Watfordttblog

WATFORD & DISTRICT TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE

There was a shock in the Premier Div for unbeaten Antony Budden when his team Aardvarks played Fullerians. First game on Antony vs. Caroline Wilkes, and his team mates are expecting a comfortable win, but Caroline had other ideas and quickly gained an excellent win with some tremendous hitting. So the 100% gone, but worse was to follow and he duly lost all his games, in the 5-3 defeat Aardvarks suffered. Trafford Coker the unbeaten star for Fullerians.

West Watford ’A’ continued their winning ways with a victory over Dolphins; Roger Pyle and Chris Ogle winning all their games.

Cougars and Bats drew in what was a strange match in that Cougars raced to a 4-0 lead, only to lose the last four.

In Div One, a strong West Watford ’B’ side proved too much for Gazelles who lost 2-6. Nick Alwyn for the winners was unbeaten. West Watford 'B' playing in their new venue at Watford Boys Grammar School for the first time. Eagles played struggling Oxhey Hall ’A’ and won comfortably 7-1, Brian Clark and James Banfield the stars. Post Office had a tough match with Watling ’A’ winning 5-3. Abdul Rahim the PO star. Falcons had Derek Robinson to thank, who was unbeaten in their drawn match with Watling ’B’.

In Div Two, two man Hounds with Mitch Haynes starring managed to draw with Watling ’C’. There was another draw between Iguanas and Audit ’A’, Colin Dunstone  ‘doing the business’ for Audit. John McShane was unbeaten for Jaguars vs. Kangaroos, in their 5-3 win.

Just one result in for Div Three, Watling ’D’ beating Panthers 6-2, Paul Harris their star.

Results:

Premier Div: Cougars vs. Bats 4-4; Fullerians vs. Aardvarks 5-3; Bats vs. Dolphins 6-2; Dolphins vs. West Watford ’A’ 2-6.
Div One: West Watford ’B’ vs. Gazelles 6-2; Eagles vs. Oxhey Hall ’A’ 7-1; Post Office vs. Watling ’A’ 5-3; Watling ’B’ vs. Falcons 4-4.
Div Two: Watling ’C’ vs. Hounds 4-4; Iguanas vs. Audit ’A’ 4-4; Jaguars vs. Kangaroos 5-3.
Div Three: Panthers vs. Watling ’D’ 2-6.

Match Reports by : Geof Bax

LOOK OUT FOR VIDEO OF SOME OF THESE MATCHES TO BE POSTED SOON

Stuart Seaholme returns with honour!!

Stuart recently returned from down under and reports on his World Masters Games Adventures! 

Re my holiday returned from down under yesterday. World Masters Games was excellent. 28 sports & over 28,000 took part in 40 venues spread around Sydney. Tim reached final of 100 metres. Table tennis I lost 3-1 in the last 16 to the, chinese, Aussi number 1 Le , Previous round I did manage to scrape home against the Aussi number 3, Frohlich, at 12-10 in the fifth.  Le went on to the semi final and lost to eventual winner Huang from Taipei. Huang won every round 3-0 but Le did manage to get to duece twice. I was in good company as Dr Herbert Neubauer, 7 times worlds veteren champion, also lost in the last 16 to Chen from Taipei who then lost in the semi to Chen from China. As you can see this event quite Asia dominated. I managed to get a scratch entry in the mens doubles and played with an Aussi  but lost in our first match againt a pair from Brazil 3-0.
 
The Olympic Park facilities were fantastic. So many first class facilities & stadiums in regular use. If London can match this it will be great.
 
Stuart

Great to hear that you flew the flag so well for Watford and the UK Stuart... I'm sure I speak for everyone in the Watford league in extending our congratulations on such an excellent performance to both you and Tim!!

Table Tennis is a dying sport? Think again !!

This week Wednesday 14th October 2009 saw the first day of the Watford Table Tennis Academy, a joint venture between Watford Boys Grammar School and Urban Progress TTPro Table Tennis Club.

The first session was an after school session from 3:30pm to 4:30pm for the students at the school only and there could not have been a more responsive start to the Academy. No less that 60 students turned up for the opening session with all 12 tables in full use.

An amazed Urfi (Gergely Urban - Urban Progress TTPro Director) speaking to the head master Martin Post, said - what an amazing turnout, and this was without heavy promotion internally within the school or to the parents. Think what can happen if we start to advertise what is going on down here?

WWCC have now moved their venue to the new Urban Progress TTPro - Watford Boys Grammar School WBGS) Academy you can find directions to the Watford Table Tennis Academy here. The league has been advised that within the next month the two WWCC Teams will revise their names and they will become known as Urban Progress WBGS 'A' and Urban Progrss WBGS 'B'. Look out for further updates as the transition to the new Academy completes over the coming weeks.

With two teams representing Urban Progress WBGS in the Premier and First division of the Watford & District Table Tennis League most players in Watford will get a chance to experience the venue at some point during the current season. You can be assured you will be given a warm reception.

The first league game took place at the new venue for the WWCC 'B' team and everything went according to plan. Please note there is a time restriction on exiting the premises of 10:30pm, so please ensure when playing at the Academy that your team arrives promptly.

Jets Dolphins vs WWCC 'A' Premier Div.14th Oct 2009

A late match starting, Ralph Taylor gave Dolphins an early lead by taking a good win against WWCC 'A's out of touch Alan Thomas. Roger Pyle then squared the match at 1-1 after a 4 leg victory against the aggressive attacking play of Ricky Tarani.

Chris Ogle edged WWCC club into the lead with a win over Allan Lander although it also took 4 legs to do it. Back at the table Ricky Tarani put on an impressive performance to bring the match score back to 2-2 with the second defeat of the night for Alan Thomas. Chris Ogle put Dolphins back into the lead again with a straight 3-0 win over Ralph Taylor, and Roger extended the lead by beating Alan Lander also 3-0.

The most competitive match of the night was Chris Ogle vs Ricki Tarani with Chris the eventual winner 11-7 in the fifth leg. The Doubles also went WWCC way with a 3-1 win for the pairing of Roger Pyle and Alan Thomas defeating Allan Lander and Ralph Taylor.

The fixture finished with WWCC taking the match 6-2. One or two video clips of the match are shown below.

WATFORD & DISTRICT TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE

In Div Three, Meerkats a very young team, had a very good win, 7-1, vs Panthers Ishan Bairoliya and Jordan Olney were both unbeaten. Lions had an even better result vs Watling ‘D’, winning 8-0. The Lions team was Bob Wyard, Roger Dean and Dave Bowyer.

In Div Two, a strong Hounds team easily beat Jaguars 7-1, with Karl Seddon and Mitch Haynes winning all their games. Some of the Leagues more ‘elder statesmen’ played out a hard fought match with Audit ‘A’ overcoming Oxhey Hall ‘B’ 5-3. Dave East won the three games for Oxhey.

In Div One, Post Office were more like the side expected and although games were close they ran out 7-1 winners vs Falcons, Martin Johnson and Abdul Rahim the stars. Watling ‘A’ had a disappointing result after nearly all the games were closely contested, they ended up losers by 8-0 vs Eagles, their team  consisting of father and son Ian and James Banfield and Brian Clark. Watling ‘B’ faired rather better gaining a draw vs Gazelles, Paul Phillips unbeaten for Watling.

In the Premier Div, Aardvarks got back last seasons’ form in beating Cougars 7-1. Antony Budden retains his 100%, and Max Bonyadi was also unbeaten. Fullerians proved far too strong for Abotts Langley winning 6-2.

Results:

Premier Div: Abotts Langley vs Fullerians 2-6; Aardvarks vs Cougars 7-1.   
Div One:  Gazelles vs Watling ‘B’  4-4; Watling ‘A’ vs Eagles 0-8; Falcons vs Post Office 1-7.
Div Two: Audit ‘A’ vs Oxhey Hall ‘B’ 5-3; Hounds vs Jaguars 7-1.  
Div Three: Meerkats vs Panthers 7-1; Watling ‘D’ vs Lions 0-8.

Match Report by : Geof Bax

WATFORD & DISTRICT TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE

In Div Two, Oxhey Hall ‘B’ are still finding the higher division a tough nut to crack, and they lost again 1-7 to Kangaroos. Watford’s wheelchair star Jack Pegram playing up won all his games as did Andy Wilson. Two days earlier, Jack playing for Jaguars, his own team, he could only win one game against Iguanas for whom Dale Nichol was undefeated in their 5-3 win.

In Div Three, Panthers had Mark Semple unbeaten but still lost to Lions 3-5.

In Div One, Gazelles beat Falcons 6-2 and had Ian Hamilton and Sally Bax winning all their games. Young James Banfield did really well in winning his three singles vs. Post Office, in what ended as a drawn match, although it was a close thing when he only defeated Abdul Rahim 18-16 in the fifth

In the Premier Div, Aardvarks got back to winning ways overcoming Abotts Langley 6-2, with Antony Budden keeping his 100%. Cougars and Dolphins had a close match although with Cougars leading 5-1 it did not seem it might be, but with Dolphins winning the final two games, Cougars only managed a 5-3 victory.

Results:

Premier Div: Cougars vs. Dolphins 5-3; Aardvarks vs. Abotts Langley 6-2.
Div One: Post Office vs. Eagles 4-4; Falcons vs. Gazelles 2-6.
Div Two: Jaguars vs. Iguanas 3-5; Oxhey Hall ‘B’ vs. Kangaroos 1-7.
Div Three: Panthers vs. Lions 3-5.

Match Results and reports by : Geof Bax

P.S. Don't leave all the hard work to Geof Bax..... why not send in your own match reports... if everyone contributed their stories, Geof wouln't have to try and interpret the games from the score cards... it also provides us all with far more detail about what actually happened.

Come on don't be shy... you all have literary talents buried in you... if not I will 'clean it up' before it's posted to save any unecessary embarrassment!

It's nearly there !!

First look at the New Watford Boys Grammar School - Urban Progress TTPro Table Tennis Academy... Wednesday 7th October.. tables arrived, unpacked, final details thrashed out on timings and sessions... and West Watford Conservative Club (WWCC) check out the new venue.... even a surprise visit from a Blog Fan who takes the Met. train up to the venue from HARROW to check it out (Adam... plays with Steve Levin in the Wembley League)

I'm sure you'll agree it looks pretty fantastic... what a boost for Table Tennis in Watford and the local area!!

Sessions offiicially start on Wednesday October 14th timings as previously reported. Unofficially if you'd like to check out the venue we have an open evening on Friday 9th... why not come on down and see the venue for yourself and get more information... click here for Map to WBGS - Urban Progress TTPro Table Tennis Academy

IMPORTANT - Change of Venue WWCC

Important announcement West Watford Conservative Club have changed their Venue!

From October 7th 2009 WWCC will now play their matches from the Watford Boys Grammar School - Urban Progress TTPro Table Tennis Academy.

This change affects both WWCC teams, the 1st Division Team WWCC 'B' and the Premier Division team WWCC 'A'.

The match night remains the same WEDNESDAY. To find the venue please use view this post WBGS - Urban Progress TTPro Academy MAP.

I'm sure there will be those amongst you who will not be too disappointed that we have moved from the dimly list West Herts Sports Club.... and we look forward to welcoming you to our new venue during the coming months. Any Questions regarding the new venue please email chris.ogle@ipsx.co.uk or telephone Chris on 01923 234170.

WBGS Urban Progress TTPro Table Tennis Academy Map

The all new shiny Watford Boys Grammar School - Urban Progress TTPro Table Tennis Academy tonight - Wednesday 7th October opens it's doors for the first time.

The Sports Hall will be open for visitors to come down from 7pm tonight, Gergely Urban and Chris Ogle will be on hand to answer your questions, so please everyone is welcome.

Below a map to show which entrance to use at the school, where to park and how to get to the Sports Hall.

From Rickmansworth road heading towards Croxley away from Watford take the turning before the school into Shepherds Road, then take the second left entrance into the school. Drive past the Theatre block (on the right) and continue until you reach the far end of the playground area (indicated by the red circle on the map), park here. Follow the route shown by the Blue line to walk to the Sports Hall.

From Croxley / Rickmansworth, head up Rickmansworth Road towards Watford, take the turning left immediately after the school into Shepherds Road, then take the second left entrance into the school. Drive past the Theatre block (on the right) and continue until you reach the far end of the playground area (indicated by the red circle on the map), park here. Follow the route shown by the Blue line to walk to the Sports Hall.

 

WBGS & Urban Progress TTPro Academy Update

The 7th of October draws ever closer and the details of the Academy have now been ratified, so I am pleased to announce the following timetable of sessions.

Wednesdays

3:30pm - 4:30pm - Closed session for WBGS students only (this will commence on the 14th Oct)

5:00pm - 7:00pm - Junior Session for Urban Progress Junior Members

7:30pm - 10:30pm - Adult & Junior combined session, will also Host matches for teams in the W&DTTL

Fridays

7:30am - 8:30am - Closed session for WBGS students only (this will commence on the 9th Oct)

5:00pm - 7:00pm - Junior Session for Urban Progress Junior Members (every Friday until Autumn half term then every other Friday, blog site will contain all the up to date details)

Saturday mornings

10:00am - 1:30pm - Open Adult & Junior combined session.

A map providing details of how to find the Sports Hall and where to Park when visiting the Table Tennis Academy will be published tomorrow on this Blog and also on the Urban Progress TTPro Blog site

Urban Progress TTPro look forward to welcoming anyone who wishes to improve their game, so please come down and meet the team. Non Members are welcome to come down and experience the Urban Progress TTPro club before joining. Sessions for non members are £5

Gergely Urban - Urban Progress TTPro