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NEWSLETTER  -  April 2015

Club Sessions  -  IMPORTANT - no sessions over Easter Weekend

We are hoping to keep these sessions going, on a regular basis, on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings we are however under the control of Teign School who have already cancelled one Saturday session and are also closing over the Easter Weekend.  There will also be disruption while exams take place in the sports hall, however we will endeavour to keep the club running, although we may have to work off fewer tables.   

As a reminder to all: our Club Sessions run from 7.00 – 10.00 every Friday night and 9.00 – 12.00 every Saturday morning throughout the year. When you pay for a session (after your first free trial session) you automatically become a ‘member’ of the Club, there is no fee.  You just pay a session fee of £2.50 students and £3.50 adults with reductions for families.  Coaching is available, although limited on Friday nights during the season.

South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League

Excellent performances all round and real progress from our juniors in the South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League. 

In the top division NA Batmen will finish 3rd with NA Buzzards holding their own in the middle of the table. Both Dennis Gibbs and Kelvin Cheung will feature in the top 6 of the averages, Kelvin is also challenging near the top of the Super Singles League.  There have also been creditable performances from Connor Adams & Nick Halse in the top flight.

NA Eagles have been competing all season at the top of the 2nd Division but will miss out on promotion as the Battlers will finish top, leaving the Eagles to slug it out with Taverners for the runners-up spot. An excellent season for Doug Morgan, Dennis Long and Jim McIvor, with Jim currently 2nd in the averages.

While the students in the 4th Division don’t feature at the top of the table or averages their improvement through the season has been very encouraging. NA Falcons have their work cut out to win the division, but it is in their hands to do it. NA Hawks’ Dan Webster-Hall leads the averages with Falcons, Lee Passmore in second place.

Team Challenge Cup

NA Buzzards have reached the final of the Challenge Cup Team Singles and will face either Denbury Tykes or Torbay Academy I, (current holders of the cup), in the final.  The Falcons & Hawks also had creditable runs in this cup

Dyment Doubles   

NA Falcons have reached the semi-finals of the team doubles and play holders Torbay Academy I for a place in the final.

 
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N A Falcons, Lee Passmore, Tom Nicotra, Bernard Bretagne, Derek Stratton - Going for a League and Cup double


Newton Abbot TTC Junior ‘CLUBMARK’ Challenge – The Don Blatchford Cup

Unfortunately, due to the good cup runs from our teams, we have had to postpone this event which was originally planned for Friday 20th March. A cup match could only be fitted in on that date and as it involved two of our juniors we decided to postpone the Challenge Cup.

This will be a Singles event open to all juniors and will feature the main Cup competition for the winners and runners-up of each group, and a Shield competition for the other competitors, ensuring lots of table tennis for all.  Due to several issues it looks like the earliest we could run this event is Fri 1st May.  

Juniors will be competing for the Don Blatchford Cup, a fine trophy purchased in recognition of the man who got the club up and running in Newton Abbot, originally at Dyrons.  Although the students will not know Don, he was very keen on encouraging students and we are hoping he will come along to present the award to the winner.

We will keep the juniors informed to ensure nobody misses this event.

South Devon & Torbay Closed Championships

The Annual Championships take place at Torbay Leisure Centre on Sunday 19th April 2015.  This is an all-day event with plenty of table tennis to be played. We would like to see a good contingent of players from the club taking part in this event, which is organised by Nick Halse.  There are competitions for age groups and Divisions as well as the major events where you can get a chance to play against the top local players. Pick up an entry form from Nick or Tony.

Coombeshead Academy

Tony, together with club member and Academy 6th former, Joe Smallshaw, are running an after school Table Tennis Club at Coombeshead Academy on a Wednesday straight after school 3.15 – 4.30. 

 Denbury Demons

Congratulations to Club Coach Dennis Gibbs, who together with occasional NATTC players Shaun Gibbs & Kevin Nicholls, have retained the First Division league title in the Exeter & District Table Tennis League.

Junior/Beginners Summer League

If there is enough interest we might set up a junior/beginners mini league at Teign School over the summer months.  It would be good to keep the competitive edge for those who played in the league this year and as an introduction for those that haven’t tried league table tennis yet.  The games would take place during the normal Friday night club session.  Please express an interest to either Tony or Nick.

Junior Umpire Awards

Table Tennis England have an award for junior umpires which several of our juniors undertook and passed 12 months ago.  With many new faces at the Club we would like to offer the chance for them to obtain this award.  It involves a short, multiple choice test paper and a practical assessment of the individual umpiring a couple of matches. This is carried out during the normal club sessions at Teign by the Club’s coaches, and successful umpires receive a Table Tennis England Junior Umpire Certificate.  This award is designed to improve knowledge and test basic practical skills in the umpiring of table tennis.  Please speak to any of the Club’s coaches if you would like to have a go.

South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League’s Website

Keep an eye on all things table tennis locally by logging on to the League’s website at: www.tabletennis365.com/southdevon

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