South Ayrshire Table Tennis Club

After Schools Table Tennis Club

2013-11-02T06:24:00.002-07:00

On Monday 4th November 2013 Roy and I will be starting an after schools Table Tennis Club for Forehill and Ayr Grammar Primary Schools within Kyle Academy between 4pm and 5pm.
This Club is for Primary 6/7 pupils and it is hoped that once introduced to this exciting and dynamic sport the children will want to come along to South Ayrshire Table Tennis Club and develop their skills further and hopefully move on to competitive play.
JD

Ayrshire Junior League Sunday 9th June

2013-06-11T11:20:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to John Kelly and Cameron Steele who won Division 2 of The Ayrshire Junior League on Sunday at Beith.
In addition Cameron was presented with a medal for the highest winning percentage in the League.
Congratulations are also extended to Charlie Boom and Ross Dewar who finished runners up in Division 1.
Throughout the season all players from South Ayrshire Table Tennis Club have conducted themselves appropriately and have brought credit to themselves and the Club.
Well done boys.
JD

SATTC Juniors Newsletter, May 2013

2013-05-23T07:09:00.000-07:00

South Ayrshire Table Tennis Club Juniors Newsletter May 2013

A great start to the season for SATTC Juniors

2012-10-01T04:38:00.000-07:00

The fist fixtures for the 2012-13 West of Scotland Junior League were played at Drumchapel High School on Sunday 30th September.

SATTC had originally entered one team into Div 3, but the format was changed to accommodate 2 - player teams, so we entered teams in both Div 2 and Div 3. All of our players did well in what was their first experience of playing competitive table tennis as part of a team. In Div 2, Charlie Boom and Kieran Kidd opened their day with a match against South Glasgow ‘C’. Except for losing a close 5 - set doubles match, they would have run out worthy winners. They both won a singles match each, with Charlie winning the opening match 3-0, while Kieran took revenge on a player who he had lost to recently at the Cadet Assessment in Perth, with a tough 3-1 win. In the other hall, Ross Dewar and Frazer Dempsey were too strong for East Kilbride ‘E’, winning 5-0. But not before a scare or two. Both fought hard for their wins, with Frazer showing his fighting spirit on more than one occasion. The second series of matches saw Charlie and Kieran up against a useful Drumchapel ‘C’ side. Again, they lost the doubles and again, the consequence was that they went down 3-2. However, both players worked extremely hard for their individual victories and should be pleased to chalk up wins against players from the biggest table tennis club in the UK. Ross and Frazer's second match was against North Ayrshire ‘D’ and as in the earlier match they proved too powerful, again chalking up a 5-0 victory. Very well done and a mention for Ross who did not drop one set all day. So a good start against teams from table tennis clubs far bigger clubs than ours. The boys more than held their own.

Scottish National League

2011-04-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

The reincarnation of the Scottish National League gave the club the opportunity to cross swords with players from across the nation. Due to circumstances, the intention to enter Division one was thwarted and two of our regular members, Iain McHarg and Billy Patterson signed up to play in Division 2.
The standard was high throughout the season. Although Aberdeen fielded a different team every weekend. Unfortunately, we came up against their strongest outfit and suffered the only 6-0 defeat we had.
2 wins, a draw and 3 defeats left us in 5th place out of 8. Above Stirlingshire 1, Murrayfield 2 and Triangle. (Another team that fielded their strongest team of the season against us).
The competion was excellent experience for our players who have all advanced in standard as a result. Many thanks to George Johnson, who we signed as reserve at the start of the season and who filled in for Billy in the final match. Next seaon's form have already arrived. It should be just as interesting, especially as the juniors of Sterlingshire 2, Blair Fowler, Christopher Wheeler and Co. are promoted from Div 3 having dropped just 5 points the whole of last season.

End of Season Report - Division 1

2011-04-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

South Ayrshire’s D1 team finished a mid-table 5th in what was a challenging season. With the demise of the West of Scotland Premier Division, many teams strengthened their squads with former premier players. In the end it was as 2 horse race between Drumchapel A and Knightswood A with Drumchapel’s strength in depth prevailing in the end to win by 3 points.

We had a disappointing run in both cup competitions having to concede in the Division Cup 2nd round due to lack of players. We were pipped by 1 point in the first round of the Handicap by Drumchapel B.

Highlights of the season:
Being one of only 2 teams to beat Knightswood A.
Roy Claxton winning leading player of the year with an average of 86%. The highest average for a player who played in more than 2/3 of matches.
Gary maintained his 41% average in what was a stronger league this season.
Pierre had a disappointing season by his standards falling to 26%.

Special thanks to Chris Main who joined the squad for 2 matches this season.

All in all a controversial season with the range in ability increasing due to ex-premier players filtering down to D1. This led to many one-sided matches and several disgruntled players. The West AGM on May 15th should be quite interesting!

Gary McAlpine
Club Sectetary

World-class athletes are made not born

2010-12-19T03:27:00.000-08:00

Recommended book by Matthew Syed.

BOUNCE

An inspiring read that will challenge your preconceptions on how champions are made...

Season 2010/11 gets underway

2010-10-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

NEW TEAMS and a NEW LEAGUE STRUCTURE

The new season is now in full swing with the first competitive matches being played this week.

We have entered a 2nd senior team into the newly formed West of Scotland Division 3. The core of the team is Neil Leonard (match secretary), Paul Morris and Neil McDonald (his first season with the club). They got off to a flyer with a 9:0 win against new comers Glasgow South C. Well done guys!!

The West of Scotland League has been overhauled this season. With the demise of the Premier League and formation of a new Scottish National League, we now have 3 leagues of 9 teams. So it should be interesting with some former Premier players now in D1 and also some new teams coming into the new D3.

South Ayrshire TTC wishes everyone an enjoyable and competitive season!

New venue for home matches

2010-10-07T06:38:00.000-07:00

South Ayrshire Table Tennis Club have secured a new venue for home matches this season, Portland Church in Troon.

All home league and cup matches will now be played on Wednesdays which will keep our Cathcart Street, Ayr venue free for training on Thurdsay evenings.

View Portland Parish Church, Troon in a larger map

Directions on our home page.

Division 1 - Season Revue 2009/10

2010-05-14T05:42:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Knightswood A on an excellent league and cup double.

SATTC B were runners up in the league (our best yet) and also made it to the D1 cup final. So all in all a very good season, but one we are aiming to improve on next season.

Well done to all the squad for their contribution this season.

New Blog for SATTC

2010-05-12T04:22:00.000-07:00

Things have been a bit quiet on the South Ayrshire TTC BLOG, but hopefully that will change now that we have moved the blog over to Google's Blogger.

Now all members of the club can add news items, results, discussions or whatever themselves. All members (who's email address I have) should have received an invitation to participate in this BLOG. Its dead easy - all you need is a Google Account which you can open with your existing email address.

You can subscribe to the BLOG here and add comments to posts.

Here's a wee YouTube video to help you get started:

Cheers,

Gary

Roy Claxton's career best result.

2009-05-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

Roy Claxton describes his win against Ghanaian prodigy Eric Amoah as the pinnacle of his table tennis career in this years Inter Services Tournament.

In doing so he helped the RAF maintain one of the longest unbeaten runs in Services Sport - that’s 27 years the RAF have been unbeated. Amoah has represented his country at Olympic, Commonwealth and Worlds Championship levels, so no wonder Roy was over the moon. Well done Royston!

SATTC B finish in top half of the table

2009-05-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

SATTC B finish in 6th place in their first season in D1.

SATTC B’s season came to a close on May 6th with a 4:5 defeat away to Kilwinning B. No matter the result, both teams would be safe from potential play-offs pending league reconstruction next season. Roy Claxton maintained his 100% record despite good performances from Kilwinning’s Billy Paterson and Dougie Gillespie, each taking an end off the South Ayrshire no 1. Paul Morris had to dig deep with all his matches going to 5 ends. Despite being 10-6 up in the 5th against Dougie, the 72 year old lost out 12-10. At 5:3 to Kilwinning it was down to Paul to get the vital 4th point that would keep us 1 place above our Ayrshire rivals. With Billy playing well having easily despatched Gary 3:0 he was the firm favourite, however Paul conquered his fatigue to grind out a great victory.

Well done all the team! It’s been a tough 1st season in D1 with the experienced players doing a good job to keep us safe and the new players improving their game by playing at this higher level.

First Season in D1 proving a challenge

2009-02-13T03:54:00.000-08:00

13 matches played 9 to go. SATTC are currently languishing 10th out of 12 teams. With the likelihood of league restructuring next season, the challenge is to get into the top 7 to guarantee survival in Division 1. With the return of Roy Claxton after his 4 month stint in the Falklands and a real effort from the rest of the squad, there is a good chance we can do it. This week saw our best result of the season as well as an exit from the handicap. So all efforts can now be concentrated on the league campaign.

Handicap Cup - Round 1
We played 2 matches this week. On Wednesday Roy, Alan and Gary travelled to Cardonald to play the 44th BB in the Handicap Cup. They are 15 points clear at the top of D2 and although we gained more points overall we had a mountain to climb with the handicaps. Roy won all 3 but young Adam pushed him close. Gary beat Derek and had good games with Andrew and Adam. Alan did not play his best loosing all his matches. The BB won by about 53 points.

League
Last night it was back to league business in a rearranged match with Garnethill (Vincent, Tony & Joe). Roy got us off to a good start, easily beating Tony 3:0. Alan then played Vincent losing the 1st end 11:8 but then winning the next two to 9 and 7. He tightened up and as Vincent found some form to loose the 4th 11:6. The final end was a tense affair with both players failing to take the initiative. It could have gone either way but Vincent took it 12:10 to win the point. Next it was Gary v Joe. Gary started well easily winning the 1st 2 ends, then he tightened up and let Joe bring it back to 2 all - a difficult few ends where he was struggling with his confidence. Fortunately he managed to shake off the jitters to win the 5th end. 2:1 to SATTC after round 1.

Next it was Alan v Tony - another 5 ender. Alan having to overcome his nerves and strive to be patient in the rally (and with some good advice from Roy) finally prevailed to win 3:2. Roy then beat Tony 3:0 with Tony doing well in the 3rd end competing well with Roy eventually winning 11:9. Gary v Vincent was a cracker of a match with all 5 ends closely fought battles. Vincent coming through in the end with some good forehand winners. 4:2 to SATTC after round 2.

Alan started the final round with a disappointing match with Tony losing 3:0. Gary's last match with Tony was yet another 5 ender, with Gary having to dig deep to overcome nerves against Tony who was defending well and attacking when the opportunity arose. Gary came through to win 11:8 in the 5th. The last match between Roy and Vincent was very entertaining with Vincent doing his best to overcome Roy's well placed shots and difficult serves. Some great rallies, but Roy won 3:0 to give SATTC their best win of the season so far. That will help us move up the table. But we will need to do well in our remaining matches to get into the top 7 and guarantee D1 status next season.

Next week's match is against Brunswick A and the team is Roy, Pierre and Neil.

Senior Assessment

2009-02-13T03:38:00.000-08:00

Sunday Feb 8th

North Ayrshire hosted the Scottish Senior Assessment Tournament at St. Matthews in Saltcoats.

This was a great opportunity for Ayrshire players to take advantage of a major event on their doorstep. Representing South Ayrshire were Alan McCarry, James Weatherston and Gary McAlpine (his 1st assessment experience). Representing North Ayrshire was Richard Main, Chris Main, Ian McPherson and Sean Doyle.

A First Experience for Gary
Gary really enjoyed the 1st group playing some top rated players including Niall Cameron (Scotland's No 2 player) managing to get 5, 4 & 5 points in the 3 games. Also in his group was Ritchie Main (NATTC), Daniel Swiatek (Drumchapel), and Grant Williams (Perth). All 4 players were tough opponents although he didn't win any games he competed well. So it was down to the bottom group to slug it out with the other 5th placed players. His only win was against Robbie McIntosh (Brunswick A) who he beat 3:0. All the other players were a good D1 standard and he struggled winning only 1 end. Unfortunately Sean Doyle withdrew at the 2nd stage so Gary ended up 28th out of 30 players. “A very enjoyable but rather humbling experience” said Gary.

Richie Main (7th), Alan McCarry (10th) and Chris Main (12th) had a good day finishing 1st, 4th and 6th in the 2nd group of 6. James did not play his best and finished 16th ending up 4th in group 3. Ian McPherson did well considering he does not play much competition TT these days, concentrating his efforts in junior coaching. He managed to get into the 3rd group along with James and ended the day in 17th place.

See full results at TT Scotland’s website.

Trip to Germany

2008-07-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

On October 10th a group of players from the Ayrshire Clubs are heading out to Bernbach (nr Frankfurt).

In March 2006, two table tennis clubs from Germany (TTC Bernbach and TTC Hailer) visited Ayrshire and we had a superb week-end of table tennis and "bon amis" (or is that "gut freunde"). They were a great bunch of guys and most of them spoke really good English. We played a competitive match up at Inverclyde on the Friday evening (their standard of play ranged from D2 to Premier). James Weatherston hosted a superb soiree on the Saturday night. A few of us played a round of golf on the Sunday morning before they flew back on the 3pm flight from Prestwick.

A return visit to Germany has been booked this autumn on Friday 10th to Monday 13th October. So far there are 11 players making the trip. Anyone who is interested in joining us please contact James or Gary.

Division 1 - here we come!

2008-05-22T06:24:00.000-07:00

After a long and close fought season. SATTC D2 team gain promotion to Division 1.

Roy Claxton describes the play-off match against Brunswick A:

S. Ayrshire won the toss and elected to be the away team, in order to dictate the order of play.

Un uncharacteristically nervous Pierre played first against Cameron who has been a “bogey” player in the past. He lost the first game easily, but after a tactical change and notwithstanding playing well below his best, he went 2-1 up. Then at 5-3 up in the 4th, he decided to take a short break for a drink. Which effectively used up his “time-out” allocation for the match in the 10 seconds it took to nervously take a swig of water! He then lost 6 out of the next 7 points Including 2 serves that didn’t touch either side of the table! He eventually lost 3-2. Not the start we wanted.

Jago then took on Robbie and played the best I have ever seen him play to cruise it 3-0.

Paul then went on against Ian. A stern, determined top spinner, who was obviously a class act. Paul quickly went 4-1 down in the first, but then began to vary his returns and Ian showed a vulnerability in spotting the float ball. There were some great rallies and Paul threw away several game points as well as saving a couple. At 17-16 all I called a time out as Paul seemed to be trying too hard to win the final point each time he went in front. Ignoring my advice, he went for a hit. 17-all. He eventually won it 19-17. Tough stuff. The next 2 games were equally exciting although nowhere near as long. Paul beat a very good player 3-0.

Pierre then took on Robbie and just hung in there. Fighting his nerves more than fighting his opponent to scrape it 3-1.

Paul was next up against Cameron. And just threw the first game away. After a tactical change however, he managed to go 2-1 up, before again losing the tactical battle to go down without a fight in the 4th. However, he switched back to the game plan and won the 5th set very easily.

Next Jago against Ian. A classic battle of 2 attackers. Some great rallies and Jago deservedly scraped the first set. The ding-dong continued and Jago went 2-1 up, before a verbal exchange at the end of the 3rd got to him and despite trying to put it out of his head, he was easily beaten in the 4th. He re-grouped in the 5th, but Ian’s confidence was up and he was consistently forcing Jago onto the backhand corner. Ian won the decider 11-8. Great game.

So at 4-2 and the last 2 of the 9 games looking form-wise as though they could possibly go Brunswick’s way, it was felt that Paul just had to beat Robbie, who’s style as a pusher with the odd flashy backhand overcame Paul in a recent Vets tournament. Robbie took the first set 11-4. So again, an obvious tactical change was applied and after 3 more quite gruelling sets, our President clinched promotion for the team. Both Pierre and I agreed that Paul’s 3rd match was the pivotal point. If he’d lost it, instead of a 5-2 win, it could well have been a 5-4 defeat.

In summary, an outstanding team performance where the strength in depth became evident when with one player playing well below his best, the others raised their game to compensate. Pierre sweat blood for his win and was clearly not enjoying the fact that he was unable to find his table tennis brain. Jago played extremely well and Paul was obviously man of the match.

Celtic Challenge against York Road TT Club

2008-05-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

On May 10th South Ayrshire Table Tennis Club hosted an event between an Ayrshire Select (with players from all the Ayrshire Clubs) and York Road Table Tennis Club from Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. The event was a resounding success. Over 40 players ranging from junior beginners to ex-internationals competed in a highly competitive but friendly atmosphere in St Matthews Academy, Saltcoats.

Whilst Ayrshire's top team of James Weatherston, Richie Main and Ian McPherson came out on top, York Road's overall strength in depth proved the decisive factor with the Irish convincingly winning the day.

The venue at St Matthews with 12 superb tables rivaled any top international event. Thanks to North Ayrshire Council and KA Leisure. Thanks also to Grants Haggis for donating the "Robert Burns" Haggis.

Après TT
Afterwards it was off to The Maharani in Troon (our shirt sponsors) for a superb curry and and some great craic with our new Irish friends. We hope to get over to Dublin for the return leg next year.

Visit our events page for a photo gallery of the day.

League & Cup Double for Drumchapel E

2008-04-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

Drum E worthy winners in the closest league table in years.

SATTC 14:4 Holy X (Double Header)
SATTC 8:1 Scottish Power

Divisional Cup Semi final - 44th BB 4:5 SATTC

SATTC 2:7 Drum E
SATTC 8:1 Kilwinning B

Divisional Cup Final - SATTC 2:5 Drum E

Well it went down to the last week of the league season, but congratulations go to the Drummy boys Phil, Davy and Nathan for a superb league and cup double.

Make no mistake - these guys will do well in D1 next season. In fact a D1 player (who shall remain anonymous) reckoned they would have come a close second to Nomads this season.

All that remains is a crucial play-off match on May 22nd against Brunswick A to determine our fate next season.

Hopes of promotion still alive

2008-03-29T04:19:00.000-07:00

A few weeks since our last post. Results as follows:

44th BB 3:6 SATTC
Knightswood v SATTC in Handicap Cup - Knightswood win by 7 points
GSC C 5:4 SATTC
SATTC 9:0 Garn B
Bruns C 1:8 SATTC

Wed Feb 27th - 44th BB 3:6 SATTC
An ever improving Adam Gaffney, came close to a ha-trick of wins beating Gary and Jago and only losing to veteran Paul Morris 12:10 in a tense fifth end. Stand in Philip Houston beat Gary 3:1 to register a 3rd point for the youngsters. Paul's defensive play proved to be the most effective tactic against the fast, fit and attacking juniors.

Wed March 12th - Handicap Cup 2nd Round
Knightswood v SATTC - Knightswood win by 7 points
This was always going to be a difficult tie without SATTC's top player Pierre available, but Paul, Jago and Gary came so close and it all came down to the final game between Neil Dohery and Jago Brown. Jago took the initiative in the first game with some superb attacking play winning 21:17, but Neil stepped up a gear and improved his attacking play in the final game to win 21:11 and secure the victory.

Tues March 18th - GSC C 5:4 SATTC
An impressive Victor managed to win all 3 beating Pierre, Paul and Gary. Malaysian left hander Desmond beat Paul and Gary to secure a well deserved victory for the students and confirm SATTC's 2nd defeat of the season.

Thurs March 20th - SATTC 9:0 Garn B
2 days later and SATTC make up for this defeat with a clean sheet against Garnethill B. Lots of close matches against Vincent, Kevin and Paul Dowden, but Pierre, Paul and stand-in David McNair keep hopes of promotion alive for the Ayrshire team.

Thurs March 27th - Bruns C 1:8 SATTC
Pierre, Paul and Gary take the long hike up to Barlornock and despite a nervous start with Gary losing 0:3 against Brian, SATTC win all the remaining matches in a chillie Brunswick hall. Gary finally warming up in his final match to beat Salim 3:1.

So as SATTC prepare for the final series of games of the season, with Drum E stretching their lead at the top of the table, it's looking increasingly like a play off against Airdrie, Mearns, Maccabi or Brunswick A for SATTC to realise dreams of promotion this season.

A Busy Week in the League

2008-02-22T07:52:00.000-08:00

Drumchapel F 2:7 SATTC
SATTC 5:4 Brunswick B

Tues Feb 19th - Drum F 2:7 SATTC
Much closer than the result would suggest. This was a potential "banana skin", so SATTC were delighted to come away with a 2:7 victory. Drum F new boy Basil is a class act and easily dispatched Gary and Jago without losing a set, however Pierre out-thought his opponent to win 3:1.

A much improved Connor proved a sterner test for the Ayrshire lads this time round managing to take a set off Jago.

Duncan must be one of the most improved players in the division and took 1 set off Jago. His match with Gary was a 5 set battle which could have gone either way with experience overcoming youth this time round.

Thurs Feb 21st - SATTC 5:4 Brunswick B
Brunswick started the match without losing a set in the first 2 games. Liam was in fine form against Jago as was Alister beating a below par Gary.

"El Presidenté" (aka Paul Morris) to the rescue with 3 fine wins, only losing 1 set to Liam. Jago steadied the ship with wins over Alister and Graham. But disappointment for Gary who failed maintain recent form and although coming close to taking Graham to a 5th, failed to register a point.

Junior Coaching Commences

2008-02-15T07:41:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning coaching for juniors at Loans Scout Hall.

Following the arrival of some new table tennis equipment funded by Awards for All, we have transported 3 of our old tables to Loans Scout Hall, an excellent small venue for Junior Coaching and Development. On Monday 18th Feb we are giving a TT demonstration for the Scouts in order to attract potential new champions. A poster campaign will follow in and around Troon.

Saturday morning sessions are on most weeks 10am -12noon with an extra hour 'till 1pm for Adults/up and coming juniors.

Currently we have 3 members with TT Scotland Training Level 2 with more members undergoing training next month.

The Irish are coming !

2008-02-15T06:10:00.000-08:00

York Road Table Tennis Club from Dun Laoghaire, Co.Dublin are coming over to Ayrshire on the 2nd weekend in May.

About 20 players will be making the short hop over the Irish Sea. The main event will take place on Saturday 10th with a tournament at St. Matthew's Saltcoats. We are all looking forward to a great week-end. Let the Guiness Flow!

Busy week in 2 Cup Competitions

2008-02-15T05:45:00.000-08:00

SATTC achieves 2 good wins in the Division 2 and Handicap Cup competitions.

On Tuesday 12th Feb, Pierre, Jago and Alan made the trip to Caley Uni to play GSC C. The first game between Jago and Victor Kagima was the game of the match, with Jago winning 11:9 in the 5th. This paved the way for a convincing 5:1 victory for the Ayrshire outfit. An exciting tie against Drumchapel E awaits.

2 days later and SATTC (Pierre, Jago and Gary) host Garnethill A in the Handicap Cup. Gary played his best of the season so far with convincing wins over Joe and Tony. Man of the match was John Melone who was too strong for all the SATTC players, but nonetheless this was a very convincing win against a team playing in a higher division and a good indicator as to how SATTC could fair in D1 should they gain promotion. Final score SATTC win by 42 points.

Preparing for the 2nd Half of the Season

2008-01-12T09:27:00.000-08:00

Lots in the pipeline as far as club development is concerned, so watch this space. A few results from tail the end of 2007 to report on:

Division 2 Team
29th Nov - Our D2 team visited Scottish Power and despite some well fought matches enjoyed a 0-9 win.

18th Dec - In this league every point is crucial especially since we suffered our first defeat of the season at the hands of the current league leaders Drumchapel E. Despite in form Pierre winning all his matches, Phil Dave and Nathan were all in impressive form. Jago managed to beat Nathan, however veteran Paul for the first time in 3 seasons did not manage any points. This was D1 standard competition and it's hard to see any of the other teams in D2 topping the table at the end of the season. Final result 5:4 to Drum E.

20th Dec - 2 days later, SATTC get back to winning ways with an impressive 5:1 victory over Holy X in the first round of the D2 Cup. The highlight of the match was Pierre's first victory over Michael Schoenhofen. Pierre is playing the best table tennis of his life and we expected a close one - so it was with surprise that he recorded a 3:0 win, beating (it has to be said) a below par Michael, but no less satisfying. Their next meeting in February will be one to look forward to.

Premier Team
13th Dec - With a big backlog of games due to Alan McCarry's injury, it was into the deep-end with a match against 2nd top team Drum A. James and Alan recorded a superb victory winning 3:2.