Feb. 1 , 2010
____________
“TABLE
TENNIS ON THE MOVE”
In
December 2009 Sport Manitoba’s lease expired
at 200 Main Street. So the Manitoba Table
Tennis Association was forced to re-locate…so
Coach Damianov and I now work out of the second
floor of 1271 Sargent Avenue, North
side, just East of Rona and Omand’s Creek.
We expect to be here until approximately mid
February…until the Golden Boy Open for
sure…but, starting tomorrow, we will start to
set up our office at our new home at 145 Pacific
Avenue and so will be in and out of Sargent.
Until March, all mail should
still be addressed to 200 Main Street/ R3C 4M2.
Come March, mail can be addressed to M.T.T.A. /
145 Pacific Avenue/ R3B 2ZG. Phone
numbers will remain the same…Ron’s=925-5690,
George’s=925-5943. Fax Machine…no
number assigned yet. Email Address:
Ron’s current email address is mtta@shawbiz.ca...this
address will work until March…or you can start
to use my new email which is table.tennis@sportmanitoba.ca
Eventually
Coach Damianov will have an email that will be mtta.coach@sportmanitoba.ca...but
this will not be operational until March. Also,
George and I would like to apologize for the
phone and email problems we were having
throughout December and most of January…things
are now working…finally!
TERRY ZHANG & COACH DAMIANOV
are well on their way to
2010 YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES
in Singapore”
On
October 23 & 24, Terry and his cousin
William Liu travelled to British Columbia to
compete in the Western Canadian Qualifier which
was the first step towards representing Canada
in Singapore in August 2010.
The
top three players here move on to the Canadian
qualifier to be held in Montreal in December.
James Pintea of Ontario finished first, Terry
second, and William forth. So Terry
advanced but unfortunately William just missed
out. In December, Terry was off to B.C.
for a week of intense training. The move
served him well as Terry finished first out of
the 8 boys who competed at the Canadian
Qualifier in Montreal. Next up is the
qualifier for the America’s. This event
will be held in San Salvador, El Salvador this
February 1st-3rd.
Lolo Zhao from Ontario won the girls event and
Coach Damianov was named as the Canadian team
coach. To prepare for El Salvador, Terry
was again training in British Columbia from
January 11 – 20th at the Bridgeport Table
Tennis Club; thanks to Amelia Ho of the
B.C.T.T.A.
In
El Salavador, the competition will be intense.
Each country for South, Central and North
America are allowed to enter 1 player each.
Players will compete February 1st
with the 1 top player advancing to Singapore.
On Feb. 2nd, the previosu days winner
is excepted, and they compete again…with a
second player qualifiing. Then, on Feb. 3rd,
they do it over minus the first 2 winners.
So in all, 3 spots out of 32 are up for grabs
based on El Salvador.
Good
luck to Tery, Lolo and George. Terry and
George depart for Toronto Jan. 27th
for more training and then to El Salavador on
the 30th.
Complete
qualifier results are posted at www.ctta.ca
ANOTHER
MANITOBA PING-PONGER
CARRIES THE OLYMPIC TORCH
As
previously reported, M.T.T.A. President Dan
Racicot recently had a chance to carry the
Olympic torch this past December 23rd
in Ontario. Well, prior to this, former
Provincial Team player and sport builder Ted
Smook from Thompson had the chance to hoist the
flame as well. Ted’s opportunity came on
November 17th in New Glasgow, Nova
Scotia. Well done Ted!
TABLE TENNIS SUCH A SIMPLE SPORT?
Table
Tennis, or “ping pong”, used to be such a
simple game. You’ve always had all sorts
of blades made of wood, carbon etc. as well as
hundreds of different table tennis rubbers.
Some are smooth and sticky and then there are
pimples both short and long. Sponge layers
under the covering surface were of different
thicknesses, densities etc. Then we had all
sorts of glues to affix the rubbers to the
blades. The result was a bewildering array
of weapons from which you had to choose…in
simple terms you could go for potent offence as
evidenced by parameters of speed and spin to the
detriment of defense as defined by control.
All was fine and dandy…we made up our weapons
of choice and played to 21, 5 serves each etc.
We used red rubbers, black rubbers, green
rubbers, orange rubbers etc. etc. And then
things started to change. The scoring
system changed as now games went to only 11 with
only two serves each. And then they went
and made the ball larger, and then concocted a
massive plethora of ever changing rules and
regulations regarding glueing your rubber to
your paddle…the arms race was being more and
more controlled…we’ve always had umpires and
referees…but now we have “RACQUET
CONTROLLERS”…yes, I kid you not! What
do they do you ask, well, read this report by
Darek Mikita who is one of three of Canada’s
only certified Racquet Controllers…Gregory
Chan and Greg Dzioba-both of Manitoba-are the
other two. What will they think of next in
this “wonderfull wacky world of table
tennis.”?
Racket
Control Report by Darek Mikita
______________________________________
MTTA
PRESIDENT DAN RACICOT
CARRIES THE OLYMPIC TORCH !
On Wednesday December 23rd, 2009 I
experienced an event of a lifetime. Ricoh the
company I work for and a sponsor to the 2010
Vancouver Olympics appointed me to carry the
Flame as 1 of 20 spots allowed to the company.
FULL
STORY HERE
------------------------------------------------
ZHANG
AND RYBAK REMAIN PERFECT:
RED RIVER OPEN TITLES DECIDED
On
Saturday December 12th, the titles of the Red
River Open were contested. When
the final loops and blocks had been made, Terry
"Tian" Zhang remained perfect.
Terry defeated his younger cousin William Liu in
each of the Youth and
A Singles finals to remain a perfect 2-0
intitles in these events. They then
teamed up to defeat Coach Daminaov and Alan
Huang in the A Doubles final.
Michal Rybak, the always dangerous two-winged
looper, won his second > 35 Years title with
former Provincial Team player Don Kokan being
the bridesmaid
again. The tournament was well attended and saw
a lot of new faces
out playing in their first tournament. Results
are posted here as well
as the overall MANITOBA CIRCUIT STANDINGS.
MTTA
HAS MOVED TO 1271 SARGENT AVENUE:
In
March, the MTTA offices moved from the 3rd floor
of 200 Main to the 5th
floor.
Well, we are currently moving again to the
second floor of 1271 Sargent
Avenue. Phones and computers should be up later
this week. All mail
should still be sent to the 200 Main Street
address. In February (we hope)
we will move to our new offices at 145 Pacific
Avenue. Sorry for any
inconveniences these moves have made/ will
make...not under MTTA control!
TOURNAMENT
UPDATES:
In
Montreal on December 19-20, Terry Zhang will be
competing in the Canadian
Selection
event to try and qualify for the 2010 World
Youth Olympic Games
being held in Singapore next August. Terry
qualified for the Canadian selection
finals by finishing second in a regional
qualifier held in Vancouver
in October. Unfortunately, William Liu didn't
qualify finsihing a
strong
4th...but only 3 went forward! If Terry wins in
Montreal, he will
travel
to South America for the America's qualifying
event in February.
Good
luck Terry!
HAPPY
HOLIDAYS TO ALL PLAYERS!
_________________________________
OLD NEWS !!
WINNIPEG SUPER-LEAGUE
TITLES DECIDED
Play
in the 2008-2009 Winnipeg league started last
November and wound up on May 27th
after 23 weeks of individual match play.
In this league, players compete for
themselves and are ranked on a percentage win/
loss basis.
This year we had only 37 different
players compete down from last years 50 and 45
the year before.
In order to be eligible for the $500
prize monies, players must over the course of
the season contest more than the league
“average number of matches.”
This season, the 37 players contested
1,061 matches that counted towards Manitoba
& Canadian Ratings and Rankings.
As
for the past couple of years, young Terry
“Tian” Zhang (#1 Ranked Cadet player in
Canada) won the league posting a perfect 36-0
record. In
second place was another youngster William Liu
who went 26-4 over the season.
In third place, with a 49-18 record was
“The Rabbit”, aka Yu Cheung.
Yu, with his 67 overall matches played,
was tied with English veteran Liam Barclay for
the “Ironman” award.
Rounding out the top 5 were Mike Xu from
Edmonton who posted a 43-16 record and young
Matthew Lehmann, who at only age 11, finished 5th
with a 29-17 record.
Well done Matthew et al…prize cheques
will be in the mail soon.
Plans are already underway for next
season. Please
feel free to email me at mtta@shawbiz.ca
with any comments, questions or concerns.
COMPLETE
RESULTS ARE POSTED TO THE RIGHT.
Ron
Edwards Reporting.
__________________________________________________
Coaching
Course
Hey, want to
coach?? MTTA June 13 Coaching Course
is now taking registrations ... MORE
INFO HERE
__________________________________
TEAM MANITOBA
for the
2009 Candian Championships
Congratulations
to the following players who have been selected
to represent
Manitoba
at the 2009 Canadian Championships:
Boys
Under 11: Manual Zaki & Taj Moryl. Boys
Under 13: Alan Huang &Matthew Lehmann.
Boy's Under 15: Terry Zhang & William
Liu.
Boys Under18: Kevin Dzioba & Patrick Hilario.
Girls Under 11: Jacie Liu & BeixiJia.
Girls Under 13: Yilin Tian & Phuong
Nguyen.
Girls Under 15: XichiYang & Sheila Mogg.
Girls Under 18: Lucy Liu & Amy Wang.Men's
SR. Ntls Team: Terry Zhang, Alan Huang, William
Liu.
Woman's Sr.Ntls.
Team: Lucy Liu, Amy Wang, Xichi Yang.
Coaches: George Damianov & Jiayun Du.
Several parents will also betravelling
with the team and staying at the hotel.
Umpire:
Royle Derbitsky.
Coach
Damianov will be contacting players in the near
future regarding uniform requirements etc.
G
O O D L U C K !!
________________________________________
M.T.T.A.’S $2,500 TOURNAMENT SEASON WRAPS UP
IN STYLE
The
2008-2009 Manitoba Circuit wrapped up this past
Saturday April 11th with the
“TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS.”
This event-which I hope to make an annual
one-was hosted by Andy Bachmann and the Winakwa
Community Centre.
The event featured the season’s top 8
point getters in each of the four disciplines: Open Singles, Youth Singles, Over 35 Years and Over 50 Years.
$500 in prize monies was added for this
event bringing the Circuit’s total purse up to
$2,500. The
intent of this was to entice more of the many
“sleeper” players to “Get Out of the
Basement” and into a sanctioned event…more
thoughts on this later!
READ MORE HERE ...
__________________________________________________________
New
NATIONAL TEAM LISTS:
Table
Tennis Canada has announced its Spring 2009
National Squads.
Congratulations
go to Terry (Tian) Zhang, Alan Huang, Roman
Kishinevsky and
William Liu who have been named
to one of the Squads.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE LIST
____________________________
Tournament of Champions!
Winakwa C.C.
Saturday April 11
C'mon and cheer for
our champions!!
____________________________
GET
OFF THE COUCH !!
TOURNAMENT
INFO HERE
------------------------------------------
RESULTS FROM MANITOBA OPEN
SET TABLES FOR APRIL’S “TOURNAMENT OF
CHAMPIONS”
The
field of players has been set for the $500
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS that will be hosted by
Andy Bachmann and the Winakwa Community Centre
on Saturday April 11th.
This
tournament will be a “pro-style” event with
the top 8 finishers from the 2008-2009 Manitoba
Circuit events invited to participate. Players from the Open “A” Singles, Youth Singles, > 35
Year Singles and > 50 Year Singles will
receive FREE entry into the event.
$500 in extra prize monies will be up for
grabs plus results count toward final Circuit
Standings, which will be used to partially
select Manitoba’s teams for the Western
Canadian Championships and the Nationals.
Matches
in all 4 events will be knockout with spots 1-8
determined for each; each player guaranteed 2
matches. Play
will be conducted on three Sky Blue Europa
tables with orange Butterfly 3 star balls.
Each match will be time scheduled and
will feature a certified umpire.
Seedings will be by Table Tennis Canada
April ratings and NOT by Circuit Standings as
was posted.
Selected players will be contacted by
MTTA staff and must reply by the deadline of
March 31st.
Alternates will be invited in order of
finish; if two alternates are tied, the player
with the higher rating will be invited.
SEE WHETHER YOU HAVE QUALIFIED BY GOING
TO THE CIRCUIT STANDINGS!
Phone
George at 925-5943 to confirm your
participation.
MANITOBA
OPEN TITLES DECIDED
Daniel
McIntrye Collegiate was the site for the 2009
Manitoba Open Championships that attracted
players from all over Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
This
event was the last one to qualify for the
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS.
Terry
“Tian” Zhang, again dominated as he has for
the whole season.
Terry won the Open, Youth and A Doubles
(partnered with Mitchell Billinkoff) titles to
take home ½ of the $500 prize monies!
Terry’s victim in the A & Youth
singles finals was William Liu.
William fought hard but couldn’t match
the power of his older cousin.
Michal
Rybak completed his 4 for 4 sweep as he won the
over 35 Years event over second place finisher
Liam Barclay…Michal will be tough to beat in
the Tournament of Champions!
In the > 50 Years event, Windsor’s
Zeljko Babic prevented Liam from completing his
own 4 for 4 sweep!
The
“No Kids Allowed” winner was newcomer
Jiayun Du.
“Jia-Jia”, as she likes to be called,
is one of the MTTA’s new coaches working with
Coach Damianov.
It was nice to watch Jia Jia’s classic
pen-hold style of play.
Yu
Cheung, aka “Rabbit”, wins my award as
tournament MVP.
Rabbit gave Terry a bit of a run in the
Youth Singles semi-final and also played well in
the A Singles.
Young Roman Kishinevsky was in another
“war” against Kevin Dzioba…man do these
two play some spirited matches…good to see the
fight!
Congratulations
also to Matthew Lehmann who was the youngest
player to qualify for the Youth Tournament of
Champions event.
Complete
results are now posted elsewhere at www.mtta.ca
Ron
Edwards Reporting
_________________________________
PROVINCIAL
TITLES DECIDED AT MANITOBA CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIPS
Manitoba
“ping-pongers” battled this past weekend at
Daniel MacIntrye Collegiate to determine our
Provincial Champions.
Unfortunately the cold weather kept a lot
of players away and so the battles were only
between players from Winnipeg and Selkirk.
Terry
(Tian) Zhang again proved unstoppable as he won
all three of his events.
His victim in each of the Open “A”
Singles and Youth Singles was his doubles
partner William (“Willie”) Liu.
Although close, Willie just can’t seem
to defeat his cousin.
In
the “A” Doubles final, they defeated
“old-timers” Ron Edwards (old) and Ryan
Szajkowski (not so old) in 4 sets.
Come press time, Ron is still having
problems moving.
Newcomer
Jordie Moryl beat up on his little brother Taj
two times to claim two titles:
the B Singles 3rd Division and
the Youth Singles 3rd Division.
Kevin Dzioba and Matthew Lehmann each
turned in strong performances in the Youth
Singles event.
Kevin moves into 3rd spot in
the “Youth Singles Circuit Standings” and
Matthew stands 5th.
With 2/4 tournaments held, both players
show a good chance to finish TOP 8 to advance to
April’s TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS.
Michal
Rybak and Liam Barclay again dominated the
>35 and >50 Years Singles categories.
The
next event will be the Golden Boy Open on
February 7th and on the 8th
will be another 1-day training camp.
Players from Saskatchewan are expected to
participate in the next event.
March 7th and 8th
will be the Manitoba Open Championships and this
will be players last chance to qualify for the
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS.
A
reminder to all SQUAD PLAYERS THAT THESE
TRAINING CAMPS AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT LEAGUE PLAY
IS MANDATORY!…hard to get results out of
province when you don’t compete enough
locally…and PROVINCIAL TEAM SELECTION IS BASED
UPON TOURNAMENT & LEAGUE RESULTS.
Complete
results and current CIRCUIT STANDINGS are now
posted!
Ron
“Sore Back: Edwards reporting.
______________________________________
$2,500
2008-2009
Manitoba Table Tennis
Circuit Kicks OFF!"
The
first event in the 2008-2009 Circuit was held on
Saturday November 8th at Daniel McIntyre
Collegiate lower gym.
The
Red River Open Championships had events for
players of all ages and all ability levels.
By the end of the day 13 titles had been
decided. The
only multiple event winner was Terry (Tian)
Zhang who won the A "Open" Singles
title plus those of Youth and A Doubles with
partner William Liu.
For this current 2008-2009 Season, the
Manitoba Table Tennis Association will be
hosting its first ever "TOURNAMENT OF
CHAMPIONS."
The top 8 point getters from the A Sgls,
Youth Sgls, >35 Sgls and >50 Sgls. events
will get free entry into this tournament to be
held on April 4th at Winakwa Community Centre in
Winnipeg. Other
Circuit event winners were Michal Rybak who took
home the first >35 Years trophy and Liam
Barclay who took top honours in the >50 Years
events.
The
weather, road conditions and unfortunate timing
of the C.F.L's Eastern Semi-Final keep entries
down somewhat.
34 players risked the icy roads coming
from as far away as Norway House, Beren's River,
Fisher Branch and Brandon to compete.
Richard Wilson from Beren's River won the
B Sgls. 3rd Division title and Brandon's Luke
Giesbrecht finished second in the B-2nd Division
dropping 4 straight sets to penholder Hsiu-Wen
Chen. We
hope to see many more players from across
Manitoba this year.
Clubs are up and running in Thompson and
Carman and we hope to see guys like former
Provincial Team Players Greg Gusberti and Ted
Smook up in Gillam and Thompson respectively.
Kadar Nur Ahmed is living in Brandon and
there are some more players playing there....
Results from these events count towards
selection of Manitoba's Provincial teams...so
even new-comers may have a chance.
But, if you don't think you are that
good, not to worry...there are categories of
play for you too!
The weekend concluded with a training
camp on the Sunday conducted by M.T.T.A. Head
Coach Mr. George Damianov.
Next
on the calendar will be the Manitoba Closed
Championships and training camp to be held at
the same location on December 6th and 7th.
Ron
Edwards Reporting ... 925-5690
__________________________________________
CLUBS TO
PLAY AT !!
Mon. DMCI 6:30 - 9:30 Now Open
Tues. John Pritchard School 6:30 -9:30 Start
Oct. 21
Wed. DMCI 6:30 - 9:30 League Play
Thur. Wndsor School 7:00 - 10:00 Now Open
Fri. DMCI 6:30 - 9:30 Now Open
Sun. Winakwa C.C. 12:00 - 2:00 Now Open
Winakwa Closed Sun Nov 30
_________________________________________
NOTE:
MTTA Super League has now begun Wednesdays at
DMCI, 6:30 - 9:00
All matches count towards CTTA rating
Hey, let's get ready for the Manitoba Closed in
a couple of weeks!
___________________________________________
Ron
Edwards
Executive Director,
Manitoba
Table Tennis Association
_____________________________________________
MANITOBA
HAS 15 NEW CLUB UMPIRES & ONE
WHO JUST RETURNED FROM BEIJING OLYMPIC GAMES:
This
past summer, Greg Chan – the M.T.T.A.’s
Officials Development Chairperson – conducted
2 Club Umpire Seminar & Examination
sessions. The
first was held in May in Elm Creek and the
second was in August in Carman.
Both sessions were to prepare officials
for the very successful 2008 Power Smart
Manitoba Games hosted by Carman August 11-14:
(complete report and results to follow).
Congratulations
and a sincere thank-you for your efforts in
Carman and Elm Creek go out to: Bob Kowalchuk, Ed Schroeder, Ray Caddoo, Gail Jones, Art
Scora, Neil Vanderput, Neil Strachan, Dale
Warkentin, Terra Huston, Dorothy Strachan,
Samantha Clemis, Kylie Nicolajsen, Katlyn
Burdenuk, Ceone Dyck, Isabel Rutter.
Your participation and volunteer efforts
made the table tennis event a great success!
These
persons will receive a lapel pin; certificate
and Provincial Level Umpires Trainee card in the
mail very soon.
This is the first stage in umpiring.
Hopefully you will follow in the
footsteps of another two Manitoba Umpires who
started their careers in the late 1980’s.
These are International Umpires Mr. Darek
Mikita and MR. Greg Dzioba.
Darek represented Canada at the 2004
Athens Olympic Games and Greg just returned from
the 2008 BEIJING OLYMPIC GAMES!
Wow, what an honour and what an
experience it must have been to travel to the
Olympics held in the land of table tennis!
The
Central Region’s newly qualified umpires will
also have the chance to start to knock the ball
around in Carman as Bob Kowalchuk is in the
process of setting up a new club at the Active
Living Centre.
This is in addition to current groups
playing in St. Alphonse and Winkler.
Over
and out.
Ron
Edwards Reporting
_____________________________________________
WINNIPEG
SELECTION TRIALS
HELD FOR 2008 POWER SMART MANITOBA GAMES
The
trials to select the Winnipeg team for the
August 2008 Power Smart Manitoba Games finals
were held this past Saturday June 21st.
The action was fast at furious at the
Crescentwood Community Centre as boys and girls
battled in the under 13 and under 15 years age
categories. Many matches went the full five game distance.
When the dust settled, results were as
follows:
BOYS
13 & UNDER:
GOLD-Sergiu
Buda SILVER-Colin Stranc
BRONZE-Daniel Hu
GIRLS
13 & UNDER:
GOLD-Francesca
Chan
BOYS
15 & UNDER:
GOLD-Patrick
Hilario
SILVER-Arjun Nirula
BRONZE-Daniel Hu
GIRLS
15 & UNDER:
GOLD-Kathleen
Kopp
These
athletes will now travel as part of Team
Winnipeg to the August 11-14 table tennis event
in Carman.
Athletes will compete in individual
singles events as well in the team event where
they play singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
Full Games information can be found
elsewhere on the www.mtta.ca
site.
Eight
teams will be at the Games.
Besides Winnipeg there are teams from the
Central, Parkland, Eastman, Norman, Westman,
host Carman team and the defending champions
from the Interlake.
Of
interest is the fact that the Winnipeg coach
might well be the 2007 Canada Winter Games
Bronze medallist Frederick “Freddie Fingers”
Eng. Freddie’s
brother Patrick was the Winnipeg team coach for
the 2004 Games in Dauphin.
Freddie says his goal would be to upset
Dan Racicot’s Interlake team and thus not only
restore the family name but to bring the title
back to Winnipeg.
See
you in Carman!
Ron
Edwards Reporting
PS-The
MTTA is still in need of volunteers to help
officiate in Carman.
If you can make the commitment please
contact the office at mtta@shawbiz.ca
__________________________________________________
PARKLAND REGION MANITOBA SUMMER
GAMES TRYOUTS
This
past Saturday June 14th, the Parkland
Region held their tryouts to pick their table
tennis team for the 2008 Power Smart Manitoba
Games. The
trials were hosted at Gilbert Plains High School
by Deanna Gouldsborough of the Gilbert Plains
Recreation Commission and local player Dominic
Gamache.
Entries
were not at expected levels.
However, in the end, players from 5
communities entered.
Results were as follows:
Boys
13 and Under Winner was Desmond Nepinak from
Camperville.
Boys
15 and Under Winner was Luke Love from Dauphin.
Runner-ups
in the boys event was Konelley Houle from Ebb
& Flow and Criag Genaille from Minitonas.
The
Parkland Region Girls team will be composed of
some players from Skownan who were unfortunately
unable to attend the trials.
In
the separate “Open Singles Event”, Luke Love
bested Dominic Gamache in 4 games.
Results
from all events count towards Manitoba &
Canadian ratings & rankings which can found
at www.ctta.ca
or by linking from the Manitoba Table Tennis
Association website at www.mtta.ca
Dominic
Gamache also wrote his Club Umpire examination
to hopefully become a Certified Club Umpire.
Thank you also to Courtney Edwards of
Winnipeg who was our main umpire for the event
and to Parkland Sport Region’s
“Sweet-Pete-Conway.”
Ron
Edwards Reporting
_______________________________________________
STOP PRESS-NEWS FLASH
MITCHELL
BILLINKOFF RECEIVES AWARD
This
past Tuesday June 2nd, MTTA
Provincial Team player Mitchell Billinkoff was
named Jewish Athlete of the Year.
The award was made at the 36th
annual Rady Jewish Community Centre and Y Sports
Dinner. Mitchell
received the “Idy & Max Nusgart Memorial
Award” for his many accomplishments in table
tennis. Congratulations
to Mitchell.
Next up for him are the Canadian Senior
& Junior Championships this coming July in
Halifax.
Ron
Edwards Reporting
__________________________________________
“STRIDE
GUYS”
MAKE WINNIPEG PING PONG DEBUT
This
past Monday June 2nd, Ryan and
Francis from the Stride Gum “ping pong” team
made their way to Winnipeg.
Winnipeg was one of 28 scheduled stops
for them as they make their way across Canada in
their 1966 VW to prove that Stride Gum can
outlast all ping pong games.
After
receiving excellent coverage
in both the Winnipeg Sun and
Winnipeg Free Press for some
outside Portage Place spectator
challenge matches, the pair
stopped in at Daniel MacIntyre
Collegiate and had a knock against some
members of our Provincial Team and Recreational
Club players such as Frank Lee.
Ryan and Francis also want to pass on
their apologies to Junior player Matthew Lehmann
…unfortunately time ran out and they
couldn’t have a knock with him.
Check
out their blog site and the
“Stride Factory Ping Pong
Challenge” at www.stridegum.ca
Ron
Edwards Reporting
__________________________
ST.
JAMES-ASSINIBOIA SCHOOL DIVISION 1ST
ANNUAL
“GET OFF THE COUCH” TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT
On
Friday May 9th at Hedges Middle
School, the MTTA
assisted the St. James-Assiniboia School
Division with the
running of their first ever table tennis
tournament. It is hoped
that this will turn into an annual event.
Point man for the school division was Mr. Derek
Bramadat
who is their Phys. Ed. and Health
Coordinator.
Mr. Bramadat
borrowed numerous print and video
resources from the
MTTA and will be putting together resource
packages for
Division schools: TOPs plus a DVD/ video
tool ... MORE
HERE
__________________________
2008
Manitoba Games Central Region Trials
The trials for the Central Region
were hosted on Saturday May 10th at
Elm Creek School. 17 players from 7 communities
throughout the Region signed up to play but 2
were a no show.
READ MORE HERE
______________________________________________
Stiga
Big Bang Provincial Team
Report
Montreal, March 21-22
Recently Team Manitoba members William
Liu, Terry Zhang, Alan Huang and myself traveled
to Montreal for the Big Bang, the sixth event on
the Quebec circuit. It was a giant tournament
with hundreds of the best players from across
Canada competing.
The first day of competition was on
Saturday and consisted of the rating events.
Each event was based on rating (eg. 1201-2100).
Alan played in the 800-1600 and 551-1200 event
where he was ranked the number one seed. In the
551-1200 he won his round robin and advanced to
the quarter finals where he was defeated. In the
800-1600 event he did not advance from his round
robin but he gained a lot of experience and had
some good wins. Alan is beginning to understand
what he needs to do in order to have success at
the upcoming junior nationals. William played in
the 1201-2100 and 800-1600 events. In the
1202-2100 event William came second in his group
and advanced all the way to the semi-finals
where he lost to the eventual winner. In the
800-1600 event he also advanced from his group
and lost in the quarter-finals to the eventual
second place finisher. William also gained a ton
of experience and also racked up some rating
points. Terry was rated too high to play in any
events in the morning so he helped George and
coached for the first half of the day. In the
afternoon Terry played in the 2300+ event with
the best players in the tournament. Terry did
not play his best and came 3rd in his
group and did not advance to the next round. I
played in the 1201-2100 and 1601-2300 events. In
both events I placed 2nd in my groups
from three way ties. In the 1201-2100 I advanced
to the finals and in the 1601-2300 event I made
the semi-finals and picked up some much needed
rating.
The
second day was a little different with everyone
playing team event. William and Alan teamed up
to practice for the nationals where they will be
partners. They won their group and advanced to
the finals where they lost a very tough and
close match. I teamed up with Oleg Potapov from
Quebec. We formed a great lefty-righty team and
advanced all the way to the finals where he won
3-1. Terry formed a team with Pierre-Luc
Theriault of Quebec. They hoped to gain
experience together because they may be the
future of Canadian table tennis. They were a
great team and won their group defeating a
higher seeded team. All matches in the final
were very close but Terry and Pierre-Luc ended
up losing 3-0. Their surprise victory in the
group impressed many people and it looks like
the future is bright for the two of them.
Overall
it was a great tournament. Much experience and
rating was gained and the team is now looking
forward to the Western Canadian Championships on
May 17-18 in Vancouver.
Mitchell
Billinkoff Reporting
_____________________________
Winakwa
News Spring 2008
by Andy
Bachmann
HERE
TERRY
ZHANG FIGHTS HARD AT THE
CANADIAN OLYMPIC QUALIFIER
Last
month Terry had earned a National Coach "wild
card" selection for the first Canadian team
qualification event to see who represents Canada
in Beijing.
On
January
5-6, Terry travelled to Vancouver with Coach
Damianov where he competed against 13 of
Canada’s top players ...
READ
MORE HERE
__________________________
CRAIG POINTON
SIGNED BY FRENCH TT CLUB
Craig
was signed by French table tennis club "Club
Pongiste Orangeois" before Christmas and is
playing for their team this season in one of the
many French table tennis leagues.
READ
MORE HERE
__________________________________
MTTA
OFFICIALS
TRAVEL THE WORLD !
Greg
Dzioba and fellow International Umpire Darek
Mikita were in Palo Alto California last month
to officiate and update their credentials at the
ITTF World Junior Table Tennis Championships.
Then, in late December, Greg Chan
represented Canada at the United States Open
Paralympic Championships in
Chicago.
READ
MORE HERE
______________________________
OLD NEWS OLD NEWS OLD NEWS
OLD NEWS OLD NEWS
TERRY
ZHANG COMPETES IN CANADA CUP FINALS
AND EARNS SPOT IN CANADIAN OLYMPIC QUALIFIER
This
past December 1st and 2nd,
Manitoba’s top player Terry Zhang was in
Montreal along with Coach Damianov for the 2007
Canada Cup finals.
In
the team event, his Team Butterfly defeated Team
Donic by a 3-0 score but then latter on fell to
Team British Columbia 0-3.
They thus finished the 3-tournament
league with a 3-3 team record to finish in 5th
place out of 7 Men’s teams.
In
individual play, Terry was knocked out of his
Men’s Singles Group but reached the semi-final
of the Boy’s Under 17 Years Singles where he
lost to eventual winner Andre Ho of B.C. in
straight sets: -8, -8, -7.
For
the season, he finished tied for 22-28th
spot in the 2007 Stiga Canada Cup Men’s
Singles Season Standings.
His performance this past weekend was
strong enough for him to earn a “National Team
Coach Selection” spot in the January 5-6
“National Team Challenge Tournament” which
is the Canadian Olympic Qualifier.
Well done Terry and Coach Damianov and
good luck in Vancouver!
For
complete results go to Table Tennis Canada’s
website at www.ctta.ca
Ron
Edwards Reporting
______________________________
MANITOBAN
NAMED AS CANADA'S SOLE UMPIRE TO BEIJING
OLYMPIC
TABLE TENNIS EVENT
Table
Tennis Canada recently announced that Winnipeg
umpire Mr. Greg Dzioba
will be the lone umpire from Canada at the
Bejing Olympic tabletennis
event. This is indeed a tremendous honour for
Mr. Dzioba and he does
our province proud. Mr. Dzioba is truly one of
Canada's best International
Level umpires and he follows in the footsteps of
ourPresident
Mr. Darek Mikita who represented Canada at the
last Olympicsin
Athens. Well done!
Many
opportunites exist for those who want to get
involved in officiating-either
as an umpire or referee. We will need many of
both to
help with the Manitoba Summer Games in the
spring and summer of 2008.
________________________________________
TRIPLE
GOLD FOR MITCHELL BILLINKOFF AT MACCABI GAMES:
This
August past, M.T.T.A. Provincial Team member
Mitchell Billinkoff traveled to Orange County,
California to compete in the 25th
annual Maccabi Games.
There were 2000 athletes between the ages
of 13 and 16 there.
While most of the athletes were from the
United States, several Canadian cities were
represented (Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal,
Edmonton and Vancouver) as were Great Britain,
Mexico and Israel.
Mitchell was the only table tennis player
among Winnipeg’s 7 athletes.
Team Winnipeg had a successful week –
winning 6 gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze.
Mitchell won gold in the under 17 boys
singles, defeating a player form Israel.
His doubles partner was from L.A. and
they won gold in the under 17 boys’ doubles as
well as gold in the team event. Overall the
games were a great success and Mitchell hopes to
participate in the Maccabiah Games in Israel in
2009.
__
