RIDDELL TROPHY 2010

Aaron triumphs...

Pupils from Grange School, Aylesbury, John Colet in Wendover, The Cottesloe School Mandeville Upper School, Ley Hill School and Tring School took part in this year's under 14 tournament at Elmhurst Community Centre on Friday 19 February.

Winners and Runners up from the first round group matches went forward to the second round with the remainder having a consolation event. Jake Davis (Grange) met Ethan Luck (Cottesloe) in the final of the consolation with Jake coming out the victor in three sets.

From Group one of the main event Nathan Ball (Mandeville) and James Harrison (John Colet) proceeded to the semi finals to play Luke Williams (John Colet) and Aaron Taylor (Tring) from the second Group. Commiserations to Jamie Cullen (Ley Hill) and Joseph Warren (Mandeville) who did well to make the second round.

Luke Williams beat a spirited Nathan Ball in four sets with 11 year old Aaron Taylor conquering James Harrison in three sets. In the final no quarter was given by either Luke or Aaron and both should be congratulated on their self belief. Aaron showed some magnificent forehand attacking shots while Luke defended particularly well, taking pace off the ball. Neither allowed anything to distract them and each set was decided either at deuce or 11 - 9 with Aaron taking the Title for 2010.

Thanks to the Organiser David Ballard and League Secretary Brian Whitehead for an enjoyable evening once again.

A BRILLIANT EVENING OF TABLE TENNIS

Girls and Boys competed once again against each other last Friday, 29 January, in events for juniors aged under 18 and cadets aged under 15 years of age in the Annual Aylesbury and District Junior and Cadet Table Tennis tournaments at Elmhurst Community Centre. Fifty entrants across the two competitions took part, proving last year's event to be popular. Numbers were also swelled by larger attendances at Friday practice sessions and the increased interest from Tring School coaching sessions.

Both competitions were run concurrently and entrants to the under 15 Cadet Tournament also entered the junior event. Last year's cadet champion, Jack Baker, had graduated to the junior event only but Rose Luscombe, last year's junior winner, was still young enough to enter both events. Representing Tring she fought her way through to the cadet semi final, having beaten Jamie Cullen and then Xavier Cohen over 4 difficult sets. Her semi final opponent was Joe Wheatley who had progressed through beating Jake Davis and Anthony McCormack

In the lower half of the cadet competition last year's runner up from both competitions, Will Shackleton, moved through with comfortable wins against Max Lee and Billy Allen. He was to meet Rose's brother Jamie who had beaten J T Thies and then win a struggle of dynamic proportions over 4 sets against Aaron Taylor, one of the youngest entrants and one to watch out for in the future.

In the junior event Joe Wheatley again met Elmhurst's Jake Davis. Jake put up a much stronger fight but was unable to prevent Joe going through to meet Will Shackleton. Will, representing Bucks CC, had previously met two of the girl entrants who had both given him a hard time. In the first round Georgina Luck from Tring had taken him twice to deuce before losing in 3 sets and the prolific Elmhurst youngster, Maggie Wong, led Will 2 ? 0 before he realised how to counteract her pen hold attack. Going through to the other semi final was Tring's Xavier Cohen who had mastered Rose Luscombe's game this time and managed to overcome Jack Baker from Bucks\CC in a hard fought match. Meeting him was Ben Elliott from Bucks following his 3 set win against Tring's Jamie Luscombe.

By the semi final stages contestants were becoming tired so those with more stamina and nerve came to the fore. In the cadets Joe Wheatley from Tring beat off Rose's challenge in 4 sets but Will and Jamie Luscombe cancelled each other out, the match going to 5 sets with Will prevailing 11 ? 5. In the junior event Will was extended to 5 sets by Joe before succeeding and Xavier took Ben in 4 attacking sets.

With Will in both finals, the junior event was staged first and the spectators were entertained by two young stars of the future playing stylishly and without restraint. Although only lasting three sets each one was close with Xavier taking the title 12 ? 10, 11 ? 9, 12 ? 10.

Will then had to meet Joe once again, this time in the cadet final and no doubt thoughts of last year will have been passing through his mind when he was runner up in both competitions. Joe had learnt from the junior semi final and seemed to have the upper hand taking the first set, but Will's determination levelled the match and he then took the third set 13 ? 11. Joe stuck to his earlier strategy and returned the compliment with a 13 ? 11 win in the fourth set. Joe seemed to have it all sewn up leading 10 ? 8 in the fifth set, but Will focused, got back to deuce and then took the cadet title 12 ? 10.

Congratulations to Will and Xavier but commiserations to Joe. Many thanks to the Organiser, David Ballard who managed to see the event through smoothly despite the large number of entries and the enthusiastic support. The impeccable behaviour of all the participants helped the smooth running and they should all be congratulated for the courtesy and support they gave to each other.

 

The Riddell Trophy tournament for individual school pupils under 14 years was won by Daniel Nathan of Aylesbury Grammar School. He defeated Rose Luscombe of Bedgrove Junior School in the Final.

The 19 entrants represented the following schools:- Aylesbury Grammar, Quarrendon, Tring, Bedgrove Junior, Grange, Mandeville, William Harding.

JUNIORS EXCEL AT ELMHURST TABLE TENNIS

Local Players aged 14 years or under battled for The Riddell Trophy on 6 March at the Elmhurst Community Centre. Aylesbury & District Table Tennis League organised the event as part of its aim to promote table tennis locally and in particular to encourage play within local schools.
 
Nineteen players from seven schools entered the competition and the quality of the table tennis, and the stamina of the players who had to play through two and a half hours of stiff competition impressed spectators. All players had the opportunity to fight through a group stage which ensured that everybody played a reasonable number of competitive games. The top players from each group advanced to the knockout stage, whilst those who did not progress played in a plate competition.
 
Nathen Ball (representing Mandeville School),  Will Shackleton (Tring)  Josh Denham (Quarrendon) and Rose Luscombe (Bedgrove Junior) , moved forward to the quarter finals together with Aylesbury Grammar School's Jack Clarke, Hao Ping Bao, Ed Bottrill and Daniel Nathan . Unfortunately Nathen, Will and Hao in particular became eliminated in the evenly contested quarter and semi final stages. Reigning Aylesbury and District Junior Champion, Rose and Daniel battled through to the final. 
 
Ciaran Burke and Billy Allen played in the Plate Final, with Billy just winning the first leg 11-8 before losing the second leg 12-10. Unfortunately for the hard working Ciaran, Billy proved too strong in the third leg winning 11-4.
 
Nobby Tennison ably refereed the main event final in front of enthusiastic parents and eliminated contestants who all had clearly enjoyed the evening's entertainment and helped to create a good atmosphere. The two talented finalists played the match in a very good spirit, and whilst Rose Luscombe ran Daniel Nathan close in the first leg only losing narrowly 11-9, Rose could not counter Daniel's greater weight of shot and more playing experience in the second leg losing 11-3.  Daniel proved to be a worthy winner, and independent spectators felt his success was merited for his sustained quality of play throughout the evening, whilst Rose impressed by winning various matches against older opponents. Both players have great potential for the future.  
 
The competition is named in memory of Steve Riddell who undertook many activities locally to promote table tennis, whilst being a combative competitor on the table himself. All competitors showed enthusiasm, skill, and good spirit which would have delighted Steve and matched how he played the game himself. 

 

 

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AYLESBURY JUNIOR TOURNAMENT 2009

STARS OF THE FUTURE SHOW PROMISE

Girls and Boys battled against each other recently in events for juniors aged under 18 and cadets aged under 15 years of age in the Annual District Junior and Cadet Table Tennis tournaments at Elmhurst Community Centre. The evening was well attended and the participants were eager to show off the skills they had learnt from coaching received.

From the original applications it seemed that Maggie Wong, Will Shackleton and Ben Elliott were among the favourites for the Junior Title. Jack Baker was considered an outsider only because he had not had regular practice all season. Nobody considered 10 year old Rose Luscombe from Cheddington. Will moved serenely through against Jack and met Ben, who had beaten Jessica Bolton, in the semi final. The first two sets were close with Will edging out Ben and then completing his passage to the final with an 11 ? 4 final set. In the other half of the draw Rose won a tough match against Omar Echcharki, and then nailed Maggie in the semi final in three fast and furious sets.

In a match that ebbed and flowed with some long attacking rallies, both Will and Rose gave everything. Rose won the first set and, with Will levelling, she then took the third set. Will levelled again but couldn't maintain his momentum and Rose won the Title 11 ? 7 in the fifth set.

Most participants were young enough to play in the under 15 cadet event. From the early rounds the same players came through along with Jack Baker, Nathan Ball, Vusa Ndlovu, Joseph Warren and Omar Echcharki. Jack was improving his game as the evening unfolded and he progressed through to the final beating Ben Elliott on the way. Will Shackleton also made it through to his second final, most notably overpowering the under 18 winner, Rose Luscombe, in the semi final. Having already beaten Jack in the junior event, observers thought Will would take the cadet trophy, but Jack had other things to say about it. He surprised Will with his varied serves and consistent attack to take the first two sets. Dropping the third to some inspired play from Will, Jack fought his way back to take the Cadet Title in the fourth set.

Our congratulations go to Rose Luscombe and Jack Baker with commiserations to Will Shackleton. Our thanks go to the contestants for some entertaining table tennis and also to the Tournament Organiser, David Ballard

BRADLEY GETS REVENGE

Pupils from John Hampden, Aylesbury Grammar, Chesham High and Quarrendon took part in The Buckinghamshire Schools Table Tennis Tournament on 21 November 2008 in Cippenham. Competition throughout the various events was fierce.

Aylesbury and District's young League star, Bradley Willis representing Aylesbury Grammar School, faced Anthony Shapperton from Chesham High in the final of the Under 19 Tournament. This was a replay of the final from last year when Anthony was the winner. This time Bradley, who plays for Elmhurst in the Aylesbury League, took revenge on Anthony with a three set victory in a thrilling final. Bradley will now represent Bucks Schools in the National Schools Tournament at Doncaster next April.

 

Summer Junior Competition 2008

CONNOR AND JAKE TAKE PLAUDITS

Young table tennis stars of the future completed a competitive summer competition at The Elmhurst Community Centre recently. Over the course of the last six weeks they have played against each other in two groups to find the strongest players. In group A Connor Willis had it all to do to against second placed Ricky Wong, needing to win to take top spot. He managed this, winning a very close match 13-11 in the fifth. Connor amassed 28 points to Ricky's 27. Ricky's sister, Maggie, had a successful tournament with consistent performances and took third place on 20 points. Josh Denham, 17 points, made a late surge to finish in fourth spot but only after overcoming a fast improving Ciaran Burke 11 ? 6 in the fifth set. Whilst Ciaran had the least success in this group, the standard of play between top and bottom was very close, a fact that was emphasised when he took Connor to four sets in a riveting encounter, Connor winning 11-9,9-11,11-8,11-8. In mid table Ben Elliott and Jack Baker managed 15 points each with some enterprising match play.

Jake Davis won group B by one point from a fast improving Angus Smith who challenged Jake's domination with a win against him, 10-12,11-9,11-7. Jake had set the standard for this competition in the early stages and is a deserved winner. Congratulations to Angus for his determination to close the gap. Vusa Ndlovu is another who has improved and took third place on 21 points. Rishi Sankar secured fourth spot on 19 points with a fine victory against Kasun Berugoda, but lost out to the most improved player in this group, Kelly Eggleton. She had a brilliant win 11-7,6-11,11-9 to take fifth place. Jessica Bolton lost to Vusa despite taking a leg and finished sixth with 12 points. Aimee Whiteman, 7 points, and Kasun, 4 points, fill the remaining places but have competed well against some strong opponents.

Well done everyone, especially the winners, Connor Willis and Jake Davis.

AYLESBURY JUNIOR TABLE TENNIS TABLE A
		Matches played	Legs won	Legs lost	POINTS
1	Connor Willis	12	28	8	28
2	Ricky Wong	12	27	13	27
3	Maggie Wong	12	20	14	20
4	Josh Denham	12	17	21	17
5	Jack Baker	12	15	19	15
6	Ben Elliott	12	15	22	15
7	Ciaran Burke	12	6	30	6

 

AYLESBURY JUNIOR TABLE TENNIS TABLE B
		Matches played	Legs won	Legs lost	POINTS
1	Jake Davis	14	26	6	26
2	Angus Smith	14	25	7	25
3	Vusa Ndlovu	14	21	13	21
4	Rishi Sankar	14	19	15	19
5	Kelly Eggleton	14	16	16	16
6	Jessica Bolton	14	12	20	12
7	Aimee Whiteman	14	7	24	7
8	Kasun Berugoda	14	4	26	4

 

THE STEVE RIDDELL TROPHY
For the promotion of table tennis amongst young people
PAST WINNERS
2007	Sam Adams ( Grange School )	2008	Jack Scriven (Aylesbury G S)
2009	Daniel Nathan (Aylesbury G S)	2010	Aaron Taylor (Tring School)