TABLE TENNIS NEWS

January 2006

by Dave Banks

I know there hasn’t been an article from Avon for quite a while, but we are still very much alive and kicking!!

In the Avon County area, the Bristol and District senior league (9 divisions) and the Bath and District senior league (3 divisions), continue to thrive, with high standards of play taking place, week in , week out. The Bristol league is one of the largest in the country and also has four divisions of junior league.

Since September 2005, a Table Tennis Academy has been set up at Filton College, under the coaching direction of Kevin Satchell. Players from different parts of the country attend this Academy and standards of play are already improving. Also at the College, the ETTA South West High Performance Coaching takes place on two evenings a week, with coach Ryan Jenkins.This is also progressing well, with many county players attending.

The Avon County has a senior team, a veterans team and two junior teams:

Senior Squad - Paul Hooper, David Reeves, Len Vowles, Ricky Jemmott, Carey Barrett, Jess Orlik, Sally Jones, Michelle Leonard.

Veteran Squad - Paul Hooper, Clive Ellison, Neil Wrigglesworth, Ricky Jemmott, Bob Murray, Linda Porter.

Junior 1^st Squad - Andy Banks, Alex Kearney, Alex Banks, Rachel Webb, Hayley Ruderham.

Junior 2^nd Squad - Joe Ratajczak, Tom West, Lloyd Gregory, Russell Driver, Chris Edwards, Hannah Stock, Rebecca Gregory, Jessica Coggins.

At the South West Regional Junior Final Trials, to be held at Cirencester in December, Avon  are represented by 12 players in the various age groups:

Andy Banks, Tom West, Russell Driver, Chris Edwards, Alex Kearney, Alex Banks, Michael Qian, Hayley Ruderham, Hannah Stock, Jessica Coggins, Jack Vaughan and Sophie Lopresti.

The first County match of the season took place in October, with mixed fortunes:

Senior Div 2B - Avon 6- Somerset 2nds 4

Junior Div 2B - Avon 1sts 5-Glamorgan 2nds 5

                         Avon 1sts 5- Cornwall 1sts 5

                         Avon 2nds 3-Devon 2nds 7

                         Avon 2nds 3-Cornwall 1sts 7

                         Avon 2nds 6-Cornwall 2nds 4

Veteran Div 1B - Avon 1- Sussex 9 (Paul Hooper wins our only set against Peter Bartram on his debut!!)

Bristol has also entered a team in the SW Cadet League (Division 1), which is played at Cirencester. The squad is: Jamie Hutchinson, Lloyd Gregory, Michael Qian and Patrick MacFarlane.  First round matches were played in October, and the team had a good win against Woolwell Saints, but just lost against West Wilts and Cheltenham A.