Manitoba Table Tennis Association

Hello all Manitoba Table Tennis players, in many towns the table tennis season has begun, this coming week of September 19^th, it begins in Winnipeg. The M.T.T.A. have been working through some challenges this late summer/ early fall period after the hosting of a very successful Canadian Championships. A couple of our gyms are under repair/ construction so we have had to look for replacements. Also, Tomas Chromec, our Athlete Development Director at the end of last season, replacing Ian Kent, accepted a new job in his home country of the Czech Republic; refer to Tomas’s farewell post below.

I am very pleased to announce the hiring of Mr. Arvin Tronco as our new Athlete Development Director. Arvin brings many years of professional experience working as a coach in the Philippines. In his position, Arvin will be working to develop athletes from the entry level up through high performance with particular emphasis on preparing our 3 boy/ 3 girl team* for the 2019 Canada Winter Games. Another area of focus will be on the development of coaches. If you would like to help coach any of the following programs, please contact Arvin.

The M.T.T.A. will again be running three levels of programming for children and youth: Junior Developmental (entry level to table tennis), Hopefull’s ( already acquired basic skills) and Provincial Squads (Canada Winter Games) training program. For many, these groups will be in the gym at the same time and inter-mingling with players from the other groups.

Junior Developmental program kicks off Saturday September 24^th from 9-10:30 am. For the next 10 weeks - except Oct. 8-long weekend – until Dec. 3^rd, the program hours will be 9:30 – 11:30 am. Sign-up is through the City of Winnipeg Leisure Guide (info on p. 21) 311 phone or online Winnipeg.ca/leisureonline. Canada Winter Games Coaches Arvin Tronce and Phuong Nguyen will be running this program. It is suitable for newcomers to table tennis or younger players with limited experience. The program will repeat in the winter, from Jan. 14 to March 18^th.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Open Athlete Tryouts for Junior Developmental, Hopefull’s and Squad Players:

Starting Tuesday September 20^th, Thursday September 29^th at Darwin School (175 Darwin St.) and Wed. Nov. 2^nd at Dufferin School (545 Alexander) there will be open tryouts for athletes of all ages and all levels.

● 7:30-10 pm will be for advanced level juniors and senior aged players who have already been part of our Hopefulls & Squads programs.

● Friday nights, 6:30-9:30 pm, Daniel MacIntyre Collegiate…open drop-in play for all advanced players until the Winnipeg Super League kicks off on Nov. 7^th…all Hopefulls & Squads should be out and A4L players welcome to play as well.

Head Coach Arvin Tronco will be tracking attendances and interest and after 3-4 weeks of practices, will formalize his training groups. Each night we have 7-8 tables at our disposal and will have at least 2 coaches on duty at all times! Fees will be similar to last season but may be reduced in some cases; more information will follow.

This program we have run for years and is for players of all ages who want to come out and play for fun. There is no formal coaching per se, however the Club Coordinators we have are more than welcome to help players who ask for skill development tips and drills. More serious players often play matches and they count for player ratings and ratings; “Club Individual League Program.”

● John Pritchard Jackson Gym, (1490 Henderson Hwy), 6:30 – 10 pm, starts Tuesday October 4^th and will run every Tuesday (excepting cancellations that are already posted on MTTA calendar) until May 30^th.

● Dufferin Public School (545 Alexander) will feature Monday and Thursday A4L play from 6:30-10 pm starting Thurs. Nov. 3 and Mon. Nov. 7. Practices will run through to June 19 & 22.

● Daniel MacIntyre Collegiate, Friday nights 6:30-9:30 pm commencing Friday September 23^rd… all A4L players are free to play until the Winnipeg & District Super League kicks off on Nov. 7^th.

● Tuesday & Thursday nights at Darwin from 7:30 – 10 pm…all Active 4 Life players are free to come out and knock until Coach Tronco and the M.T.T.A. have finalized the training groups…so basically the month of October A4L can come and knock until Dufferin opens up.

Fees: A4L fees will be reduced slightly this year to compensate for the facility changes.

Club Coordinators: We still are in need of a couple people to oversee these clubs on a regular basis. If interested, please contact Ron at 925-5690.

Play will occur Friday nights at Daniel MacIntyre Collegiate 6:30-9:30 commencing in November. To start, Head Coach Arvin Tronco will be overseeing the running of the league. The league will again be individual in nature designed for players of all ages and all ability levels. Players move up and down divisions and statistics are kept. Participation is expected from our high level players hoping to represent Manitoba on the inter-provincial scene. More information will be provided moving forwards.

The team tournament will be dropped for this year due to lack of entries last year plus due to the later start this season. We intend to increase our events next season with hopefully one out-of-town Circuit event added; Morden or Winkler.

All 5 Circuit events will be held at Daniel MacIntyre Collegiate this season. The tournaments feature events for all ages and abilities with players advancing from the first round-robin in events into final round-robins based on ability…don’t be scared to play tournaments…they are for everyone. Players living in Winnipeg hoping to represent Manitoba at the inter-provincial level, must play in the Circuit tournaments. More information will follow.

Persons wanting to help umpire at our tournaments and league can start off by taking their Club Umpire Seminar & Exam that is free and can be accessed on the Officials Page. Once they have done this, one of our many fine National and International Level umpires will take you under their wing and help train you a the competitions we host…once you have attained your Provincial (Level 2 status) you are eligible to be selected for events such as the Canadian Championships and Canada Winter Games.

The MTTA are always looking for person to get involved as coaches. We hope to offer 1-2 training courses later this season plus Head Coach Arvin Tronco will be working with volunteer coaches on a regular basis at the above programs. Now is the time to get involved!

Respect In Sport: This free, online program is mandatory for all coaches in Manitoba. It has recently been reworked and all coaches who took the course prior to 5 years ago, MUST REDO the course. You can link from here.

Our yearly AGM and awards will be held at the Sport 4 Life Centre, 145 pacific Avenue, on Wednesday November 2^nd commencing at 6pm. Full details will be mailed out shortly.

Kudos: …congratulations and good luck to Matthew Lehmann who is playing this season in Austria for the Froschberg Club (TTCAN Article). Matthew started out his table tennis career over ten years ago with Coach Andy Bachmann playing out of Winakwa and in the last couple seasons is threatening to make Canada’s Senior Men’s team with a 10^th place finish in Canada’s Rio qualifier…remember Matthew, “Get to 11 First!”

ANY AND ALL QUESTIONS…PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT RON @ 92505690 OR ARVIN @ 925-5943.

www.mtta.ca is regularly updated with information on all programs…and we welcome articles by all players for posting! The Calendar of Events at the top is updated constantly for all known gym cancellations.

Congratulations to all Manitoba athletes that competed at the Canadian Championships held at the University of Winnipeg Duckworth Centre.

Congratulations to medal winners: Michal Rybak - Gold in Men's Veteran 50; Gary Eng - Bronze in Men's Veteran 60; Naomi Tran - Bronze in U1250.

Just missing the podium with 4th place finishes: Cadet Boys Team; Junior Girls Team; Mens Team. And making it to the semi-final in the Women's Consolation event: Yilin Tian.

The team selected to represent Manitoba at the 2016 Canadian Championships can be found here.

The “Tournament of Champions” was held this past Saturday May 28^th. Top Circuit contenders in the Men’s & Woman’s Open categories, Youth, Cadet and Active 4 Life categories were invited to compete.

When the last ball had been smashed, the following players came out on top in the overall season-long Circuit Standings.

Men’s Singles: 1^st-Biruk Bekele 420 points/ 2^nd- Terry Zhang 362.5 points/ 3^rd-Matthew Lehmann 275 pts.

Woman’s Singles: 1^st-Phuong Nguyen 475 points/ 2^nd & 3^rd Tie: Naomi Tran & Jacie Liu 445 points each.

Active 4 Life (>40 Yrs): 1^st-Michal Rybak 515 points/ 2^nd-Alex Mendoza 410 pts./ 3^rd-Jerzy Kusal 340 pts.

Youth (<21 Yrs.): 1^st-Yunyang Deng 440 points/ 2^nd-Jeremy Tran 362.5 points/ 3^rd-Sergiu Buda 265 pts.

Cadet (<14 Yrs.): 1^st-Anna Liu 327.5 points/ 2^nd-Kieran Buchberger 270 points/ 3^rd-Ben Vu 250 points.

Congratulations to the winners and those in the chase for Manitoba Table Tennis supremacy. Cheques along with complete results will go out in the mail soon. Full results are linked here and to the right.

Next up is the CANADIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS July 5-7 and the Duckworth Centre followed by the SENIOR CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS July 8-10^th.

Coach Chromec will be issuing a release as to Manitoba’s selections for both events. As per Table Tennis Canada rules and regulations, all selected Team Players will be entered into individual events by the MTTA. Non selected team players must enter on their own.

--------------------------------------------

MTTA Invites Expressions of Interest for Coaching Position

A Sgls: Matthew Lehmann def. Biruk Bekele 11-13,11-7,12-10,11-6,14-12.
B Sgls: Alex Mendoza def. Alan Chan 10-12,8-11,13-11,11-8,11-3.
C Sgls: Rajah Averilla def. Cesar Villamayor 7-11,7-11,11-8,15-13,13-11.
Woman’s A Sgls: Tina Liu def. Phuong Nguyen 11-4,11-8,7-11,11-6.
Woman’s B Sgls: Vy Tran def. Anna Liu 11-4,11-7,11-5.
Youth A Sgls: M. Lehmann def. Yunyang Deng 11-1,11-3,11-7.
Youth B Sgls: P. Nguyen def. Naomi Tran 11-7,11-2,9-11,11-3.
Youth C Sgls: Gordon Chow def. Jacie Liu 11-8,13-11,11-7.
Cadet A Sgls: Ben Vu def. A. Liu 8-11,11-5,11-8,11-5.
Cadet B Sgls: Gadi Birinda def. Neil Reimer - Tie Breaker.
>40 Years A Sgls: Duc Dao Tran def. A. Mendoza 11-7,11-6,8-11,12-14,11-5.
>40 Years B Sgls: A. Chan def. Noel Cantada 11-7,11-6,11-9.
A Dbls: B. Bekele/ Michal Rybak def. P. Nguyen/ Arvin Tronco 11-3,11-7,9-11,11-7.
B Dbls: Y. Deng/ G. Chow def. R. Averilla/ A. Mendoza 11-8,9-11,11-9,11-8.

April 12th to 15th, the schools of Little Black River and Wanipigow hosted the 7th annual High School Games. Table tennis was one of four sports contested with the others being basketball, archery and badminton. Athletes from 14 schools representing 4 out of Manitoba’s 7 sport regions competed. For table tennis, we had 23 boys and 20 girls registered.

The level of play is steadily increasing. Ongoing visits to schools over the years by myself and coach’s Damianov, Uzunov, Kent and most recently young Tomas Chromec, are really beginning to pay off. Dean Rebeck, Wanipigow Coach, says that about 7-8 schools have purchased ball feeding machines so this is also contributing to the increase in the level of play…many players from the Frontier School Division are cracking the various Top 8 age rating/ rankings lists for Manitoba. Congratulations to all players! Thanks to Heather Lowe and Brian McMillan for their continuing support to help the M.T.T.A. grow the sport of table tennis province-wide.

BOY’S RESULTS:
GOLD: Lawrence Cook, Wanipigow.
SILVER: Terrence Campbell, Mel Johnson School, Wabowden.
BRONZE: Mason Campbell, Mel Johnson School, Wabowden.

GIRL’S RESULTS:
GOLD: Autumn Dixon, Helen Betty Osbourne School, Norway House.
SILVER: Jayln Morriseau, Rorketon School.
BRONZE: Cassie Wesley, Little Black River School, Black River.

Ron Edwards Reporting.

--------------------------------------------

Initiation to Table Tennis Learning Facilitator Workshop

--------------------------------------------

Winnipeg Super League Match Schedule

The Winnipeg Super League Match Schedule has been added at the right under "2015-2016 Manitoba Competitions Information and Entry Forms". You can also get to the match schedule here.

Men's A Sgls: Matthew Lehmann def. Biruk Bekele 9-11,11-5,8-11,11-8,4-11,11-4,11-7.
Men's B Sgls: Yunyang Deng def. Devin Chong 11-8,11-7,13-11.
Men's C Sgls: Jerzy Kusal def. Terrance Campbell (Wabowden) 11-7,11-5,11-5.
Woman's Sgls: Tina Liu def. Naomi Tran three way tie.
A Dbls: Tomas Chromec/ Terry Zhang def. Sergiu Buda/ M. Lehmann 11-8,6-11,11-7,12-10.
B Dbls: B. Bekele/ Anil Contractor def. T. Liu/ N. Tran 11-8,11-9,11-6.
>40 Yrs. A Sgls: Michal Rybak def. Alex Mendoza 11-4,9-11,13-11,11-4.
>40 Yrs. B Sgls: Noel Cantada def. Marcos Sioson 11-8,11-6,11-6.
Youth A Sgls: Jeremy Tran def. S. Buda 11-7,12-14,11-8,15-13.
Youth B Sgls: D. Chong def. Gordon Chow 5-11,11-6,8-11,12-10,11-6.
Youth C Sgls: Kieran Buchberger def. Sparsh Agrawal 12-10,11-5,6-11,11-2.
"No Kids Allowed Sgls:" M. Rybak def T. Chromec 12-10,12-10,12-10.
2 Player Team: J. Tran/ Y. Deng def. Jeff Kitong/ Vladimir Villaver 2-1.

Ron Edwards Reporting
204-925-5690b/ 793-8495c

This past August the M.T.T.A. hired former National Team Coach Mr. Ian Kent as our Athlete Development Director. I have to inform our members that Mr. Kent is no longer with us and is returning to his home province of Nova Scotia. I would like to thank Ian on behalf of our players to the time and effort he devoted to the players who were in the gym. I feel that those who were out and who committed regularly to the training learned a lot…players such as Jeremy Tran, Devin Chong, Phuong Nguyen, Jacie Liu, Yunyang Deng and others. Ian’s coaching style focused on the players both thinking for themselves and making many choices for themselves. I think that his style was misunderstood early on by many of the players and parents. As the season progressed, the committed players received individualized plans and Ian has transitioned this information over to our new Head Coach Mr. Tomas Chromec.

Tomas has been a friendly fixture on the Manitoba scene since last spring. He played a little last spring before his kit bag and paddle had even arrived from his home country of the Czech Republic. Then, this past fall, he and Phuong Nguyen signed up as Apprentice Coaches under Ian and they have been permanent fixtures in the gym. Tomas has his Class C & D coaching licenses. He has already started running the final Block 2 practices and will be accompanying four of our players to the Big Bang tournament in Montreal this coming March 25^th and 26^th. He will be the head coach in charge of our spring break camp that remains unchanged running out of the Cornerstone Alliance Church. Practices are from 9:30 am-12:30 pm for Squad players and from 1:00 – 4:00 pm for the Junior Developmental and Hopefull players. Tomas will be continuing to run the Friday night league that is again one of the selection platforms for picking our teams for the 2016 Canadian Championships here in Winnipeg. Block 3 training starts the week of April 4^th. Tomas and I hope to see you out.

The 42^nd Annual Frontier Games were held this past March 2-5 in Cranberry Portage, Manitoba. Four categories for table tennis were contested: Boys under 14 years, boys under 15 years and then the same for the girls. Other sports being played were badminton, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, trap setting, basketball, floor hockey, indoor soccer, volleyball and archery.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Frontier School Division, it is one of the largest in the world. It comprises over 40 schools stretching from Falcon Lake in the southeast up to Gillam and Churchill in the northeast, across to South Indian Lake in the north central and across to Brochet in the extreme northwest corner of Manitoba and then down south to schools around the Dauphin area, northern Interlake etc.

The Manitoba Table Tennis Association has been involved in helping develop the sport in these schools now for well over 25 years. Kids play off in their own school tryouts and then the top two boys and girls from each school advance to the 6 Regional finals. The top two boys and girls from each of the Regional finals then advanced to these Divisional Games. Each year our efforts are lauded as few other Provincial Sport Organizing bodies make an effort to develop athletes in the near and far north. As a result, “Ping Pong Parity” is being seen. Medalists from the 4 events represented 10 different schools…a record!

I would like to thank Brian McMillan and Heather Lowe from Frontier for allowing the M.T.T.A. to be again involved with the running of these games and also to former provincial team player Ted Smook for his again helping me out with the tournament and skill development sessions. Also, I would like to commend all of the athletes from D. R. Hamilton School for their attendance and efforts at these Games while having to deal with the knowledge of the tragedies unfolding in their home community of Cross Lake. Your courage is commended! I hope that the coaching clinics scheduled for Cross Lake on March 7^th and 8^th can be held the near future.

BOYS U14: GOLD: Mason Campbell, Mel Johnson School, Wabowden
SILVER: Peter Dorion, Moose Lake School
BRONZE: Jason Mckay, Birdtail Sioux School, Beulah

GIRLSU14: GOLD: Kassidy Tobacco, Moose Lake School
                     SILVER: Kendall Jonasson, Mel Johnson School, Wabowden
                     BRONZE: Delaina Sutherland, Skownan School

BOYS U15: GOLD: Luke Foster, Helen Betty Osborne School, Norway House
SILVER: Albert McIvor, D. R. Hamilton School, Cross Lake
BRONZE: Desmond Houle, Rorketon School

GIRLS U15: GOLD: Casey Wesley, Little Black River School
SILVER: Keyairah Hardisty, Wanipigow School
BRONZE: Haven George, Gillam School

Men’s A Sgls : Biruk Bekele def. Jeremy Tran 11-6,11-6,11-8,10-12,11-7.
Men’s B Sgls : R. J. Averilla def. Noel Cantada 11-7,11-5,11-6.

Woman’s Sgls : Jacie Liu def. Phuong Nguyen 11-3,11-8,7-11,9-11,15-13.

Youth <21 A Sgls : J. Tran def. Yunyang Deng 14-12,11-8,11-13,7-13,11-7.
Youth <21 B Sgls : Naomi Tran def. Terrance Campbell (Wabowden) 11-3,11-6,11-3.

Cadet <15 A Sgls : Sparsh Agrawal def. Kieran Buchberger 8-11,6-11,11-6,11-5,14-12.
Cadet <15 B Sgls : Anna Liu def. Julian Liu 11-4,11-5,11-5.

>40 A Sgls : Michal Rybak def. Dilbert Palad 9-11,11-8,8-11,11-7,11-3.
>40 B Sgls : Marcos Sioson def. Cesar Villamayor 12-14,11-9,11-8,11-5.

Dev. Sgls : T. Campbell (Wabowden) def. Matthew Fossay (Woodlands) 11-7,11-8,11-5.

A Dbls : B. Bekele/ M. Rybak def. Tomas Chromak/ Y. Deng 8-11,13-11,11-7,11-2.
B Dbls : J. Tran/ J. Liu def. Irwin Raymundo/ M. Sioson 11-3,11-2,11-5.

Calling all U of W ping-pongers…starting this coming Wednesday February 10^th, there will be a student and professor’s only club running from 2:30-4:00 pm in the second floor Rex-Plex gym. The club will start out with 2 M.T.T.A. owned Butterfly Europa tables and we will see how it goes. The Club Coordinator is Provincial Team player and 2019 C.W.G. Apprentice Coach Phuong Nguyen. For more information on the club fees and rules and regulations, Phuong can be reached at phuongnguyen97@gmail.com. Also see poster here.

Long-term, we hope to establish a “home and away” series whereby the U of M and U of W play some inter-university team matches and this could perhaps lead to teams from Manitoba heading to the US & Canadian Intercollegiate Championships.

The U of M has an in-house club as well with both set hours and drop in play available for a cost for members of the public. Students at the U of M can play for free as access is included in their tuition fees. More information will follow.

Well I had the most exciting time of my Manitoba Table Tennis work thanks to an “Active for Life Club” in Morden and a series of “Fundamentals” coaching clinics at Garden Valley Collegiate. It was refreshing at the high school to be delivering very quick instruction to a group of students that were ready and willing and able to try some things on the table. Thanks to Lorne Warkentine for organizing that segment of our trip!

Then came the club in Morden. The organizer, Dave Charriere - who has his Community Initiation coaching certification - expected 10-14 players of all ages. What turned up were over 30 players from young kids to seasoned veterans! The Recreation Programmer for Morden, Stephanie Dueck, was very pleased with the turn out. We went for a walk through this wonderful facility that was host to many of the events from the 2014 PowerSmart Manitoba Games. I talked with her about the nice problem she has! Namely 30 residents who showed up and wanted to play table tennis in a space with 5 tables!?! Now just imagine those 30 players will no doubt tell others and you know the rest of the story…50 players on 5 tables just won’t work…so we at the M.T.T.A. are hoping that between Dave Charriere and Stephanie Dueck a solution can be found to be the home of one of the largest active for life clubs in Manitoba!

I have to mention that while the majority of players are of the recreational level, the amount of talent amongst not just the youth, was at a much higher point than I have seen during a random visit to a random club. Oh yes, there are some youth there that have the potential to play at the provincial level and if given the opportunity and proper training that would just be the beginning!

Yesterday, young Phuong Nguyen went with Morley Walker and I to the CJOB radio studio to be interviewed by afternoon radio hostess Dahlia Kurtz. The occasion was to promote the upcoming July 5-10^th Canadian Junior and Senior Table Tennis Championships that the M.T.T.A. will be hosting at the University of Winnipeg. Nothing out of the ordinary here you may think …. However, unbeknownst to Dahlia’s legions of followers is the fact that she was once one of the top ranked junior female players in all of Canada. In 1991, she led Manitoba’s table tennis team with an impressive 4^th place finish at the Canada Winter Games dropping a close bronze medal match to a top seeded girl from Quebec. Meanwhile, Phuong recently represented Manitoba at each of the past 2 Canada Winter Games in 2011 and 2015. Currently, she is apprenticing as a coach hoping to travel to the 2019 Games to assist Head Coach Ian Kent. In an effort to have the past interact with the present, Phuong asked Dahlia if she would like to come out and train, because, as Morley pointed out, everyone needs to be “Active 4 Life” and how table tennis is such a great sport to keep both the body and mind “young and vibrant” for as long as possible.

The Winkler Morden Voice reported, on January 14, 2016, about the Morden Table Tennis Club - the result of the Manitoba Winter Games legacy sports equipment left with the host city. You can find the article on page 20 of the newspaper here.

The Rady JCC is sending a delegation to the JCC Maccabi Games in Columbus Ohio July 24-29. One of the events is table tennis! The event is open to players age 13-16 (as of July 31, 2016) and identify as being Jewish. More information is available here.

Winnipeg’s Matthew Lehmann was invited to play in the Canada Cup Finals which houses only the cream of Canadian Table Tennis. Lehmann came into the competition like many, with as much preparation as was reasonably possible given the holiday season. Lehmann played and defeated Russian bred player Andrey Mokhov from Ontario 4-2 solidifying a spot in the top 12 in the nation. He drew National Junior & Youth (Under 21) Champion, Filip Ilijevski and Highly ranked Marko Medjugorac in the next round to see what place he would play for in the top 12. He played a much closer than the 4-0 match score indicates in his first match against National Junior Champion Filip Ilijevski losing 2 of the games at deuce. Filip ended up going all the way to the semi-final before losing to National Champion Pierre-Luc Theriault. Of further note, was his match against Marko Medjugorac who has been training in Europe for the better part of the last two years. He lost this match 4-1 but two of the games he lost he was up 10-7 and 10-8 respectively and was absolutely good enough to win. This put Matthew in the 9-12 bracket where he faced BC player Lester Lee, whom he had never defeated and beat him with a stellar 3-1 drubbing solidifying a top 10 finish in this elite event. In the 9/10 placement match he played Alex Bu showing moments of domination but not having the goods in the 5’th and deciding game losing 3 games to 2. Matthew Lehmann finished 10’th in this the Men’s Open Singles showing he truly belongs amongst the Canadian Table Tennis elite. Although disappointed with his play in the final game of this competition, his overall performance showed one thing…Matthew Lehmann is capable of playing at the top level of Canadians. This event is a very encouraging look at what the future could hold for Lehmann as he begins his senior playing career.

What’s next for Manitoba Ace Lehmann? Well back to the grind of training which is definitely paying off and if possible a National Training Camp during the March study break as he prepares to lead Team Manitoba as it hosts the National Championships at the University of Winnipeg July 5-10.

Coach Ian Kent reporting

There are opportunities to volunteer for the upcoming Canadian Senior and Junior Championships to be held July 5-7 Jrs./ 8-10 Srs. at the University of Winnipeg Duckworth Centre. Besides hoping for a large turn-out of local players for each event, we will also need volunteers to help in numerous capacities: umpires, control-desk & results posting area, gym-set-up and take-down, hospitality-greeting table at the hotel, VIP transportation etc. etc. So -remember- if you are a Senior aged player, you can help umpire etc. at the Juniors. If you are a Junior, well, of course you can play the rating events at the Seniors as well as the Male and Female events.

To start this recruitment process, VP Technical Greg Dzioba has developed two charts: Umpires; Volunteers. The charts are broken the events into 3 shifts per day. So, please consider volunteering and fill in and return the attached forms to: Ron Edwards (table.tennis@sportmanitoba.ca)/ Greg Dzioba (gregdz@mymts.net)/ Norman Tran (normtran6@gmail.com)/ and Morley Walker (morley.walker@gmail.com)

Hello all players, parents, volunteers and basement pingpong players…this coming July, Winnipeg is playing host to the 2016 Canadian Senior & Junior Table Tennis Championships. The event will run at the University of Winnipeg Duckworth Centre from July 5-7^th for the Junior Nationals and from the 8-10^th for the Seniors. There will be a complete range of events for all ages and ability levels. However, besides the opportunities for you as a player to compete in the most prestigious tournament in Canada during 2016, we will also have opportunities for people to get involved in a volunteer capacity. We will need umpires, racquet control testers, drivers, floor equipment people to set-up/ take-down etc…the list will go on and on. To this end, please be advised:

2016 Nationals Planning Meeting: Next meeting is Monday December 14^th, 6-10 pm, Sport Manitoba Building, 145 Pacific. If you are not currently involved in the planning and organizing of this event, now is your chance to get involved…we are looking for individuals who can plan and help in the following areas: technical, publicity, marketing and promotions, administration, logistics and volunteer organization and recruitment, financial, etc. If you would like to get involved please RSVP Ron at table.tennis@sportmanitoba.ca because current meeting room space is limited so I really need to know numbers.

Umpire and Racquet Control Clinics: Of course I am hoping that all of our players from all levels, all ages compete in these events…but did you know that if you are a Senior aged player (i.e. > 18 years old) then we could use your help as an umpire at the Junior Nationals. Or, similarly, if you are a young junior and maybe a little too scared to play in the Senior Nationals, what about maybe being an umpire’s assistant at the Senior Nationals? Also, parents, we need some people with good analytical and technical skills to act as “racquet controllers” at each of these events. HOW TO GET INVOLVED: Well, right now, online, click link to the left “TTCan-Club Umpire Exam” …you can write your Club Umpire Exam for free online. If you would like to receive the certificate, trainee cards, etc., then you would pay the $15 fee to the M.T.T.A. and these would be provided. Also, we are hoping to host two combined Club & Provincial Level Umpire Seminar & Examinations for those that prefer this method of learning. More information will follow but they are tentatively scheduled for Thursday February 11^th and Thursday May 26^th. They will be hosted at Darwin Public School with International Blue Badge umpire Gregory Chan leading the clinics. There will be Table Tennis Canada’s standard registration fee for these courses. Link to February 11, 2016 Umpire Seminar and Exam.

November 7, 2015

The Head Coach’s Look…

Well for the first event of the year and the first team match tournament held in Manitoba for several years, the turnout was not bad at 12 teams of 2 that were set into 2 groups of 6 with all matches being played providing for a day full of table tennis for everyone.

Win or lose, each and every player got to play at least 10 singles and 5 doubles matches, so 15 matches in one day. Interestingly, overall, the group maintained a consistent level of play throughout with the freshest player at the end of the day, from my view point, being Michal Rybak who was the oldest player in the “A” Division winning 3 of 10 singles matches played in the main draw and in fact Rybak was also involved in a suicide match where he played and won 2 more singles and a doubles match brining his total number of matches for the day to 18!!! Well done Michal! Anyone who felt that there were too many matches, you might want to ask Michal about his training regime!
Highlights of the tournament were as follows :

- 24 athletes played a total of 180 matches in the main draw

- One team in each division were out right winners with perfect records…in the “A” Division Terry Zhang/William Liu were undefeated and in the “B” Division Dao Tran/Adriano N were also undefeated!

- 2nd place in both “A” & “B” divisions also saw no tie breaker needed as Devin Chong and Neno Nevenko had only 1 loss in the “B” Division, and in the “A” Division Phuong Nguyen and Biruk Bekele also had only 1 loss

- The “A” Division was tight after 1st and 2nd place honors with a 3 way tie between Matthew Lehmann/Tina Liu; Manuel Zaki/Tomas Chromek; Jeremy Tran/Yunyang Deng with Zaki and Chromec taking 3rd!

- Although this was a team tournament there are a few individual results that warrant a mention. Yunyang Deng had the win of the day crushing Terry Zhang 3 straight, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8; and Yunyang’s partner Jeremy Tran defeated William Liu for the 2nd place notable win of the day.

All in all, the tournament ran smoothly with a few wrinkles, to be expected in a first time event like this. We started 25 minutes late but finished with room to breath before our permit time of 8:00pm ran out!

This team tournament will become a fixture as the first event of the year and its growth is a sure thing as the word gets around regarding the fun of playing with a friend and playing lots of matches in one day. Fingers crossed and we double the entry next year!

Many thanks to Darek Mikita and Greg Dzioba for manning the control desk and serving as referees for this event, as well as Royle Derbitsky, Jonathan Chan and Carol Wong for their umpiring and to the parents who helped put everything away to make it a speedy exit once play had finished!

The Annual General Meeting and Awards night was hosted at the Sport For Life Centre on Wednesday October 14th. Besides the business items, we also recognized various award winners from the previous season:

Art Barran Award for the Most Outstanding Official of Canada in 2014/ 2015, presented by Table Tennis Canada: Winner-Greg Dzioba.

Manitoba Order of Sport Excellence Awards:
Awarded to: Darek Mikita (2015 World Championships Umpire) and also to Manitoba Circuit Champions and persons who represented Manitoba at the Canadian Table Tennis Championships. Awarded to: Michal Rybak (>40 Yrs/ A4L Champions), Terry "Tian" Zhang (Open Singles Circuit Champion). Also Biruk Bekele, Matthew Lehmann, Manuel Zaki, Victor Yu, Jeremy Tran, Yunyang Deng, Devin Chong, Phuong Nguyen, Jacie Liu, Tina Liu, Naomi Tran, Carol-Jean Wong, Victoria Wong and Ian Kent (2015 Canadian Junior & Senior Championships Head Coach).

Congratulations to all award winners and all players for their results during the past season.

Contribute to the sport you love, write an article and get it published right here!!!

We would love to get stories and articles from the people that are involved in the sport of Table Tennis. If you are a player, coach, parent, umpire, referee, spectator, or involved in the sport in any capacity, why not tell us your story, share your experiences, provide some tips and knowledge. If you have something to share, we would love to hear from you. Submit your story, articles, ideas to Ron Edwards.

---------------------------------------

2014-2015 News Archive

---------------------------------------

2013-2014 News Archive

2013-2014 news and articles can be found here.

---------------------------------------
2012 News Archive

Old news and articles can be found here.

---------------------------------------