The AGM was held on Tuesday 30th May at Norbridge Social Club.
Malcolm Fenn opened what was to be one of the quieter AGMs of recent years. Keith Armes presented Trophy winners with their trophies. There were no rule changes to discuss nor vote for. A request was made to provide an email facility to send in match results. The meeting closed after 50 mins.

Following report courtesy of Andy Dosher.
Two late inclusions to this years top 16 event, Norfolk’s Ian Mclean and Essex's Peter Hayden made the event stronger, both players featuring prominently in the days proceedings.
The first half of the days play was based around a round robin event with four groups of four players.
In group one the matches were fairly routine as Ian Mclean the number one seed and Fred Dove seeded five came first and second respectively to qualify for the championship section.
Cambridgeshire’s Martin Freeland had caused Mclean a few problems taking the second leg in their game, while Jon Hill had taken the third leg against Dove in their encounter.
In group two Mark Lewis pushed Andrew Dosher all the way coming from 2 games down to lead 3-0 in the decider before going down, while in the battle for first and second Dosher took the first leg off number two seed Andy Wignall before going down 3-1.
Group three was thrown into turmoil as it finished with three players each winning one game and losing two games with number three seed Dave Cole winning all his matches as group winner.
After beating Gary Young 3-1 Andrew Warner had gone down 3-2 to Norfolk’s Rod Hamilton. Fortunately for Warner, Young beat Hamilton 3-2 and after count-back Warner went through.
In the fourth group there were two outstanding matches, Hayden went 0-2 down to Brown in convincing style but started to play the defensive style better to win the next two sets just as easily, and in a tight finish it was Hayden that won 11-9. In the final match Hayden completed three wins in his group beating former champion Martin Gray in a seeding upset by 3-1.
In the first quarter final Mclean was a convincing 3-0 winner over Warner where the class of the former Scottish international really showed.
In the second quarter it swung both ways as Hayden got off to a good start over Dosher, but Dosher reeled off a number of points at the end of the second to take it 7, and in the third set Dosher ran away with it. Hayden however eventually steamed the tide with some deft touches to win 3-2.
The third quarter also went to five sets as big hitters Gray & Cole both went for their big shots as this game also twisted like an eel. Cole saved games points in the third set, but then had to settle for second best, Gray forcing a number of errors winning 11-8 in the fifth.
In the fourth quarter Wignall played the pimpled bat of Dove comfortable to win 3-0.
In the semi's Mclean proved too consistent for Hayden winning 3-0, though Hayden pushed him all the way in the first set, while in the other semi Wignal came through againt Gray 3-1.
Before the final Gray got revenge for his group defeat by Hayden, in the play off's for third & fourth, played in a good atmosphere. Hayden again showed his coolness of blocking to force a fifth end but Gray ran out a comfortable winner in the decider.
In the final Mclean was looking to go one better than he did seven years ago when in the first top 16 final he went down to Chinese player Brook Zhen Shea, while Wignall was looking to make it three wins in this event.
Mclean started off positively looping consistently and powerfully from difficult angles to take the first set at 4. Wignall got closer in the next set but such was Mclean’s quality that the feeling was that even when he went behind he was always able to come back reeling of a number of points which proved to be the case. This was the pattern in the third set with Mclean’s pace and quality in rallying a constant threat and he won the final 11-4, 11-9, 11-9 to become this seasons Top16 champion.

Scores from the dome :

QUARTER FINALS:
Mclean beat Warner 11-2, 11-4, 11-8.
Hayden beat Dosher 11-4, 7-11, 2-11, 11-7, 11-4.
Gray beat Cole 6-11, 11-6, 11-13, 11-6, 11-8.
Wignall beat Dove 11-5, 11-3, 11-8.

SEMI FINALS:
Mclean beat Hayden 13-11, 11-4, 11-6.
Wignall beat Gray 11-4, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6.

FINAL:
Ian Mclean beat Andy Wignall 11-4, 11-9, 11-9.

3rd & 4th Martin Gray beat Peter Hayden 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 11-3.
5th & 6th Dave Cole beat Andrew Warner 11-6, 11-9, 11-9.
7th & 8th Andrew Dosher beat Fred Dove 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.
9th &10th Ian Brown beat Ken Lewis 11-5, 12-10, 4-11, 11-9.
11th & 12th Andrew Holmes beat Rob Hamilton 11-5, 11-9, 5-11, 11-13, 11-7.
13th & 14th Jon Hill beat Gary Young 5-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8.
15th & 16th Martin Freeland beat Mark Lewis 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 12-10.

The first major event in the Suffolk table tennis calendar at the Britannia Dome in Ipswich on Sunday 11th.September 2005 produced some breathtaking games and undoubtedly the biggest headline winner in the event's six year history.
The event is open to the 12 best players in last season's Ipswich premier league based on averages.
On the day 4th seed Charles Fulcher wasn't able to play which allowed 15 year old Ryan Collins a reserve the opportunity to play as the 12th seed. This was pivotal on where the title would eventually end up.
The draw saw two groups of six players with all in a group playing each other, the top two, based on games won and lost going through to the semi finals, the other players playing for final positions.
In group one the top two ranked players Fred Dove & Wayne Shaw won all their games, so by the time they met they were already assured qualification. Their match for top spot was a thriller with Shaw's fantastic array of attacking shots causing mayhem for Dove who trailed 1-2 in games and by a number of points before turning the game around for victory.
The other highlight of group one was the form of Jake Collins who had wins over Andrew Dosher Michael Wright & Carl Ashton. He also took the first leg of Dove in their game.
The second group was much tighter and finished with three players each having four win and a loss which meant it went to a count back.
The group started with a major seeding upset as Ryan Collins edged home against Suffolk Men's singles champion Lee Barnes 11-9 in the decider. Last seasons Men's singles runner up Nigel Hodder came from 0-2 down against Ryan Collins to win, only for Barnes to beat him 3-1 in their match.
In the last batch of games in the group, the top two seeded players clashed, Andrew Warner having to win the have a chance of qualifying having already lost two games, while Barnes could not afford another loss. In a hard fought fiver setter Barnes nicked it 11-9.
In the last game between Ryan Collins and Andrew Holmes everything depended on the outcome. Hodder had already qualified while Barnes had to hope Holmes would win to get through. The first two games were routine for the youngster but Holmes led 9-4 in the third before Collins reeled off seven straight points to go through as group winner, Hodder finishing second and Barnes just missing out.
Ryan Collins showed no nerves in his semi against Shaw winning 3-0, while Dove & Hodder had a dog fight of a game. In the other semi, Dove seemed to have Hodder under control only to be pegged back by the flat hitting of his opponent who led 10-6 in the decider, but it was a relieved Dove who went though after saving four match points to win 12-10.
The final was greatly anticipated as it pitted England ranked Dove the number one seed against the last minute replacement & 12th seed Ryan Collins.
How would the youngster play the combination bat of his opponent in a big final?
All those questions were answered as Ryan took the first set having no problems with Doves pimpled rubber. Dove took the second, but in a tense next two sets there was nothing in it bar a few points, and Ryan showed his coolness to edge them both by the closest of margins using his powerful forehand to claim what has to be the biggest seeding upset in a major event in Suffolk.
Ryan beat the number one two three & four seeds on the day, two of them ranked nationally in the top 150 players in the country.
Scores from the dome

Final Ryan Collins bt. Fred Dove 7, -4, 9, 10.
Third & fourth Nigel Hodder bt. Wayne Shaw -7,1, -7, 3, 8.
Fifth & six Lee Barnes bt. Jake Colins 5, 8, 10.
Seventh & eighth Andrew Dosher bt. Andrew Warner 8,-8,5, 9.
Ninth & tenth Carl Ashton bt. Andrew Holmes 2, 9, 6.
Eleventh & twelfth Vicky Gray bt. Michael Wright 5, 8, -9, 6.
Report and scores courtesy of Andy Dosher.

	Presentations were made by Judy Rogers, ETTA's National Equity & Child Protection Officer to Paul Hutchinson , the Morris Goldstein Merit Award - for services to Table Tennis. A further presentation was made by Geoff Brook, to Paul from Suffolk County Table Tennis.
	Judy Rogers also made a presentation to Bert Newman upon his retirement as Chairman, on behalf of the Ipswich League.

Mark Dere was unable to attend the meeting, Judy Rogers stood in to speak to those present and take questions. Judy spoke of it being an exciting time in Table Tennis, with new developments, including new funding from Sport England. Changes were to be made regarding the branding of Table Tennis, marketing Table Tennis for the future, with a new logo, taking the sport more upmarket and to bring it into the 21st Century. Judy asked all members to promote the sport in all its aspects, from Junior through to International levels.

The Treasurer requested to charge a fee at Tournaments, £5 per player (excluding juniors) for any number of events, and to increase the Player Registration fee from £10 to £12. Both these were agreed.

Jim Kenworthy Award - Daniel Farrow.
Doris Fox Award - Bert Newman.

Bert Newman was invited to become a Vice President.

The Chairman vacancy was filled by Malcolm Fenn who will stand in for one season.

All other posts remain the same.

The changes to the Rules were passed. A proposal by Wherstead Rebels to clarify the Procedure for league matches was also passed (Ed - details will be shown on rules page of this web site soon).

Britannia raised a question relating to the number of Blank weeks in Divisions 3 and 4, (currently 3 per division) seeing the burden as not being shared equally with the higher divisions (currently 1 per division). This was answered by the Registration Secretary, who listed a number reasons this had come about:

1. Teams being relegated sometimes just fold up, as players don't wish to play in a lower division (this results in blank weeks percolating down to lower divisions).
2. Teams that just been promoted would not want to reside in a division they has just won just so the division could be evened up.
3. Due to point 1, there were less teams in the league, but more teams with a high number of players. This last season saw 19 teams with 5+ players.

Discussion revolved around how to resolve the problem, including restricting teams to 4 players if the club had 'reserve' players in the next division down (this idea was first muted here two years ago).
Although no rules could be changed for formulating the divisions this coming season, it was decided that the Committee would draft a rule change during the coming months that would effectively number each team in their respective finishing places 1 to 60ish, shuffle the teams where promotion / relegation had taken place, and then assign the team to each division so there was a even distribution of teams across the whole league.
Depending upon where teams dropped out, or the number of new teams entering the league, teams could find themselves remaining in the same division even after 'promotion' or 'relegation'.

A second point raised by Britannia involved using Britannia and Thurlston School facilities for the League Tournament, with lower costs being implied.

Relegation issues in the 1st Division were discussed and a playoff will be held in the near future for the three teams involved. (See Update above).

The lack of results appearing in the local paper was raised. Jimmy Farrow volunteered to take the post of Press Officer and raise the leagues profile in the local press.

Unfortunately due to illness Fred Dove had to withdraw from the England Veterans National Masters which took place at Thornbury, Gloucestershire over the weekend of 14th.&15th.May 2005, leaving Ken Lewis as the only local player taking part in this the premier National veterans tournament of the season.
In the 40+ event Ken (national ranking 341) was drawn in a group which included Ramesh Bhalla (national ranking 36) and Alan Philpot (national ranking 40), and with these two top 50 players in the group, both ranked 300+ places higher than him on the national ranking list, it was likely Ken would finish third at best, and so it proved to be. However, Ken went down fighting loosing 'three straight' to the number 36 but with all three games going to deuce, and almost causing what would have been a huge upset by taking the number 40 to the final fifth game and having match point at 11-10, only to loose 9-11,11-9,8-11,11-7,12-14.
In the 40+ plate competition, Ken enjoyed good wins in the early rounds including 'three straight' wins against two players ranked much higher than himself, and then easily beating the lower ranked John Barnes to reach the quarter finals where he met Vin O'donnell from Cheshire. Although Vin is ranked 40 places higher, Ken was enjoying a reasonable run of form and took the first game comfortably. However, Vin 'changed up a gear' taking the second game at deuce and ran away with the third, game 6.The fourth went to Ken game 7, so it was down to the fifth and deciding game. Vin held his nerve and eventually won 11-9 to rob Ken of a place in the semi finals.
The 50+ event again saw Ken (ranked 108) drawn in a group which included two much higher ranked players, Cheshire's Paul Collins (ranked 26) and Durham's John Williamson (ranked 69). Consequently it was once more unlikely that Ken would finish better than in third spot, and indeed it again proved to be so. However, as in the 40+ groups, Ken continued to play very well and was a little unfortunate to be consigned to his second plate competition of the weekend, having lost only to the two much higher ranked players, and taking both to the final fifth ends.
The overall playing standard in National competitions such as this is always very high, and of the 64 competitors in the 50+ plate competition, there were a substantial number of players ranked in the top 100 of the 50+ national ranking list.
It was therefore something of a surprise when Ken being ranked outside the top 100 made it through to the quarter finals, having on route achieved a fine win against Berkshire's Geof Civil (ranked 91), and a superb 'three straight' win against Surrey's John Millward (ranked 67), 11-5, 11-7, 11-5.
The quarter final saw Ken up against Staffordshire's Sid Hogetts (ranked 106), a player who has never lost to Ken in any of their previous meetings, but Ken wasn't about to let history repeat itself and demolished Sid 11-2, 11-5, 11-3 to reach the semi's.
Wale's Earl Jeffers (ranked 96), another player whom Ken has never previously managed to beat was Ken's semi final opponent, but an on form Ken had clearly learnt from the pair's previous encounters and Ken won the match comfortably after suffering the early setback of losing the first game 9-11 having come back from 3-8 down. This was a very satisfying win for Ken 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5, and a place in the final.
Ken's opponent in the final was the highly experienced and seasoned campaigner, Bill Fletcher (ranked 121) from Warwickshire, who, like Ken, had also achieved some superb wins over much higher ranked opponents on route to the final.
Bill stormed into an early lead in the first game with his strong forehand attack and acutely angled backhand, but from 3-8 down Ken fought back with topspin forehand counter attacking to level the scores at 9 all. Bill then produced two superb unreachable backhand kills to take the game 11-9.
The second game started in much the same way as the first with Bill dominating the early rallies, but Ken spotted the danger of Bill running away with the match and employed a quick change of tactic, coming closer in to the table to reduce the angle Bill was able to use. This effectively proved to be the decisive factor, as from then on it was Ken who made all the running, forcing Bill onto the defensive. After edging the second game 11-8, Ken went on to also take the next two games 11-6, 11-7, to win his first ever National competition.
Full results from the England Veterans National Masters will appear on the ETTA website shortly.

East Anglia’s major table tennis event which took place at the Britannia club on Sunday saw a gripping end to proceedings which had followed some superb matches in the groups & latter stages.
With four groups of four it was the top two players in each group that went through to the main championship stage & play off’s, those finishing third & fourth went through to a similar play off section.
Group four was the only one to have any seeding upsets.
Fourth seed Steve Kerns & number one seed in the group beat Andrew Holmes 3-1, but went down to national league colleague Paul Davison at deuce in the fifth, then to confuse matters Holmes beat Davison 3-1, which meant that all three players beat finished on two wins. After a count back on games Kerns & Davison went through.
In group three Tim Avis took the first two legs against number three seed Fred Dove, last year Avis had beaten Dove at the same stage, but after a tense start Dove finally ran out a winner at 3 in the fifth.
The number one seed Dave Cole won his three group matches but was made to sweat by Gary Young who pushed the Chelmsford champion to 8 in the decider, in the other group Martin Gray won all his games 3-0 All top eight seeds made it through to the Championship stage.
In the first quarter final Tim Avis gave a very good account of himself & tested Cole by taking the first set, at one all though Cole showed his class & eventually got through in four sets.
The next quarter between Kerns & Andrew Warner was a candidate for game of the day, Kerns took the first & looked to impose himself in the second before Warner began to use his trademark backhand kill & rallying skills away from the table, Warner took the next two sets before Kerns found a second wind to draw level, in the decider the rallies were breath taking in their quality & length & at 9-7 up Warner looked to have the incentive, however a couple of cheap points & perhaps greater experience saw Kerns edge this classic 11-9.
The third quarter saw Suffoks highest ranked player on the day Dove play Davison, unfortunately Dove was somewhat below par & went down to the better player on the day 3-1.
In the final quarter Martin Gray beat Andrew Dosher 3-1, the first two sets were shared but from the third set onwards Dosher always found his opponents range of shot too much.
In the first semi final Kerns took on Cole & played superbly to win 3-0 in a seeding upset which saw Kerns playing at his absolute best to restrict the power game of his opponent & eventually frustrate him with his array of power shots & blocking.
The other semi was also 3-0 as former champion Martin Gray was only slightly pushed in the third set by Davison.
In the final Gray was a strong favourite having never lost to his opponent before, this didn’t bother Kerns at all because despite trailing in the first set he composed himself to take it at 8, Gray responded like the champion he is to equate the sets, but Kerns showed character & excellent power & blocking to take the fourth & bemuse his opponent.
In the fourth Kerns maintained his level of play & played a number of power forehand winners at crucial points & despite Gray saving two match points Kerns saw out the match at deuce in the fourth for a remarkable win.
This has to rank as Kerns best ever performance at a major event in beating the top two seeds on the day & lifts his status as a major contender to new heights.
Scores from the dome
Quarter finals
Dave Cole beat Tim Avis -12 10 5 9
Steve Kerns beat Andrew Warner 8 -9 -9 6 9
Paul Davison beat Fred Dove 8 7 -7 7
Martin Gray beat Andrew Dosher 9 -7 2 6
Semi Finals
Kerns beat Cole 8 9 12
M Gray beat Davison 9 5 6
Final:
Kerns beat Gray 8 -7 7 11
Players final positions
3rd & 4th Cole beat Davison 7 10 -12 15
5th & 6th Dosher beat Warner 9 7 -5 -11 6
7th & 8th Avis beat Dove 8 7 6
9th & 10th K Gray beat Brown 6 10 -3 11
11th & 12th Lewis beat Holmes score N/A
13th & 14th Young beat Wright 8 -9 5 9
15th & 16th Morgan beat Freeland 4 -6 4 6

The Britannia based Ipswich team in the Colchester & District League completed the 2004/05 season with both "Highs" and "Lows" being all to apparent.
Despite winning their last league match 8-2, this proved to be insufficient for them to repeat last seasons performance of finishing in runners up spot.
Other results meant that they finished third, a "Low" but creditable position given that Ian Brown was unavailable due to injury 'till well into the season and Andy Holmes also being unavailable for several of the matches.
The Handicap Cup final (21.03.05) provided "Highs" with the Ipswich team winning comfortably despite the Rowhedge opposition's late strengthening of their team by the replacing two of the youngsters with top player David Cole and the experienced John Stubbings.
Ian Brown and Ken Lewis got Ipswich off to a great start winning the first doubles, and Andy Holmes followed up by enjoying a superb win over Cole. This was followed by a fine win by Ken Lewis over Stubbings, and the Rowhedge team were unable to recovered, Ipswich taking the Cup with a resounding 5-1 win overall.
The Ipswich team still had the opportunity of completing a "double" having also reached the final of the prestigious Kiltie Cup (24.03.05). The final produced some superb table tennis enjoyed by a large crowd of mostly opposition supporters, but the "Highs" of Ipswich earlier in the week were unfortunately replaced by "Lows".
Ken Lewis was a little unlucky to lose both his singles, both in five, and both at duce, 12-14 against Gary Cattermole, and 14-16 against John Andrews.
A definite "Low" with Ken having lost to Andrews for the first time in several seasons, and having had all but two of the match points in both. However, there was also a "High" with Ian Brown winning both his singles keeping the match alive late into the night and into the final ninth game, a doubles with Ken being partnered by son Mark.
Mark continued to play as well as be had done earlier in the match when partnering Ian, but with the usually reliable Ken appearing to be looking to replace his 'plonker' reputation by playing in a more 'attacking' style, the pair unnecessarily struggled, and the game went to the final end - the sixth final end of the nine games played.
The worst "Low" was to follow as Ken being unable to stop his attacking instinct resulted in the final game being lost, and with it the match.
The inevitable "High" and "Lows" of table tennis can make it a frustrating game - elation if you win, and disappointment if you lose, but none could be more disappointed than Ian who had remained unbeaten on the night yet finished on the losing team !!

An Ipswich team (Ian Brown, Andy Holmes, Paul Broxton, and Ken and Mark Lewis) look set to repeat last years success in the Colchester & Dist. TT League in finishing runners up in the league, and have again reached the finals of the two cup competitions.
Added to this, both Ian and Ken achieved personal success last weekend (6th.March'05) with superb performances in the Colchester league championships, Ian reaching the semi final of the men's singles before loosing to the eventual winner, Rick James, and Ken reaching the finals of both the Veterans 40+ and 50+ events.
Ken's attempt to retain the 40+ title for Ipswich (won by Andy Holmes last year) was unfortunately not to be, Steve Kerns being in great form dominated Ken to take the title. In the Veterans 50+ event however, Ken succeeded in lifting the title, beating Ian Whiteside in the final, and having beaten team mate Ian Brown on route.

TMS International (the marketing arm of the ITTF) has concluded an agreement with Eurosport International, the pan-European sports channel (available in 58 countries) to broadcast the World Championships, the Men's World Cup and the European Championships.
This agreement will run until 2009
This means that there will be more than 100 hours of table tennis on Eurosport over the next 5 years.
The next events to be shown will be
European Championships - Aarhus, Denmark - March 27th to April 4th 2005
World Championships - Shanghai, China - April 28th to May 5th 2005

Ed - 100hrs over 5 years? 20hrs per year? 1/2hr per week? - I can see people complaining of Table Tennis overload! - still it's better than nothing unless like me you don't have satellite! How about the BBC, ITV or the other terrestrial channels doing a bit more for our sport.

The London Grand Prix which took place @ Crystal Palace on 29th.&30th.January 2005 included 'locals' Fred Dove, Gary Young and Ken and Mark Lewis.
Unfortunately the above players recent 'climb' on the National ranking lists following success earlier in January at Canterbury suffered a set back.
Although Gary and Ken each qualified through both their respective groups with Ken recording a straight 3 games win over the eventual overall winner of the band, Fred qualified for one band only as did Mark, which for Mark was the first time in such competitions failing to qualify through both his group bands.
Further disappointment followed for all four of the Suffolk contingent with no-one progressing beyond the first round of the knock out stages. There are no 'easy' games in table tennis at this level, and none of the Suffolk players performed as well as they have proved they are capable of playing.
However, they were certainly not helped by the playing conditions which, surprisingly, at this National event were less than favourable to say the least with generally poor lighting, extremely hot dry atmosphere, and some of the tables being on a balcony where the lighting was absolutely diabolical and the floor very slippery.
Added to this was the continually high level of general noise resulting from the open plan location - a swimming gala in the Olympic pool was also taking place immediately adjacent to the playing area !!
The player's representative will be taking this up with the Grand Prix committee, having himself being concerned and inundated with complaints from a considerable number of players.

In the East Kent Grand Prix at Canterbury on 8th/9th.January 2005, Fred Dove, Ken and Mark Lewis, Garry Young, Jake and Ryan Collins all competed, and with all qualifying through the group stages, Suffolk had a significant representation going into the knock out stages of the competition.

Particularly of note was the superb group win Mark achieved a over his band's number 1 seed, and the youngsters Jake and Ryan showing that they are improving rapidly and are already capable of beating some of the top ranked young players in the country.

Further success followed in the knock out stages, and although none were able to stake claims on the winners list, Gary reached the simi final of his band, and Ken, despite struggling with reoccurrence of a back injury, reached the quarter finals of two bands.

All should be pleased overall with their performances at this high level of competition having achieved wins over highly ranked national opposition. Fred continues to surprise some of the highest ranked players in the country, as does Ken whose game is developing and maturing with age. Gary's game is also improving, and Mark on this form is clearly capable of playing higher than Div.2 at local league level. Jake and Ryan's dedication and hard work is paying off - I&DTTL players watch out !!

- The ETTA is working towards introducing Individual Membership for all Table Tennis Players.
It is proposed to bring this into operation for the 2006/7 season. The ETTA will make further details on this available in the coming months including fee levels, benefits and costings.
In order to benifit from things such as improved opportunities for public funding, the ETTA needs to know exactly who its members are.

At present ETTA player registrations have been collected by Leagues on a per team basis, (a nominal 4 players per team used by IDTTL), and works out at approximately £4 per player.

Top players will have to pay more which will cover tournament and National League fees.

Non-competitive players (casual but regular players) will pay a £6 annual fee. (I wonder how this will be enforced! as non league playing clubs don't yet have to affiliate themselves to the ETTA)
League players will pay £10 each, probably collected through the League. This is roughly double the existing rate.

Benefits, proposed by the ETTA for each member affiliated at this level are:
4 ETTA newsletters a year, a directory and rule book, a benefits booklet, a membership card and insurance, entry forms for tournaments, discounts off Table Tennis News subscription and subsidised entry to top events.

It is thought players who play in more than one League will only have to pay once.

Your Thoughts? Click Here

Veterans Eastern Masters - Norwich 20/21 November 2004.
Three Suffolk ranked players, Fred Dove, Ken Lewis and Ian Brown competed in this National competition. In the 40+ groups, both Fred and Ian were runners up, Ken finishing fourth in a very tough group which included two players ranked in the top twenty and a 'pen hold' Japanese player using a cork blade and 'anti' rubber !!

In the KO stage, Ian, returning from injury, was struggling with his form, but Fred progressed to the quarter finals before succumbing to the England number 5, Nigel Ecckersley.

Ken fared better in the plate competition, and for the third such competition in succession reached the semi finals, before being narrowly defeated by the England number 94 (312 places higher than Ken), Dave 'points' Crowley, game 7 in the 5th.

In the 50+ groups, the Suffolk trio all progressed as runners up in their respective groups, Ken being a little unlucky to loose to the England number 33, Nat Richardson, 14-16 in the fifth.

Unfortunately Ian, returning after his recent long injury enforced absence owing to a torn Achilles tendon, continued to be below par and was unable to progress beyond the first round of the ko stage. However, both Fred and Ken secured good wins in the early rounds, both reaching the last 16. Fred then enjoyed a great win against England number 6 Dave Welsman, coming back from a two game deficit, which set up the possibility of a last 8 clash between the Suffolk pair. Ken gave his all against the England number 13, Roy Norton, in a long and intriguing encounter during which Ken produced some of the best table tennis he has ever played, and was therefore understandably a little disappointed to eventually lose 10-12 in the fifth.

The Lewis-Dove clash was not to be, but Ken's defeat by Norton was quickly avenged by 'Fiery Fred who again came back from two games down to win the decider 11-9. Fred then faced Norfolk's Steve Edwards in the semi final and after loosing the first game, blocked his opponent out of the game to win the next three games with relative ease to reach the final.

In the final, Fred's opponent was the former world veterans champion and current England veteran number 2, Herbert Neubauer. A large crowd gathered in anticipation to see 'the battle of the combination bats', Fred playing with long pimples, Neubauer with his own innovation, Dr.Neubauer super special, long pimples with wobble effect.

Fred was by no means over-awed by such an experienced international opponent, and after Neubeur won the first 12-10, bounced back to level the match one game all with an array of outstanding pimple blocks and forehand loop drives which even the great man himself could not handle. Neubauer went on to take the next two games to win the final by 3 games to one, but Fred should be justly proud of his performance, aptly described as 'awesome', and not be disappointed at loosing to such an illustrious opponent.

Prior to this competition Fred and Ken were both ranked in the top 100, England veterans 50+, and following their performances in Norwich all three players will have improved their respective rankings in the English senior and veterans ranking lists. In the veterans 50+ Fred may even make the top 10 !!
Full competition results can be found on the ETTA website.

Regarding the motion to change back to 21 up, defeated at the ETTA July '04 agm.
The motion was to change the 'laws of the game' to enable local leagues to play either 11 up, or 21 up, or both.
The motion was overwhelmingly defeated - 26,669 votes against, 8,714 votes for.

The Veterans National Masters took place at Thornbury, Gloucester over the weekend of 15th & 16th May'04 and local veteran Ken Lewis took part.
Ken continued his recent success in winning the Suffolk County Veterans title causing a few problems to national level opposition.
In the 40+ event, whilst it appeared on paper that he stood no chance of getting through the group stage being in a group of players ranked a great deal higher than himself, (Ken is currently ranked 360), he provided his opponents with more than a few surprises. After first managing to beat Alan Boyle(Middlesex) ranked 278 in 5 very close games, he then caused probably the biggest upset of the group stage of the championships by beating Gary Baldwin(Warwickshire) ranked 81 in 3 straight - this must go down as Ken's best ever win, and will gain him maximum ranking points. He was not able to overcome the other player in the group, Wayne Percival(Cheshire) ranked 56, despite taking the first game, but delighted to have qualified for the KO stage as group runner up. Unfortunately Ken's success was halted by Eddie Roofe ranked 22 (a super fast version of Nigel Hodder; Eddie plays a very similar game to Nigel but with much more unbelievable top spin and incredible speed.) Although loosing to Eddie in three, Ken was by no means thrashed, 9-11,15-17,9-11 being the scores, and elated to have reached the last 64 at this level.
The 40+ final was between John Hilton, ranked 1, and Paul Giles, the surprise finalist and underdog ranked 11 who had earlier beaten Joe Kennedy ranked 4 (and seeded 2 for the tournament). It produced what was, to say the least, controversial table tennis, marred by Hilton complaining throughout that he was unhappy with Giles serve - at one point the tournament referee was called. Both players were lucky not to receive yellow cards for unnecessary comments heard by all the spectators, and Hilton could have had no complaint had he been shown a red card for his continued verbal protestations. This effectively ruined what had promised to be an intriguing contest and Giles won easily in 3 straight.
In the 50+ event, Ken ranked 108 qualified through the group stage as runner up, only just loosing out to the group winner, George Evans ranked 26, in 4 close and hard-fought games 10-12,11-8,10-12,9-11. This was in fact the first match of the championships and commenced at 08.30 on Saturday morning !!
Ken's progress was eventually halted, this time by Derek Wood ranked 43, though defeat to this more experienced and much higher ranked player, was in reality to be expected. However, once again Ken provided his illustrious opponent a few problems loosing again in 4 very close and hard-fought games.
The 50+ final between John Hilton ranked 2, and Dave Harvey ranked 4, was won easily in 3 straight by a now much calmer John Hilton having put behind him his earlier 'disaster' in the 40+ event.
In the doubles, Ken was partnered for the first time by Chris Turpin (Kent) a player ranked 373. Although never having played together before, they enjoyed initial success only to come up against the John Hilton/Joe Kennedy partnership and number one seeds. Although in 3 straight, they did however record 'respectable' scores loosing 9,7 and 8, an achievement in itself against such experienced opponents who never 'give away' a single point whoever the opposition.
Full Masters results appear in the news section of the ETTA website.

Berni Studd stood down as Vice Chairman, and was invited to become a Vice President.
Washbrook proposal for: 'One Club - One Vote' was passed - 10 For, 4 Against.
Colin Bennett was elected as Vice Chairman.
Jim Kenworthy Trophy (most improved Junior) was awarded to Jake Collins.
Doris Fox Trophy (for services to the League) was awarded to Berni Studd.

How much of a bad boy/girl are you when you play Table Tennis? Take a look Here on how the Tournaments Committee is proposing to deal with it. (Thanks Kenny for finding this).

Report by Phil Sinclair
The Suffolk County Closed Veterans Table Tennis Tournament was held at Stowupland Sports Centre and produced some very keenly contested matches in which several Bury League players were involved.
Unfortunately Mick Palmer (Bury Vikings) aggravated a back injury during the warm-up which restricted his movement throughout the day.
In the Open Singles he still managed to win through his group but was then beaten by Malcolm Collins (Ipswich) 11-3, 13-15, 5-11, 11-4, 11-5.
Phil Sinclair (British Sugar) lost at the same stage to Kenny Lewis (Ipswich) 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7.
The other quarter-finals were contested by Ipswich players with Andy Holmes edging out Rex Manning 11-9, 13-15, 11-3, 5-11, 11-6 and Barry Thain overcoming Charlie Fulcher 6-11, 11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9 in a match which featured some dogged defence and very long rallies.

These results produced a semi-final line-up which included none of the group winners. Lewis beat Holmes 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9 to set up a final encounter with Thain who disposed of Collins 12-10, 15-13, 16-14 in a very tight match. The final was a fluctuating affair from which Lewis eventually emerged victorious 11-4, 5-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-5.

In the Doubles Palmer and Sinclair partnered each other for the first time and overcame the Lawshall pair of Clive Grimwood and Dennis Morgan 8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 in the semi-finals. Peter Fordham (Culford Crusaders) and Colin Baxter (Thurston) were also playing together for the first time and enjoyed a good win over the strong Ipswich pairing of Manning and Thain 11-9, 12-10, 18-16 to set up an all Bury League final. After a nervy opening Palmer and Sinclair produced the stronger attacking shots to take the title 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9.
The Over 50's Singles competition saw Palmer and Sinclair reach the semi-finals again. However they were unable to overcome their Ipswich opponents with Thain beating Palmer 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 and Lewis again defeating Sinclair 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-4 to set up a rematch of the Open Singles final.

This fluctuated in much the same way but Thain eventually managed to reverse his previous defeat by winning through 11-3, 4-11, 9-11, 13-11, 12-10.
The last event was the Restricted Singles which featured three Bury players in the semi-finals in which Baxter got to grips with Manning's unorthodox play to win 5-11, 11-8, 11-9, 14-12 and Sinclair beat Fordham 11-7, 11-9, 11-9.
In the final Sinclair took early control to win the first two legs 11-7, 11-6 but Baxter then competed strongly before Sinclair sealed victory in an epic 21-19 third leg.

Kenny Lewis' Report from the Veterans 'Southern Masters' at Bracknell 3rd April 2004Both Fred Dove and myself entered the veterans 'Southern Masters' at Bracknell last weekend. In the 40+ event, Fred won his group loosing in the second round of the ko to Tony Gelder (ranked 26 in England).
In the 40+ I finished second in my group, loosing game 12 in the fifth to Peter Waite from Wales (ranked 103 in England, 262 places higher than me !!), then in the ko lost in the first round to Steve Davis (ranked 73 in England), though I did take a game from him.
In the doubles, Fred and I almost pulled off what would undoubtedly have been the shock of the week-end, loosing in the quarter finals, game 8 in the fifth after coming back from 2 games down to Clive Carthy and Paul Giles (ranked 13 and 14 respectively in England).
I also played in the 50+ loosing ALL three of my group matches, ALL going to five games - in one of them I scored more points than my opponent overall, and still lost 3 games to 2 !! However, I wasn't too disappointed, missing out only narrowly in a very tough group. This put me into the plate competition where I enjoyed some real success, eventually loosing disappointingly in the semi final to a player I really should have beaten, but beating three players on route ranked much higher than me - best win was coming back from two games down to beat Alan Boyle (ranked 83 places above me) !!
A full summary of the results is on the ETTA website.

For those of you who spotted Kenny on the Channel 4 'Grudge Match' in March 2004 here's Kenny's Report:
Regards the Norwich tournament, I got through my group of 4 in second place but then lost in the first round of the knockout stage - it's very tough at National tournament level, but a great experience !!
Didn't come up against either of the two featured players - don't think I would stand much of a chance against Joe Kennedy, but would love to have a bash against Nigel Eckersley, his style would give me better chance of success........ dream on........!!

In 2003-2004 the Handbook / Registration Secretary wanted you to consider a radical change to the league. Click Here.   Part 2 is availableHere. Although the schemes have problems, they did prompt players to comment on the good and poor parts of the league and give us some valuable feedback.

Read Andy Dosher's report on the 2003 Britannia Top 12 Championship report. Click Here.

Congratulations to Bert Newman (Chairman of the Ipswich and District Table Tennis League) on being elected for a three year term as a ETTA Vice Chairman at the ETTA Honours Committee Meeting on Saturday 8th March 2003.