride
  
• Child Protection Officer: Alvis Wright
• Auditor: Mark Clements (re-elected)

Web Site Problems

17th May 2008

Sorry about the recent down time folks. I'm sure many of you already noticed we were down for the guts of a fortnight there.

There were problems with our old hosts, so the site's now been moved to new servers and hopefully things are back to normal. If you notice any problems please give us a shout and hopefully they can be sorted out sooner rather than later.

Strong (is the) Man at Co. Antrim Open

5th Feb 2008

A big thanks to sponsors Newtownabbey Borough Council for their generous financial assistance which ensured that the Co Antrim Open was again a great success this year. Thanks also to organising personnel Mike Maguire, David Nicholl and Norman McBride and also to Ballyclare High School for the use of their premises.

Strong Dominates Singles

Daryl Strong did not drop a set in the whole competition, storming through the group phase and defeating Austrian Bernard Wagner in the last 16, Mark McAllister in the quarter finals, Wallace Mahaffey in the semis and Philip Wallace (Ballyclare) in the final. His superb performance reflected the superiority of Strong on the day.

There was terrific entertainment elsewhere in the Open Singles also, not least with Peter Clarke coming from two sets down in the last 16 to defeat Martin Pickles 13-11 in the fifth set and then doing exactly the same thing again against the hugely experienced Norman Nabney in the quarter finals, although this time he won the fifth set 11-6.

It was not a good day for the Co Antrim League players, though, with none of them making it into the quarter finals.

Robinson Edges Group 2 Singles

Another strong entry for this competition saw some terrific table tennis and it was the veteran Jimmy Robinson who edged a marvellous five set final against Martin Pickles (Wolverhampton). Robinson had been made to show his best form in his semi-final with Patrick Guy while Pickles had also been made to work hard in his semi-final with former Ballyclare Methodists favourite Gary Crawford before both Pickles and Robinson came through in four-sets.

Some noteworthy performances from regular Co Antrim League stalwarts include Ballyclare Methodists Andrew Davies overcoming Tom Donnelly to reach the last eight where he lost to Pickles and the hugely improved Philip Jamison from Larne who battled through to the quarter finals only to go out to eventual winner, Robinson.

Pickles Takes Group 3 Singles

Martin Pickles (Wolverhampton) may have been a defeated finalist in the Group 2 singles but there was a big consolation when he picked up the Group 3 title, having fought through the group stages and beating Gary Crawford in the last 16. Pickles other scalps on the way to the final were Ian Davies (Ballyclare) in the quarter finals and Philip Jamison (Larne) in the semi-final. Andrew Davies (Ballyclare) made it to an entertaining final with wins over Bernard Wagner, Andy Loane and Mark McAllister in the knock-out rounds.

This was a much more rewarding tournament for the Co Antrim League regulars with Philip Jamison, Ian Davies, John Huyton and Andrew Davies all making it through to the last eight.

Pickles - Victorious Veteran

A smaller but high quality entry for the Veterans saw Jimmy Robinson exert his authority again but he was made to fight all the way through the competition. Losing finalist Norman Nabney had beaten Martin Pickles in the semis while Robinson defeated Peter Clarke.

The final was a terrific encounter which belied the old man tag of the Veterans Singles. It was a case of two evergreen performers giving it their all and it was Robinson who got the better of it with a 11-13, 11-8, 11-6, 12-10 victory.

2008 Knockout Cups Draw

6th Jan 2008

The draw for the 2008 cups took place on Monday night at Greenisland War Memorial Sports Club. It was decided to run 2 competitions this year: the Senior Cup for teams competing in divisions 1 and 2, and the Junior Cup for teams in divisions 3 and 4. The Minor Cup will not be contested this year. The draw is as follows:

Senior Cup: Round 1

Junior Cup: Round 1

Ballyclare Methodist C, D and E, Doagh, Knockagh A, B and C and Strongtower all have byes in the first round of their respective competitions.

The full cup draws are attached in PDF format.

Match Sheets Available to Download

28th Oct 2007

Match sheets for this 2007-8 season have been made available in the downloads section of the web site. Sorry for the delay which was caused by a last minute alteration which had to be made.

Please note that the contact number on the sheets has changed from last season as well as the playing order of 4 vs 3 and 3 vs 4 matches.

An updated version of the League rules and a downloaable set of fixture lists is also now available.