WELCOME TO 2008 AT  - ORMESBY TABLE TENNIS CLUB

Updated Thursday 31 July 2008

ROBIN DONNELLY

The Teesside table tennis fraternity was devastated by the untimely death of Robin Donnelly who represented the Ormesby Club in both the Cleveland Summer League and the Middlesbrough & District League. 

Robin was the father of British League players Simon and Stephanie. 

Robin’s funeral will be held on Friday 8 August at the Skinningrove Methodist Church at 1.00 pm.

 

FORTHCOMING EVENTS FOR 2008/9 Sunday 14 September 2008 - The Cleveland & District Summer Table Tennis League Handicap Tournament will take place at Ormesby Table Tennis Club. Saturday and Sunday 29/30 November 2008- Matches for the second round of the British League Division One North will be played at the Ormesby Club. Saturday & Sunday 28/29 March 2009- Ormesby Table Tennis Club host the final round of matches for the British Premier League 2008/9.

THREE GOLDS FOR PAUL IN THE 2008 EUROPEAN YOUTHS

July 2008

Cleveland’s Paul Drinkhall produced his best performance to date to win 3 gold medals for England in the European Youth Table Tennis Championships in Terni, Italy yesterday. 

This is the first time since 1961, when the Championships were much smaller, that a triple crown has been achieved in the Junior Boys events.  Drinkhall also created a record by being unbeaten throughout the whole 10 days of the event, including the team championship when England finished in sixth place. 

The main title was the Junior Boys Singles where Drinkhall was the top seed.  In the final he met the wily Russian, 2^nd seed Alexander Shibaev.  This match went the full distance with Drinkhall taking a 2-0 lead, then 3-2 before the Russian levelled for the second time.  In the decider Paul took a vital early lead and kept on top to win 11-6 and by 4 games to 3. 

En route to the final, Drinkhall had two very tough matches in the 3^rd and 4^th rounds where he beat Julio Reyes of Spain by 4 games to 2 and played an even tighter match against the German, Philipp Floritz where Drinkhall trailed 2-0 and 3-1 before coming back to win at 11-8 in the deciding game.  From the last 16 onwards, the victories were easier as he beat the French seed Victorien Le Guen by 4-1 followed by, in the quarter finals, Poland’s Pawel Fertikowski in 4 straight games.  The semi final was comfortable as Drinkhall defeated the seeded Hungarian Daniel Kosiba by 4 games to 1. 

Paul’s second title came in the Boys Doubles with his long standing partner Darius Knight of Surrey.  From the top seeded position they beat the Serbians Bojan Crepulka and Marko Petkov in straight games in the final. 

For the third medal, Paul retained the Mixed Doubles gold that he won last year with the Romanian Elizabeta Samara.  This time he won the title with Russia’s Yekaterina Kolodyazhnaya where they beat the Romanian pair of Honor Szocs and Canella Postoaca by 3 sets to 1. 

Cleveland’s second player in the Championships, Karina Lefevre from Ormesby, was England’s best player in the Cadet (Under 15) Girls team event where she won 6 of her 8 matches and helped the team to an improved finish of 18^th place. 

Overall, this was the best England performance in the European Youth Championships in the 50 year history of the event.  A fourth gold medal was won by Gavin Evans of Nottinghamshire in the Cadet Boys Singles and overall a total of 10 medals, a record, was achieved by the England squad.

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2008 EUROPEAN YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS

England Number 1 Paul Drinkhall has been given the top seeding for Europe’s leading Junior table tennis tournament, the European Youth Championships which take place in Terni, Italy between 11 and 20 July. 

Paul is selected as part of the England Junior Boys’ team together with Darius Knight of Surrey (his doubles partner) who will be seeded 5^th in the event, Matthew Ware from Hampshire, Chris Doran from Northamptonshire and Damien Nicholls from Staffordshire.

Drinkhall is the favourite for the European Boys’ singles title although strong opposition can be expected, particularly from the leading players from Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic.

The England boys are also defending the gold medal in the Junior Boys’ Team event which they won in Bratislava 12 months ago.

Ormesby’s Karina Lefevre is selected for the England Cadet Girls’ team for the same event, together with Emily Bates of Lincolnshire, Lucy Davidson of Derbyshire and Martha Travis from Cornwall. 

The event is divided into 2 sections.  The team events will take place over the first 5 days and singles and doubles competitions for the second half. 

Alan Ransome

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ORMESBY PLAYERS DO WELL IN THE 2007/8 BUFFERFLY GRAND PRIX SERIES

OVERALL POSITIONS

Congratulations to the following:

Michael Marsden came second in the Men's Singles and received £820.

Stephanie Donnelly finished in fourth place in the Women's Singles and received £60

Stephanie Donnelly took first place in the Band One Women's and a cheque for £150

Karina Lefevre came fifth in the Band One Women's Singles winning £20

Dan Welsh finished in second place in the Band Two Men's Singles and won a cheque for £220

Tim Surrey came fourth in the Band Four Men's Singles and received £50

Dan Welsh also came fourth in the Restricted Men's Singles winning £50

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WORLD SCHOOLS - MALTA

Ormesby’s Karina Lefevre travels to Malta today (Friday) as part of the England Schools team to participate in the World Schools Table Tennis Championships which is being played on the island for all of next week, starting tomorrow.   

Karina, who is the England No 1 at Cadet Under 15 level and the Under 14 English Champion, has been selected for the England Schools Girls’ team together with Emma Vickers of Derbyshire, Melissa Wright of South Yorkshire and Rebekah Griffith of Lancashire. 

The event is being played in two sections starting with the team event followed by the individual competitions.  England have also entered a Boys team plus the champion school which is the Peniel Academy from Essex who are coached by the former Ormesby International Nicky Jarvis.

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2008 CLEVELAND CLOSED

Ormesby’s Michael Marsden won the Open Singles in the Cleveland Closed Table Tennis Championships which took place at Ormesby on Sunday, beating his team mate Andrew Wilson in straight games in the final. 

Marsden was only troubled in the semi final where he lost the first game to Welsh international Mark Simon before winning the next 3 games at 11-8 11-8 and 11-6.  Andrew Wilson upset the seeding in the semi final by defeating Hartlepool’s Darren McVitie by 3 games to 1 after Wilson had been taken to 5 games in the quarter final by Karina Lefevre.  The other close game in the quarter final was Mark Simon’s victory over Edward Fambely by 3 games to 1. 

The Junior Singles was won by Fambely who defeated Adam Smith by 3-0 in the semi final and Karina Lefevre by 3-1 in the final. 

The Cadet Singles was won by Adam Smith who upset the seeding by beating Karina Lefevre in straight games in the final. 

The Handicap Singles that received the biggest entry was won by Teesside University’s Joe Childs who defeated Ormesby’s Martin Rutter 2 games to 1 in the final.  Childs had beaten Michael Marsden in straight games in the semi final where Rutter defeated Adam Smith, also in straight games. 

The Banded event was won by Ormesby’s Gary Whyman who beat Paul Smith by 3 games to 1 in the final.  Whyman beat Jim Scott 3-1 in the semi final whilst Smith beat Anthony Barbier by the same score. 

RESULTS

Open Singles

Michael Marsden (Ormesby) beat Andrew Wilson (Ormesby) 11-4,11-9,11-6 

Junior Singles

Edward Fambely (Ormesby) beat Karina Lefevre (Ormesby) 11-6,11-8,5-11,11-5 

Cadet Singles

Adam Smith (Ormesby) beat Karina Lefevre (Ormesby) 11-9,11-3,12-10 

Banded SinglesGary Whyman (Ormesby) beat Paul Smith (Ormesby) 11-9,8-11,13-11,12-10 

Handicap Singles

Joe Childs (Teesside University) beat Martin Rutter (Ormesby) 21-17,22-20,21-10 

Mini Cadet Singles

Paul Smith (Ormesby) beat Ashley Scott (Ormesby) 11-8,11-9,11-8 

Veterans Singles

Darren McVitie (Hartlepool) beat Mark Simon (Ormesby) 11-9,5-11,11-6,11-4

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 KARINA'S SELECTION FOR THE 6 NATIONS JUNIOR TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Karina Lefevre has been selected to represent England in the 6 Nations Junior Table Tennis Championships that take place in Guernsey this coming weekend March 15 & 16. 

Karina, who is the No 1 Cadet player (Under 15), has been selected to represent England at the higher age group (Under 18) where she is currently ranked at No 5.  In the team with Karina is Essex player Rachel Jamieson. 

England will be playing matches against Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Guernsey and the Isle of Man as well as an individual competition for the British Junior Championship on Sunday.

2008 WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS IN  CHINA

Monday 25 February

With Cleveland’s Paul Drinkhall and Danny Reed in the squad, England have made a very encouraging start in the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Guangzhou, China by winning their opening two matches against Australia and Nigeria. 

England started with a 3-0 thrashing of Australia.  Darius Knight of Surrey opened the scoring with a surprise victory over the Australian No 1 William Henzell by 3 games to 1.  Paul Drinkhall followed this up by beating David Zalcberg, winning 11-4 in the 5^th.  Danny Reed completed the victory with a comfortable 3-0 win over Kyle Davis. 

England followed this up with an even better victory against Nigeria by 3 sets to 1.  Knight again excelled to beat the 2002 Commonwealth champion Segun Toriola by 3-0 in the opening match.  Drinkhall then defeated Kazeem Nosiru by 3-1.  Nigeria’s only win was recorded when Monday Merotohun defeated Reed at 11-3 in the 5^th but Drinkhall sealed the victory by beating Toriola, ranked 134 places above him on the World list, in a cliffhanger finish at 14-12 in the deciding game. 

Later today, England play the only other unbeaten team, Canada, in a top of the table clash, both teams having won their two opening fixtures. 

England Girls also produced their best performance for some time by beating Estonia and India, both by 3 games to 1.  Kelly Sibley and Jo Parker were both unbeaten. 

Alan Ransome - reporting from China

WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008

Cleveland are providing 2 of the 3 players included in the England Men’s Table Tennis team to compete in the World Team Championships which are taking place in Guangzhou, China between 24 February and 2 March. 

Paul Drinkhall is selected as being the current England No 1 and Champion whilst Danny Reed has earned his place through a series of good performances in international competitions over the last 12 months.  Also selected for the squad is Surrey’s Darius Knight who partners Drinkhall in doubles competitions. 

England are in the 2^nd Division of the World Championships which are positions 25 to 48.  The 2^nd Division is divided into 4 qualification groups and England are drawn with Canada, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Australia and Israel.  England’s first match will take place on Sunday against Australia followed by a contest with Nigeria on Monday morning and Canada on Monday evening. 

The England Girls’ team has been selected as Kelly Sibley from Warwickshire, Joanne Parker from Surrey and the Junior No 1 Emma Vickers from Derbyshire.

BRITISH LEAGUE ROUND THREE

Ormesby 2^nd team consolidated their mid-table position with2 drawn matches in the 1^st Division of the British Table Tennis League at Halton on Sunday.

Ormesby’s first drawn match was with their mid-table rivals, Grantham, in which all four of the Ormesby players – Andy Wilson, Simon Donnelly, Danny Welsh and Edward Fambely – won one set each.  Fambely came from behind to win the last match against Michael Harvey to clinch the points at 11-9 in the 5^th. 

With 2 wins from Andy Wilson and Danny Welsh, Ormesby could have done better in their second fixture against second in the table Glasgow Drumchapel after they led by 4 sets to 2.

 The mainly girls Ormesby 3^rd team played well in Division 2 to draw one of their matches 4 all but lost the other by 6-2.

 In their opening fixture against league leaders Fastbats of Bradford, Ormesby were beaten by 6-2 despite wins from Karina Lefevre and Robin Donnelly.  Donnelly was a late replacement for Stephanie Donnelly who was unwell.  The Ormesby second match produced a well earned point with a 4 all draw against Sheffield.  Karen Shepherd, Karina Lefevre, Rachel Greener and Robin Donnelly all won one set each.

CHRISTMAS SUPER TEN TOURNAMENT

See the results from the Christmas Super Ten Tournament held at Ormesby Table Tennis Club on Sunday 30 December 2007 on the Tournaments Page.

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2007 SUMMER LEAGUE KO CUP

Youth overcame experience as the Ormesby H team won the long delayed Summer League Cup Final against one of the top 1^st Division teams, Five Lamps Garage. 

The star of the match was 11 year old Paul Smith who gained 15 points in his set against Steven Baines with Smith conceding only one point in the first game and 9 in the second.  John Bousfield also did well to gain 8 points over the match which included 8 points against Five Lamps veteran defender Barry Pearson. Ormesby's third player Ashley Scott also played well to help his team gain their much awaited cup win. Aaron Bousfield and Jim Scott had both played in previous rounds.

 The Ormesby victory was by 400 points against 378 with Smith gaining 17 of the 22 points difference.

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Sunday 16 December 2007

DISABILITY SPORTS AWARD FOR CHRIS

Chris Rayner (centre) receives his award at Old Trafford, Manchester

Chris Rayner, 35, from Darlington, won the North-East Regional Sports Person Award at the Disability Sports Events (DSE) Awards, in Manchester.

Chris won gold medals at this year's British Table Tennis Association for the Disabled and Disability Sports Events competitions.

He suffered a spinal injury in June 2005 and was advised that he only had a ten per cent chance of walking again. But he is now a regular player on the British Disability Tournament circuit and plays in the Stockton League.

Chris lives in Darlington with his wife, Jackie, and son, Thomas, but travels to Middlesbrough every Wednesday morning and evening to conduct disability table tennis sessions at the Ormesby Table Tennis Club.

Alan Ransome, of Ormesby Table Tennis Club, said: "Congratulations to Chris on his award, the progress that he has made in his rehabilitation and in helping others."

Thursday 13 December2007

WORLD JUNIOR TT CHAMPIONSHIPS - PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA 

With English champion Paul Drinkhall qualified for the first round of the Boys’ Singles and Ormesby’s Danny Reed well on the way, England enjoyed their best day so far in the World Junior Table Tennis championships in Palo Alto, California. 

Drinkhall, seeded second, qualified comfortably in Group 2 by beating Emil Santos of the Dominican Republic in 3 straight games and Johan Sondell of Sweden 15-13, 8-11, 11-4, 11-4. 

Reed’s route to qualification in Group 24 was much tougher, being the second seed in the group of 4.  Reed opened his campaign with a 3-0 victory over Russian Sergey Martyukov.  In his second match, he beat the top group seed Gencay Menge of Turkey in a tight 5 setter.  Menge led by 2 games to 1 before Reed won the 4^th at 16-14 and the decider at 11-6.  Reed has one more match in his group against the talented Rumanian Hunor Szocs which he must win to be certain of qualifying. 

Darius Knight of Surrey has qualified by winning his 2 matches in Group 8 whilst Gavin Evans in Group 7 has won 1 and lost 1 so far and must beat Martin Storf of Austria to win through to the first round. 

In the mixed doubles, Paul Drinkhall and his partner Elizabeta Samara of Rumania, with whom he won the title in the European Youth Championships in July, are seeded second  They started well with a 3-0 victory over the Taiwanese pair Chang Shun-Hung and Cheng I-Ching.

Monday 10 December 2007

DISABILITY SPORTS AWARD FOR CHRIS

Chris Rayner, who leads the Ormesby Table Tennis Club Disability program, was awarded the  North East Regional Sports Person Award at the Disability Sports Events (DSE) Awards in association with Nationwide Building Society,  which took place at Old Trafford, the Manchester United Football Ground on 5^th December, supported by First Transpennine Express and Manchester United FC. 

Chris, age 35 from Stockton, won gold medals in the 2007 British Table Tennis Association for the Disabled (BTTAD) and Disability Sports Events (DSE) in the 6 – 8 Standing events.  Chris has also won several other events since his spinal cord injury in June 2005 when he was advised that he had only 10% chance of walking again.  He is a regular player on the British Disability Tournament circuit and also plays in the Stockton League in division 2. 

Chris currently lives in Darlington with his wife, Jackie, and son, Thomas.  Chris travels to Middlesbrough on Wednesday morning and evening to conduct the disability sessions from 10 – 12 noon and 7 – 9pm at the Ormesby Table Tennis Club on Cargo Fleet Lane.  The sessions are open to anyone with a disability. 

Alan Ransome, Chairman of the Ormesby TTC said, “Congratulations to Chris from all his friends at the Ormesby Club who are delighted with the progress that he had made both with his own rehabilitation and in helping others.”

Wednesday 4 December 2007

ANOTHER WIN FOR JOHN BOUSFIELD

Ormesby’s John Bousfield excelled to win the Under 11 Boys Singles in the Chandlers Junior Open Table Tennis  Championships last weekend, taking his total of Open tournaments for the season up to 2. 

In the semi final, John scored a straight games win over Damola Fenuyi of Essex and then in the final beat another player from the same county, Joel Mussell, by 11-6, 11-7, 11-3.

 

Wednesday 28 November 2007

EUROPEAN JUNIOR & CADET CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008

Ormesby’s Karina Lefevre joins English Champion Paul Drinkhall as players nominated by England for the European Junior & Cadet Top 10 Championship which is to be played in Sheffield from 25 – 27 January 2008. 

Karina has won her call-up as being the English Under 14 champion and the player at Under 15 level who has produced the best results to date this season.  Karina is ranked at No 1 in the English Under 15 (Cadet) list.   

No English players qualify by right for the Girls’ events and Karina is therefore included on the basis of the nomination from the host association.  The Sheffield tournament will provide a terrific challenge for her as she will be matched against the top 9 players in Europe in this age category. 

Paul Drinkhall won this competition when it was played in Riga, Latvia last January and, being the top ranking European player, is the No 1 seed.  Also selected for the Junior Boys’ event with Paul is Darius Knight of London who is the second seed. 

This tournament also provides a challenge for Paul as it is the first junior competition in which he will compete after the new rules over the banning of the fast glues will be introduced so requiring all of the players to use a bat with a different performance from the one that they have been using so far this season. 

Also selected for England are Gavin Evans from Nottinghamshire and Liam Pitchford from Derbyshire in the Cadet Boys events whilst Derbyshire’s Emma Vickers takes the host’s nomination place for the Junior Girls’ Singles being the current No 1 player.

Tuesday 27 November 2007

BRITISH PREMIER LEAGUE ROUND 2

With 2 wins and 1 draw, Ormesby 1^st team have maintained their mid table position in the Premier Division of the British Table Tennis League following the 5 matches that they played in Widnes over the weekend. 

Ormesby’s first match was against the Scottish club Drumchapel who were led by Welsh international Ryan Jenkins and his brother Steven who were both unbeaten.  Ormesby lost this match by 5-2 with 2 wins from Damien Nicholls and 1 from Justin Ma.  The Nottingham club Sycamore provided Ormesby with their best result of the day, winning by 7-1.  David Meads, Michael Marsden and Justin Ma were all unbeaten with Sycamore’s single victory being a win for Chris Brown over Nigel Eckersley. 

In the third match on Saturday, Ormesby were beaten 7-1 by the Essex club Batts Peniel with Ormesby’s only victory coming from David Meads who beat the Chinese player Wang Zheng. 

On Sunday Ormesby opened with a very convincing victory over last year’s runners up, Oxford Fireplace, by 8-0.  The closest game was Michael Marsden’s win over Chinese player Zhao Jing Wei, who also took David Meads to 5 sets. 

In the last game of the weekend, Ormesby drew 4 all with TTK Greenhouse despite 2 wins each from English internationals Gareth Herbert and Andrew Rushton for the London based club.  Damien Nicholls won 2 for Ormesby whilst Michael Marsden and Justin Ma won one each. 

These results pull Ormesby clear of the relegation zone, providing a 2 point cushion between the team 3^rd from bottom, Sycamore.  Three teams are relegated at the end of the season. 

Wednesday 21 October 2007

ORMESBY PLAY DRUMCHAPEL FROM GLASGOW

Ormesby won the pre-Stockton Tournament Junior Challenge fixture with Scotland’s leading club, Drumchapel, by 22 sets to 19 on Friday. 

The strongest Ormesby performance came in the girls’ match with the home team winning by 8-1; a surprising margin taking into account the strength of the two teams.  Karina Lefevre and Rachel Greener were both outstanding for Ormesby, both scoring hat tricks, whilst Chloe Whyte played her part winning 2 of her 3 sets. 

In the Boys 1^st team match, Drumchapel won by 13 sets to 3 with Richard Main and Craig Hardy unbeaten for the Glaswegians.  Anthony Wright, Eddie Fambely and Andy Dawson won one each for Ormesby. 

In the 2^nd team match, Ormesby beat Drumchapel by 11-5 with 3 wins from Katherine Lefevre, Jessica Dawson and Jake McVitie whilst Adam Smith contributed with 2 wins.

                   

 

RESULTS FROM THE FIRST ROUND OF JUNIOR BRITISH LEAGUE MATCHES

SATURDAY & SUNDAY OCTOBER 13 & 14

Wednesday 17 October 2007

Making their debut in the Premier Division of the Junior British Table Tennis League, Ormesby Girls made a good start in Loughborough at the weekend, drawing 2 of their 4 matches with 1 win and 1 defeat. 

Ormesby’s first match was a victory over Grantham Tornados by 5 sets to 1 followed by a draw with the favourites, Derbyshire’s Draycott & Longeaton.  Ormesby’s defeat was to Mid Cheshire by 6 – 0, a match in which the end result did not reflect the play in the match.  Ormesby’s second draw was achieved against the Ireland.

Karina Lefevre produced the best results for Ormesby, winning 75% of her matches, including victories over the England No 1 Emma Vickers and No 5 Caroline Hallows in the Draycott match.  Rachel Greener made a strong contribution with 3 wins from 7 matches played.

Ormesby are in 4^th position in the league table from a division of 7 teams.

The Ormesby Junior Boys’ results in the Boys’ Division 1 were disappointing with only 1 draw from 5 matches played.  The player to produce the best results was Anthony Wright who won 50% of his matches. 

The Ormesby 2^nd team in Division 4 finished with 4 points from 1 win and 2 draws.  Adam Smith produced the best results with a 75% average whilst Jake McVitie and Charlie Allott won 4 of their 8 matches.

 

Sunday 7 October 2007

Ormesby’s Karina Lefevre has risen to the England No 1 Cadet (Under 15) ranked position in the new English table tennis lists. 14 year old Karina has also risen by 2 places in the English Junior (Under 18) ranking list, moving up from No 8 to No 6 and has entered, for the first time, the England Senior Top 30 Women’s rankings at No 19. 

Spectacular results in 2 tournaments played at the start of the season have propelled Karina into these higher positions.  The first was the Butterfly Liverpool Grand Prix where Karina, from an unseeded position, won the Women’s Singles title beating Lindsey Thornton Reynolds, the England No 6, in the final.  A week later Karina pulled off a series of spectacular wins when representing the North East of England in the UK School Games competition in Coventry.

Karina has been selected as one of the 5 members of the England Junior Elite squad and has been invited to attend a series of training weeks at the National Academy in Sheffield throughout this season.  Karina’s next major competition will be representing Ormesby in the Junior British League in Loughborough.

Another girl to improve in the latest rankings is Ormesby’s 12 year old Chloe Whyte who has moved up from No 11 to No 7 in the Cadet Grils list. 

Paul Drinkhall continues to head both the Men’s and Junior Boys lists with a gap of 150 points in the senior list and more than 500 points in the junior list over England No 2 Darius Knight. 

Ormesby’s Danny Reed has moved up from No 6 to No 5 in the Men’s list whilst David Meads has improved from No 9 to No 6

Saturday 1 September 2007

FUNCHAL JUNIOR OPEN - Madrid

England Boys, Paul Drinkhall, Darius Knight and Danny Reed, dominated the Funchal Junior Open in Madeira yesterday, which is part of the Junior World Table Tennis Circuit, coming away with gold and silver medals in the Boys events. 

England Champion Paul Drinkhall won the Boys Singles, collecting his 4^th World Junior Circuit title this season, more than any other player.  In the final he beat his doubles partner and England team mate Darius Knight from Surrey in 4 straight games, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 and 11-3.  In the semi final, Drinkhall’s victim was Poland’s Mateusz Golebiewski, again in 4 straight games whilst in the quarter final, he beat Poland’s Robert Floras, also in 4 straight games. 

The Doubles title was won by Ormesby’s Danny Reed who partnered Croatia’s Borna Kovac.  Coming from an unseeded position, Reed and Kovac beat the seeded Poles Daniel Puchalski and Robert Floras and second seeds Benjamin Rogiers of Belgium and Alexander Shibaev of Russia before defeating the top seeds, Drinkhall and Knight in 3 straight games in the final.

Sunday 19 August 2007

GREAT WIN FOR KARINA

Ormesby's Karina Lefevre has won the Women's Singles at the Liverpool Grand Prix today  beating No.1 seed Lyndsey Thornton-Reynolds 3-1 in the final. More Results to follow.

Wednesday 4 July 2007

Four Teesside players have been selected to play for England in the main junior championship of the season, the European Youth Championships, which take plate in Bratislava from 13 – 22 July .   

The English men’s champion, Paul Drinkhall, is the top seed for the Junior Boys’ Singles, having already won the European Junior Top 12 Tournament in Riga in February.  Paul is also top seed for the Doubles with partner Darius Knight from Surrey who is seeded 6^th in the Boys’ Singles event.   

Also included in the England Boys’ team is Ormesby’s Danny Reed who has had an exceptional second half to the season qualifying for the 1^st round of the Senior World Championships in Zagreb in May and beating 2 players ranked 400 places above him in the international list.  The fourth player in the England Junior Boys’ team is Darlington’s David Meads who is currently at No 11 in the England Senior Men’s ranking.   

This is the first time for many years that 3 players from the same part of the country have been included in the England Junior Boys’ team. 

The fourth player to make the squad is Ormesby’s 13 year old Karina Lefevre who is selected as part of the England Cadet Under 15 Girls’ team.  Karina clinched her place in the team by winning the English Under 14 Championships in Norwich last month as well as having some unexpected victories in the Junior Girls’ Masters Tournament at Cippenham. 

The Championship is played in 2 parts.  The first half is the team event in which close to 50 countries will compete for honours in the 2 age categories.  This is followed by the individual events consisting of singles, doubles and mixed doubles. 

The full England line-up is: 

Junior Boys 

Paul Drinkhall  (Cleveland)  -  Darius Knight  (Surrey)

Danny Reed  (Cleveland)  -  David Meads   (Durham) 

Junior Girls 

Emma Vickers  (Derbyshire)  -  Melanie Farquhar  (Buckinghamshire)

Rachel Jamieson  (Essex) 

Cadet Boys 

Gavin Evans  (Nottinghamshire)  -  Liam Pitchford  (Derbyshire)

David McBeath  (Hampshire)  -  Sean Cullen  (Derbyshire) 

Cadet Girls  

Melissa Wright  (Yorkshire)  -  Emily Bates  (Lincolnshire)

Mary Fuller  (Yorkshire)  - Karina Lefevre  (Cleveland)

Monday 25 June 2007

DOUBLE SILVER FOR KARINA

Karina Lefevre won 2 silver medals in the Under 16 events in the British Schools International Table Tennis Championships which were played in Guernsey last weekend.

Karina, seeded in 4^th position, defeated the top seed, Hannah Hicks from Hampshire who is ranked 6 places above her in the England Under 18 list, in a close semi final.  Karina, who attends the Thornaby Community School, won the first game 11-5 but went 2-1 down after losing the 2^nd and 3^rd at 15-13 and 11-8.  Karina recovered to win the 4^th at 11-7 then the decider at 12-10.  This was a revenge match for the Ormesby girl as she was beaten by Hannah Hicks at 12-10 in the 5^th in the quarter finals of the National Under 18 Championships at Doncaster over Easter as well as in the team event in Guernsey. 

In the final, Karina met the English National Under 15 Champion, Melissa Wright of Sheffield.  Melissa won the first game at 19-17.  Karina levelled but Melissa’s greater experience and defensive style broke through to win the 3^rd at 11-9 and the 4^th at 11-7. 

In the team event, Karina was representing the England 2^nd team that won the silver medal after being defeated 4-1 by the England 1^st team in the final.  England B defeated Wales 5-0, Scotland A and Scotland B both 5-0, Ireland 5-0 and Guernsey 3-2.  In the final, Karina won the only game for her team, defeating Fiona Dennett of Cheshire 11-5 in the decider.

Monday 4 June 2007

ENGLISH UNDER 14 TITLE FOR KARINA

Ormesby’s 13 year old Karina Lefevre won her most important Championship to date, the English Under 14 Girls’ Singles Table Tennis title in Norwich on Saturday. 

Karina, seeded second, defeated the top seed, Emily Bates of Lincolnshire, by 3 games to 1 in the final, out-hitting her opponent who otherwise enjoyed a successful day.  Karina beat Rachel Farquhar from Slough in the semi final by a comfortable 3-0 margin.  Rachel defeated the third seed, Ayonija Sundararajan of Berkshire, in the previous round.  In the quarter final, Karina’s victim was the plucky Sussex youngster, Sarah Russo, who was beaten by 3 games to 1.

Karina added the English Under 14 Doubles title to the Singles when she teamed up with Cornwall’s Martha Travis.  In the final, the pair beat Emily Bates and Ormesby club mate Chloe Whyte. 

Chloe’s turn for honours came in the Under 13 Girls’ Doubles when she won the title combining again with Emily Bates.  In the Under 13 Girls’ Singles, Chloe reached the semi final only to be beaten by Derbyshire’s Lucy Davidson. 

Jessica Dawson

Ormesby’s 12 year old Jessica Dawson followed suit when combining with Emily Bates to win the Under 12 Girls’ Doubles.  Jessica also reached the semi final of her event, the Under 12 Girls’ Singles, before losing to the Middlesex Chinese player Tin-Tin Ho.  Emily Bates won both the Under 13 and the Under 12 Girls’ Singles. 

Karina travels to Brittany this week as part of the England Junior squad to participate in the French Open Championships taking place in Rennes.  She will be playing in the Under 15 Girls’ Singles, Doubles and for England in the Team Championship.

Thursday 31 May 2007

UNDER 14, UNDER 13, UNDER 12 TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007

Three Ormesby girls, Karina Lefevre, Chloe Whyte and Jessica Dawson, are all seeded in their events in the National Under 14, Under 13 and Under 12 Table Tennis Championships which are being played in Norwich this weekend. 

Karina Lefevre is seeded in second place in the Under 14 event where, according to the seedings, she will meet Berkshire’s Ayonija Sundararajan.  The top seed is Emily Bates from Lincolnshire who is drawn to play Martha Travis of Cornwall.  Karina’s chances of reaching the finals are good as she defeated Ayonija in the National Junior Masters Championship in Slough earlier this month. 

Chloe Whyte is seeded equal third in the Under 13 Girls Singles, with Emily Bates and Lucy Davidson of Derby in first and second positions. 

In the Under 12 Girls Singles, Jessica Dawson is seeded equal third.  Emily Bates is the top seed and Tin-Tin Ho of Middlesex is in second place.

Thursday 24 May 2007

DANNY'S WONDERFUL WORLD'S

Ormesby’s Danny Reed followed up his spectacular performances in the qualification rounds of the World Table Tennis Championships in Zagreb yesterday with another impressive performance in Round 1, giving the Dutch No 1, Trinko Keen, a tough contest. 

Keen, ranked 33 in the world, 637 places above Danny, won the first game 11-5.  Danny bounced back to take the second at 11-9 to level the match.  Keen regained the initiative in the third, winning at 11-7, but Danny pushed the top Dutchman all the way in the next two before losing 13-11 and 13-11.

 Danny’s two wins in the qualification rounds played earlier this week against competitors ranked more than 400 places above him in the world list have clearly impressed the selectors and established his position in the England team alongside Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight.

Tuesday 22 May 2007

WORLD NEWS

Ormesby’s Danny Reed stole the headlines at the Liebherr World Table Tennis Championships in Zagreb yesterday when he won through all his qualifying matches including 2 victories over players ranked more than 400 places above him in the world list to capture a place in the first round (last 128) of the Men’s Singles event tomorrow. 

Reed won his qualifying group with a victory over Ahmed Lofti El-Jetil of Lebanon 4-0 and by defeating the world No 255 Kazeem Nosiru of Nigeria in his qualifying group 11-5 in the 7^th game.  This took him through to the final qualifying round where he was drawn against Bojan Miolsevic of Bosnia.  Danny raced into a 3-0 lead against the player ranked 249 in the world and led 3-0 in the 4^th before the Bosnian won 6 points in a row.  Danny fought back well to win the match at 12-10 and by 4 games to 0.  

These 2 victories were by far Danny’s best performances in his table tennis career to date.  Tonight he will meet one of the Netherlands’ leading players, Trinko Keen, in the 1^st round proper. 

Paul Drinkhall won through his qualifying group by beating David Hayes of Ireland by 4 games to 2 and Rachid El-Boubou of Libya 4-0 but lost narrowly in the final qualifying group to Ukrainian Yaroslav Zhmudenko at 13-11 in the 7^th game after the Ukrainian had saved 4 match points.

Thursday 17 May 2007

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007 - ZAGREB

With Paul Drinkhall and Danny Reed both selected, Cleveland are providing half the England Men’s table tennis team to compete in the World Championships in Zagreb starting on Monday. 

For 17 year old Paul Drinkhall, as the English Champion and No 1 player, selection is almost automatic, whilst Danny Reed, currently No 13 in England, has done exceptionally well to take a place in this elite squad.   

Danny, also 17, broke through into the England senior team when he was selected for the European Qualification fixtures in Ljubljana last October but was then out of the squad for in the region of 4 months due to an arm injury which required an operation.  The England team manager, Steen Hansen, kept faith with Reed and selected him for the European Championships in Belgrade in March and has now given him a further boost with this World Championships call up. 

For both Teesside youngsters, the World Championships will be a big challenge.  The event attracts the best players from more than 100 countries including all of the top Chinese who are currently dominating most of the competitions at world level.  Drinkhall and Reed, both being ranked outside the top 100 in the world, do not justify a seeding and therefore will be placed in the qualification competition which starts on Monday but both are intent on winning through this section and competing in the main rounds which commence on Tuesday evening. 

Also selected for the small England squad are Darius Knight (17) from Surrey, Gavin Evans (14) from Buckinghamshire and the lone girl, Kelly Sibley (18) from Warwickshire.  This is the youngest squad that England have ever selected for this pretigious tournament with the England team looking to the future, including the European Youth Championships in Bratislava in July where gold medals for both Paul and Danny are realistic targets.

Thursday 26 April 2007

ORMESBY TABLE TENNIS CLUB

 LAUNCHES TABLE TENNIS SESSIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH A DISABILITY 

Following on from the Disability Awareness Day held at Ormesby Table Tennis Club on Saturday 14^th April 2007, which was attended by Mark Palmer, Great Britain number one Wheelchair Table Tennis Player, Ormesby Table Tennis Club are pleased to announce the launch of a dedicated disabled table tennis session at our Cargo Fleet Lane, Middlesbrough, headquarters.

In partnership with Tees Valley Sport and the English Federation of Disability Sport,  the Club will be holding a weekly session on a Wednesday evening  from 7.30pm until 9.30 pm.  This session is open to anyone with any form of disability to come and play table tennis under the guidance of experienced and disabled players / coaches. The first session starts on Wednesday 16^th May 2007 at 7.30 pm.  All equipment will be provided.  There will be a small charge of £2.50 per person, per session. 

The emphasis of the sessions is on both fun and regular exercise along with an opportunity for both players and carers to meet socially in a dedicated venue.  It will include the use of Poly Bat as well as conventional Table Tennis.  The facilities at Ormesby Table Tennis club are excellent and purpose built, including disabled toilets, ramp into building, dedicated disabled car parking spaces, changing facilities and café and lounge for use by all. 

Alan Ransome, Chairman of the Ormesby Club which was founded in 1958,   said of the new Disabled session,  “Although the Ormesby Club is recognized mainly for its high level players and performances, the Club ethos is one of table tennis for all members of the community and this program for players with a disability gives us the opportunity to widen the scope and meet these objectives. We are very grateful for the support from Tees Valley Sport and the English Federation of Disability Sport and hope that this project will establish a section within our Club which will provide the opportunity for players with a disability to enjoy the sport for many years into the future.” 

Patrick Bonner from the English Federation of Disability Sport said of the new partnership, ”It’s a great pleasure for me to see a club that is committed to providing sporting opportunities for disabled people within the North East. The facilities at Ormesby Table Tennis Club make it very easy for disabled people to access the sport, but the thing that really stands out when visiting the club is the all inclusive attitude of the members right throughout the club. The club has a very pro-active year ahead planned to engage disabled people within the sport of table tennis. With the enthusiastic support of all their coaches and volunteers, I’m sure this will be a real success and will certainly help to increase participation levels in disability sport in the region.” 

The Ormesby Table Tennis Club will also be able to offer other times for play during the week on request for disabled groups interested in bringing along people in their care to come and try Table Tennis. 

Monday 16 April 2007

12 year old Chloe Whyte, in her first international selection, won the gold medal in the Under 13 International Championship in Cardiff. Chloe, partnered by Yolanda King from Sussex, for England beating 3 teams, Belgium, Flanders and Wales B by 5-0 with Chloe winning 2 singles and participating in the doubles. In the final of the team championship, the England team beat Wales A 3-2 with Chloe beating Megan Phillips by 3 games to 2 in the final set of the match to clinch the title.

In the singles event, Chloe reached the final with a win against Hannah Avery of Wales by 3-1 in the semi final. In the final, Chloe lost to her England team mate, Yolanda King, by 3-2 with the score in the final game by 15-13.

Tuesday 27 March 2007

GOLD MEDAL FOR KARINA

Ormesby’s Karina Lefevre was part of the England Cadet (Under 15) Girls table tennis team that won the gold medal in the 6 Nations Championship at Warwick University last weekend.

Karina won both her singles matches and the doubles with her partner, England No 1 Cadet Melissa Wright, in the matches against Wales, Ireland and the Isle of Man.  Against Scotland, where England won by 4-1, Karina won one of her singles against Lynda Flaws but lost to Natasha Milliken.  In the closest match against Guernsey, Karina won one of her singles against Paula Le Ber but lost to Alice Loveridge and won the doubles to clinch the fixture 3-2.

In the individual events, Karina won her qualifying group and defeated Ireland’s Rebecca Kenny by 3-0 in the quarter finals but came up against Alice Loveridge in the semis and lost 3-2. 

With 8 wins out of 10 in the team event, Karina finished in 3^rd place behind Alice Loveridge and Melissa Wright.

FIRST ENGLAND SELECTION FOR CHLOE

Ormesby’s 12 year old Chloe Whyte has won her first England selection to be part of the Under 13 team to compete with Germany, Wales and Belgium in Cardiff this week from Thursday 29 March to Saturday 31 March . 

Chloe, currently ranked at No 4 in the England Under 13 list, is selected alongside Yolanda King from Sussex, Sam Walker from Nottinghamshire and Zak Zilesnick from Middlesex.  The competition will take place at the National Sports Centre for Wales at Sofia Gardens.   

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BRITISH JUNIOR LEAGUE 2006/7- FINAL WEEKEND

Karina Lefevre receives her 'player of the weekend award from ETTA Chairman Alex Murdock

Left to right Katherine Lefevre, Karina Lefevre, Alan Ransome team captain, Chloe Whyte and Rachel Greener winners of the Junior British League - Girls Division 1

Wednesday 21 February 2007

Safir Swedish International Tournament

Four table tennis players, Danny Reed, Karina Lefevre and Stephanie Donnelly from Ormesby and David Meads from Darlington, are travelling to Sweden this weekend for international table tennis competitions. 

Danny Reed is part of the British Olympic squad, together with Gavin Evans, playing in the World Junior Circuit and the Safir Swedish International Tournament.  Karina Lefevre is part of the England Cadet (Under 15) team, together with Emily Bates from Grantham and Lucy Davidson from Chesterfield, participating in four Junior competitions at Safir whilst Stephanie Donnelly and David Meads are part of the Talented Athletes group from England playing in the Swedish competitions. 

For Danny Reed, this is his first international competition since recovering from his arm injury which has kept him out of table tennis for the last 3 months

Sunday 28 JANUARY 2007

CONGRATULATIONS PAUL

England's No.1 table tennis player, Paul Drinkhall, returns to Teesside for the second time in two weeks with a fresh gold medal in his bag.

Paul followed up the one gold and two silver medals that he won in the Youth Olympics in Australia last week by winning another highly prestigious tournament, the European Junior (Under 18) Top 12 Tournament in Riga, Latvia, today, the first British player to win the title since Carl Prean in 1985.

The competition brings together the top 12 Under 18 players from all parts of Europe for a gruelling all play all tournament over a three day period.

Paul started disastrously losing to his England team mate, Darius Knight from Surrey in his opening match at 11-4 in the deciding game. From that point he recovered and upped his game to beat all ten of his remaining opponents to clinch the title without needing any deciding games.

The vital matches were played this afternoon when he defeated the second seed, Turkey's Chinese penholder Jiang Pengei by 4 games to 2, and then in the final round the talented Frenchman, Abdel Kader Salifou, by 4 games to 1 to clinch the title.

After beating Paul in the opening round, England's second representative, Darius Knight, had only a modest tournament winning 6 and losing 5 matches overall to finish halfway down the final list in 6th place.

Monday 22 JANUARY 2007

AWARDS FOR ORMESBY PLAYERS

Three awards were made at the 2006 Christmas party by club chairman Alan Ransome.

Karina Lefevre received female player of the year,  Danny Reed male player of the year and Adam Smith from the general coaching sessions, received an award for his vast improvement over the past few months .

Alan Ransome and Karina Lefevre

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005/6

Cleveland County President Alan Ransome presents trophies to the 2005/6 Cleveland County Junior League team winners of Division 2A.

 Pictured from left to right, Alan Ransome, Anthony Wright, Jonathan Durham and Katherine and Karina Lefevre, all from the Ormesby club. Ormesby's Andrew Wilson, a member of the winning team, was unable to attend the presentation.

Wednesday 10 JANUARY 2007 

CHINA COUP 

Ormesby Table Tennis Club have joined with the Hartlepool club to produce a coup bringing 3 high level players from the People’s Republic of China into Teesside for the next 6 months. 

The acquisition of Wang Zheng (Johnson), Xu Shu Yin (Katie) and Liu Meihan (Maria) will strengthen both clubs for their British League fixtures as well as providing terrific training and practice opportunities for the players of both clubs.   

Johnson has been signed by Ormesby to strengthen the club’s 1^st team in the Premier Division of the British League which will assist the club after the transfer of Paul Drinkhall to the French Club SAG Cestas and the injury problems for Danny Reed.  Johnson has already proved his mettle by winning the Club’s Super 10 tournament last week which included wins against 2 of Darlington’s top England ranked players, David Meads and Michael Marsden.   

Johnson’s first appearance for Ormesby will be the British League fixtures on 21 January at Ellenborough when the club plays 2 important fixtures against Batts Team Peniel of Essex and DML Woolwell from Devon.  Ormesby, similar to Boro, are just above the relegation zone in the league following the loss of the 2 key players and therefore the matches on 21 January will be important for the club’s Premier Division status. 

The Hartlepool club is playing in the 4^th Division North of the British League and the introduction of the 2 Chinese girl players will give them an excellent chance of securing the Championship. 

The contact in all of the arrangements with the Chinese started with the tour 18 months ago which was organised by the Hartlepool treasurer, Keith Thomas.  Since then, Keith has been to China and as a result the 3 youngsters have been invited to spend 6 months living in Hartlepool and practising regularly at both the Hartlepool and Ormesby club centres.   

In addition to playing in the British League they will be entering a number of open tournaments in this country, starting with the Liverpool Junior this weekend where Johnson and Maria are favourites to take the main singles titles.

Tuesday 2 January 2007

2006 PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

KARINA LEFEVRE

The phenomenal performances of 13 year Karina Lefevre since the start of the new season in September earned her the Most Improved Female Player in the Ormesby Table Tennis Club for the year.

Karina did well in the first half of the year to finish 5^th in the Under 15 (Cadet) English Masters Championships as a 12 year old, which won her a place in the England Under 15 team for the prestigious 6-Nation Championships which took place in the Netherlands in June.   

Since the start of the new season, Karina has won two 4 Star Junior Championships back to back, the East of England at Grantham in October and the Stockton Tournament in November which has propelled her up to No 3 in the England Under 15 list.  Karina has also had exceptional success in the Butterfly Grand Prix Senior tournaments in Newcastle and Grantham where she heads the Band 2 ratings which are for players of all ages having secured more than 10 maximum wins in senior competitions. 

From an Ormesby and Cleveland perspective, Karina’s performances for the club and the County have been vital.  She played a major role in the Ormesby Girls’ team’s success in leading the table in the 1^st Division of the Junior British League where she won 7 out of 9 matches.  Karina also came in from just the 4^th position in the squad to play an important role in the Ormesby Women’s team being equal top of the Women’s British League 2^nd Division winning 5 of her 8 matches.   Earlier this month Karina won all 6 of her matches to help the Cleveland County Junior team top Division 1A of the County Championships.

Karina is regarded as the most exciting prospect in women’s table tennis in the North East since Carole Knight Moore won the Commonwealth Championship and was 3 times National Women’s Singles Champion more than 20 years ago.

DANNY REED

Danny Reed, the Ormesby table tennis player currently ranked No 3 in the England Juniors list who has been suffering from a serious arm injury since October, received 2 pieces of good news this week. 

Surgeons confirmed that Danny’s operation on his arm has gone better than expected to such a degree that he has been allowed to start practicing again.  His first session was at the Ormesby Club with another of the Club’s leading juniors, Andy Dawson, for less than an hour just before Christmas.  The practice went well and Danny is hoping to build his time up from there as the New Year develops. 

The second piece of good news for Danny is his nomination as the most improved male player of the year at the Ormesby Club based on the phenomenal improvement from being purely on the crust of the England Junior team last April to winning a prime place in the team for the European Youth Championships in the Czech Republic in July and then to join Paul Drinkhall again in the England Men’s team for the crucial European Qualification matches that were played in Ljubljana, Slovenia in October, which was Danny’s last competition before his operation. 

Whilst being out of action on the table, Danny has been concentrating hard on improving his fitness, building up strength and stamina and has been training every day.  Now he is back on the table, he has been invited to an England Training Camp in the middle of January although at this stage his practice can only be light.   

Danny says “I am delighted to be back on the table and building up to hopefully target some of the competitions in February and March and would particularly like to be fully fit and back in form for the English National Senior Championships that take place at Sheffield in March.” 

Danny’s prime aim is to build up to be part of the England National Junior team, with Paul Drinkhall, who are going for gold in the next European Youth Championships in July.  In the meantime, Danny is in contention for a place in the England senior team for the European Senior Championships in March, the World Championships and the Commonwealth Championships in May and June.

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Tuesday 14 November 2006

STOCKTON 4 STAR 2006

For full results see ' Tournament Page'

Ormesby’s Karina Lefevre won her second major Cadet Girls Singles Championship in a row in the Stockton Junior 4 Star Table Tennis Championships sponsored by Tees Active Limited at Thornaby Pavilion last weekend. 

Karina added the prestigious Stockton title to the East Midlands Championships that she won at Grantham last month. 

Seeded in third position, Karina faced a difficult draw beating the Scottish No 1 Cadet, Natasha Milliken by 3-1 in the second round, gaining revenge from the Women’s British League to beat Irish No 1 Chloe Nealon 3-0 in the quarter final and then further revenge over Lucy Davidson, the England Under 13 silver medallist, in the semi final 3-1.  Karina’s victory in the final was against Rebekah Griffith of Lancashire who had defeated the top seed, Alice Loveridge of Guernsey in the quarter final.  Karina’s victory over Rebekah Griffith in the final was by 3 games to 0. 

In the Cadet Girls Team event, Karina was also unbeaten in the singles matches although the Ormesby A team reached the semi final only to lose to Ireland by 3-2. 

The Ormesby B team of Chloe Whyte and Jessica Dawson also did well to reach the semi final of the Cadet Girls team event by beating a strong Peniel Academy team from Essex.  In the semi final, the B team lost to Grantham. 

In the Junior Girls singles, Karina also had a good run from an unseeded position, beating the 5^th seed Mary Fuller of Yorkshire in straight games in the first round and Sarah Russo of Sussex 3-1 in the second round only to lose to the eventual winner, Alice Loveridge, in the quarter final.

Wednesday 8 November 2006

Ormesby’s Karina Lefevre produced a string of unexpected results in the Nottingham Senior Open Championships, part of the Butterfly Grand Prix, last weekend. 

Karina came through unseeded to win the Women’s Band 2 competition.  She defeated Pat Thorley of Derbyshire in her preliminary group and then went on to have further unexpected wins against Val Murdoch of Bedfordshire and Kerry Mansell of Derbyshire and in the final beat Kelly Skeggs of Essex to take the title. 

Karina also produced some good results in the Under 21 Women’s singles where she reached the semi final.  Karina, from an unseeded position, repeated her victory over Skeggs then went on to beat Rachel Jamieson of Essex in the quarter final before losing to another Essex player Abigail Embling in the semi final.   

In the Women’s Singles competition, Karina scored two very unexpected victories when she beat the seeded Nicola White of Yorkshire and Bekky Griffith of Lancashire to qualify for the first round competition before losing to another seed, Caroline Hallows of Cheshire.   

Karina’s next major competition is the Tees Active Limited sponsored Stockton-on-Tees Junior 4 Star Championships which take place at Thornaby Pavilion this weekend where she is the 3^rd seed in the Cadet Singles.

Monday 23 October 2006

CADET GIRLS TITLE FOR KARINA AT THE EAST MIDLANDS JUNIOR 4*

13 year old Karina Lefevre added to her recent impressive performances which have helped to take Ormesby to top of both of their divisions in Women’s British League and Junior British League, when she won the Cadet (Under 15) Girls’ Singles in the East Midlands Junior 4 Star Open Table Tennis Championships in Grantham on Sunday. 

Karina won the Championship, one of the most important in the United Kingdom, from the 4^th seeded position by defeating Emily Bates of Lincolnshire 3-2 in the quarter finals, the top seeded England No 2 Mary Fuller of Yorkshire 3-2 in the semi final and the 3^rd seed Martha Travis of Cornwall 3-0 in the final. 

Karina added more good wins to her record in the Junior event (Under 18) where she repeated her victories over Mary Fuller and Martha Travis before losing in a close final to Berkshire’s Ayonija Sundararajan 3-1. 

Karina’s next major championship is the Stockton on Tees Junior 4 Star Open which is organised by the Cleveland Table tennis Association and will take place at Thornaby Pavilion on 11 and 12 November.

Thursday 19 October 2006

 FIRST WEEKEND - WOMEN'S BRITISH LEAGUE 

Ormesby Girls produced their best performance to date to finish top of the 1^st Division of the Junior British League competition in Stoke last weekend, winning 9 points out of a possible 10.

Ormesby won 4 of their fixtures against Team Peniel from Essex 4-2, Ballina from Ireland 4-2, Waterside from Southampton 5-1, Aquaserv Club Mid-Cheshire 5-1 and played a 3 all draw with the team that finished in second place, Bridge. 

Rachel Greener, the Ormesby No 1, finished the first half’s fixtures top of the averages with 8 wins from 10 matches played, whilst Karina Lefevre was in second place with 7 wins from 9 matches played.  Katherine Lefevre made an important contribution to the team’s success with 3 wins from her 6 matches whilst Chloe Whyte contributed with one key victory against the Ballina team. 

Ormesby lead the division with the Bridge Club in second place but with all to play for when the second half fixtures are played in February. 

The Ormesby Junior Boys 1^st team finished in 5^th position in the Premier Division having drawn 2 and lost 3 of their 5 matches over the weekend.  Damien Nicholls was the best of the Ormesby players, winning 8 of his 10 matches whilst Anthony Wright won 2 and Jonathan Durham 1. 

The Ormesby Junior 2^nd Team which played in Division 2 also finished in 5^th position having won 1 and lost 4 of their fixtures.  In the averages, the most successful player was Eddie Fambely who won 3 of his 9 matches whilst Andy Dawson won 2 out of 8

Friday 13 October 2006

SENIOR DEBUT FOR DANNY REED

Ormesby’s Danny Reed has won his biggest honour to date with his surprise selection for the England Senior Men’s table tennis team to participate in the European Championships Challenge Division qualification competition in Ljubljana this weekend. 

Danny has been selected together with Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight in an all junior England Men’s team to play in the major European event with English champion Alex Perry plus Commonwealth silver medallists Andrew Baggaley and Andrew Rushton left on the sidelines.

This is a major boost for Danny who is currently ranked at No 12 in the England Senior list, well below the players that he has replaced.

Danny has made great progress since finishing second in the English Junior Masters Competition in May and progressing to take the No 3 position in the England Junior Boys team for the European Youth Championships that was played in July. 

The England team will be matched against Slovenia, Portugal, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland.  This is the second and final round of matches.  England are in 3^rd position in the table.  The group winner will have the chance to challenge for the top division in the next European championships which are to be staged in Belgrade next March.   England are equal on points with the Netherlands and Slovenia but behind on games difference. 

Alan Ransome

Thursday 12 October 2006

Ormesby are participating with 3 teams in the Junior British Table Tennis League at Stoke this weekend.

In the Boys Premier Division, the team is named as Damien Nicholls, Anthony Wright, Nicky Skipp and Jonathan Durham.  The team won the championship 2 seasons ago and finished in 3^rd position last year.

The Ormesby second team is playing in the 2^nd Division with Andy Dawson, Marc Besford and Eddie Fambely.   

The Ormesby Girls team who won promotion from the 2^nd Division last year are competing for the first time in the 1^st Division with a strong squad named as Rachel Greener, Karina Lefevre, Katherine Lefevre and Chloe Whyte.

The teams will all play 5 fixtures over this weekend with the 2^nd half of the competition scheduled for February 9/10. 

Wednesday 4 October 2006

PAUL DRINKHALL -  NO 1          

Ormesby table tennis youngster, 16 year old Paul Drinkhall, has been named as the new England No 1 Senior in the new ranking list issued on Tuesday. 

Paul, who was ranked at No 3 last month, has leapt into the top position following 2 particularly impressive victories in the China and in the Japan Open Championships in which he qualified for the main event last month. 

In the Chinese tournament, Paul beat Korean international and World No 97 Jung Hoon Kim, then a week later in the Japan Open he defeated another top Korean Jin Kwan Lee, the World No 83. 

In both of these victories, Paul gained a valuable 80 ranking points which together have been sufficient to take him into the top England position.  Paul replaces Alan Cooke, the World Veteran and 6 times National champion, who has dropped out of the list after 2 years at No 1 due to not competing in main tournaments over the last 4 months.  In any case, even if Cooke had played, Drinkhall gained enough points in the Far East to take him into the top position.   

Paul, who is the English Junior champion and winner of the European Under 15 title last year, is one of the youngest players ever to be ranked at No 1 in the England Senior list.   

Two others have achieved a similar goal.  The first was Chester Barnes, the controversial Essex player who was ranked at No 1 two weeks before his 16^th birthday when he won the Men’s Singles in the English Senior Championships in 1961 at Crystal Palace.  The second was Carl Prean who in 1983 produced a string of remarkable results for England in the World Championships in Tokyo using his black and black pimpled rubber sponge bat.   

Paul is celebrating his elevation to No 1 in England with his England team mates who are participating in a training camp in China.  Paul returns to Teesside this weekend.

Friday 25 August 2006

MADEIRA JUNIOR OPEN WIN FOR PAUL

Ormesby’s 16 year old Paul Drinkhall won his first major Junior championship on Thursday – the Madeira Junior Open – which is part of the International Table Tennis Federation World Junior circuit. 

Paul has won several major titles at Cadet (Under 14) level, but this is his first international title at Under 18.  In the final, Paul won a very close match with Austria’s Stefan Fegerl.  The match climaxed at 3 all.  Paul took the early lead in the decider 4-1, and then 9-3, but with only 2 points needed, Fegerl recovered by winning the next 5 points to 9-8.  Drinkhall held his nerve to take the next 2 points and the title. Paul won the match 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8. 

In the semi final, Paul defeated Gilles Michely of Luxembourg by 4 games to 1, whilst Fegerl beat Paul’s England team mate Darius Knight of Surrey by 3 games to 2. 

Paul added the Doubles gold to the Singles, partnered by Knight with whom he shared the silver medal in the European Youth Championships last month.   

The Doubles was a more comfortable win for the England pair as they beat the Austrians Stefan Fegerl and Martin Storf, 13-11, 11-5, 11-7.

Thursday 24 August 2006

 CLEVELAND & DISTRICT SUMMER TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE DIVISION ONE 2006

With 2 victories last week, including a win over main rivals Kader Nomads A, Ormesby A have regained the lead at the top of Division 1 of the Cleveland & District Summer Table Tennis League. 

The most important victory for Ormesby A was the one against Kader, by 8 sets to 2.  Andy Wilson was the star of the Ormesby team, scoring a hat trick, whilst Jonathan Durham and Anthony Wright won 2 each.  Michael Boyce and Karl Shaw put up stiff resistance for Kader.  Boyce took Andy Wilson to 11-8 in the 5^th and defeated Jonathan Durham, whilst Shaw took Jonathan Durham to 11-8 in the 5^th and defeated Anthony Wright in straight games. 

Earlier, Ormesby had scored a victory at Northfield A by 8 sets to 2 with hat tricks from Durham and Wright.  Northfield replied with 2 wins by Peter Phillips and Jane Durham over Martin Rutter. 

Kader also lost ground against Ormesby C, playing a 5 all draw, despite a hat trick from Shaw.  Stephanie and Simon Donnelly both did well for Ormesby to beat Boyce and Robert Evans. 

These results give Ormesby A a 5 point lead over Kader as the teams go into the play-off stage of the season with 3 matches remaining.  Teesville are through, 2 points behind Kader, with Ormesby C clinching the final position in the top play-off section.

Wednesday 9 August 2006

UK SCHOOLS GAMES 

Ormesby’s 3 leading junior table tennis players, Paul Drinkhall, Danny Reed and Rachel Greener, have been selected to represent the North of England in the Government supported UK Schools Games in Glasgow from 5 to 8 September.   

This is a new competition which has been introduced by the Government as part of the build-up to the 2012 Olympics.  There are 8 teams invited in all – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland plus 5 English regional teams, the North, East Midlands, West Midlands, the South East and the South West. 

With Paul Drinkhall and Danny Reed, 2 of the England team which finished 5^th in the recent European Youth Championships, in the squad, the North will be one of the favourites to take the title.  Also included in the team is Darlington’s David Meads who was also part of the England team in Sarajevo. 

The competition is in 2 parts; team events for the first 2 days, then an individual competition for the UK Schools Games Champion.

Tuesday 1 August 2006

EUROPEAN YOUTH SILVER MEDAL

Ormesby’s Paul Drinkhall and his partner Darius Knight from London won the silver medal yesterday in the Boys Doubles event in the European Youth Table Tennis Championships in Sarajevo.

Drinkhall and Knight, who had been in form in the doubles throughout the competition, defeated the No 1 seeds, Marcos Freitas of Portugal and Tomislav Kolarek of Herzegovina by 3 games to 1 in the semi finals.  A round earlier they eliminated the top German pair, Ovtcharov and Schlichter, who won the team event by 3-2. 

The final against Russians Stanislav Golovanov and Mikhail Paykov was a close match.  The English pair led by 2 games to 1 and came very close to clinching the gold when they lost the 4^th game at 11-9.  The Russians ran out winners at 11-6 in the decider. 

A day earlier Paul had also excelled in the Junior Boys Singles where he was seeded equal 9^th.  Paul reached the quarter finals by beating the 4^th seed Ya Zhmudenko of the Ukraine in the last 16.  After losing the 1^st at 13-11, Paul reeled off the next 4 to win 4-1. 

In the quarter finals he was drawn against 5^th seed David Zombori of Hungary.  Paul won the first 2 games at 11-5, lost the next 3, won the 6^th but lost the deciding 7^th at 11-9.  In the decider, the Hungarian started well, taking a 4-0 lead but Paul recovered to 8 all and then 9 all before losing the last 2 points. 

In terms of medals, this year’s European Youth did not produce the 2 golds of last year but it was never expected to.  Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight are 16 year olds playing in an Under 18 event and have 2 more years to clinch the ultimate medals.

Wednesday 5 July 2006

DRINKHALL IMPROVES WORLD RANKING

Ormesby’s English Junior Champion, Paul Drinkhall, has improved his World Under 18 ranking from No 15 to No 11 in the new list issued this week. 

The main reason for Paul’s improvement is his performances in a series of international tournaments in Europe recently, including the Polish Junior Open when the England team won the gold medal in the Boys Team Championship. In this competition, Paul won all 9 of his singles matches to help England to the title.  Ormesby’s Danny Reed was also a member of the team. 

This ranking will improve Paul’s seeding for the European Youth Championships which take place in Sarajevo later this month. 

In the Senior World rankings, Paul has improved his position to 278, a rise of close on 100 places over the last 12 months, partially due to some important victories for England in the World Team Championships in Bremen in April.

Wednesday 28 June 2006

ORMESBY PAIR SELECTED FOR EURO CHAMPIONSHIPS  

Ormesby juniors, Paul Drinkhall and Danny Reed, have been selected to represent England in the most important junior event of the season, the European Youth Championships which are to take place in Sarajevo between 21 and 30 July. 

Paul excelled in this Championship last year by winning the European Cadet Boys’ Singles and, together with Darius Knight and Gavin Evans, won the Cadet Boys’ team title.  For this season, Paul has stepped up into the Under 18 (Junior) event where competition will be significantly stronger. 

With Paul and Danny in the team are Surrey's Darius Knight, Darlington's David Meads and Northampton's Tim Yarnall.

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2006

ISLE OF MAN

Ormesby’s Jonathan Durham and Karina Lefevre excelled to win 3 silver medals between them in the International Schools Table Tennis Championships in the Isle of Man last weekend. 

Jonathan Durham represented England B in the Under 16 Boys team event together with Christopher Doran of Northants.  They beat Scotland 3-2, Wales 5-0 and Guernsey 5-0 to reach the semi final where they beat Wales 3-0 before losing to the England 1^st team consisting of Damian Nicholls and Matthew Ware 3-0 in the final. 

Karina Lefevre also won silver in the team event, representing England A in the Under 13 Girls competition together with Lancashire’s Reena Ardeshana.  Karina’s team beat Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man and Ireland all by 5-0 to reach the semi final where they beat the England 2^nd team 3-0.  In the final they were defeated by Guernsey 3-1 with the Channel Island’s team having the very talented Alice Loverage in their team. Karina beat Paula Leber in straight games to win England’s single set in the finals. 

In the individual Under 13 Girls’ Singles, Karina also won the silver medal, beating Natasha Milligan of Scotland 3-0 in the quarter final and her England team mate Reena Ardeshana 11-4 in the 5^th game in the semi final before losing to Guernsey’s Alice Loverage in 3 close games in the final.

Monday 26 June 2006

BUTTERFLY GRAND PRIX 2005/6

The following three Ormesby players were successful in the 2005/6 Butterfly Grand Prix.

             Men's Band Three winner:        Simon Donnelly

Men's Band Four winner:         Jonathan Durham

             Women's Band Two winner:    Rachel Greener

Saturday 24 June 2006

JUNIOR UMPIRE AWARDS FOR ORMESBY PLAYERS

 Chloe Whyte left and Katherine Lefevre below receiving their Junior Umpire certificates from Colin Davison, chairman of Cleveland County Table Tennis Association.

Another four Ormesby players qualified as Junior Umpires. Jenny Lowther, Jamie Gittins, Ben Tombling and Marc Besford also received their certificates at the Ormesby Club from Colin.

Tuesday 20 June 2006

ENGLAND SCHOOLS CALL-UPS FOR ORMESBY PLAYERS      

Two Ormesby players, Jonathan Durham and Karina Lefevre, have won an England call-up for the International Schools Home Countries Championship at Douglas in the Isle of Man from Friday 23 June to Sunday 25 June. 

Jonathan Durham, who represents Ormesby 3^rd team in the British League and attends Macmillan College, is part of the England Under 16 Boys’ team, whilst Karina Lefevre, who is currently the England Number 1 Under 13 player, represents Ormesby in the Women’s British League and attends Thornaby Community School, will be part of the England Under 14 Girls’ team. 

The teams taking part are Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Guernsey, Isle of Man and England.  The competition consists of team events on Friday and Saturday and individual on Sunday.

Friday 9 June 2006

NATIONAL UNDER 11/12/13/14 TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP

Ormesby sisters Karina and Katherine Lefevre won the English National Under 14 Girls’ Doubles Championship at the Crystal Palace last weekend – their first major doubles title.

In the final, the Ormesby pair beat the current champions Mary Fuller from Yorkshire and Martha Travis from Cornwall in a very tight 5 set match at 13-11 in the 5^th game. 

In the Under 14 Singles, Karina Lefevre did well to reach the final, only to lose to the top seed, Melissa Wright from Yorkshire in 5 close games.  Karina also reached the semi final of the Under 13 Girls’ Singles before losing to Derbyshire’s Lucy Davidson in straight games.

In the Under 12 Girls' Doubles, Ormesby's Chloe Whyte and Jessica Dawson did well to reach the final before losing to the top seeds Emily Bates and Vicky Smith from Lincolnshire in straight games. 

CADET 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP SELECTION FOR KARINA

Karina Lefevre has won her most prestigious international selection to date as she flies to Drachten in Holland this weekend to compete in the England Under 15 team in the Cadet 6 Nations Championship.

England will be playing matches against Sweden, France, Germany, Holland and Denmark on Friday and Saturday and then on Sunday all of the competing players will play the individual events for the Cadet 6 Nations Championship.

Selected with Karina in the England Girls' team are Reena Ardeshana of Lancashire, Rachel Jamieson of Essex and Emma Vickers of Derbyshire.

POLISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

With Ormesby’s Paul Drinkhall and Danny Reed included in the team, England Juniors won their most important tournament for more than 20 years – the Junior Boys Team event in the Polish Open Championships in Cetniewo last weekend.

Paul Drinkhall was the star of the England team, being unbeaten throughout the team event with 9 wins from 9 matches played.  Danny Reed excelled to win 3 of his 5 matches, as did London’s Darius Knight who also won 3 from 5. 

England opened with a victory against Belarus 3-1 in which Paul Drinkhall won 2 and Darius Knight 1.  England’s second victory was again 3-1 against Latvia with 2 from Drinkhall and 1 from Reed.  

England’s first major victory was in the Quarter Finals against Japan where the England trio all won their singles to reel off a 3-0 victory.  In the Semi Final, England beat the strong French team at 3-1 after Darius Knight had lost to Abdel-Kader Salifou in the first set.  Paul Drinkhall beat Emmanuel Lebesson 3-1, Danny Reed defeated Vincent Baubet and then to clinch the victory, Drinkhall beat Abdel-Kader Salifou 3-1.

In the Final, the England win was over Germany by 3 sets to 1 with Drinkhall beating Ruwen Filus 3-1 and Steffen Mengel 3-0 and Knight also beating Megel 3-0.

This title is a major confidence boost for the England Junior Teamahead of the European Youth Championships which take place in Sarajevo in July. 

SATURDAY 6 MAY 2006

KARINA LEFEVRE - ENGLAND NO 1

Ormesby's Karina Lefevre is ranked at No. 1 in the new ETTA ranking list for Girls Under 13.

Karina's promotion from third position to No. 1 follows a terrific month in which Karina produced good results in three consecutive tournaments, the English Junior and Cadet National Championships, the English Schools' Championships and the English Cadet Masters.  In the Schools' competition, Karina won the Under 13 event. Following these results, Karina has been selected to represent England Schools' in the International Championships in the Isle of Man next month.

Congratulations, Karina! 

FRIDAY 5 MAY 2006

English Cadet Masters

Ormesby’s Karina Lefevre exceeded all expectations to finish 5^th in the English Cadet Masters event at Slough last weekend. 

Karina scored unexpected wins against Reena Ardeshana (Lancashire), Melissa Wright (Yorkshire), Mary Fuller (Yorkshire) and Ayonija Sundararajan (Berkshire).  Karina was seeded 9^th going into the competition. 

Ormesby’s second player, Anthony Wright, competed in the Boys competition and qualified from the first day to finish 12^th overall.

Butterfly Wolverhampton Grand Prix

In the Butterfly Wolverhampton Grand Prix, Ormesby’s Danny Reed did well to win the Under 21 competition, beating former English Junior Champion Dale Barham of Peterborough by 3-1 in the final.  Danny defeated Luke Carrington from Hull 3-2 in the semi final. 

Jonathan Durham won the Band 4 event, beating Adam Wahab in the final by 3 games to 2.

World Team Table Tennis championships 

Paul Drinkhall has just returned this week from representing England in the World Team Championships in Bremen, Germany.  The England team finished in 32^nd position.  At 16, Paul was the mainstay of the England team, winning 8 of the 17 matches in which he participated.

SATURDAY 22nd APRIL 2006

CHLOE'S A GOLDEN GIRL

Ormesby's Chloe Whyte helped the England Primary Schools' Girls Table Tennis team win the gold medal in the Championships at the Scottish National Sports Centre in Largs.

Chloe from Hemlington Hall School, Middlesbrough, was unbeaten in the girls' team event, helping England to win 9-1 against Guernsey, 10-0 against Scotland, 9-1 against Wales and 7-3 against Ireland.

Joining Chloe in the England team were, Emily Bates, Emma Tovey and Vicky Smith.

In the individual event Chloe exceeded her seeding to reach the semi-final and won the bronze medal before losing to the eventual winner, Alice Loveridge from Guernsey.

WEDNESDAY 19th APRIL 2006

JUNIOR and CADET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - APRIL 15 & 16 April 2006

Paul Drinkhall confirmed his dominance of English junior table tennis in Doncaster this weekend when he successfully defended all three titles in the National Junior championships,

This performance adds to the remarkable record that Paul has built up since the age of 10 when for seven years in a row, he has won the National championship in his own age group.  In the main event, the Junior boys singles, Paul defeated his main rival, Darius Knight of London in the final by 3 sets to 1.  After losing the first game at 12-10, Paul took command and reeled off the next three at 11-5, 11-7 and 11-8 to retain the title.

Paul's toughest match was in the third round against unseeded Dorian Robinson of Surrey who Paul beat in five games.  In the quarter final Paul defeated Darlington's David Meads by 3 games to 1, and then in the semi he beat the England Under 15 Champion and highly rated Gavin Evans of Buckinghamshire in straight games.

Ormesby's second seeded player in the competition, Danny Reed, fulfilled his No. 7 seeding to reach the quarter finals only to find Darius Knight too powerful with the London player winning by three games to nil.

Paul's second title came in the Boys doubles when he retained the crown when partnered by Darius Knight.  In the final they beat the second seeds, Tim Yarnall of Northamptonshire and Danny Reed in straight games, after beating the Evans brothers, Gavin and Myles in straight games in the semi final.

Paul's third title came when he retained the Mixed Doubles with the English Junior girls champion, Kelly Sibley of Warwickshire.  In the final they beat the London pair,  Darius Knight and Sara Wang in straight games.

Paul's next major event starts next Monday in Bremen when he is selected as part of the England team for the World Team Championships.  Selected with Paul are the Commonwealth doubles silver medalists, Andrew Baggaley and Andrew Rushton. Darius Knight who missed out on selection for Melbourne is included for Bremen.

Alan Ransome

FRIDAY 14th APRIL 2006

A GREAT WEEKEND AT ORMESBY

An unbeaten Paul Drinkhall led Ormesby to take second place in the Premier Division of the British League when the club hosted the final weekend of play at their new headquarters on Cargo Fleet Lane in Middlesbrough on the weekend of 8/9 April. 

Ormesby were hit by illness to their No. 2 player, Craig Bryant, and the absence of junior international, Danny Reed, who was in Shanghai representing England schools in the World Championships.  Steven Bailey moved into the No. 2 position and Martyn Clarke and another Ormesby junior, Andrew Wilson completed the line up for the weekend. 

Paul Drinkhall was in good form throughout the team's four matches, including a victory over his arch rival in the England Junior squad, Darius Knight  when Ormesby played the champions and league leaders,  London Progress, whose team proved too strong for Ormesby winning 6 - 2.  Drinkhall beat Knight at 11-9 in the fifth game and the famous Irish international, Colum Slevin, at 11-4 in the fifth.  Over the weekend Drinkhall won eight out of eight, Wilson won four, Clarke won two and Bailey one. 

Fittingly, it was the former ETTA Chairman and Ormesby Club Chairman,  Alan Ransome, who presented the Cup he had donated to the British League back in 1979, to the winners.- London Progress. A delighted Jon Kaufman accepted the trophy on behalf of Progress and said how delighted his Club had been to bring their army of young supporters along for the weekend, which included the opportunity to take part in a Special Challenge match against the Ormesby Club junior squad on the Saturday night. 

This was the first time that the majority of leading clubs and players had visited the new Ormesby Centre and the unanimous view of all of the participants was that the club was superb from a table tennis perspective. 

Quotes included:  "It's the Bees Knees" by Tony Meredith from Blackpool, the ETTA Organiser for the weekend. 

Nigel Eckersley, a leading veteran and former Ormesby player: "Great conditions ... it's just a bit fast for me"

Mark Smith: "It's been a long time coming.  What a fantastic venue"

Terry Young: "Great facility. Hit the nail on the head"

Jason Sugrue: "Best purpose build centre.  Just great for playing table tennis.  Very impressed."

Abdul Wuraola: "100% perfect lighting. Great conditions"

Jon Kaufman: &qu