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Table Tennis Coach Greg Chan recently won Coaching Manitoba's Vince Leah Memorial Award. The award is presented annually to a coach who is dedicated towards GRASS ROOTS DEVELOPMENT. And this as you know is Greg! Greg for years has been helping the Manitoba Table Tennis Association develop its up and coming players. This year Greg has primarily been coaching Saturday afternoons at Crescentwood Community Centre. He also helps out coaches George Damianov, Patrick Eng and Andy Bachmann with their clubs and programs. Congratulations Greg! Your efforts and dedication to our sport and others does not go un-noticed.

Thank you.
Ron Edwards on behalf of countless young players

N E W S  ...
 
CANADIAN NUMBER TWO PLAYER ZHEN WANG HAS CONFIRMED HIS PARTICIPATION FOR THE 2007 BUTTERFLY WESTERN CANADA OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Zhen Wang will be competing in the A Singles event and the A Doubles event paired with Manitoba's own Terry "Tian" Zhang. The M.T.T.A. are still waiting for confirmation from Canada's top ranked player Wilson Zhang. A reminder that all entries should reach the M.T.T.A. by Friday May 18th. Draws will be started on the morning of Tuesday May 22nd. Entries can be left at the second floor receptionist, 200 Main Street. They must be clearly marked "Table Tennis" and be complete with entry form and payment.

Hope to "C-U" in Winnipeg.

Ron Edwards Reporting, 925-5690

EASTMAN CLUBS STARTING UP:

After some intitial confusion, two news clubs offering coaching for kids and adult recreational play are up and running in the Eastman Region. Former Provincial Team player Michael Vong will be running a club out of College Lorette Collegiate on Monday evenings from 6-9 pm and out of Iles-Des-Chenes School on Fridays from 6-8 pm. Spaces are limited for the spring. If you are interested in trying out table tennis, contact Michael at 878-3163 ..michael.vong@hotmail.com

SATURDAY LESSONS AT CRESCENTWOOD COMMUNITY CENTRE CANCELLED:

Hello all ping-pongers, please be advised that the M.T.T.A. have just been notified that the Saturday afternoon table tennis lessons offered at Crescentwood through the Leisure Guide have been cancelled. Unfortunately the gym used was urgently required for the upcoming Provincial Elections...so table tennis was "bumped." We are sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused anyone. The City of Winnipeg will be contacting parents directly regarding program refunds etc. If parents are looking for other places to play for their children they can contact George Damianov (MTTA Athlete Development Director) at 925-5943 and he will do his best to advise parents of other program options.

Thank you for your understanding.
Ron Edwards
Executive Director, MTTA

MANITOBA WINS TWO BRONZE MEDALS AT THE CANADA WINTER GAMES ... more

TERRY AND WILLIAM DISCUSS STRATEGY

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MTTA NEEDS BINGO VOLUNTEERS ... more

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MTTA announces new clubs opening in Winnipeg and Gilbert Plains ... details here

STIGA Quebec Circuit Event, Jan 26,27 ... 
report by Mitchell Billinkoff ... details here

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National Team Youth Challenge Report
Gatineau, Quebec, Feb. 17-18,2007
By: Patrick Serda

As I sit here on the plane and look around I see 4 exhausted players and a snoring coach with his cap over his eyes, arms crossed, dreaming about Monday’s practice.

Frederick Eng, William Liu, Lucy Liu, Terry Zhang and I had the opportunity to fly to Ottawa and play in the National Team Challenge which consisted of 16 male players in the under 21 male category and 14 females competing in the under 21 female category.  We were ready to test our skills against the best in Canada in a giant round robin format of play.  

The trip started off with a flight through Toronto and then onwards to Ottawa where we were met by transport and driven to the tournament hotel.  As usual the first night was a bit rough with everyone finding sleep hard to come by with a few flailing arms and snores at midnight.  I shared a room with Fred, William and Terry, while Lucy and George shared rooms with umpires. 

The next day began with an early breakfast at the hotel and then we were off to challenge the very best of Canada.  On Saturday, the first day of the tournament, the boys each played 8 matches.  Terry won 6 of his 8, Fred won 3 and I won 5.  Lucy and William were both ranked in the bottom part of the players competing and therefore hard to play all the better players first and were unable to make a win although some of the matches were very tight with Lucy and William both taking on several players in the 5^th set, who’s ratings were double theirs.  We finished matches around 8:00 pm that night and then quickly went out to eat since it was Chinese New Year.  Unfortunately for all of us we had matches to play at 9:00 am the next morning and had to hit the sack before 11 that night. 

The 2^nd day of the tournament kicked off with the regular routine of breakfast at the hotel, followed by gluing and on table warm up at the gym.  On the second day Terry only lost a single match out of his 7 and finished 2^nd in the under 21 category being only 13 years old.  I won 2 matches to finish with a 7-8 record and Fred had a reversal of fortunes and fought his way to a 7-8 record but because I beat Fred I finished a spot ahead.*  Lucy again played a few really good matches but the level of play was very high in the girls category and Manitoba’s 4^th ranked Women was unable to clinch a victory.  William also played very well on the second day but was not ready physically to play multiple opponents of high caliber in a truly testing tournament, and had to succumb to just pushing the best of Canada’s youth to 4^th and 5^th sets.

In between all this playing there were many unusual occurrences, which include a romance, a son who looks like George Harrison and now a snoring coach and a hyper active 13 year old who just finished a can of Coke.  The tournament was a great experience for all of us and a great tool to measure up to the best of Canada’s youth and perfect for an idea of how big the final push has to be before the Canada Winter Games which are in only 2 weeks.  On behalf of the team I’d like to thank everyone who made this trip possible and to George for putting up with 4 pesky kids on a plane for over 6 hours.

Reporting for MTTA:  Patrick Serda  

* Editor’s Note:  Patrick and Fred finished in a three way tie for positions 8-10; along with Ontario’s Terence Leung.

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Congratulations to all who participated in the Golden Boy Tournament, including the team from Saskatchewan. 

This was the last local tournament prior to the 2007 Canada Winter Games.  However, 4 of Manitoba's top players travel to Ottawa this coming weekend to participate in the National Team Challenge which will determine who represents Canada at the upcoming World Team Championships of table tennis.  Manitoba's top player is 12-year-old Terry "Tian" Zhang.  Terry is the three time defending Champion of Canada: Under 11 in 2004, Under 11 in 2005 and under 13 in 2006.  However, Head Coach George Damianov doesn't figure Terry will qualify for the World Team Championships but hopefully for the World Junior Championships. Terry will again travel to China this summer to train intensively as he pursues his dream to become one of the world's top professional level players.

Ron Edwards Reporting

Coaching Manitoba Excellence Awards ... Call for Nominations. For more info go to
www.coachingmanitoba.ca

WABOWDEN TOURNAMENT RESULTS:

This past January 19^th, Ruby McKay of the Wabowden Community Council organized a tournament for local kids.  The tournament was held on two tables donated to them by the M.T.T.A. under our most recent Sports Legacy Trust program initiative.  Medallists were as follows:

GOLD:   Michelle Nachbaur, age 12
SILVER:  Austin Chubb, age 12
BRONZE:  Brent Mader, age 12

Congratulations to these players and all others.  Next up for most of these athletes are the Frontier Winter Games the finals of which will be held in Norway House from Feb. 28^th – March 3^rd.  Ron Edwards of the M.T.T.A. will likely be traveling to this event to act as Referee and to conduct some skills clinics.

Remember, if you host a tournament, please let us know and email-fax-or snail mail us the complete results:  who your event medallists are plus a list of all matches played, i.e. Bill beats Fred, Fred beats Henry etc., plus the date of births for all players.  The M.T.T.A. will process the results for Manitoban & Canadian Ratings & Rankings.  Under this system (go to www.ctta.ca or www.mtta.ca) a player can see how they are progressing and what they are ranked both in Manitoba and Canada for their age.  Our coaches use these rankings to aid in Provincial Team selections for Canada Winter Games, Manitoba Summer Games, and Manitoba Indigenous Winter Games etc.  Also-we have lots of trophies which we can donate to you for prizes…let us know how we can help your tournament succeed!

Ron Edwards, M.T.T.A. Executive Director, 925-5690

George Damianov, Provincial Team Head Coach, 925-5943

Provincial Teams CWG X-Mas Camp 
Dec. 27 - 29 (2006), Jan. 2 - 5 (2007)
Crescentwood Community Centre

Congratulations to Darek Mikita on being appointed as the National Chairperson for the Umpires Committee of the CTTA.

READ THE LATEST ...
TEAM MANITOBA RESULTS
SASKATCHEWAN OPEN & MID-WEST 
TOP 12 TRIALS,  OCTOBER 21-22,2006
By Lucy Liu CLICK HERE

NEW UMPIRES CERTIFIED:

Congratulations to the following persons who passed the CLUB LEVEL UMPIRES SEMINAR & EXAMINATION hosted by the MTTA in July.

• Anthony Chung

• William Liu

• Lucy Liu

• Henry Wang

• Reaz Rahim

Congratulations to PATRICK ENG on passing his PROVINCIAL LEVEL.  Patrick must now complete his practical card for full Provincial Level Certification.

More information on becoming a table tennis umpire or referee can be found under "OFFICIALS" at the top of this website.     Ron Edwards Reporting

"TABLE TENNIS ALUMNI GATHER"

This past Saturday August 26th, Manitoba's most famous (or infamous?) player -Boris Rainer- was married to long-term girlfriend Donna. They have been dating for over the past 15 years...so who knows why they now decided to get married. But, as with anything involving Boris, "who knows!" Boris was telling Executive Director Ron Edwards Saturday night that with two practices a week, he would make Manitoba's Senior Men's
team. So Ron Edwards issued the challenge: "Great, Coach Damianov could use someone with your fighting spirit plus the kids are running out of senior players to beat up." So hopefully Boris will return to the 5 by 9 table this year to prove that he is still not a pushover! 

PRIZE TRIVIA CHALLENGE: 
Prize to the first MTTA member who successfully identifies all of Boris's 11 friends in the attached photo!

TEAM MANITOBA RESULTS AT THE 2006 CANADIAN JUNIOR TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Canadian Junior Championships were just completed in Trois Rivieres, Quebec.  Manitoba sent a 17-person contingent to this July 10-12^th event: 15 players and 2 coaches.

Overall, at the end, combining the results of the team, individual and doubles events, Manitoba finished in 4^th place out of the 12 provinces and territories.  THIS REPRESENTS MANITOBA’S BEST EVER FINISH AT THE JUNIOR NATIONALS!

Leading the way, was two-time Canadian Champion Terry (Tian) Zhang of Winnipeg.  At the 2004 and 2005 Nationals Terry captured the Under 11 Years Boy’s Singles titles.  This was his first year moving up to the Under 13 Years category.  He did not disappoint!  He defeated top seeded Pierre-Luc Theriault of Quebec in 4 games to capture the Under 13 Boys Singles crown.  Also, partnering with Kevin Dzioba of Winnipeg, he won silver medals in the Boy’s Under 13 Years Team and Doubles events.  In Boy’s Under 15 Years Singles he reached the quarterfinals.

 Next up, winning 2 Bronze medals each, were Frederick Eng and Mitchell Billinkoff.  They upset Alberta by a 3-2 score in the Under 15 Years Boys Team event final and they lost in the Under 15 Boy’s Doubles semi-final to the eventual winners from British Columbia.

Silver medals went to Lucy Liu who with Ontario partner Hollie Lau made it to the Girls Under 15 Years Doubles finals where they lost to a pair from British Columbia.

Also having good success at his first Canadian Championships was ten year old William Liu.  He first won a Bronze medal in the Boys Under 11 Years Singles event and then partnered with Esau Rahim to take Silver in the Boys Under 11 Years Doubles.

Next up for the Manitoba players will be a short “off-season” rest before they begin intense preparations for the 2007 Canada Winter Games this February in Whitehorse, Yukon.

R E P O R T S ...

World Team Championships, Bremen, Germany, May 2006  
by Art Koberstein

LIEBHERR World Team Table Tennis Championships
Bremen, Germany May 2006  by Greg Dzioba

STIGA Big-Bang Tournament  Montreal April 2006
by Patrick Serda

North American Championships by Frederick Eng

Manitoba Indigenous Winter Games 2006 by Greg Chan