MACKAY TABLE TENNIS NEWSLETTER
FEBRUARY 2015
Tuesday night senior fixtures:
Welcome to another year of table tennis fixtures. This is the first newsletter of 2015 and we intend
to make it a regular feature. If you have any items or suggestions which you’d like included in the
newsletter, let Charlie, Donna or Jared know or send it to [email protected].
Tonight (Tuesday, February 10) is the first night of fixtures. The committee has placed players into
teams and grades. We would ask that each team elect a captain and let Donna know who that is.
The captains (and all players too) are asked be on hand BEFORE play starts at 7 to ensure that games
run smoothly and if there are any problems let Donna or Jared know. Also:
1. If anyone is unable to attend fixtures, it is essential that they let their captain AND Donna
know the week before if possible, or at least as early as possible. Every effort will be made to
find subs but it’s hard if we don’t know until the last minute you’re not coming. Contact
Donna (0400 769 560) or ring the centre 49576103 and leave a message if no answer.
2. Return all game sheets AND balls to the counter and check they are complete and correct.
3. Clean up your playing area at the end of the night eg put away the tables and barriers if
required, collect all balls and return them to the counter.
4. If you’d like a quiet ginger beer at the end of the night you are most welcome in the players’
lounge, which is now air-conditioned. Salubrious, and the self-service isn’t bad.
Tuesday morning social:
Tuesday morning social fixtures started last week, February 3. A good roll-up is playing with great
spirit, and the heat’s not too bad when George opens the louvres and gets the fans rolling.
If you get a chance come down on Tuesday mornings 9-12 it’s a great morning’s fun and we even get
a bit of exercise. If you know of anyone who has spare time on a Tuesday morning, let them know.
Social beginner players are welcome.
Charlie has started putting the results in the Mercury, so look for them each week. He will do the
same with night fixtures. Also, check out Mackay table tennis on Facebook for info, results and some
great pictures.
Results of the Tuesday morning fixtures at the Mackay Table Tennis Centre, Bridge Rd played
Tuesday, February 3:
A grade: Blue (Peter Goodson, George Camilleri, Blanche Bradshaw, Maurie Rose) d Red (Nadine’s
sub, Delma Knight, Iris Grasso, Kim Challender) 8-6. Games of the match: George just got up over
Delma and Kim, despite many interruptions. Iris/Kim prevailed in five over Blanche/Maurie in a great
game of doubles.
Golden Oldies (Val Austin, Rhonda Payne, Kevin Abbott, Gerry Synnott) d Aqua Marines (Pam Joyce,
Roy Murray, Donna Abbott, Heather Whitson) 8-6. Games of the match: Down 2-0 against Val,
Donna came back to win games 3 and 4 to 9, before Val took the fifth game. Kevin was 2-1 up
against Pam but she wouldn’t lie down and won the last two to win in 5.
B grade: Jade (Jan Meng, Rosemary Shanks, Don Bailey) d Tan (Barb Zurvas, Ken Best, Paul Eder) 8-4.
Games of the match: Rosemary had a big morning, winning in five over Barb and Paul, and teaming
with Don to beat Barb/Ken 12-10 in the fifth.
Lime (Doreen Durietz, Madge Saunders, Laurie Bradshaw, Sharon Muller) d Mint (Robyn King, Geoff
Boyce, Barbara Boyce, John Challender) 8-4. Games of the match: Robyn and Madge played a huge
game, Robyn just getting up 12-10 in the fifth. The best is yet to come from the comeback kids, Mr
and Mrs Boyce.
Team points: A grade Blue 8, Gold 8, Red 6, Aqua 6; B grade Jade 8, Lime 8, Tan 4, Mint 4.
Big events this year:
Mackay Open: According to the Table Tennis Queensland website, this was to have been over Easter
but it is being changed to a date to be advised. Watch this space.
Regional opens: Bundaberg March 21-22, Townsville May 23-24, Brisbane May 30-31, Rockhampton
June 6-8, Toowoomba June 20-21, Gold Coast August 29-10, National Women’s Challenge Moreton
Bay September 19.
Queensland Closed: The big event for Mackay will be the Queensland Closed on May 9-13. We will
be looking for as many entries as we can get from local players AND a good roll-up to help with
running the tournament and catering.
Veterans: The Queensland veterans is at Townsville on July 17-20, followed by the national veterans
at Caloundra, Sunshine Coast on October 17-24. Both of these are great tournaments, and as the
nationals is also in Queensland you have to play at Townsville to qualify for a team. So if you’d like to
go start talking to people and make arrangements now. If we get enough committed to go to
Townsville we’ll work on sharing the costs of accommodation and a bus, or at least share cars.
Queensland Juniors at Brisbane June 28-July 1; Queensland Open Gold Coast August 8-9; national
seniors Victoria July 4-11; national juniors SA September 26-October 3.
Juniors: The committee is making big efforts this year to increase our junior numbers. We were at
the Sports Expo at the MECC on Sunday spreading the word, and we’re trying at schools also. A
round of the Queensland schools championships will be held here on May 22.
End of year break-up: It’s early days, but be aware that our end of year break-up is a huge event
which nobody should miss. Details have not yet been decided, but it’s most likely to be on Saturday,
December 3 and at the Table Tennis Centre, where it has been held for the last few years. It’s magic,
especially when David’s there, great fun, and a terrific way to end the playing year.
Next edition: Don’t miss the next edition of the newsletter when I’ll give all the goss on Rebekah and
Jared’s trip to South Korea. If you’ve got any news that can be included, pass it on to Charlie at
[email protected].
MACKAY TABLE TENNIS
NEWSLETTER 2, FEBRUARY 17, 2015
Jan’s hooked
Jan Meng got hooked on table tennis when she played in the first-ever housewives social
competition in 1973.
Meng (left) is still hooked, and together with several others she has run
the competition, now a men’s and women’s Tuesday morning fixtures, for
many years.
“Coral Morgan started the competition in 1973, there were just six players
in a round-robin at the time,” she said.
“I had a short break but I returned after the birth of my second daughter
Leona in 1975.”
Leona was one of the babies who were cared for at the next-door indoor
bowls centre while their mums played Tuesday housewives table tennis,
and she went on to become one of Mackay’s leading juniors, winning a state doubles title.
Leona played at a time when Mackay had strong juniors including Briony Williams, Emma Widdup
and Bill Patterson. A former accountant with some of Australia and America’s leading firms, she’s
now a full-time mum for her children Andrew, 2, and Timothy, three months, at Mountain View near
San Francisco.
Meng, who is a club life member, said many others helped run the fixtures down the years, with Iris
Grasso and Blanche Bradshaw giving invaluable help in recent years.
“It’s fun, people come along and have a chat, a hit and a cuppa,” she said.
“It’s nice to win but it doesn’t really matter, does it, as long as you’re having fun.”
Lesley Hill, whose son Robert was a leading junior player, helped run the fixtures for many years. The
late Averil Hodges was a keen supporter, and players now annually compete for the Averil Hodges
and Dorothy Younger Memorial trophies.
Morgan, who still plays in both Tuesday night and morning fixtures, said after a slow start the
fixtures became so popular they expanded to Tuesday and Wednesday mornings with up to 48
playing.
“It was designed for the stay-at-home mums but with the changes in society with many women
working, the numbers fell off,” she said.
Numbers are now increasing and the standard improving with many Tuesday night players joining
the competition, along with others looking for a social hit.
Results Tuesday morning February 10:
A grade: Golden Oldies (Val Austin, Rhonda Payne, Kevin Abbott, Gerry Synnott) d Blue Bags (Peter
Goodson, Coral Morgan, Blanche Bradshaw, Maurie Rose) 9-5. Best games: Kev got himself off the
floor against Peter, winning the last two 12-10 and 11-6 to win in five. Goodo also only just beat Val,
he needs to work on his rubber. Gerry looked to be heading for a win over Coral when leading 2-1,
but Coral took the last two 8 and 6.
Aqua (Pam Joyce, Roy Murray, Donna Abbott, Heather Whitson) d Red (Nadine’s sub George
Camilleri, Delma Knight, Iris Grasso, Kim Challender) 8-6. Best games: Roy had a big morning with
four tight games that went to 5, winning over Delma and George but losing to Kim after leading 2-1.
He also teamed with Pam for a close loss to George and Delma in 5. The big showdown was Pam v
Delma, Pam winning in 5.
B grade: Tan (Madge Saunders, Paul Eder, Ken Best, visitor Mick) d Lime (Doreen DuRietz, Branko
Vucurovic, Laurie Bradshaw, John Challender) 10-4. Best games: Laurie played two big games, going
down narrowly in the fifth against Madge and Mick. New player Branko just lost to Madge in 5.
Mint (Robyn King, Geoff Boyce, Barbara Boyce, Sharon Muller) d Jade (Rosemary Shanks, Barbara
Zurvas, Don Bailey, Chris Collins) 12-2. Best games: Barb hit top form, winning in 5 over Rosemary
and Chris, while Sharon was also hot with wins in 5 over Barb Zurvas and Don.
Team points: A grade Gold 17, Aqua 14, Blue 13, Red 12; B grade Mint 16, Tan 14, Lime 14, Jade 10.
Queensland Country Cup: Mackay is hosting the inaugural Queensland Country Cup this weekend
(February 21-22).
Our representatives include Mick Ruhl, Allan Robins, Jamie McKay, Ian McKay, Jared Stanley, Martzio
Tonelli, Rebekah Stanley, Nadine Lewis, Delma Knight, Rhonda Payne and Janice Kent. Cairns,
Townsville, Bundaberg and Rocky are sending teams.
It is hoped a similar competition will be held in the south-east and a City-Country playoff held later in
the year. Come on down this weekend and support our team.
Beginners League: A juniors Beginners League has started on Thursdays from 3.30. Special Olympics
players from the PCYC and others enjoyed the first afternoon last Thursday, helped by Donna, Jared
and Paul.
The players will be placed into teams and a non-competitive season of five weeks is planned. All new
and existing junior players are welcome to join in, so if you know of anyone interested they can
come down on a Thursday afternoon and give it a go.
Coaching and umpiring: We have gained a grant to hold coaching and umpiring courses this year.
We need more accredited coaches and umpires, so please consider giving one or both a go. Times
will be advised.
Opening times:
Thursday: 3.30-5.30 junior Beginners League; 7-9 training and social
Saturday: 10-12 training and social
Tuesday: 9-12 Tuesday morning fixtures; 7-9pm senior fixtures
David is opening the centre from 10.30-12 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for
practice and social play.
Annual dinner: Harrup Park will be the venue for the annual presentation dinner this year.
Harrup Park did the catering for last year’s dinner at the centre, and the food was great. We’ll let
you know the date when it’s all finalised, but please plan to come along for a great time.
New balls please: As you’re probably aware, new plastic balls are coming into use internationally
this year.
Rebekah Stanley and her dad Jared tried the balls during their trip to South Korea over the holidays.
Celluloid balls have been used since 1901, with the only change being a move to 40mm from 38mm
in 2000, when 11-point games were also introduced.
All state and national events will use plastic balls this year, and they will be phased into general play
in Mackay as stocks become available and we use up the old balls.
“We tried the new balls and there’s not much difference,” Jared said. “Their speed and bounce was
the same.”
Senior fixtures: Senior fixtures started last Tuesday night. Results for both senior and Tuesday
morning fixtures will be posted onto the website and on the notice board.
Mackay Table Tennis
Newsletter 3, February 24, 2015
Jared Stanley, left at back, and Rebekah Stanley, centre second row, with a training group in South
Korea.
Rebekah’s on the attack
Mackay table tennis player Rebekah Stanley is looking to take her all-out attack to her first
international competition, after her fourth training trip to South Korea.
Stanley, 15, has been invited to compete in August in the South Korean junior open championships
at Cheongyang, where she will take on international-class players.
She began the trips after being invited by a South Korean coach when she competed in the
Australian junior titles at Perth in 2012, and since then has avoided our 30 degrees summer to
endure some unusually cold training.
“The lowest temperature we had was -12, and it was usually -4,” she said.
“On two days it got to 4 degrees. The best way to stay warm was to play table tennis.”
And play they did, training for at least four hours a day during 9-5 sessions at a school at Jeongsan,
about two hours south of Seoul.
Stanley is refining her attacking style of play, and the group she trained with were all-out attackers.
“But nowdays every second player in international competition is a chopper (defensive) player,” she
said.
“A chopper won the junior girls singles event at the Korean titles.”
She is aiming to gain No. 1 national ranking in U15 girls this year, and is looking to compete in the
Australian junior girls open at Tweed Heads on April 3-6.
A North Queensland teams event scheduled for the Mackay Table Tennis Centre last weekend (Feb
21-22) has been delayed due to Cyclone Marcia, and will be rescheduled for later in the year.
Computer games win
IT’S a sign of the times, but the big sport in South Korea these days is – computers.
“Computer games is the top-ranking sport shown on TV over there,” said Jared Stanley, who
attended a training camp with his daughter Rebekah.
“Even more than traditional sports like football (soccer) although the South Koreans told us about it
when they beat Australia in the Asian Cup.
“But we went on to win the cup.
“We never saw table tennis on TV, at all.”
Tournament levy proposed
TTQ is proposing to introduce a levy for all players wanting to participate in regional and
state tournaments. They want to charge all players who participate in the tournaments a $5
fee to be used to assist senior players in attending national tournaments.
Jared would like feedback from Mackay members regarding this issue. He has already given
TTQ his 2 cents worth.
Tuesday night results February 17:
Division 1: Fish Assassins (Gaige Ireland, Rebekah Stanley, Jared Stanley) d Echo Echo (Neil Brown, Mike
Battilana, Rob Pieters) 8-3. Best games: Neil suffered KO blows, first from Gaige 13-11 in the fifth and lastly
from Bek, 11-9 in five after leading 2-0. Bek also had to go to 5 before beating Mike, as did Gaige against a
determined Rob.
Alpha Nauts (Ron Laird, Mick Ruhl, Jamie McKay) d Beta Blocks (Rob, Ian McKay, Mike Alsop) 9-2. Best games:
The McKay showdown went to the junior version, Jamie coming back from two down to win to 5 in the 5 th. It
was a toss-up between Mike and Ron, who went game for game until Ron won in the 5 th.
Delta Dudes (Jake Patteson, Barry Patterson, Allan Robins) d The Charlies (David Ting, Donna Abbott, Duncan
Treloar) 9-2. Best games: Dave is starting to find form after yet another trip to Honkers, winning over Jake and
Allan but he’ll have to lift to beat Barry. Donna made a cameo appearance in A grade, taking a game off Allan.
Division 2: Alpha Nuts (Steven Morgan, Coral Morgan, Delma Knight) d Foxtroters (Doug Dungavell, Simon
Hogan, Jai Yang (absent) 9-2. Best games: The Morgan clan looks strong this season, Coral leading the way
with a hard-fought win over Doug, 11-7 in the 5th. Simon and Delma almost made a return to the days of 21point games, Simon winning 20-18 in the 1st, before Delma won in 4.
Right Charlies (Peter Goodson, Kevin Abbott, Erin Sporn) d Beta (Nick, Geoff Denman) 10-1. Best games: Geoff
is making a slow comeback, losing to Kev and Peter but he saved Beta’s pants with a win over Erin. Nick tested
Goodo before losing in 4.
Echo Chambers (Peter Kaddatz, Ricardo Ortega, Janice Kent) d Delta Dogs (George Camilleri, Roy Murray,
Maurie Rose) 7-4. The Dogs are all backing up from playing on Tuesday mornings and it shows, Maurie going to
5 in a loss to Janice, who was all in a spin against Roy’s nasty little serves.
Division 3: ASC (Bridgett Kaddatz, Erin Baron, Tom Avery) d Alpha Apples (Mahommed Al-Murabak, Nikki,
Matt) 6-5. Best games: Mahommed led the charge for Alphas, winning 5-game matches over Tim and Erin.
Jail Creek (Luke Bourne, Dennis Paidley) d Charlie’s Angels (Maryanne Orman, Kathy, Julie Vella) 6-5. Best
games: Maryanne and Julie battled hard for a doubles win over Luke and Dennis, 11-5 in the 5th.
Delta Diamonds (Reg Ross, Ming Ting, Keith) d Echo (Andrew O’Keefe, Gavan Porter, Joshua) 8-2. Best games:
Reg and Gavan went all the way, Reg coming back from 2-1 down to win in 5. Keith and Ming outlasted Gavan
and Andrew in doubles, 11-8 in the 5th.
Tuesday morning results February 17:
A grade: Blue Bags (Peter Goodson, Coral Morgan, visitor Mick, Maurie Rose) d Aqua Nauties (Pam Joyce, Roy
Murray, Donna Abbott, Heather Whitson) 8-6. Best games: Pam and Coral played the match of the day, Pam
getting up 16-14 in the 5th. Goodo won all his games but was to say the least unpredictable, at one stage losing
11 points in a row. Maurie was unlucky in two five-gamers, losing to Heather and Roy.
Golden Oldies (Val Austin, Rhonda Payne, Kevin Abbott, George Camilleri) d Red Faces (Nadine’s sub, Delma
Knight, Iris Grasso, Kim Challender) 11-3. Best games: George and Iris got their money’s worth from the last
match, George winning to 8 in the 5th. Rhonda marked her last games before going back to work by beating
Nadine’s sub with lots of illegal serves.
B grade: Lime Stones (Doreen DuRietz, Branko Vucurovic, Laurie Bradshaw, Sharon Muller) d Jade Dragons (Jan
Meng, Barbara Zurvas, Don Bailey, Helen Ware) d 11-3. Best games: Branko and Barb played a cracker, Barb
winning to 9 in the 5th on the score sheet. New player Helen was given a tough introduction by Sharon but will
improve quickly.
Mint Patties (Robyn Geiger, Geoff Boyce, Barbara Boyce, John Challender) d Tan Cakes (Madge Saunders, Paul
Eder, Ken Best) 9-5. Best games: Robyn and Paul played possibly the longest match of the day, Paul winning
the first game 19-17 before Robyn came back to win in the 5th to 9. Geoff and Madge also played a cracker,
Geoff winning 13-11 in the 5th.
Annual dinner: We’ve booked Harrup Park for our annual dinner in December, so make sure you plan to come
along.