PRESIDENT/CAPTAIN'S REPORT

Mon 29th April - Graded Monthly

31 players turned up for a great night of fun table tennis, and we welcomed Antonio’s friend Alessandro.

On Table 1, Rodney again won the table with 5 wins from 6 matches and will come under his own handicapping-eye this week. But the table was extremely close with an amazing 11 of the 15 matches going to 3 games. Antonio was next on 4 wins. Rodney’s only loss was to Marat who easily won the first set and led 2nd set 10/1. Marat couldn’t lose from there, but did lose the set 12/10. In the third set, Marat was up 10/3, Rodney got it back to 10/7, but Marat finally prevailed.

Table 2 was also a very close affair with the 5 club members all winning 3 or 4 matches, and Stephen won the table by pipping Sergey on game scores.

Daniel was too strong on Table 3 winning 5 from 6 but Ryland and Greg put up a good show and won 4 matches.

Ian took out Table 4 with 5 wins with Andrew the runner-up with 4 wins.

Galina blitzed the night on Table 5 and won her 6 matches, dropping just 2 games. Annette also excelled on this table, winning 5 from 6.

Congratulations to Bob who last night brought up his 100-attendance milestone. Bob racks up more kilometres than any other member in attending our playing sessions and we admire his enthusiasm and support for our club.

Thanks to the table leaders who make sure the matches proceed orderly and who fill out the results and individual tallies for each player.

Ross said goodbye after his short stopover on his way north but hopes to be back for the Presentation night in mid-August.

Next week we may hold the Secretary’s Event, ahead of the Ladies Championship which is set for the following week.

SATURDAY NEWS. Last Saturday we had 16 starters for our normal Saturday morning  scratch play, with our friendly robot (R2D2) also working overtime. It will be same format this Saturday morning 4/5. 

On Saturday 11/5 we plan to run our second "Handicap Challenge" with $50 to win, and $20 runner up. Eligible players will receive a nomination email. Plenty of tables available for normal play on that day. 

Mon 22nd April - Jim Colwell trophy

Last night we played the 59th edition of the Jim Colwell Teams Trophy which gives the chance for players to team up with other grades of players in small teams. It was a difficult format for the organisers, trying to organise 6 teams of 4, and 2 teams of 3, from the 30 players that attended, and ensure that everyone got to play at least 3 doubles and 2 singles matches.

 Alex W and Ross made returns after long absences and both commented on the general increase in the relative standard of play since their last appearances.

 The night ended up being dominated by two teams - Kevins Heros (Kevin, Maureen and Daniel) with 12 wins, narrowly topping Antonio’s Mob (Antonio, Paul D, Bob and Yosi) who had 11 wins. Galina’s Giants won 8 matches, Rodney’s Topspinners won 7, Ryland’s Runners won 6, Laurie Larrikins won 5, Mike’s Marauders won 4 and Adam’s Crushers won 3 matches.

 This is Maureen’s second win in this event and also complements her win this year in our other team event – The Arthur Williams Committee Challenge – a real team player! 

We had a good roll up of eighteen players, including ten entries for our inaugural  Saturday Challenge competition, with $50 to win and $20 runner up.

Great to have Mahmoud back. His first day back after welcoming his new son into the world in November. 

For the first Saturday Challenge comp we played two groups of five, using three tables. The top two from each group to progress to the semifinals. Table 1 saw Bob (on fire) a clear winner with 4/4. Craig I with 2/4 was second. On Table 2 Stephen and Marat both had 3/4 with Stephen winning the table by beating Marat in their round game.

In the first Semi Final, Bob went down fighting to Marat 1/2. In the other Semi Final, also a tight one, with Stephen prevailing over Craig 2/1. The best of five Final saw Stephen take the first two games 11/7 and 11/8. Marat fought back to take the third game 11/4, but Stephen refocused and was patient to win it, 11/8 in the fourth. Congratulations to both players.

We hope to run this Saturday Challenge competition, at least on a monthly basis.

Mon 15th April - Monthly

29 players in a mixed handicap draw which provided some challenges for our lower handicapped players who had to pull out their 'cautious' games.

Table 1 saw Kevin calmly take charge of the table winning 6 from 6 and Bob also had a good night with 5 from 6.

On Table 2 we had Stephen win 6 from 6.  Andrew was playing with some of our lowest handicapped players yet he held his nerve and was runner up on the table.  

Table 3 was a fun table with lots of laughs along with lengthy rallies.  Antonio won 5 from 6 and Adam was close behind with 4 from 6.

Table 4 saw Koda in fine form winning 5 from 6.  His only match loss was to Galina who was the runner up on the table.

Finally, the best performance was on Table 5, Mathew won 6 from 6, without dropping a single game!  Well done Mathew.  Richard was on form too, winning 5 from 6.

It was good to see both Angelica and Paul R win 3 from 4 singles matches.  Antonio is still improving and winning heaps.

Next week we hope to hold the Jim Colwell Team’s Event.  Ross is visiting on his way north, so we are looking forward to catching up with him and talking all things crayfish and bushwalking as well as the special teams event.

This Saturday morning we hope to run our first "SATURDAY CHALLENGE", but we still need a couple more nominations to run the first one. It is a handicap competition with $50 to win and $20 runner up. This first one is for 6 handicaps and lower, and we plan to run it monthly. (If there is enough interest from 7 handicaps and higher, we will run a seperate one on another Saturday.) It will run concurrently with normal Saturday morning play, so all welcome as usual. We need your nominations in by Fri 12pm to do the draw etc. It will not count towards, or affect your Monday night handicap. Cost is just your usual $5 to play at the door. Please send your nomination to laurie.g44@yahoo.com  Hope to see you there on Saturday.

Mon 8th April - World Table Tennis Day Celebration

Great roll up of 35 players for the annual celebration of world table tennis day. All games were off scratch, we had 5 grades.

The winners of each group proceeded to the final, 2nd & 3rd played off.

In A grade, there was a few surprises. Lawrie defeated Sergey, & Mike defeated Rodney 15/13, 11/9. Mike won the group, Rodney & Sergey played off, with Rodney proceeding to play Mike in the final.

B grade was very close group, except for Matthew Neroth who won all his matches. Marat & Daniel each won3, they played off with Daniel winning to play Matthew in the final.

C grade was also a tight group except for Adam won all his matches. John won 3, but lost on a countback, Richard & David each won 3, with Richard defeating David to take on Adam in the final.

D grade was a close affair, with Matthew Waugh winning all his matches. Ian and Dennis each won 3, with Ian defeating Dennis to take on Matthew in the final.

E grade was the battle of the ladies, with Judy winning all her matches. Helen and Annette each won 3, with Annette defeating Helen to take on Judy in the final.

Final scores:

A Rodney b Mike 11/7, 11/2, 12/10

B Matthew b Daniel 4/11, 12/10, 6/11, 11/7, 11/8

C Adam b Richard 11/8, 8/11, 9/11, 11/5, 11/7

D Ian b Matthew 7/11, 11/5, 11/8, 7/11, 11/8

E Annette b Judy 11/13, 11/8, 11/6, 11/6

Mon 1st April - Monthly

Mon 1st Apr Mixed Handicap Comp & B-Grade Handicap Doubles Final

Last night the Easter Mon holiday was probably the reason for the lower-than-normal attendance of 21 players. We welcomed back Dennis and Denise after several weeks absence and farewelled Ross who is returning to Melbourne. We played a mixed handicap comp and also got to play the delayed final of the B-Grade Handicap Doubles event. 

Janet and Victor proved too strong in the doubles final winning 11-6, 11-6 and this reversed their loss against Galina and Greg in their round robin game on 29th Jan. Congrats to Janet and Victor.

 In the handicap comp Antonio continued his good form, despite a handicap drop, and won 5 from 6, as did John but Antonio won the table on game difference.

Rodney had another table win but was closely challenged by Kerry who also won 5 from 6 but Rodney won on game difference by just one game.

On Table 3 Adam was too good with 5 from 6 and very happy with his night. Helen also did well with 4 from 6. Helen will be smiling all week about her wins against Sergey, Stephen and Craig🙂.

 Victor followed up his Handicap Doubles win with a 5 from 6 result to win his table from Greg who won 4 from 6.

Note:  Next Monday night 8 April, we will be celebrating World Table Tennis Day (WTTD) and running special events and significant, yes significant, Table prizes. We need to do the draw in advance, so please advise, Rodney, Ross or Maureen by this Thursday 4 April if you are attending.

This Mon night will be for our members only but we will also be celebrating WTTD next Sat 6th Apr at Marton Hall and all members and visitors are encouraged to attend at 9.00am as well.  

Mon 25th March - Graded Monthly

22 players turned up for a graded handicap competition and four of the five tables had four players on them which allows everyone to play each other in both singles and doubles.

Table 1 was closely fought with Kevin and Bob both winning 4 from 6, with Kevin getting the table win on countback.

Ross Hand won 5 from 6 on table 2 and is now only one night-attendance away from being eligible for table wins. Rodney won the table with 3 from 6.

Antonio was too strong on table 3 and won 5 from 6, with Stephen and Greg both winning 3 from 6.

Well done to Annette who had her first table win with 4 from 6 on table 4 with John and Helen not far behind.

Daniel showed his recent improvement on table 5 and won all his 6 matches. Yosi won 4 from 6.

Antonio has now taken a 2-point lead in the John Penrose Half Yearly Points Score, with Craig I and Victor not far behind.

Please note we are Closed this coming Saturday 30 March (Easter Saturday).

However, we are OPEN on Easter Monday1 April.

We are celebrating World Table Tennis Day for our members on Monday 8 April. We need to know in advance if you are coming as we have special events and prizes and we will need to prepare the draw in advance.  Please register for this event via return email no later than 6pm Friday 5 April. 

Visitors & members will be welcomed to the Saturday World Table Tennis celebration on Saturday 6 April (advance notice not required).

Mon 18th Treasurers event

Last year's A grade winner was Paul D and Maureen in B grade - both concentrating hard to try and get back-to-back wins.

A grade was split across 3 tables - reflecting the overall increase in the standard of play.  Paul easily won his table with 4 from 4 and didn't drop a game. Stephen was runner up with 3 from 4. 

Ross, our visitor from Melbourne, was also very strong with 4 from 4, alas he wasn't eligible to progress to the semis, so we let him depart to help look after his week old grand-daughter.  Bob was next with 3 from 4 and Victor made the semis as well.

Antonio continues his strong form and won 3 from 4 - only dropping 1 match to Greg.  Daniel also had 3 from 4, great to see one of our newer members keeping people on their toes.

So, the Semis were on.  Paul played Victor with Paul winning 2/1.  Antonio took on Stephen and Stephen prevailed 2/0.  Paul and Stephen met for the final, Paul thinking about defending his title from last year, Stephen thinking about that dreaded pimple bat.  One amazing point in the second set, Stephen hit a drive backhand, then Paul returned his backhand twice as fast!

Paul won 11/6, 11/2 to take the Treasurer's A Grade title AGAIN.  Well done Paul and commiserations to Stephen.

B grade saw Chad win his table (4/4) with Maureen as runner up.

Galina also had a very strong night, winning 4 from 4.  Our recent Jack Anastas trophy winner, Andrew, showing his new lower handicap is no impediment to his success, had a good night with 3 from 4.

Father and son played in the Semis, 2 very close games of 11/9 and 11/7 to Chad.

In the other Semi, Galina faced Maureen, and again, very close games, Galina taking the 1st game 11/8, then Maureen narrowly won the 2nd 12/10, then the 3rd, 11/9.  So close.  

In the final, Chad, after defeating Maureen easily in the rounds (2/0), took the 1st game 11/6, despite Maureen desperately trying to return Chad's notorious spin. Then, Maureen finally remembered to concentrate and took the 2nd game 11/8.  However, Chad was too good, and, showing little regard for last year's Treasurer's B Grade winner, won the 3rd 11/4.  Congratulations Chad and welcome to a 1 point handicap reduction.

After 10 weeks, the John Penrose Half Yearly Point Score is extremely close with Craig I, Antonio and Victor all within 2 points of each other and then there are a ‘rally’ of players also well in contention.

World table tennis day is 8th April - we will be having a BIG night as we do each year, further details to come.

Please note - from this Saturday 23 March, we start from 9am, finish 11.45am. Come along and play some matches, do some training, maybe have a swim at Kurnell afterwards.

 Save the date: our annual Presentation night is Saturday 17 August 6pm, Cronulla RSL. 

Mon 11th Mar - Mixed Handicap Comp

26 players turned up, we played a mixed monthly, all grades mixed together.

On table 1, Matthew W and Kevin were tied on 5 from 6 wins, and the games difference were also even but Matthew won the table on a countback. Angelica got to play against some solid opponents and had fun and learnt some new skills.

On table 2, it was a close fought contest with everyone winning at least two matches. Kerry and Adam both won 4 from 6 but Kerry won the table on game difference.

Antonio was too strong on table 3 winning 6 matches and only dropping 2 games. Victor and Craig I both had good results with 4 from 6, with Craig I doing it off his newly reduced handicap.

Stephen had a good night and won 5 from 6 to win table 4. Richard again went well and has now completed his 5-nights of qualifying and will be eligible next week once the handicapper has reviewed his efforts.

Table 5 saw Mathew N win with 5 from 6 but Chad also excelled with 4 from 6.

Thanks to Kerry for stepping up in Maureen’s absence and helping Rodney run the night.

Last Saturday our new robot R2D2 had a busy morning with people lined up trying to beat it, but it did not complain. Again, thanks to the RSL, our wonderful sponsor, and please keep them in mind next time you are looking for a great local venue for your next event or entertainment/dining.

We hope to run an event next Monday night.      

Mon 4th Mar - Graded Handicap Comp

Action packed night with 34 players.  With only 1 match not completed, 32 people had 4 singles and 2 doubles, great effort.  

Big news of the week is that the RSL has kindly approved our request for a subsidy to purchase a training robot for use on Saturdays - this is tremendous for our Club and very much appreciated.  We look forward to a lift in our skills and enjoyment of the game.  A big thank you to Cronulla RSL for their ongoing support of our Table Tennis Club.

The temperature was perfect and there were ten players who were getting used to their new handicaps. Every player won at least 1 match, no duck eggs to be seen.  Plus, we had two tables where two players had the same match and game difference. As much as we grumble about our handicaps decreasing, the handicappers must be doing something right!

On Table 1 David and Wes topped the table with 4 wins from 6 and a game differential of 4. A countback may be required to separate them.

Rodney continues his good form and won his table with 5 wins, but it had to go to game scores to separate him and Paul D, who was just one game shy of Rodney.

On Table 3 we didn't quite get the final game finished, but Ryland has won the table irrespective of the result of the missed game. Mike had a good night and won 5 from 6 to seal 2nd place. 

On Table 4, Daniel won 5 from 6, with Chad having a good night as well with 4 from 6.

Table 5 saw our other match where the match and game score differentials were identical and these were for Galina and Richard. Richard is now very close to being eligible for future table-winning prizes.   

Next Saturday we are on from10.15am - 1pm, hope to see you then.

Mon 26th Feb - Monthly

29 players on a perfect night for Table Tennis. We welcomed a visitor, Ross, who is in town for 6 weeks from Melbourne where he plays pennant level.  We hope you enjoy your time with our Club.

Table1 saw our President, Rodney with fresh new rubbers, come close to winning the table with 5 from 6.  Alas, Mr Consistency, Chris K, nudged Rodney out by just one game to take the table. Well done Chris.

Table 2 saw Mr Determined, Craig, win with 5 from 6.  However,Craig's loss to Sergey - pretty sure that's 2 weeks in a row? - will haunt him till they meet again. Bob had a good night, runner up on the table with 4 from 6.

Table 3 had Antonio blitzing the table with 6 from 6.  As a bonus, Antonio ensures everyone on his table has a fun time.  Galina also had a strong night, must be getting over her shoulder injury, with 4 from 6.

Victor was in fine form, winning 5 from 6 - only Judy challenging him with a 2 /1 win in the Singles.  Victor's Doubles win rate of 75% gets another kick along as he won his 2 Doubles games easily.

Table 5 - Matthew W won 6 from 6, plus, didn't drop a game all night!  Surely that deserves an extra prize? - the Committee might need to have an Extraordinary Table Prize Meeting - watch this space.  Table 5 also had father and son team, Chad and Andrew.  However, Andrew - last week's B grade Jack Anastas Trophy winner - had a somewhat tougher night on his lower handicap and this might take a few weeks to get accustomed to.  

Reminder - next Saturday 2 March.  Due to an earlier hall booking, we start later in the morning  - from10.15, finish 1pm .  This is a temporary time change from 2/3/24 - 6/4/24 (inclusive).  From 13 April we will be back to 9am start.  Hope to see you there.

Mon 19th Feb - Jack Anastas trophy

27 players met for 2 grades of the Jack Anastas trophy, last year won by Rodney in a field of 19 players.

In A grade, it was all eyes focused on the prize.  Except, in one of the round games, Antonio and Ryland were in the midst of tight match, both with their cheersquads at the ready.  Then there was a halt in play during Antonio's serve.  What was the problem?  Ahhh - play then resumed once Antonio had stopped laughing!  The crowd were also in stitches.  

On a serious note, Daniel went straight through to the Semis - his first semi since joining our Club.  Great to have Daniel in the finals circle.

In the playoffs, Laurie played Bob, winning 2/1 and Craig I played Mike, with Mike winning 2/0.  Next, Daniel had to face Laurie and it was very close - a match which saw some powerful slams and Laurie went through to the final, winning 2/1.  Ryland, who is getting stronger each week, had to face Mike in the semi and despite a rapid improvement from Ryland, Mike won 2/0.  

This set up a final between Mike and Laurie.  Laurie had last won the Jack Anastas trophy in 2020 and Mike had won it in 2019. 

Laurie was focused and the first game was 11/2 in his favour.  2nd game saw Mike come back strongly and it was a close finish to Mike 12/10.  So it was ON for the final game. 3rd game got to 9 all, Laurie took the lead and won 11/9.  Well done to both contestants and it was a great final to watch.  Congratulations to Laurie, well done, and welcome to a 1 point handicap reduction. 

In B Grade, Koda had won 4/4 on his table  - without dropping a game, and Andrew also had 4/4.  In the 1st semi, Andrew met Guy, but Guy went down 0/2.  In the other semi, Koda played Maureen but Maureen didn't give Koda a chance to play the long and fast game that he likes, and Maureen won 2/0.

In the rounds, Andrew and Maureen had had 3 deuce games, with Andrew winning 2/1.  However, in the final between Andrew and Maureen, Andrew was just too good.  He was steady and just drew Maureen in to make the mistake, and he won easily 11/3, 11/6.  Well done Andrew, great result. 

Mon 12th Feb - Graded Handicap Comp

A massive night with 37 players - high energy and lots of very close, tightly contested, and fun games.  We had 3 visitors, Richard, Carmel and Denis.

We started with the A grade final of the Captain’s event between Wes and Sebastien - father and son opponents!  Perhaps the crowd was on the side of Sebastien? - he put up a great fight in the 1st game, only going down 11/8, so the contest was on.  In the 2nd game, Wes was down 10/7 and we thought we had a 3rd game coming up.  However, Wes - what a comeback - he won the 2nd game 12/10 & took the title for the A grade Captain’s event.  Well done Wes and commiserations to Sebastien - fabulous effort by both of you.

Table 1 - we split Sebastien and Wes so they weren't on the same table - Sebastien did very well on his recently reduced handicap, and having just played the A Grade Captains Trophy final, to come out equal with Chris K and Sergey by winning 4 from 6 matches.

Table 2 - Wes wasn't quite so fortunate against some hot competition but did have a nail-biting doubles game with his partner Craig I against Stephen and Marat.  After losing the 1st game, Wes and Craig were 10-1 down in the 2nd. But they turned it around to win that game, and the next game, to take the match 2/1.  Sensational effort and, needless to say, they were grinning from ear to ear.  However, Mathew scooped the table with 5 wins from 5 matches - well done Mathew, you are on fire!

Table 3 - this was the table with incredibly eight players all with a plus '6' handicap which meant all 40 games in the sixteen matches were all scratch games! - they had the best night - some compelling games and great to see the camaraderie between the group.  Visitor Richard wondered what he had walked into, but he was impressed with the high standard of play and many of his games went to deuce, so he was happy that he'd resumed table tennis after a long absence.  The final match between Antonio and Adam was very close - they were the last men playing at 9.45pm, but, as we packed-up around them, Antonio narrowly won 2-1. Antonio and Ryland both got 5 from 5 matches, so competitive!! Despite a handicap adjustment and 0/6 on the night, Greg was having a fun night. That's resilience. 

Table 4 included Alec who did very well and we look forward to seeing him back again. Maureen and Janet were equal on matches.

Table 5 saw newcomers Yosi and Ian (despite a drop from his initial handicap), win 5 from 6 matches - they are enjoying the opportunity to play and improving with every week.  And, another newcomer, Annette, also did very well with 4 from 6.

The scheduled Jack Anastas Trophy event may or may not happen next Mon night depending on the availability of organisers.  

Important note re-numbers attending on Monday evenings.  As you have seen recently, we are getting high numbers, nearing our capacity for running draws of 8 people per table.  If we need to run 9 or 10 per table, there will be a too long-a-wait between games. Therefore, for the time being, we are putting a 'pause' on new visitors attending on Monday evenings.  Visitors are still welcome on Saturdays (9am - 11.45am) where they can play a variety of players and receive some training if they want.  We will update our website, Facebook and displays at Cronulla RSL.  Mostly, visitors make contact before attending so we will handle those conversations and direct them to Saturdays.  Summary: Could members please not bring any visitors on Monday nights until advised otherwise.

2nd note - call for tech help!  Thinking forward, to cater for large numbers, and to ensure we get started as soon as possible to maximise playing time, we would be interested in hearing from any members who could suggest an app or similar to enable pre-registration on Monday nights.  I.e. players advise in advance that they are attending, so that we can do the draw before arriving at the Hall and get play started much earlier.  The solution needs to be inexpensive and not involve 37 messages to the Committee ;-).  Thank you.

Mon 5th Feb - Monthly

35 players on a humid night - good on everyone for making Table Tennis the priority tonight! Fortunately we had the AC running in the kitchen, some breeze in the back corner, breeze in the front door, so there were pockets of relief.  As usual, lots going on and good spirited matches.

We played on 6 tables so we could get through our games quickly and everyone played 4 singles and 2 doubles.

Chris K wasn't feeling the heat - cool as a cucumber, winning 6 from 6 matches - best result of the room.

Craig I and Stephen both had 4 from 6 matches, but Stephen narrowly came on top by 1 game.  Well done - both very determined players who are very generous with their time in coaching higher handicap players.  

Greg, its always Greg, Greg, Greg  - was the table winner with 5 from 6. Surely he must be sailing close to the handicappers' eye? New member, Ian, did very well on his reduced handicap, still winning 4 from 6.

On table 4 the contest was the tightest we've seen - maybe a record? Andrew, Dennis and Victor all ended up with 4 wins from 6 matches and they all had the same game-score difference - so we couldn't split them.  Question is - do they split the $5 table prize, i.e. $1.67 each?  Answer next week.

Ryland won 5 from 6 - good to see another strong result and you are definitely getting stronger each week.  However, another question - are our handicappers on holidays?  Gone fishing? Thinking about their next holiday in Tassie?  A special note - great to see Reece the runner up on the table with 4 from 6 - even defeating Ryland!  The time on the Saturday Robot, and those You Tube videos, is all paying off.  Well done to Ryland and Reece.

Final table, and Adam - surprise, surprise, wasn't the winner.  Well, well well - what a turnup - he got 4 from 6.  Maureen had an unusually good night - maybe she was finally thinking about the Robot training, anyway, got 5 from 6. 

Looking forward to seeing members next Saturday 9am - you've heard mention of the Robot - yes, we are expecting he will be making another appearance so come along and give it a try.

Mon 29th Jan 2024 - Handicap Doubles Event

On a fairly humid night, 27 players including 3 visitors/ineligible players (as hadn't had min 5 Monday nights) so we had 24 playing in the Handicap Doubles event in 2 grades.

 In A grade, Mathew/ Chris didn't drop a match, winning 5 from 5, so they went straight through to the Final.  Semi Final was played by Craig I / Laurie vs.  Rodney / Kevin.  

Craig I / Laurie had been strategising before every match, and this paid dividends - they defeated Rodney / Kevin 2-0 in the Semi Final.

Next, the Final - between Mathew / Chris vs. Craig I /Laurie.  After several long rallies, Craig I/ Laurie won the 1st game 11-9.  Then the 2nd game was 11-7 so Craig I/ Laurie turned the tables from the round result and are now the 2024 'A grade Handicap Doubles' winners.  And weren't they happy about this!  Commiserations to Mathew / Chris.

 In B grade Galina / Greg won their matches 4-0 and went straight to the Final.

Adam / Bob and Victor / Janet fought it out in the Semi Final and Victor / Janet won the Semi Final Match 2-0.   We ran out of time for the Final and look forward to seeing this in a couple of weeks.  No doubt Galina / Greg and Victor / Janet will be practising hard in the interim.

 Final table consisted of our newer members, Matthew W and Yosi, and Ian (visitor). Ian's initial handicap might need a review - he won 5 of his 6 matches.  Great to see our newer members enjoying the competitive spirit.

Mon 22nd Jan 2024 - A Grade Scratch Event & Graded Handicap Comp

Another great night, again 37 players, including 3 first time visitors, Ian, Mick and Raf.  We trialled new sheets which calculate the starting handicaps automatically, including doubles.  Everyone was very complimentary to Ross for the new sheets and thanked him for all his hard work, well done Ross.  We also trialled 'table leaders' assigned to keep the matches moving and results recorded on each table - fabulous job by all, thank you to Paul D, new member Adam, David and Galina.

We played 4 singles matches and 2 doubles matches, a massive effort on a big night across five tables - this resulted in 73 singles and 19 doubles matches for a total of 92 matches which is by and far the most matches ever played on one night for our club. It wasn’t that long ago that we were happy to get 35 matches played! Results were:

Table 1 was a special 'scratch table' with 2 visitors and our best 3 players had a real contest. Visitor Raf provided a master class, easily taking out the table.

Mathew was the next winner, closely followed by 'Mr Consistently in the Winners Circle', Craig I and Stephen.  Only 2 sets was the difference between all 3 players.

Marat took out his table winning 5 from 6.

Congratulations Koda on winning his table with 6 from 6.

The final table saw Dennis, one of our long-time regulars win 6 from 6 and join Koda as the best performers on the night..

Part of the calculations for the new drawsheets are conversion tables for our better players who start off negative handicaps. This has been done to shorten the matches of those players to make them consistent in length to most of the other matches. It was not evident last Monday because of the special A Grade scratch event that was held.

Also, the scoresheets now only refer to matches and sets, because the term ‘games’ was being used for both of those which was causing confusion, so now you play the best of three sets which constitutes a match. We will try and not use the word ‘game’, but old habits die hard. 

Last Saturday saw 16 players attend and we are on again this coming Saturday 9am - 11.30am, all welcome to come along and get some extra games in.

Mon 15th Jan 2024 - Graded Handicap Comp

WOW – what a fabulous start to the new year with 37 players turning up and despite our long proud history this is a record for the club. Is it the result of New Year resolutions to keep active -let’s hope so We also had 5 visitors turn up and they seemed to enjoy themselves and several are planning Saturday visits and new bats.

It was an action-packed night, tremendous atmosphere and lots of spirited games. Lots of new people, lots of noise. Wasn't sure if we were at a beer hall or at a Table Tennis night! It was unfortunate that our President Rodney and Judy weren’t there to witness a break-through night but I understand they had other matches to watch!  

To help get through all the matches a ‘no warm-up’ rule was implemented for the first time and was well received. Because of this and the great efforts from Maureen and her several helpers everyone got to play at least 3 singles and 2 doubles matches which is amazing for a 37-player turn-up. Remember, the more helpers, the more games we get and everyone is expected to help in some way. Also, thanks to those who are helping to set-up the tables and dismantle them at the end of the night, and to those who are taking charge of the score sheets to keep us humming along.

On Table 1 Chris K is continuing his improvement, even with a reduced handicap and won the table with 4 wins. He got some opposition from Craig D, Paul D, and Sergey who all won 3 from 5.

Table 2 saw our 867-attendee ‘legend’ Kevin take the table prize with 5 from 5 with the quickly improving Sebastien (Kevin’s junior by just a few years) winning 4 from 5.

Craig I continued his good form from last year and won Table 3 with 4 from 5. Our new visitor Yosi also did well but he may get a handicap-adjustment notice for next week!

Good to see Victor back in the winner’s circle with 4 from 5 on Table 4. Adam also performed well and is close to being eligible for club prizes.

Table 5 with 7 players was fairly even except for Andrew who won the table easily with 5 from 5, and he also won a ‘sub-match’. We will no doubt see Andrew reach new heights this year.

If you think you need to leave early one night please let the scorers know ASAP so that they can try and reschedule your matches because if you leave at short notice it can lead to other players missing out on matches, which is unfair to them.  

PLEASE NOTE; Our Saturday session now starts and runs 9am - 11.30am. New time will run to the end of February to beat the afternoon heat.  Hope to see you there.

Mon 18th Dec - Novelty Games Night

On our final playing night of 2023, we had 24 players and welcomed two new members, Matthew W and Adam – other recent new members have been Daniel, Koda and Paul R. Great to have you all as new members.

Following the final of the B Grade Doubles Championship which we played in late November - won by David and Kerry - we played the A Grade Doubles Championship.  Kevin, fresh from a cruise, and recalling his 22–23-year Doubles % winner form, was paired with Wes - who was feeling confident - hoping to follow up his early November win of the Bill Malone trophy (plus he's in the Final of the upcoming A Grade Captains trophy).  Opponents were Rodney and Craig I - both taking it very seriously, well, Rodney was anyway, Craig was just smiling as usual and trying to keep cool. Plus, Craig was the B Grade Doubles Champion last year, so he was feeling a little nervous on the jump up to the big time of A Grade.

First game saw Rodney and Craig get an early start and take it 11-4.  Next game was closer 11-9 and, in the final game, Kevin and Wes went down 11-7.  Congratulations to Rodney and Craig I, well done, nice to see our President and Craig in the winner’s circle again. This was Rodney’s 11th Doubles Club title to add to his 23 Singles titles – makes sense!  Commiserations to Kevin who was trying to win his first A Grade Doubles title, and to Wes, maybe next time.

Then it was time to get into some Christmas fun in four instalments.  We played Doubles with a twist - pairings of A & B graders.  A Graders only allowed backhand and B graders forehand - but had to take the ball on their side of the court, irrespective of who's 'turn' it was.  Very funny to watch.

Next was singles with one shot and then bat down for the next person in the line.  The field was whittled down to Matthew and Seb, who then had to do a twirl between hits - gosh they were so fast - we think Seb was the winner, but it could have been Matthew - they both got a prize.

3rd set was singles playing with the other hand, some got the hang of this quite quickly, others not so much - balls flying everywhere.  Greg and Rodney were the finalists, although Greg being a left hander and Rodney playing golf left-handed might have had some advantage.

Final set was the long serve - table is moved further away each time - Wes took this one out with an incredible 6 metre-long serve and was very appreciative of the significant prize.

The night ended with Christmas and New Year wishes and we will be back in 2024.  First Monday night is 15 January.

Congratulations to Craig I who has finally taken out the well-deserved and coveted John Penrose Half Yearly Points Score Award. Also, to Galina who won the Runners-up title. The adjacent Calendar, Stats and Honour Roll pages have all been updated to the end of the half-year period.  

Please note - Given the hot summer we are having, we are changing the time on Saturdays for January and February to 9am start, finish by 11.30am (perhaps followed by a swim at Kurnell afterwards for those interested?).  Watch your emails for any updates.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our members.  We will see you again Saturday 13 January from 9am and Monday 15 January by 6.45pm. 

Mon 11th Dec - Monthly

24 players on a fairly humid night, but good to be playing after the cancellation on Saturday due to the extreme heat.  Nice to welcome a new member, Daniel, who took advantage of some tips from Craig D - good to see Craig back again.

We had 5 tables with some 'spirited' games - tables results were:

Table 1, Craig I - wow - 5 from 6 against some of our lower handicap players, well done Craig - obviously enthused from a trip to the Central Coast over the weekend.

Table 2 - Mathew narrowly won with 4 from 6, closely followed by 3 players with 3 from 3 - including new member Daniel.  On that table, quite a challenge for Daniel but he handled it well.

Table 3 - the crowd favourite, Dennis, was on fire with 5 from 6 wins, closely followed by Ryland with 4 from 6.

Table 4 - Bob, the superstar improver now on a 6 handicap, which he is handling just fine, won 5 from 6. David, cool as a cucumber on his new lower handicap, also handled it just fine, thank you very much, with 4 from 6.

Table 5 saw our all-time most inspirational player, Guy,  win 5 from 6. What a legend.  Kerry is doing very nicely as well, with 4 from 6, in addition to her fabulous skills in creating our nightly draws - which we appreciate very much.

 We are looking good weather wise for this coming Saturday 16 December which will be our final Saturday of the year, hope to see you then.

 Monday 18 December is our final night for the year - come along for something different.  Prizes on the night.

 Final playing day is Monday 18 December, then we resume from the holiday break on Saturday 13 January 2024.

Mon 4th Dec - Captain’s trophy

31 people including a visitor, Adam, who enjoyed the night, commenting on the great atmosphere and camaraderie. We also welcomed back 2 visitors from last week, Daniel and Matthew.  In addition, we have 2 new members, Paul and Koda - great to have you as part of our club.

We played the Captains Trophy in 2 grades. In the rounds,  A Grade saw  Stephen win 5 from 5, with Wes, Craig and Dennis each winning 4 from 5.  Alas, Ryland trying out his new lower handicap, won 5 from 5 but was not eligible for the finals as he hasn't yet played the minimum number of Monday nights, but we will watch out for Ryland next year.  

In the playoffs, Craig I and Sebastien had a close game, with Sebastien winning 2/1 and a similar story with Victor and Dennis with Dennis winning 2/1.

In the semis, Stephen, confident with his 5/0 win in the rounds, had a close tussle with our smiling assassin, Sebastien, with Sebastien narrowly winning 2/1.  Dennis went up against Wes with Wes winning 2/0.  So, the A grade final for the Captains Trophy is between Sebastien and his Dad, Wes.  But, will need to wait for the result as we ran out of time - will be a great game to watch. 

In B Grade, Andrew was in top form, winning 5/0 in the rounds,  Great to see Andrew!  Kerry, won 4 from 5, followed by David and Galina on Table 5, both getting 3 from 4.  (Table 5 had extra players, so only had time for 4 games of singles).  This set up a semi final between David and Kerry - the doubles champions from 2 weeks ago - with David narrowly winning 2/1.  Andrew was up against tough competitor, Galina, and unfortunately succumbed to Galina's sharp backhand and went down 2/0. 

The B grade final was between David and Galina with David very nervous after losing to Galina 0/2 in the rounds.  David sought expert advice on his strategy, created an action plan and executed perfectly, winning 2/0.  Commiserations to Galina - our expert Bingo caller - hopefully your upcoming cruise will give you a chance to relax and maybe get some Table Tennis in, ready to come back fighting next year.

Next Saturday 9th Dec has now been cancelled due to expected extreme hot weather.

Doubles championship A grade final next week - Rodney and Craig vs Kevin and Wes.  Will be an interesting match.  Then we will run our usual handicap comp.

Saturday night was the Christmas get together dinner at Cronulla RSL. We had 9 members who did various acts. A poem was written about the club:

Cronulla table tennis club since 1947 the friendly club for all

There’s been so many come and try and smash the table tennis ball

We have all styles of players choppers, spinners, ralliers come and see

We cater for such a wide age gap I’m sure you’d agree

From the 60s and 70s when Cronulla RSL was the place to play

To the 2000s now at Kurnell right to this day

Start from Kevin the doubles king 800 plus attendances you say wow

Look at Guy the ever continuing C grade champ, you say how

Our ladies ever expanding Janet was the king from the start

Now Maureen, Galina, Kerry, Judy so close scores can’t keep them apart

All the players chasing Rodney closer they say each year

But come tonight again buying Rodney a beer

Mark has been injury prone still so close last few years

Hope you get better soon Mark from everyone cheers

Paul D found his bat in the garage under a pile of books

Once he hits the ball, many can’t handle it, look like sooks

Sergey tries to hit the ball out of the hall

If he gets it past you, you’re chasing the ball

Mahmoud the psychologist is always analysing your game

Watch his play, he never plays you the same

Sebastian is showing many how to play

Learning quickly day by day

Craig Ibbotson the politician always has an answer to give you

With a smile, Craig is always prepared to try something new

Ross when he turns up is saying handicap you’re much better than that

But deep down he is trying to beat you, make you feel flat

I have missed some of you but this story is already a long one

So Cronulla RSL table tennis club 2023 I’m done

Captain’s Event B Grade Finalists

Mon 27th Nov Monthly

With much banter and laughter, we played on 5 tables and had a $5 table prize:

1.  Craig I won 5 from 6, closely followed by John and Bob- both with 4 from 6.

2.  Chris K narrowly won by just one game from Mathew N.

3.  Sergey was on fire, winning 5 from 6

4.  Greg won with 5 from 6, Maureen (obviously tired after signing multiple autographs from the story in the Leader) was the runner up with 4 from 6.  Antonio had a solid night with 3 from 6 - it seems your handicap is spot on - for now anyway.

5. New member, Ryland, blitzed the table and the night with 6 from 6 - so perhaps he can handle a 1 point handicap reduction and see how he goes from there.  Galina, Bill Malone B Grade champion, was in fine form, winning 4 from 6.

With 3 weeks to go Craig I has just a 3 point lead over Galina in the John Penrose Half-Yearly Point Score, with daylight third’.

There is a chance that we may play the President’s Event next Monday night in order to free up the 11th Dec for the Club Doubles Final between Rodney/Craig I and Wes/Kevin.

We are on next Saturday afternoon from 1.30pm as usual.

Mon 20th Nov - Doubles championship

The Bill Malone B Grade final: was played at the start of the night. Galina vs Kerry, Kerry got off to a great start, winning 12/10 in the first set. But Galina easily won the next 2 sets, winning the final 10/12, 11/4, 11/5.

4 visitors played a separate handicap comp where Anton won 5/1. 

The perfect number of 24 people turned up for Doubles champs, 2 grades of 12 people.  The winner of the A grade group was Craig I & Rodney who won all their 5 matches. Wes/ Kevin & Chris S/ Paul each won 3/5 so played off. The semi final saw Wes and Kevin defeat Paul and Chris S 2/0.  The final will be played on 11 December with Rodney and Craig I vs Wes and Kevin.

In B grade Kerry/ David & Galina/ Greg each won 4/5. The final was a close contest between Kerry and David vs Galina and Greg.  The B Grade Bill Malone finalists were up again!

The first game saw Kerry & David win 11-6, followed by Galina and Greg taking the 2nd 11-4.  Then, an early lead in the 3rd game by Kerry and David and a monumental comeback by Galina and Greg to Deuce, but Kerry and David held on 13-11.  4th game was 11-6 to Kerry and David.  So we have Doubles champions who are also partners - doesn't happen very often.

 Remember to respond relating to our Christmas get together on Saturday 2nd December.

 We are on again this Saturday from 1.30pm, hope to see you there.

Mon 13th Nov - Graded monthly

The Bill Malone Trophy A Grade winner was Wes who successfully defended the title that he won last year, against Mahmoud 11-3, 11-5.

 Graded handicap with a prize for each table Winner:

 Wes had another strong night winning 5 from 6.

 Following his dad's fine form, Sebastien also got 5 from 6, just defeating Stephen who also had 5 from 6.

 Maureen surprised herself with a rare win, narrowly edging out Janet and Dennis - all with 4 from 6.

 The best result of the night was Judy with 6 from 6, fabulous to see and hopefully more wins to come for her in the near future.

 On Saturday we had two visitors Ryland and Wendy - great to see Ryland come and join us last night as well. Also, it was good to see Lawry call in again from out west.

 Well done to Maureen on passing the 100 Attendance Milestone and she is now only one attendance behind Laurie!

 Our Christmas get together is on Saturday 2 December starting at 6.30pm - get your entertainment ideas ready, and your Christmas outfits, plenty of prizes on offer.  Ensure you let us know if you are coming - members, partners and families are welcome and it will be a fun night. Talk to or email a Committee member to confirm you are coming.  Once the menu is available, this will be circulated so you can choose your own meals from the new menu.

 The Doubles Championship is scheduled for next week and we hope to play the Bill Malone B Grade Final between Kerry and Galina.

Mon 6th Nov - Bill Malone trophy

An amazing 31 players turned up for the Bill Malone trophy, including 5 visitors.

The night was split into A & B grade. In A grade, those that progressed to the semi finals were Wes, Chris, Sebastian & Mahmoud. In the first semi final Mahmoud showed his improvement and defeated Sebastian who has developed a loop, everyone look out. The other semi was a long match; all the tables were put away. Wes prevailed in a tight match over Chris.

In the round robin there was an epic battle between ‘Wes and Son’ with Sebastien prevailing over his dad. But Seb then came up against the old fox Kevin who showed him a trick or two to win that match.

In B grade, Galina & Maureen went through to the semi finals. Playoffs were Dennis beating Greg in 3 close sets, & Kerry also defeated Bob 2/1. The semi finals were 2/0 victories to Galina & Kerry.

So the A grade final will be held next week between Mahmoud and Wes, the following week will be the B grade final between Kerry and Galina.

Last week it was great to see Ron call in to say hello and keep the connection for when he is fit enough to return to play. It will be good to have our best defensive player back.

Our Christmas party will be on Saturday 2nd Dec 7pm at the Cronulla RSL. There will be some local performers to spice up the night.

Mon 30th October - Monthly

22 players, every table had a random mix of handicaps which meant playing different people to our usual graded handicap format.

Also for a change, we added a twist of $5 table prize and the winners were :

1. Wes with 5 wins and 1 loss.  David was Runner up - also with 5 wins and only 1 loss, but Wes won overall by just 1 set. 

2.Galina (Runner up Victor, again by just 1 set).  Galina's won the table with 4 wins and 2 losses, then three of the remaining 5 players achieved 3 wins and 3 losses so a tight contest on that table.

3.  Stephen streaked home with 5 wins and only 1 loss, closely followed by Mahmoud and Sebastien with 4 wins, 2 losses, however Mahmoud was the Runner-up by 3 sets.

4.  Craig also won with 5 wins and only 1 loss - plus he won the most sets of the night across all tables.  Well done Craig!  Runner up was Guy.

Congratulations to Rodney, who this week reached the amazing attendance milestone of 800 attendances since 1997 - second only to Kevin (both challenging Arthur Williams who probably had more attendances in his thirty odd years with the club). Congrats also to Laurie who this week reached the 100 attendance milestone.

Look out for an email shortly about the upcoming Christmas get together, including our 'home grown entertainment'.

We have a TV star in our midst. Alex Tweed was seen on Channel 7’s the one percent club. Alex answered a number of questions correctly, only to fall at the last hurdle. Alex answered the second last question incorrectly. At the once percent question, 4 contestants shared in $98,000.

Cheers to Ross who is waiting for good weather to take the boat to Flinders Island in sunny Tasmania.

Next week may be the Bill Malone trophy.

Mon 23rd October - Graded Handicap Comp

28 players turned up for the night but unfortunately Rod and Judy had to leave early and our thoughts are with them. We had 2 new players on Table 4 - Koda, a friend of Seb and Andrew, and his dad Paul. It appeared that they had fun and Koda was giving his dad a bit of "advice" on how he was playing.

On Table 1 both Wes and David won 4 from 6 matches and Chris K won 5 from 6 on Table 2.

Stephen and Kevin both won 5 from 6 on Table 3. Table 4 was a closely fought tussle between Dennis, Kerry and Koda who all won 4 from 6 matches. Table 5 saw Galina win all her matches.

Generally, it was a very busy and noisy night, and Helen was pleased with herself for winning 2 games in a row which she hadn't done before. Drew is also improving his game, and also won two matches.

Photos of David and Kerry dressed up at The ABBA tribute in Trundle were shown and a few people didn't recognize David in his rock star wig! And on Mon night Drew was wearing his Olivia Newtown John "Lets Get Physical" headband as he was working up a sweat.

Mon 16th October - Arthur Williams Teams Challenge

25 players turned up and we were very pleased to welcome old club stalwarts Bruce Roberts and Peter Williams for a hit - see photo. Peter is the son of a club legend Arthur Williams and Peter partook in the event that was named after his father.

There were four Committee teams of 6 players with Rodney’s Birdies beating Ross’s Ralliers in the first match-up by 7 games to 5 with Victor and Galina both winning their three matches.

In the second match-up Maureen’s Masters accounted for our Honourary Committee member Kevin’s team – Kevin’s Suparoos by 10 games to 2, with Mahmoud, Paul D, Marat and Maureen all winning their 3 games.

It was then time for the final and Maureen’s Masters, consisting of Maureen, Mahmoud, Laurie, Paul D, Marat and Greg showed their great strength and triumphed over Rodney’s Birdies by 8 games to 4.

In the playoff for third Kevin’s Suparoos were too strong for Ross’s Ralliers and won 8 games to 4.

The best individual results on the night included Mahmoud and Marat with 5 from 6 in the winning team, and Guy and Galina did extremely well to win 5 from 6 in their teams.

The night was organised by Ross who called in on his way south for the summer.

Mon 9th October - A & E grade championships

Rodney Forrester has won the A grade & WT Franklin trophy for the 23rd time. Maureen is the inaugural winner of the E grade championship.

Fabulous turnout of 31 players looking for ‘best of the best’ contest for A grade championships. Great to see Bevan again after a lengthy absence. Also a drop-in visit from one of our previous A grade champions & president, Bruce Roberts, hope to see Bruce back for a game soon.

In A grade we had 12 players in 4 groups, although missing Mark who was out due to injury - we wish him well in his recovery. The top 2 in each group went through to the knockout quarter finals. In the first quarter final, Stephen took a set off Rodney with his funky chops. Semi finalists were Rodney vs Sergey, and Mahmoud vs Wes.

In the first semi, Rodney was in control, winning 11/5, 11/4 & 11/3. The second semi was a tight battle. Wes won the first, Mahmoud 2nd & 3rd & looked to have the match rapped up at 10/6. Wes came back winning 6 points in a row to take the 4th & led 2/0 in the 5th. Wes looked to have the match in his grasp, but it was a close final set. At 10/10 Wes did a fault, but won the next point. Mahmoud finally prevailed 5/11, 11/7, 11/7, 10/12, 13/11.

Mahmoud had the task of taking on Rodney who was chasing his 23rd, that’s right, ‘23rd club champion’ title.

Rodney dominated early 11-5, 11-5, but at 6/6 in the 3rd set Mahmoud got used to Rodney’s topspin & won it 11-6. Rodney took the next 2 with 11-9, 11-7 to take out the WT Franklin Title. Massive achievement- well done Rodney & commiserations to Mahmoud. Final score 11/5, 11/5, 6/11, 11/9 & 11/7.

E grade championships was also played with 11 players of 8 & 9 handicaps. Kerry as the leader on Table 4, with 4-0 & Judy runner up. On table 5, Galina was the clear winner with 4-0, with Maureen as runner up.

Semi finals saw Kerry take on Maureen, with Maureen going through to the Final.  Galina took on Judy, with Galina winning 2-1.

So, the Ladies Championship contenders were on again, with Galina, who had beaten Maureen 2-0 in the rounds, taking on Maureen again. Maureen took the first 11-6, then narrowly came home with 13-11. A close contest, luckily for Maureen it didn’t go to a third game as Galina was getting stronger each point!

We welcomed Reece & Drew as new members. Great to see our membership steadily increasing across both Monday & Saturdays. An exciting night & great atmosphere.

Please note an order will be submitted for shirts this week so last chance for you to order a shirt for $25 - if so please contact Maureen by this Wed 11th Oct to order.

Next week is the Arthur Williams challenge event, Ross will be present.

Mon 2nd October - President’s trophy

In A grade 12 players, great to see Mark back and he certainly enjoyed the competition.  On Table 1, Laurie won 3 from 4 and there was a playoff between Mahmoud and Wes to determine the runner up, Wes won that battle 2-1. On Table 2, Sebastien was the clear winner with 4 wins, 0 losses.  Runner up again was a playoff between Rodney vs John, with Rodney winning 2-0.

Semi final was Laurie vs Rodney, Laurie winning 2-1 with the third set coming very close at 11-9.  In the other Semi final, Sebastien has to play his father, Wes, and Sebastien won 2-1. 

The final was  between Sebastien and Laurie and Sebastien prevailed winning 11-5 and 11-2.  Congratulations to Sebastien - he's always happy, and had extra reason tonight, not only beating his Dad, but winning his first major event.  Commiserations to Laurie but good to see him back in the finals again.

13 players In B grade, including a visitor Reece who really enjoyed herself and we hope to see her again next week.  In B grade, no runner-up playoffs required, Bryce won his table - after a close tussle with Galina and Helen who are both playing really well.  Greg was runner-up - his only loss was to -  again - Galina!  Victor, not showing any effects from a recent layoff, won his table 4-0.  The Li household is certainly putting some training in.  Runner up on that table was David, last week's D grade champion. 

The semi-final saw Bryce defeat David 2-0 and Victor was surprised by Greg with Greg winning 2-0.

In the final, Bryce took the first set 11-3, then Greg came back with 12-10, final set was 11-6 to Bryce.   Congratulations to Bryce winning his first event, with Greg runner up. 

Next week is the A grade championship and the WT Franklin trophy. Who can stop Rodney from winning for the 23rd time. Mark has been runner up the last 4 years, and will be a contender along With Sergey, Wes, Mahmoud & Craig Duffield if he turns up.

Also next week is the E grade championship, being held for the first time, this is for players on handicaps of 8 and above.

Mon 25th Sep - B & D Grade Championships

26 players, great to see some people return from holidays.

We had 10 players contest our club’s 23-24 B championship and 14 players contested the D grade championship – all very exciting and the noise was incredible.

In B grade, both Paul and Chris K won their tables 4-0.  In the semi-finals, Paul and Mike played off and Mike prevailed to win 2-0. Chris K took a narrow win from Laurie, winning 11-9 and 16-14. This left Mike and Chris K in the final. Chris K took the first game 11-8, then Mike came back from 7-10 down to win 12-10, third game 11-5 to Chris, then Mike 11-9. The final game was A tight tussle, 3 all, 5all, 8 all, 9 all, 10 all. 11 all, 12 all!  Chris K finally took the title with 14-12 in the final game to win 3 sets to 2. Talk about a nail biter, one of the closest finals seen at Cronulla RSL table tennis club. Great match, well done to Chris K as winner and Mike as runner-up.

D grade was played over 3 tables, the table winners were Chad, Bob and Greg - all not dropping a single game. Bob defeated Guy in a play-off to get into the semi-final where he met Chad, with Bob winning 2-1. The other semi was David, runner up on his table against Greg. In an upset, David won 2-0 against Greg, making the final a contest between Bob and David. Then, David was on fire, winning 11-4, 11-4, Bob took the third 12-10 after getting a couple of very calculated (or lucky) table edges and balls just dropping in after touching the top of the net. David continued his previous form and won the final game, again 11-4.  Great to see David in the winner's circle and Bob as runner-up.

Please note that even though next weekend is a long weekend we will be playing as usual on Saturday from 1.30pm to 4pm and next Monday night 6.30pm to 9.45pm.

Next week we hope to run the President's event and the A & E Grade championships on the following Mon 9th Oct.

Mon 18th Sep - Graded Handicap Comp

21 players on a warm night but our Hall gets some breezes so everyone had a good, busy night. Great to see Mike and Victor make a comeback after some time away and we welcomed Drew as a visitor - hope to see him again, he seemed to enjoy the night. 

As well as having the neatest sheets in the west, Galina had guns blazing to win the night with 6 from 6, only dropping 1 set!!  Well done, Galina.  New member Bryce won all his games with 6 from 6 as well- maybe Bryce's handicap is a bit cushy for him now as he's been getting some extra games on Saturdays. 

Bob goes from strength to strength, again winning the table with 5 from 6 - maybe another candidate for the handicapper's eye?  Great to see Bob improving so much. 

On the remaining table, good to see Laurie on the winners' podium with 4 from 6.  The match of the night goes to the doubles between Mike and Stephen vs Guy and Victor - Guy and Victor shocked the lower handicapped players with a 2-1 win. 

Next week we hope to be able to play both the B and D Grade championships if Rod and Judy are allowed back into the country. B Grade is open to those with handicaps down to and including zero and D Grade is open for those with handicaps down to and including plus 6. 

We had 13 players turn up last Sat afternoon and we welcomed Corinne as a new member. Next Saturday the session time will be back to the normal 1.30pm to 4pm.

Please note that you can now scroll down on both our ‘Calendar and Annual Results’ and our ‘Statistics’ pages above to view all the results and stats for last year and a few years before that as well.

Mon 11th Sep - Graded Handicap Comp

21 players, thanks to Kerry who organised the draw for a great night of close games and a few surprising results.

Kevin, the dark horse/quiet achiever, won 5 from 6 and his outstanding doubles performance continues. To be on the draw with Kevin as your Doubles partner is your lucky day.  

On table 2, our most senior member, Guy and one of our juniors, Sebastien, gave a masterclass in doubles, flogging Laurie and Mahmoud 2-0. What a partnership, they took control and demolished them - all in good spirits of course.  Sebastien won the table, closely followed by Chris K, both winning 4 from 6.

Bob also had a great night, winning 5 from 6, might have been 6 from 6 had he not underestimated Denise who improves every week.  Denise and Maureen partnered to surprise Dennis and David with a 2-1 win as well.  The boys were somewhat surprised, as were the girls!

Andrew had a strong night, winning 5 from 6, including a narrow win against his Dad.  Greg again had a top night, with 5 from 6, winning all his singles.

Its evident several members are benefitting from the extra games on Saturdays - Please note - for next Saturday 16 Sept there is a one-off session-time change - 2.15pm start time and 4.30pm finish. Come along and see your game improve!

Mon 4th Sep - Partially Graded Handicap Comp

22 players on a perfect night for Table Tennis.  A great night, so much laughter and fun, great shots and misses, long rallies and stunning smashes - high action on every table.

Chris K was supposedly feeling a little weary from City vs Country Table Tennis over the weekend, however he got 6 from 6 so he has recovered well. Sebastien, always determined and trying his best, showed the seniors how it’s done, achieving 6 from 6, great to see.  On the other tables, Greg and David both showed their continued good form and got 5 from 6.  They are hard to beat however good-natured laughter is always a feature of their games.

There were some handicap changes following our 2-month review and Stephen liked his new plus 3 handicap and won 4 matches. It was good to see Helen win a couple of matches as she improves her game and Guy recovered from his ‘duck-egg’ last week to win 4 from 6 this week. Unfortunately, last night it was John K’s turn to score a ‘duck-egg’.

Last Saturday afternoon we had 13 players turn up and we had two new visitors and thanks to Mike for providing some coaching.

Last call for playing shirts, let Maureen know if you want to order, $25 each.

The minutes from our Annual General Meeting of last week are now ‘on display’ for 4 weeks so if anyone would like to see them then text Ross on 0427 115 413 and he’ll email them to you. Similarly, all our documents are accessible for any of our members to view and these include our financial statement for last year, our latest constitution document, our playing by-laws/formats/handicapping system, milestone attendance calcs etc so if at any time you would like to see any of our documents or calculations then contact Ross.  

We wish Rodney & Judy well on their holiday and look forward to hearing all about their travels to Japan.

Mon 28th Aug - AGM & Graded monthly

24 members turned up for the AGM, which took less than half an hour to run. Rodney was returned as President/Captain, Maureen was elected Secretary/Treasurer/Publicity Officer and Ross was elected as Vice-Captain/Statistician. Kerry, Craig I, Kevin and Stephen all put up their hands to be trained-up as possible reserve organising members for the few times that Rodney and Maureen are absent. Janet and Ross were late scratchings before play began at 7.30pm.

 Last night Helen became our 44th member for the year, following recent sign-ups of Carol and Bryce.

 When play began there were lots of laughter and many deuce games and more long rallies than usual. It was great to see everyone wearing our new shirts, which look very impressive. Please let Maureen know ASAP if you wish to order a shirt at $25 ea.

 Despite the late start we all got to play at least 6 matches.

 On the top table Sebastien played with the big boys and whipped them all winning 5 from 6, including his dad.

 On the second table Mathew had a good night winning 5 from 6 and Laurie won 4 from 6.

 On the 3rd table Bob showed his drop to a 7 handicap is no hindrance and won all his 6 games, and Craig and David won 4 each.

 The 4th table saw Greg and Dennis both win 5 from 6 and Maureen won 4 matches.

All players are reminded to make sure they check the scoresheets and ensure they have played all their games for the night and that their results have been correctly recorded.

 Our Presentation night at the RSL on Sat night was very successful with 28 people attending and there were loads of great prizes for everyone. Thanks goes to Maureen and Emma for the organisation of the event and the RSL have been thanked for the free room and the setting up.

Now that ‘Attendance Milestones’ are a ‘thing’ in our club, our Stats page on our website now shows our member’s lifetime attendance tallies and the Saturday attendance records as well. Since the end of last year and including Saturdays, Guy has now surpassed an incredible 600 attendances.

 Rodney and Judy are turning Japanesa for a few weeks so we will postpone a couple of events, but in future we hope to have some members trained up to help organise events when Rodney and/or Maureen are absent.     

Odds are out for the B grade championship in a month’s time. Ron & Mike won’t be back due to injuries this year, so we will have a new winner. It is likely to be a close night:

5/2                        Stephen, Paul, Mathew

3/1                         Chris Knott

5/1                         Chris Slack

10/1                      Laurie

100/1                   the rest

Mon 21st Aug - C Grade Championship

25 players on a buzzing and fun filled night.

12 players competed in the C Grade championship event. In the early rounds, each table had a clear winner - On Table 3, Craig I won 3 from 3, followed by Chad with 2 from 3.  On Table 4, visitor/soon to be member, Bryce also got 3 from 3, closely followed by our young Guy with 2 from 3.  On Table 5. Kevin showed his experience with 3 from 3, closely followed by David on 2 from 3.

Repechage saw Janet and Kerry play off, with Kerry winning 2-0.  Kerry then played Bryce and Bryce won 2-1. On the other repechage table, visitor/soon to be member, Matt and Maureen played, Maureen winning 2/1.Maureen then played Greg, but he was too good, Greg winning 2-0. 

Bryce met Greg in the repechage final, very close games, both going to deuce.  The rallies were amazing, both games went to deuce, after Greg produced a corker slam, however Bryce narrowly defeated Greg 13-11, then 14-12. 

So the Championship was on.

David and Dennis played off, with Dennis prevailing 2-1.  Guy and Chad had a tussle with Guy winning 2-0.  Then in the semis, Dennis somehow beat Kevin - one of the key contenders for the title.  Just when you think Dennis is taking it easy, he produces a killer shot. Guy and Craig played next with Craig too strong, winning 2-0. 

In the final Dennis played Craig and despite them both looking very relaxed, the smashes were flying and it was game on.  A great game for the audience to watch - the 16 players who stayed to watch were certainly entertained. Craig won 11/5, 11/7 & 11/9. Craig Ibbotson defended his C grade championship, was the C grade champion for the 3rd time in 4 years. Congratulations Craig!!

Another 2 handicap draws for the higher and lower grades - results don't count - but you wouldn't have known that from the high spirited battles that were going on!

Presentation night is this Saturday at Cronulla RSL, looking forward to a night that is always fun.

 Our AGM is next week 28 August, followed by our usual matches.  Please arrive by 6.45 for a 7pm start for the AGM.

Mon 14th Aug - Ladies Championship

We had the most ladies participating in the ladies championship since it was introduced as a main event. 6 ladies contested the Rodney Forrester ladies championship.

It was a round robin event initially, with Galina & Maureen winning 4/5 and Janet 3/5. Kerry, Judy & Denise also played, there was a number of close matches and the games were all played in fine spirit.

Galina had the best record in the round robin and went straight to the final. The semi final was 5 time winner Janet against last year’s champion Maureen. Maureen showed the benefit of extra Saturday play with a solid 11/2 11/8 victory. Janet looked like the second set may go her way, but Maureen rallied frOm 8/8 to win the second set 11/8.

The final was Galina versus Maureen. Earlier in the night Galina had defeated Maureen 2/0 and a tight final was anticipated by those that stayed which was the majority of the 23 players on the night. But the final was a one way affair, with Maureen 11/3, 11/2 & 11/4 to win the ladies championship for the second straight year. Congratulations Maureen and runner up Galina.

The other 17 players played a graded night, good matches were in abundance.

Next week is the C grade championship. Last year’s winner was Craig Ibbotson, Any one on 5 or more handicap is eligible to play in C grade next week.

There is also a reminder of the required forward payments for the Presentation night at Cronulla RSL on Saturday 26 August. Maureen has emailed everyone with details of the night.

Also, if members wish to enter any agenda items or make any nominations for the Committee positions for the upcoming AGM on the 28th Aug, please contact a committee member.

Mon 7th Aug - ungraded monthly

Good roll up of 22 players for the monthly, including 4 new players. On table 1 Craig Ibbotson showed that new handicap of 5 was no problem, wining 6/6. On table 2, Dennis won 5/6.

Next week is the ladies championship.

Can Janet win again for the 7th time, other contenders include last year’s winner Maureen, the year’s prior winner Galina, or 8 marker Kerry, also Judy. it is an open field.

Mon 31st July - ungraded monthly

17 players turned up. We were missing some of our regulars - away on winter sojourns to (even) warmer climates.

Overall winner on the night was Laurie winning his 6 matches, and only dropping 2 sets all night – well done Laurie. Marat, Bob and Craig all won 5 from 6 - we all know the next handicap review is coming up soon - 4 names to watch. Rodney was still thinking about his weekend cruise and managed to record a ‘duck-egg’ but that won’t worry our club champion.

Great to see Judy back, we missed her cheerful smile and 'between game' conversations. Our annual presentation night is on Saturday 26 August, please let Maureen or Rodney know if you can come, partners are welcome.  It’s always a good night.

Our Saturday afternoon sessions got off to a good start and everyone enjoyed the games and format of Singles, Doubles and Training.  Special thanks to Mike who came along and provided several training sessions which were greatly appreciated.  Mike is nursing an injury at present but his expertise and training drills were terrific, and a massive help for our members and visitors.  We are on again next Saturday, 1.30pm, hope to see many of our members, and visitors, then.

We were recently contacted by Bruce Roberts who is a former multiple singles and doubles champion and President of our club who joined in 1971. Bruce has put together a history of the Table Tennis sub-club of Cronulla RSL, concentrating on the 1960’s, 70’s and the early 80’s. It is fascinating reading and it is now on this website on a new page entitled ‘Some History’. It gives a great insight into the fun, competition and the friendships formed during that time and we encourage you to read it in order to appreciate our club’s origins. We thank Bruce for taking his time to put the document together.

Mon 24th July - ungraded monthly

On a mild winter’s night, 19 players, were grouped in a random mix of handicaps for a change.

Guy was on form, winning both his doubles and 3 singles games for 5 from 6.  Analysing the form of his opponents delivered Bob a payout and he was again streaking out in front with 5 from 6. Sergey and Mahmoud took 2nd and third placings with 4 from 6.  And Laurie galloped away with 5 from 6 - still riding high on his new handicap.

We hope the drive home was harmonious for our couples who all played each other in singles last night - Galina vs Victor, Dennis vs Denise, and Maureen vs Laurie. We also had a father and son match-up when Chad played Andrew.

We are ON for the first Saturday session this Saturday 29 July 1.30 - 4.30pm, all welcome.

Other dates:

Monday 14 August - Ladies Championship (deferred from 31 July in order to include as many ladies as possible). - Maureen is the current holder of the championship

Saturday 26 August - Presentation night at Cronulla RSL 6.30 for 7pm - please let Rodney or Maureen know if you are coming along

Monday 28 August - AGM followed by Table Tennis

Mon 17th July - Monthly

Another dramatic and rollicking night at Marton Hall with 24 players, including 2 visitors Helen and Alan.

 Craig I, ever cheerful, even more so last night, as he was the standout of the night winning 6 from 6, and he now takes the lead in the John Penrose HYPS. 

 On other tables, Bob stepped up to the top table and smashed them out of the Hall, winning 5 from 6 to win the table.  Well done, Bob, perhaps there is some secret training going on?  Mahmoud also got 5 from 6 - among some very tough competition.

 Victor also enjoyed a trot outside his handicap zone, winning his table with 5 from 6, closely followed by Stephen also 5 from 6.

 Table 3 saw a good mix of handicaps and after some very close games, Laurie prevailed, albeit still floating under the radar with his new handicap, winning 5 from 6.

 On the final table, Marat was the clear winner with 5 from 6 - but, there was snapping at his heels with Dennis and Maureen on 4 from 6.

 Thanks everyone for their help in setting up and putting away - many hands make light work.

 Thanks also for attending to the $10 annual subs, we are all set for the coming year and look forward to more members joining us.

Mon 10th July - Graded Handicap Comp

Another raucous winter night with 27 keen players focussed on the games at hand.

Table 1 - Shayne, new man on the block, smashed out 5 from 6.  However, Laurie, the burglar, made the most of his new handicap and took the night with 6 from 6.

On Table 2, Marat, with the handicapper closely following his form, took 5 from 6.  The question is, how long can Marat keep under the radar?  Victor and Craig D showed their experience, winning 4 from 6.  Guy the grinning slammer had his eye on the ball, delivering 4 big slams on the trot.  A very happy man.

Table 3 saw Alex, the comeback kid, regain his form to get 5 from 6. A break from studies is paying dividends.  Alex and Mahmoud paired up in the Doubles (who does this draw anyway?) to only narrowly defeat 2 of our higher handicapped players. Much banter prevailed and they graciously accepted their win.  Ever consistent Mahmoud got 4 from 6 and good to see Janet back, getting 3 from 6, as did Galina and John K.  Chad is away next week, possibly looking for some ducks down south.

Table 4 saw David dishing it out to the others, winning 5 from 5. David paired with Kerry to demolish Maureen and Dennis in the doubles, David complaining of sore shoulders - implying he was carrying Kerry, but watch this space for Kerry to turn the tables.

Table 5 in the corner was very interesting.  Craig I, also enjoying his new handicap, took 5 from 6.  But Andrew, back from a break, was very chuffed to get 4 from 6 against some lower handicapped players and he had a great night, as did Bob and Chris K. 

The John Penrose Half Yearly Points Score competition is of course very close after only two rounds with David having a lead over a host of players snapping at his heals.

Reminder to pay your annual subscriptions, $10, either cash or direct credit to our account - ask Maureen or Rodney for details.  We want to wrap this up by next week Monday 17 July.

Mark your calendars with our Presentation night, planning for an eventful night, Saturday 26 August, 6.30 for 7pm at Cronulla RSL. Early results show that we will have at least an incredible 29 different individual prize winners on the night. More details to come in early August relating to the menu selections.  Hope to see you all there.

Mon 3rd July - Graded Monthly

18 players - cold outside, but warm inside Marton Hall.  We welcomed back Alex T (on a uni break) and visitor Shayne, introduced by Kerry and David.  

We played a graded monthly - in A grade, Craig D had a great night, winning 5 from 6 despite having to play off his new minus 4 handicap. Alex was a bit rusty after his long break and scored a ‘duck-egg’ in the singles. Next 2 tables were mixed and Bob narrowly came out on top from Victor - just 1 set overall in Bob's favour. On this table, incredibly all six players won 2 of their 4 singles matches so the handicapper can’t be happier with a result like that.

Visitor Shayne's initial handicap is 'provisional only' and we look forward to Shayne's return and we will be closely watching Shayne's transition from Tennis to Table Tennis over the next few weeks.  David had a good night winning 5 from 6.  Atmosphere was electric with much banter and laughter for the great shots (and misses) occurring!  As an aside, the recording of the results sheets is 'spot on' - thank you to Kevin (currently enjoying a short-term warmer climate) for providing the ready reference guides, much appreciated. 

We are now collecting $10 from players for the subs for the new 23-24 playing year, either cash or direct debit into our account - Maureen can assist.. 

Reminders - Our Presentation night is on Saturday 26 August at Cronulla RSL 6.30 for 7pm start and our AGM is on Mon 28 August 2023 – pre-game 7pm start.  If any members have items/ideas/suggestions that they would like to discuss at the AGM - please let Rodney, Ross or Maureen know.  We will also be calling for nominations for Committee positions – all positions are open - the more the merrier/many hands make light work.

Mon 26th Jun - Graded Monthly

20 players came out on a cold night and we played a graded handicap.   2 tables had winners with 6 from 6 - congratulations to Marat and Kevin.  Closely followed by Bob winning 5 from 6, another great effort. 

Lots of close and keenly fought games and even results - all in the good spirits of skill, competition, fun, exercise and social banter.

This was the final night of our playing year so Ross will be busy compiling the stats & Maureen will get busy on the prizes ready for our presentation night on Saturday 26 August, 7pm at Cronulla RSL.  We expect to see some new faces on the winners' table and hope to see you all there to support our Club!

Mon 19th Jun - American Cup

The perfect number of 24 players turned up for the American Cup.  Was a good night with players getting 2 games to determine who would progress to the Quarter finals. Greg, John K, Rodney, David, Chris K, Kerry, Mahmoud and Sergey all progressed to the Quarter finals. Unfortunately last year’s winner Maureen didn’t make it through her group.

Great to see a couple of our newer members, Kerry and David Borg, both make it to the quarter finals and enjoyed the opportunity to play more experienced people.

The 1st Semi final was between John K and Rodney, John winning 11/0 and then narrowly winning 11/9 in the 2nd game. Rodney looked like he would take the second set before John ripped a backhand winner at 10/9 to take the match & progress to the final.

The 2nd semi final was Chris K and Sergey, another close game with Sergey winning 11/7 and 11/8. Chris looked like he was coming back in the second set, only for a missed forehand at 9/8 by Chris and a winning forehand by Sergey at match point to take the match.

The Final was between John K and Sergey, John won the first 11/2, then 11/3 and Sergey fought back in the third to take it 15/13.  In the 4th game John prevailed 11/4 to take the American Cup title.  Congratulations to John on his first major singles victory. 

 All players that didn't make the quarter finals had a further 3 games - with Bob, Guy, Maureen and CraigD winning 3 from 3 on their table.

 This was our final event for the year, now only one more night this financial year to determine winners in each of our hotly contested prize events. Please note your calendars for our Presentation night on Saturday 26 August, 7pm, at Cronulla RSL Club - we hope all our members will support the event.

Mon 12th Jun - Graded Monthly

16 players turned up on a cold public holiday but after a late scratching we played in 3 groups of 5 and everyone got to play 4 singles and 2 doubles. 

On Table 1 Mahmoud put out of his mind the ‘duck egg’ he laid last week and brilliantly won 5 from 6 matches. Laurie showed his holiday didn’t adversely affect him and he won 4 from 6. 

On Table 2 it was an extremely close contest, with CraigI winning 4 from 6 and Victor, Kevin and JohnK all winning 3 from 6. 

Table 3 saw Bob have another good night winning 5 from 6, Galina won 4 from 6. Maureen was back from a break and had to contend with a reduced handicap and did well to win 3 from 6. 

Craig is stubbornly holding onto his HYPS lead on 85 pts but Bob is charging home and is on 84 pts with Victor on 82. 

Next week we hope to be playing the American Cup event, it is a knockout event, one of the big events on our calendar.

Mon 5th Jun - monthly

We had 20 players turn up and all got to play 4 singles and 2 doubles matches. We welcome Denise and Marat as new members of our club.

 On table 1 Guy had a good night winning 5 from 6 and Sebastian won 4 from 6.

On table 2 Dennis had a great night winning 6 from 6 and Kevin won 4 from 6. Kevin is reaffirming his status as our best doubles player (for the 3rd year in a row), but with still 3 weeks to go for the playing year anything can happen.

On table 3 Bob also had a perfect night winning 6 from 6 as well as an additional sub-match. Stephen and Greg won 4 from 6.

Table 4 saw Galina win the table with 5 wins from 6 and David won 4 matches.

Galina is currently our best results-scorer with her completeness and tidiness and it would be good if she was challenged for that title by other players. I’m sure Galina will be happy to help show other players how to do it because we need good accurate results on all tables – particularly from our better players!!

The half-yearly points score competition is extremely close with CraigI on 80 points, with both Victor and Bob starting to catch him on 78 points.

Please note that the biggest problem for our organisers is when players turn up late and the draw needs to be redone. This is frustrating and greatly delays the start, and this has been happening recently. We understand there can be delays in getting to the hall but if you are running late, please ring Rodney on 0478 906 156 or Maureen on 0407 837 523, even if you will be arriving just a minute after 6.45pm.

Congratulations to our two youngest players, Sebastian and Andrew who won 3rd place in their school’s team, in the state school’s championships.

Please note that we play on all Public Holidays except over the Xmas period so we will be playing next Monday night during the King’s birthday weekend so we’ll see you then, and hopefully Maureen and Laurie with their travel stories.   

Next Monday will probably be one of the major events of the year, the American Cup. Current holder of the cup is Maureen.

Mon 29th May - Kiwi trophy

Good roll up of 25 players for the Kiwi trophy. Last year Bevan won, defeating Chris Slack in the final, Bevan didn’t return to challenge for the title.

There was 5 groups of 5, winners in each group were Sergey, Stephen, Rodney, Chris & Chris.

Stephen & Chris Slack played off, as the other 3 winners won all their matches in their group. Chris won the playoff.

In the first semi final, Chris Knott was not happy to play Sergey, as Sergey had won most of their previous matches. Although it went to 3 sets, Chris turned it around getting the win.

In the second semi, Chris Slack won the first set 11-7. In the second set, Rodney came back from 10/4 to 10 all, but Chris prevailed 12/10.

The final between 2 Chris’s, both same handicap. At the start, Rodney said Chris to serve!! Very close match, Chris Knott won 11/9, 11/8, Chris Slack runner up in the Kiwi 2 years in a row.

Mon 22nd May - Monthly

22 players turned up and we welcomed two new visitors in Rimah and Marat who showed they have played before. We played on 5 tables and everyone got to play at least 6 matches.

On Table 1 Guy appreciated his new 7 handicap and won 5 from 6 and Victor won 4 from 6 and Judy 3 from 6.

Table 2 saw MathewN have a great night winning 6 from 6 and Bob won 3 from 6.

Mahmoud was back to his best winning 5 from 6 and Wes won 4 from 6 on Table 3.

On Table 4 Greg again had a good night winning 5 from 6 and Ron returned to win 3 from 6.

ChrisK is improving quickly off his plus 3 handicap and won 5 from 6, and both Sebastian and CraigD won 3 from 6 on Table 5.

Our Captain and Club Champ appears to have overcome some of his playing ailments and got through last night unscathed.     

Players are reminded that they all need to check the results sheets each week to ensure all their matches have been correctly recorded because prizes could be at stake – particularly the A-Grade players!!

With only 5 playing nights left we will be trying to get a few annual events completed over that period.   

Mon 15th May

Good roll up of 21 players for the monthly. We played 4 singles and 2 doubles.

David, Greg & Paul were winners on the night.

Welcome to Matt – our 47th member for the year.

With just 6 weeks of play remaining for this year, CraigI on 71 has a 5-point lead over Victor, with Bob a further 2 points behind in the Half Yearly Points Score competition.

The final of last week’s Secretary’s event was played. Stephen reversed the result of last week in the rounds defeating Rodney 11/7, 11/5, displaying his improved form.

Mon 8th May - Secretarys event

On a cold Monday night, 17 players turned up for the Secretarys event. Rodney was the winner in 2022 and back to defend his title after an extended break.

There were 3 groups, the winners of each group were Sergey and Matt Dwyer who returned after an extended break. The other group was very close, Mike, Stephen & Rodney each won 3/4 games, on a countback Stephen & Rodney progressed to the semis.

Sergey and Stephen was a close 3 set match, with Stephen prevailing.

Matt easily won the first set against Rodney, the second set was reversed. In the third set, Rodney caught up to 4/8, then Matt was up 10/6 and looked to have the match in his grasp. Rodney came back, winning 12/10.

The final Stephen vs Rodney will be played first up next week, Rodney looking to defend the Secretarys event.

Next Tuesday is the Cronulla RSL AGM, where Janet will be nominated for life membership. Congratulations Janet on a well deserved honour!@!

Mon 1st May - Graded Handicap Comp

23 players turned up including a new visitor Mikhail and it was good to see Alice return after having her introduction during our WTTD night in early April. We played 5 grades on 5 tables and the top 3 grades consisted of just 4 players which allowed competitive matches especially in the doubles.

On Table 1 PaulD proved that his handicap-drop to zero was not a problem and he won his three singles matches. Both he and Wes won 4 from 6 matches.

On Table 2 there were plenty of close games and there were lots of good fun rallies. After a 6-month break Ross was able to get home in 4 matches and Stephen and Chris won 3 matches each.

Table 3 saw ChrisK win the table with 5 wins and Sebastian won 4 matches.

On Table 4, four players won either 3 or 4 matches and Victor and JohnK both won 4 from 6 and CraigI proved his handicap to drop to 5 did not worry him too much by winning 3 matches.

Table 5 saw Galina win 5 matches and both David and Kerry won 4 matches.

Ross will now head to Townsville for winter but will continue to help record results and perform his vice-captain’s duties from 2,300kms away.

A special thanks to Mark for donating back to our club the new bat he won in the WTTD event. We can now use that again as an event or raffle prize.

Mon 24th April - Jim Colwell Team’s Event

Last night saw the return of some ‘old’ regulars in Ross, Mike and Ron. It was also good to see Mark appear again. 23 players turned up and despite some members having some playing constraints we were able to play the Jim Colwell Team’s Event which has been a club event since 1964 with only one missed year.

There were 5 teams of 4 players in 4 grades and everyone got to play three double and two single matches.

In A Grade CraigD had a good night winning 4 from 5.

In B Grade it was extremely tight with all players except one winning 3 from 5 matches.

C Grade saw Craig win 5 from 5 and Victor win 4 from 5.

Bob and Kerry both won 4 from 5 matches in D Grade.

The final team’s scores saw the Black and White Swans win the event 11-3, with Pushy Bombers 9-5, Hellraisers 6-8, Battlers 5-9 and Red Bear 4-10. The winning team consisted of Sergey, Lawry, Craig and Bob – so congrats to them. The best team-name went to the ‘Battlers’.

Mon 17th April - Treasurer’s event

Wow, what a night!!

27 people including 5 visitors - Wayne, Greig, Blake, Carol and Ian, all such nice people and we hope they will return!  We also welcomed 2 new members - David and Kerry who are quickly hooking into filling out their table sheets and organising the games, great to have you both.

Rodney returned from holiday, but alas, was not able to play - we wish him well for a speedy recovery.

 We played the Treasurers Event in 2 grades.  

 On tables 1 and 2 (A grade) Sergey came out on top of his table, as did PaulD.  In the semis, Paul played CraigD and progressed to the Final. Sergey played Kevin and narrowly won 2-1.  Final was between Paul and Sergey, with Paul winning 2-0 (11-5 then 11-9).  Congratulations Paul - great to see an individual trophy after Paul won the Handicap Doubles with StephenK earlier this year.  Paul will welcome a lower handicap (0) when he next plays.

 Tables 3-5 (B grade) included our 5 visitors and Carol (visitor) and Guy both won 3 from 4, with Guy progressing to the semis.  Bob was the clear winner on his table, winning 4 from 4, as did our new member David.  Semis comprised the 3 table winners, plus Maureen who had 3 from 4 - the most number of sets after David.

Semis were between David and Bob, with Bob winning 2-0. Guy played Maureen and Maureen won 2-0.  Final was between Bob and Maureen, Maureen put her concentration hat on, and won 2-0.  Ironic that our Treasurer, Maureen, won the Treasurer's event/her first event win this year!.  Downside is Maureen will go down to an 8 handicap when she returns from an overseas walking holiday.

Mon 10th Apr 23 – Graded Handicap Comp   

Due to the Public Holiday the turn-up of 15 people was down on our usual numbers, but it was a great atmosphere, with so much laughing and a good vibe.  Fitness and competition = fun.

 Good to see Wes back after a short absence.  Also good to welcome Denise back after her 1st visit last week - Denise also hooks in with the set up and put away, much appreciated.

 Table 1, Laurie won with 4/6, runner up was Wes also with 4/6 but Laurie had more set wins along the way. It's been a looooonnng time since Laurie won his table! Wes won his four single matches which was a great effort given his recent drop in handicap.

 Table 2, CraigI was the winner (again) and Kevin was runner- up, both with 4 from 6 but Craig had a better set-count.

 Table 3, Greg won 6 out of 6!  Greg only lost 3 sets all night.  Runners-up were Bob and Maureen with 3 from 6.  

 We are looking for a spare PC that we can permanently use for the Table Tennis draw.  It just needs to have excel on it and it will connect to the new printer that our parent club kindly paid for recently. Please let Maureen or Rodney know if you have a PC that we can use. 

Mon 3rd April - World Table Tennis Day

World table tennis day is 23rd April, we celebrated a couple of weeks early.

Great roll up of 25 players, including visitors Denise, Alise & Sonja. We had 5 groups, all matches were played off scratch.

In A grade, Mark won 4/4 & Sergey 3/4.

In B grade, Stephen & Matthew won 3/4.

C grade was very close, Lawry, John & Craig I won 3/4, on a countback Lawry & Craig I qualified.

In D grade, Greg & Bob won 3/4.

In E grade, Galina won 4/4 & Judy 3/4.

The finals were all played at the same time, everyone stayed to watch. Winners were Mark, Matthew, Lawry, Bob & Galina.

There was lucky door prize and raffles, it was a very successful night.

Mon 27th March - Graded Handicap Comp

We had 19 players turn up including new visitors David and Kerrie. Everyone got to play 4 singles and 2 doubles matches. 

On Table 1 in the top grade, it was extremely competitive with everyone winning at least 2 games and no-one winning more than 4. Bevan and Chris K won the table with 4 wins.  Great to see our newest member, Chris, has found his rhythm.

On Table 2 it was another close affair and Craig I won the table with 5 wins and Dennis won 4 matches. 

Table 3 saw Bob win 5 from 6 matches and Maureen and Victor won 4 matches each. 

Our President and number 1 player, Rodney, hopes to be back next Monday night for our special ‘Come-Try-Table-Tennis’ night which we run each year to celebrate World Table Tennis Day.  Entry for all players will be $5 and there will be some great prizes. Please bring extra cash for the raffle. Doors open at 6.30pm and you need to be registered by 6.40pm. Encourage your friends and colleagues to come along, will be a fun night. 

Mon 20th March - Graded Handicap Comp

It was a perfect night for Table Tennis.  We played a graded handicap competition across 3 tables, playing 4 singles and 2 doubles each for the 18 players that turned up.  We welcomed a new visitor, Karva, who is a very strong player and his handicap will be less generous next week!  Rodney will enjoy the challenge if he gets to play him.  

We also welcomed back Chris K, who has become a member, and Matt - both are returning players and enjoying the variety of competitors.  60% of players won 3 or more games so it was a good night for most.  

As well as Karva, Maureen also had a good night winning 6 from 6, Victor and Bob both got 5 from 6, and Chad won 4 from 6. 

Victor has now jumped to the lead for the Half-Yearly-Points-Score trophy but it is still a very close battle at this stage.  

Chad and Andrew were able to make an 'appearance" between rehearsal commitments.  Chad is currently directing a play for the Rockdale Guild Theatre and we hope to arrange a group booking when the play launches in May - Chad assures us it will be fantastic! 

 The World Table Tennis event is on in two weeks-time on Monday 3 April.  Please encourage your friends, family, work and sporting colleagues to come along for a fun, action packed night with great prizes for each table, raffle and lucky door prizes. It is strictly a $5 (cash) entry fee for all players, arrive by 6.40pm, and bring extra cash for raffle tickets ($2 each or 3 for $5). 

Mon 13th March - graded monthly

19 players turned up and we welcomed 2 new players, Chris and Matt, who both seemed to enjoy the night.  They were tested with their initial allocated handicaps, but they are both resuming from long absences and will quickly find their form. 

There were many close games and the lower temperature was a pleasure to play in.  

Kevin had a good night, winning his table with 5 from 6. Lawry had a good night winning 4 from 6 despite playing off his new reduced plus 5-handicap. This was a very even table with all players winning at least two games. 

 Bevan was also on fire, being back to his old minus one handicap, winning 5 from 6 and even though there is still a game between Rodney and Craig D to be completed, Bevan came out on top on this table.   

 John K won all his singles on his table, the only player to do so, and he won 5 from 6 and to win the battle of the 6-handicappers. Dennis was back last night after a good holiday and he must have been still thinking about it when he scored a rare ‘duck egg’ for him.  

 On the final table, CraigI, Bob and Maureen all won 4 from 6, but Bob and Maureen were equal table winners with a 10-6 sets score. 

 After eight weeks CraigI, Victor and Mahmoud are battling for the lead in the Half-Yearly-Points-Score with Maureen, Bob and Stephen not far away. 

 We have our event for the annual World Table Tennis-day on Monday 3 April - we will be hosting a fun night with lucky door prizes and a raffle, and hope to get a few new players along to try/resume table tennis. 

Mon 6th Mar - Cancelled due to hot weather

Mon 27th Feb - Graded Monthly

19 players played a graded handicap competition and everyone got to play 6 matches. It was great to see Janet back after a few weeks’ absence, but not the mozzies which came in with the cooling air. 

 On Table 1 Sebastian had another great night winning 6 from 6 – and played an extra game (to make up from a game missed a few weeks ago). In this extra game Sebastian narrowly lost to Chris 10/12, 12/10 and 16/18 but then they were paired together in a doubles match which they won 2-0. Laurie also had a good night winning 4 from 6 and Rodney did well to beat Sergey and Mahmoud while playing off a ridiculously low minus 12-handicap.   

 On table 2, Chris won 5 from 6 - only losing to one of our lowest handicapped players, Bevan, and PaulD won 4 from 6. CraigD had a very rare off-night but he will bounce back well. 

 On table 4, Victor had a successful night winning 5 from 6 and CraigI appreciated his new handicap by also winning 5 from 6, as well as an extra ‘make-up’ match. JohnK won 4 from 6 to have a good night.  

. On table 5, Maureen was on fire after arriving early to get some warm up time with Laurie, also winning 6 from 6, as well as an extra make-up game. 

 The end of Feb signals our two-monthly handicap review so we are expecting adjustments to some player’s handicaps before next week.  

Mon 20th Feb - Doubles Handicap Championship

We had 20 players, plus Bill arrived about 7.30.

In A grade, Laurie and Craig I won all four matches, straight to the final.  Paul D & Stephen played in a semi final against Victor and Wes, PaulD & Stephen progressed to the final, winning 2/0 from Laurie and Craig I - 11/7 and 12/10.  Congratulations to Paul D and Stephen on winning the A grade handicap doubles trophy.

In B grade, Galina and Andrew also won all 4 matches, straight to the final.  Bob and Maureen had won 3 from 4, so they met Chad and Greg in a semi final, with Bob and Maureen progressing to the final.  Galina and Andrew won both matches 11/8 and 11/6 to take the B grade handicap doubles trophy.

Mon 13th Feb - Jack Anastas trophy

With 19 players last night we played the Jack Anastas trophy event and had mixed graded groups. We welcomed a new visitor Jade  

 On Table 1 Rodney won his 4 games and on Table 2 Sebastian won 3 from 3. 

On Table 3 LawryB had a good night and won 4 from 4. 

Table 5 saw LaurieG and JohnK win 3 from 4 but JohnK got through to the semis on a set scores countback. 

In the first semi-final Rodney beat LawryB 2/1, and Sebastion beat JohnK 2-0 in the 2nd semi-final. 

Sebastian was pretty chuffed at making the final, it’s a big deal to get into the final against our club champion. 

Both sets of the final were tight 12-10 affairs but Rodney managed to lift the Jack Anastas trophy for the 4th time – to add to his 2009, 2005 and 2000 victories. 

Well done to both Rodney (a very experienced/lowest handicap player) and Sebastian (in year 8 of high school)! Rodney will see his handicap hammered before next week. 

2 balls went out the window last night to get away from their pummelling, only 1 recovered. Kevin did something very few have done. Kevin served it to the players forehand side, serve hit the edge. Next serve, identical, 2 edges in A ROW!!

Once we get an even number of players we will try and run the handicap doubles event. We will also be looking at running the Ladies Championship event in the next few months and will try to co-ordinate our lady members to allow that to happen.     

Mon 6th Feb Mix-Graded Handicap Comp 

19 players turned up on a warm night for a mixed-grade handicap competition. 

On Table 1 it was good to see Sergey win 5 from 6 matches and Andrew and Guy won 4 games against some good A-Grade players. Sergey defeated Rodney off scratch in 2 tight sets and is talking it up for the A grade championships.

On Table 2 there was much exclamation across many points in the doubles match where CraigD/Chad managed to pip Galina/Bob in a close 2-1 result. This was a very even group with Kevin and Chad winning 4 from 6 games. Kevin is again showing his prowess in doubles matches having won 7 from 8 matches this calendar year.  

On Table 3 CraigI had three lucky table edges to help he and Maureen win their doubles against Sebastian and Dennis – gifting Maureen her only win on a rare off-night for her. Wes again had a good night winning 6 from 6 matches. 

There were some good father-sons combined results with Chad and Andrew winning 8 from 12 and Wes and Sebastian winning 9 from 12. 

After conquering yet again, the Shark Island swim over the weekend, Dennis is off with Denise on a 2-week cruise to Fiji and Vanuatu – we hope it is ‘Majestic” for you both. With our ‘setting-up’ Captain away, it will be ‘all hands-on deck’ over the next two playing nights. 

There are two events we will be trying to play over the next few weeks – the Handicap Doubles and the Jack Anastas trophy.    

Mon 30th Jan 23 - Graded Handicap Comp

20 players turned up and it was good to see Laurie Brayne return after a few months. Most players got to play 4 singles and 2 doubles matches and there were 4 graded groups.

In A Grade it was a two-player tussle between Mahmoud and Wes who both won 5 from 6 games.

Amazingly in B Grade all 5 players won 2 of their 4 singles matches and 80% of the matches were 3-setters so the handicaps were spot-on. After the doubles results were added in, Stephen had another good night with 4 wins and Kevin appreciated the rise in standard and also won 4 matches.

In C Grade a first for the club was achieved when all players played off the same handicap of 6 so all 10 single’s games were scratch games. However there were only 2 x 3-set matches out of 13 games and that was because Sebastian with 5 wins and Victor with 4 wins both had good nights.

In D Grade the results were affected by several missed games but Bob and Guy both won 3 matches.

With Maureen, Rodney and Laurie away it was great that Kevin was able to step up and run the night and it would have brought back memories to him of all the organising of games he did with Rodney for so many years. Thanks Kevin.

Next week might be a chance to run the Handicap Doubles event.   

Mon 23rd Jan 2023 – Graded Handicap Comp 

Monday night was a good night of play with some long and close tussles. 18 players turned up and we played three grades of 6 players and everyone got to play 4 singles and 2 doubles. 

On Table 1 Mahmoud and Wes had a great match with Mahmoud prevailing 2-1. It was good to see Stephen have a great night winning 5 out of 6 matches as did Mahmoud who is continuing his improvement off a zero handicap. 

On Table 2 the stand-out match was between Kevin and CraigI which went back and forth for ages before CraigI claimed the match 2-1. CraigI had another good night and won 5 out of 6 matches but he had to work hard with 5 of those matches being three setters. Dennis is handling his drop to a 6 handicap well and he won 4 out of his six matches. 

On Table 3 Guy had a great night winning 4 out 6 matches and four other players won 3 out of 6 to underline the competitiveness of that grade. Janet pushed Guy to 3 sets and a high set score of 18 before Guy scraped home with a win. 

For the first time we have divided the John Penrose Yearly Point Score Trophy into two 6 monthly halves in order to give more players a chance of doing well. Congratulations to Dennis for winning the first six monthly edition of the event, and Guy eventually just pipped Galina for the runner’s up prize. 

Chad won’t be able to direct play over the table tennis table during March and April because he will be directing a play at the Rockdale Theatre Guild, so we hope he scores some points there.  Chad will be back next week, you can ask more about his newly revealed talent and the play which starts early May 2023.

Now that the holidays are nearly over, we are looking forward to seeing the return of some of our regular players. 

Mon 16th Jan 23 - Monthly

Everyone seemed to be happy to be back playing after 4 weeks off over Xmas and 21 members turned up. On a hot night some players got to use the towels they won last year. We played a graded handicap comp and everyone got to play 4 singles and 2 doubles matches. 

On Table 1 ChrisS won the group with 5 wins out of 6 matches. Mahmoud did very well to win 4 matches after having his handicap recently slashed to zero. 

Table 2 saw mostly close matches but CraigD won 5 and Stephen won 4 matches. 

Table 3 was very close with most players winning 3 from 6, but Victor won the group with 5 wins from 6 matches. 

On Table 4 Wes had a great night winning 5 out of 6 matches off his zero handicap. CraigI and Mathew won 4 from 6 matches. 

Next week may be a handicap doubles event, depending on numbers.

Mon 19th Dec - Christmas fun night

24 players turned up for a night of games with all different players, and a number of fun games.

First off was a round the table, it took a while for a number to understand what was happening. The bat was placed in all different places, the bat was dropped, Bill fell backwards trying to pick up the bat but was OK. Winner was Mark.

Later the next game was a game of playing opposite hands. For most of us, that meant playing left handed. The final was a repeat of the A grade final, Mark vs Rodney. Rodney started at short odds given he is a left handed golfer, but Mark picked the play up very quick, and just went down 11-9, Rodney confirmed his favouritism.

Next game was to see who could land the longest serve, standing as far away from the table as possible. Initially you had to land 1 serve out of 3, some were knocked out. Then the serve was further from the table, you had to land 1 out of 2 serves. It came down to a battle between our youngest member Andrew & Craig Duffield, a seasoned veteran. It was expected that Craig would take this, but Andrew stepped up from long range & landed his first serve. Craig replied, landing it as as well. And so it went on, in one of the most amazing scenes seen at the club, both competitors kept landing the serve, even as the table was moved further and further away. On the fifth attempt, Craig appeared to miss, only for the ball to go in off the EDGE of the table. On the sixth attempt Andrew missed and Craig landed it to win an absorbing contest.

A number of players were given some coaching lessons on serving, topsin and other shots that no doubt will assist them next season.

A special thanks to Ross for all the work he does for the club, organising draws, handicaps, website, all done for the beauty of Tasmania.

It has been a great year for the club, with a host of new members.

Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year to all table tennis members, we look forward to seeing everyone on 16 January.

Mon 12th Dec - Captains Trophy

We again had 24 players and we welcomed Geoff as a first-time visitor. We played the annual Captain’s Event on 5 tables and ran both an A Grade and B Grade competition and most got to play 4 singles’ matches.

The results were exceptionally tight, and in A Grade on Table 1 we had 3 players win 3 matches, with Mark and Mahmoud going into the semis. On Table 2 Mathew won 3 matches and progressed to the semis with CraigD. Mark beat Mathew and Mahmoud beat CraigD in the semis to go into the final.

The A grade final was a great match with Mark taking the first set 11-8 but Mahmoud won a close 2nd set 11-9 to take the match to 3 sets. In the last set both players had chances but Mahmoud only just prevailed against Mark winning the last set 15-13 to take his first club title. Mahmoud will get an email from the handicapper this week!

In B Grade on Table 3 it was a ridiculously close competition with 9 of the 10 matches going to 3 sets. It was good to see JohnK play well and he won his 4 matches and Kevin won 2 matches and, on a count-back, joined JohnK in the Semis. Table 4 saw Janet win 3 matches and then beat CraigI in a one set play-off to head to the semis. Adam was far too good on Table 5 winning his 3 matches and heading to the semis. In the semis JohnK beat Janet and Adam was the winner in his match against Kevin.

The B Grade final saw JohnK meet Adam and the first set was a 11-6 result to Adam, but JohnK kept the match alive by winning a close 2nd set 11-9. In the 3rd set Adam was too strong winning 11-3 to take the Captain’s B Grade title.

Dennis has ‘run away’ with the Half Yearly Points Score trophy despite there being one week remaining, but Guy and Galina are locked in 2nd position and will battle it out for the runner-up title but Guy has two games up his sleeve which may require further games to decide that prize.

When someone who has turned up to play an incredible 105 nights in a row through rain, hail and COVID, and then doesn’t appear on the 106th night – it is a concern to our regular’s, but we are pleased to confirm that Guy was at a family gathering last night and is a certain starter for next Mon 19th Dec which will be our last playing night for 2022 and we will return on Mon 16th Jan.

This Friday night we will be having a Xmas function at the RSL club to help support our parent club and sponsor, and to relax and enjoy talking about how good at table tennis we all are!!.   Please note we will be playing next Monday 19 December, we will be playing some fun games of table tennis!!

Mon 5th Dec - Monthly

24 players turned up with Emma making a welcomed return and she brought two visitors – Cooper and Charlotte. We also welcomed David’s daughter Melria.

Everyone got to play six matches – mostly 4 singles and 2 doubles and there were 61 games played. There were 5 groupings and Group 1 saw Kevin and Mahmoud winning four out of six games.

Group 2 saw Wes win five out of six games off his new zero handicap.

In Group 3 Dennis won five out of six but the games were generally close with Judy and CraigI winning 3 out of 6 games.

Group 4 saw David winning all his 6 matches, and Galina and Greg winning 3 each. Group 5 saw our new visitor Melria showing how good she is by defeating Victor in a scratch game.

With just two weeks to go Dennis has extended his lead in the half yearly point score and should have first position in the bag but Guy is only two points ahead of Galina for the runner-up prize.

Last night Greg became our 43rd member for the year which is a record, and this is amazing because we still have seven months to go in our playing year.

Paul’s car was burnt out, he was lucky a nearby driver alerted him, but he made it to table tennis.

We hope to run the Captain’s event on either of our two remaining nights.

Please confirm your attendance at our Xmas function at the RSL on 16th Dec with Rod or Maureen.

Mon 28th Nov - Graded Handicap Comp

Twenty-five players turned up for a graded handicap competition and we played in 4 groups and most players got to play 4 singles and 2 doubles matches.

The night involved a lot of close games with most going to 3 sets. In Group 1 three players won 2 matches and three players, ChrisS, PaulM and Mathew won 4 matches.

PaulD dominated Group 2 winning all his 6 matches. Mahmoud showed he wasn’t fazed by his reduced handicap and won 5 out of 6 matches.

Kevin won Group 3 with 5 out of six wins and JohnK appreciated his new 6 handicap by winning 4 matches.

In Group 4, Bob won 4 out of 5 matches, and Adam won 3 out of 4 to keep up his good form.

We trialled not having side barriers for the 3 tables near the stage to give more room and to reduce the chance of players falling over them, and most players appeared to approve of the new set-up.

For the first time the John Penrose Point Score Award is being held as two separate half-yearly competitions, the first ending at the end of Dec and prizes will go to the winner and the runner-up. With just 3 weeks to go Dennis has a 10-point lead over Guy who has a 3-point lead over Galina and a 6-point lead over CraigD.

Note that those players with RSL memberships that are expiring in 2022 can renew them from this Thur 1st Dec and our imminent members can also join from then on.

The Xmas get-together at the RSL is set for 7.00pm in the Gerrale Room on Friday 16th Dec and it should be a great night so please see Rod or Maureen by 12th Dec to confirm your attendance. Raffle tickets are still for sale for some great raffle prizes – which will be drawn at the Xmas function.

Note that Mon 19th Dec will be our last playing night before our 3-week Xmas break, with play resuming on Mon 16th Jan 2023.       

Mon 21st Nov - Monthly

Great roll up of 28 players. We played 3 singles and 2 doubles. Total matches played on the night was 68, which is amazing given we used to play 35 matches in a night.

Dennis won all his matches, and is leading the half yearly point score by 8 points from Guy, with Galina a further 6 points adrift.

Our last night of play is Monday 19/12, resuming on Monday 16 January 2023.  Christmas get together is 16 December at Cronulla RSL.

Mon 14th Nov - Monthly

Good roll up of 25 players, we played 4 singles and 2 doubles.

Mahmoud was the winner on the night, winning all his matches. Wes showed he can handle his new handicap.

Welcome to new players Fabrice and Alex.

Mon 7th Nov - Doubles Championship

22 players turned up for the annual doubles championship. There was 2 groups.

In A grade Chris/ Craig Duffield went straight through to the final. Playoff was Matthew/ Sergey vs John/Rodney. The result from the match earlier in the night was reversed, with John/Rodney winning 2 sets to nil. The final was 2 sets all, then the 5th was a very tight affair. John/ Rodney led 4/1 early in the first set, Chris/ Craig came back. It was 7 all, then 9 all, Craig did 2 big serves & Chris/ Craig won 11/8, 8/11, 4/11, 11/2 & 11/9.

In B grade, Sebastian/ Bob won all their matches & went straight through the final. Playoff was Adam/ Craig VS Guy/ Maureen. Adam/ Craig won 3 sets to nil. The final was a reversal of the result earlier in the night with Adam/ Craig Ibbotson winning 11/4, 11/8 & 11/4.

Mon 31st Oct - Bill Malone trophy

20 players turned up for the Bill Malone trophy. Last year’s winner Ron didn’t go back to back.

We played 4 groups of 5, the winners of each group went through to the semi finals.

Matthew & Wes won their semi finals, & played off in the final, the first major final for both.

Wes took control in the first game, winning it 11/2, & looked to have it in the bag early in the 2nd set. But Matthew came back, but went down 11/9 in the 2nd set.

Big celebration as Guy achieved 100 attendances in a row!!

Welcome back to Greg, hasn’t been seen for a while.

Congratulations to Wes on the victory, the handicapper was watching keenly as Wes did not drop a set all night.

Mon 24th October - Monthly

Another big night, fun, boisterous and noisy - the neighbours must wonder what’s going on!  

We welcomed 2 visitors - introduced by Chad & Andrew - Wes and his son Sebastián - they had a great time and we wish Andrew and Sebastian all the best in the Gala Day games next Monday for their school team. 

There were 27 players spread over 5 tables with handicap groupings mixed slightly for additional variety.  The new format will allow us to have more flexibility and everyone seems to be enjoying it. There were some irregularities with the interpretation of the new score sheets which we will be resolving before next week. 

The handicaps are working well and the results were very close on all tables and there were no ‘duck-eggs’ on the night.  

The AB1 grade was especially tight with Mark, Craig D, Laurie and Chris all winning 3 out of 5 games. 

In AB2 grade Mahmoud was the standout and managed to win his 5 matches. 

C grade saw Paul M and Dennis win 4 out of 6 matches. 

D grade was close with Guy and Wes both winning 4 out of 5 games and in E grade Bob and Evan won 3 out of their 4 games.  

On the Hall, we appreciate Council allowing us to continue using the premises while they address termite damage in the main entry foyer, which will take some months. 

Next week we might get to play the Bill Malone trophy and if so, Ron will be defending the title from last year. 

Craig Duffield has informed us of a competition that is being held at Blayney in the Central West on Sat 12th Nov. He played in it last year and he said he had a great time so if you are interested check out the details on the website below:   

https://www.ttnsw.org.au/news/central-west-round-robin-entry-form-and-flyer/

Also, we have some good news about Andrew Smith, our youngest member. Andrew has been selected in his School Under 15's Table Tennis Team!

Points to note for the hall:

1.  Enter via the rear door to the kitchen, next to the carpark. (front door and foyer will be closed for 3 months while termite damage in the foyer is repaired)

2.  Toilets - we will have a key for the sports ground toilets next to our building.

3.  Our equipment will be in a meeting room off the main hall.

Timing:

a. 6.20pm - arrive from 6.20pm and help with set up; 

b. 6.30pm -warm ups start;  

c. 6.50pm - Sign in before 6.50pm or you will miss out on being included in the draw.  Call Maureen on 0407 837 523 if you might be late; and

d. 7pm- play starts.

Mon 17th October - Cancelled due to a foyer white-ant problem at the hall.

Mon 10th October - A & D Grade Championships

A grade championship was won by Rodney Forrester for the 22nd time, and D grade championship was won by Chad Smith, his first main victory at the club.

The atmosphere was like a country pub on a Friday night - joyous and rowdy'

Great roll up of 28 players. In A grade there was 4 groups of 3, the top 2 in each group progressed to the quarter finals. The semi finals was Rodney vs Bevan, & Mark vs Sergey. In both matches Bevan & Sergey looked like winning the 3rd set, but Rodney & Mark came through to win the match 3/0.

So the A grade final was Rodney vs Mark, the 4th year in a row. last year Rodney won 4/0, but this year was different. Mark come out of the box early, & stifled Rodney’s forehand. Mark took control early winning the first 2 sets & was up early in the 3rd. The crowd thought Rodney was on the ropes. After 2 sets Rodney changed the angle of his attack to the backhand thwart Mark’s play & the 3rd to 5th set were very close, but Rodney turned the game around & won the match 4 sets to 2, scores were 6/11, 5/11, 11/5, 11/8, 11/7, 11/5. It was a great game to watch. Congratulations to Rodney winning his 22nd club championship.

The D grade championship was held for the very first time, there was 10 contenders. 2 Groups of 5, with the top 2 in each group progressing to the semi finals. The final was Chad vs Brandt Campbell. In D grade, as Chad's Uncle Howard and son Andrew watched on, Chad got his underspin/chop game going perfectly, he took control early & was never headed, winning 3/0, scores 11/6, 11/3 & 11/1 . Congratulations to Chad for his first major title.

Mon 3rd October - Presidents Event

With 19 players turning up we played the Presidents Event which had been won by Craig I for the past two years. We had 3 grades and everyone got to play 5 singles matches. 

The separate table format was again successful, except for the A Graders who again mis-scheduled their matches and ran behind time – but they’ll catch on eventually! 

The C Grade final was between Chad and Galina, and Chad managed to take the title in 2 sets. 

In B Grade Guy was too strong for Victor and won 2 sets to 1 

A grade was again very close and incredibly 4 players won 3 matches, and had to be separated on a countback. The final was between Bevan and Rod and Bevan was able to hold off Rod with some great counter attacking shots to win in 2 sets. 

Welcome to John K who became our 37th member for the year. 

Next week we hope to run the A Grade Club Championship Event. Who can stop Rodney from winning his 22nd single’s title. Could it be Mark who has been runner up the last 2 years, or Sergey, Craig or Bevan.

Mon 26th Sep - graded monthly

On Monday night we trialled our new ‘Separate Tables’ initiative which involves graded groups playing on their own table and doing all their own scoring. We played 4 grades on 4 tables and the 5th table was a spill-over table. The trial was more successful than we could have hoped for and 25 players played 4 singles and 2 doubles for a total of 61 matches and this was despite us starting a bit late. It was great for the main organisers because they were able to enjoy their games and socialise with other players for a change.

Welcome to Kathy and Adam who became our 35th and 36th members of our club for the year. 

In A Grade the six players all won either 2 or 3 matches which shows how close it was. It was good to see Stephen back and he won 3 out of 5 games and Bevan also won 3 out of 5. 

In B Grade we welcomed a visitor, John. Laurie was easily the best player in this grade, winning all his 6 matches and Kevin won 4 matches. 

Guy had a great night in C Grade winning all his singles matches and winning 5 out of 6 on the night. PaulM and Dennis won 4 out of six games. 

In D Grade Adam showed his handicap could be due for an adjustment by winning 6 out of 6 matches. Maureen and Galina won 4 out of 6 matches. 

During the week we were pleased to hear that the RSL have agreed to fund a new table for us which we have ordered and we ourselves funded some playing barriers which were assembled last night and were used to delineate a new successful seating arrangement in the hall. 

Next week we might try and play the President’s Event but that might depend on our attendance numbers and how many tables we play on.    

Note we are playing next Monday  even though it is a public holiday.

Mon 19th Sep - B grade championship

Monday night saw another record attendance for a normal weekly night with 31 players and everyone got to play at least 4 singles matches. Welcome to LaurieB who last night became our 34th member of our club for this year. 

16 players qualified for the Club’s B Grade Championship and with all games off scratch there were not many upsets, and as expected Mike and Ron ended up playing the final. After winning the first set 11-8 Ron had to fight to win the second set 12-10. In the 3rd set Ron was too strong and won 11-5 to take his second B Grade title in consecutive years. Mike played many great attacking shots but Ron, with his great defensive game proved to be far too consistent. 

All other matches were played as unofficial handicap games. In A grade there were some very close tussles during their 3 singles and one doubles match. CraigD, Sergey and Rod all won 2 matches but Bevan managed to win 3 matches. 

In C Grade, Chad and Maureen, both managed to win their 4 games and Adam and Andrew won 3 matches each. 

All players were made aware that several major changes will be made next week so that we can manage our increasing playing numbers. We need to know by 6.50pm sharp, who will be turning up to play so that we can do the draft and start the games by 7.00pm. If you cannot get to the hall by 6.50pm but will definitely be attending, please ensure you have notified Ross on 0427 115 413 or Maureen on 0407 837 523. If you miss the draw, we cannot guarantee that you will be able to get any official matches. 

Mon 12th Sep - Graded monthly

Monday night was a fantastic night with 29 players turning up, all getting to play 5 singles matches. Up until 2 weeks ago 40 matches was a big night, but on Monday we played an incredible 72 matches. 

We had Matthew and JohnS sign up as members and we grouped the players into 3 grades. 

In A grade Ross had another good night. He is flattered by the interest other players are taking in his handicap and to avoid a public lynching he will take a 1-point drop to his handicap from next week. All other results in A Grade were evenly spread. 

In B Grade Dennis and Chris won 4 out of 5 matches and all other results were evenly spread. 

In C Grade there is a bit of a division between our more experienced players and our many newer players, but our newer players are getting used to the competitions and are expected to improve very quickly. Galina, Janet, and Adam won 4 out of 5 matches but it was Andrew and his dad Chad who won all their matches so they had a good drive home. 

Our recent increase in player numbers is great for the club but it has meant there are a few things we are having to do to accommodate those numbers. Our earlier starts and the extra table are working well but we need all players to only have only a one minute warm up before matches. We also request that players ensure that they let the organisers know the result from each match immediately after it finishes because the result on our sheets shows that that match has been completed. Doubles matches are difficult to organise with so many players and tables in action but we will try to have at least one doubles match per week. 

Another problem with having so many matches, is that depending on how the draw pans-out and how the games are allocated some players might experience a longish delay between games, then have two or three games in close succession after that - so we ask you to be patient but please see us if you think you have missed a game because mistakes do happen. 

Please note - if you will be arriving after 7.10pm (and before 7.30pm) please ring Ross on 0427 115 413 to let him know you will be turning up late so you can be included in the draw. 

We will be running the B Grade Singles Championships next Monday and it will be open to players with handicaps of zero, or higher, but we will be limiting the entry to those with the 16 best handicaps from zero up and it will be a seeded competition off scratch. Ron will be defending his title and Mike will be a real threat.  

Mon 5th Sep - Monthly

On Monday night we had a large attendance of 27 players. We welcomed Lawrie, JohnU, Adam, Kathy and Leanne as new visitors and we also signed up Mark, PaulM, PaulD, Sergey and Mahmoud as members. It was especially good to see Mark, Sergey and Slavko back playing at the hall and Mark was presented with his prize for being runner-up in last year’s A Grade Club Championship. 

We trialled two very important initiatives - one being an early start for singles matches and the other being a 5th table and these allowed us to play an unprecedented 60-plus matches. Nearly everyone got to play 3 singles and 3 doubles matches which was amazing given our large number of players. 

In A Grade Kevin managed to win 5 out of his 6 matches while in B Grade JohnS and a new visitor Lawrie, won all their matches and may come under the scrutiny of the handicapper for next week. 

After the end-of-August review there were a few handicap changes and the Statistics page on our website shows the latest handicaps for all our current members. 

The use of the 5th table is at the generosity of Kevin and we thank him greatly for that. Thanks also goes to Slavko who used his vehicle for the table transport.

Mon 29th Aug - C Grade championship

We had another great turnup of 25 players this week, obviously all attracted by the excitement of attending our Annual General Meeting! It was definitely a record attendance for an AGM, but the meeting only took 30 mins and we were then able to conduct our C Grade Championship. We had 16 starters, all who had handicaps of plus 5 and above and all games were played off scratch. We welcomed a new visitor Neroli, and it was good to see John and Chris back after short breaks. 

In the semi-finals Guy couldn’t quite get through to another final, falling to CraigI, and Victor had a great upset win over Kevin.

In the final CraigI was the favourite and won the first set 11-9, Victor was very consistent, managed to win a number of long rallies, came back to win the second set 12-10. Craig was able to win the next two sets 11-4, 11-8 with his attacking play to take his second C Grade Championship, the first being in 20-21. It was the second year in a row that Victor took the runner-up prize. It was great to see 18 players stay for the final, another club record.

At our AGM our new Executive Committee was voted in as follows: President/Captain - Rodney, Secretary/Treasurer - Maureen, Publicity Officer – Emma Forrester, Vice-Captain – Ross. Special thanks (and gift and card) was extended to Janet – a Life Member of our club who stepped down as Vice President after serving for 15 years in that position. Thanks, Janet, for all you have done over the years – much appreciated.  

We are desperately in need of members to help set-up and run the nights and there were six Committee positions created for that reason. Dennis, CraigI, Kevin, Janet, Ron and Laurie were all voted in but we will need more members to offer their help and it would be good to see some newer members getting involved. 

The minutes of the meeting will be posted onto the notice board next week and members will have a month to advise of any errors/amendments, before the minutes are ratified. 

Next week we will be trying to start the first round of singles matches at around 6.50pm, as players arrive, and this will hopefully ensure that in future all players will get to play at least 3 singles and 2 or 3 doubles each night. We may also shortly trial a 5th table that may help us get through our increasing number of matches.  

Mon 22nd Aug - Graded Handicap Comp

21 players turned up and it was good to see Janet and Paul returning after extended holidays. We welcomed two new members – Brandt and Liam, and two new visitors – Jesse and Cruz.

We played 2 singles and 3 doubles each. Evan had another good night being the only player to win their 5 games. He lost a substitution-match to Bob but that doesn’t count against him.

Four matches were won by Ross and Matthew in A Grade and by Dennis and Bob in B Grade.

Maureen and Laurie’s usual great efforts behind the desk were sadly missed last night and we are going to have to survive without them for a couple of months while they have a good time on hols..

Unfortunately, Rod and Judy could not make it last night so we have postponed our AGM until next week. Hopefully we will also get to the play the C Grade Championships then as well.

Mon 15th Aug - Graded Handicap Comp

On a cold winter’s night 24 players turned up including 3 new visitors Kane1, Kane2 and Tawfik. We played 3 doubles and 2 singles each for a total of 42 games.

The best result on the night was from Ross who managed to rob both Laurie and Victor in extremely close singles matches to win his 5 games. Laurie won 4 matches in A Grade and Liam. Maureen, Evan and Brandt all won 4 matches in B Grade.

Everyone wished Guy the best for his 91st birthday this week and this was coincidentally his 91st consecutive week of TT at our club. Maureen baked some great cup cakes for Guy and all the players to take home – thanks Maureen – with help from Laurie.

Next week we hope to hold our Annual General Meeting – starting at 7.00pm and hopefully over by 7.30pm. Please advise Ross by Wed night 17th Aug if you wish to raise any issues for the Agenda. We hope to run our C Grade Championship next week for eligible members with handicaps of 6 or higher. The favourites are the defending champion Guy and last year’s runner-up Victor. Dennis is also a good chance. Players not eligible for the C Grade Championship will play in separate handicap comps.

Rodney, our President and Captain and Judy will be back from holidays next week and they are looking forward to meeting all our recent new players.      

Mon 8th Aug - Graded Handicap Comp

This was a massive night of 26 players including 8 new visitors – the most players for a normal competition night in the history of the club.

We welcomed Stuart and Carolyn, Zac and Emma, and Will and Judy, and Mathew and Mahmood as visitors. And Bob is now a member of our club.

We played 4 doubles and 1 singles game each for a total of 41 games.

In A Grade CraigD, Alex and Ross won 4 out of 5 matches and in B Grade Liam and Galina won 4 out of 5. But the only player to win all their matches on the night was Stuart.

It was good to see Kevin back after his holiday. Thanks to Alex for helping out behind the table.

Mon 1st Aug - Graded Handicap Comp

Last night we had a good turn-out of 18 players on a cold winter’s night. We played 3 singles and 2 doubles matches each and Paul and Ross won 4 of those in A Grade and Dennis and Maureen won 4 of those in B Grade.

Dennis is now sitting at the top of the Yearly Point Score with 22 points and with Craig and Maureen close behind on 21 and Galina on 20 points.

Its good to see some of our newer players – Bob, Brandt and Liam all keen and enjoying the games.

We send our best wishes to Guy’s wife Landy as she recuperates in hospital after her car accident.

Over the next couple of weeks we will be training up a few of our players to help with the playing draws and the scheduling of matches in anticipation of some of our regular organisers going on holidays in the next few months. All help is appreciated. 

Mon 25th July - Graded Handicap Comp

We had 20 players turn up last night and 3 of those were 3 new keen visitors – Brant, Liam and Bob. It was also good to see Evan’s dad David turn up for a game. The coincidence of the night was when Victor and Galina recognised Bob as the person that they played table tennis with many times during a long cruise to Europe several years ago.

We played 2 singles and 3 doubles and Paul was the only player to win his 5 matches. In A Grade Mike won 4 games and in B Grade Galina and Chad won 4 games. There was no ‘duck-eggs’.

Evan was presented with his prize for winning last year’s Kiwi Trophy B Grade title.

If anyone would like to order a new playing shirt, please see Maureen or Ross. We need to reach a certain number of shirts before we can order them.

Mon 18th July - Graded Handicap Comp

Last night 13 players turned up and we played a graded handicap competition and it was good to see Guy’s daughter Tina making a return to playing for the first time in many years.

Most players played 4 singles and 3 doubles. Ron had a fall during play and left early with a sore ankle so we hope no great damage was done.

In A Grade Chris is showing great improvement and won 5 out of 7 games, and Bevan won 4 out of 7 matches.

In B Grade Dennis won 5 out of 7 matches.

Bevan was presented with his prizes for his Kiwi Trophy win and his second place in the best doubles percentage for the 21-22 year. 

Mon 11th July - Monthly

17 players turned up for a graded handicap comp, with all playing 3 singles and 2 doubles.

• In A Grade Alex, Ron and Ross won 4 out of their 5 games.

• B Grade was extremely even with no one winning 4 or 5 games and no one getting a ‘duck-egg’.

• A new visitor, Paul, who is well known to several of our members (and his pimple bat) from Ramsgate, enjoyed himself immensely and hopes to return again.

• Rodney and Judy will be off on holidays for a few weeks so we wish them a great holiday.

• Annual subs are now due so if you haven’t paid yet, please bring along an extra $10 cash the next time you play.

• We will be playing handicap comps for the next month or so.

• The presentation night was held on Sunday night at Cronulla RSL, it was a good night held by all. All attendees walked away with a raffle prize, and most a special prize from winning events during the year. Thanks To Maureen for organising the special prizes, including engraved mugs, cups and towels.

Mon 4th Jul - Monthly

We had a roll up of 12 players, good turnout given such a wild and windy night

• It was an Ungraded monthly;

• Great to welcome Emma Forrester, we'll happily take 2nd choice after her usual tennis comp was cancelled, hope to see Emma back again next opportunity;

• We played 4 singles and 3 doubles, with Victor and Galina both achieving 5 from 7. Galina was the only person to win all her doubles.

• Presentation night is this coming Sunday 10/7, 7pm start at Cronulla RSL and it should be a fun night. There is still time to put your name down, please let Ross know by the end of Wednesday this week.

• The annual fee of $10 is due now for all players to become members for 2022-23. We will start collecting next week.

Mon 27th Jun - American Cup

Last night of the year was one of the major trophies on the table tennis, the American Cup. it was knockout format, like the old days.

Last year’s winner Peter was knocked out in the first round, as well as the winner the previous year Rodney, by finalist Galina..

• Well done to CraigI and Guy who both had perfect attendances over the 33 weeks of play.

• 19 players turned up – a good roll up.

• There was a repechage competition for first round losers.

• After three matches it was Galina and Maureen left in the draw and they played the final. Maureen proved too strong to win the match 11-7, 9-11, 11-2.

• In the second competition Chad beat Evan who did well to make the final after having his handicap dropped to 8.

• Presentation night will be at Cronulla RSL 10 July.

  
  

Mon 20th Jun - Kiwi trophy

19 players turned up and we played the Kiwi Trophy event. For the first time we played an event in two grades with two winners on the night.

• In A Grade Chris won his 5 matches and was the only person to do so on the night. Chris played Bevan in the final and Bevan prevailed in two close sets 14-12, 11-9. Bevan will be off a handicap of zero next week & Chris 4. it is Bevan’s first major win at the club for around 7 years as he said himself.

• In B Grade Evan played Maureen in the final and managed to win in 3 sets 11-3, 10-12, 11-6. Congrats to Evan on his first trophy night victory. Evan will be off a handicap of 8 next week.

• With one week to go in the 21-22 playing year Laurie has a 3-point lead in the yearly point score competition over Maureen with Craig a further 2 points behind.

• We need to know this week exactly who is intending to attend our Presentation Night on Sun 10th July, starting 7pm at the RSL. It is $55 per person for a 2-course meal. If paying by direct debit we would like you to do that by Wednesday this week, or pay cash next Monday night.

• Next week we will attempt to run our last annual event for the year, the American Cup.

Mon 13th Jun - monthly

12 players turned up on a cold night, smallest turn out for a while, probably due to long weekend.

We had plenty of games, 4 singles and 3 doubles. The A Grade winner on the night was Alex, with 6/7 and Victor also won 6 out of 7 in B Grade.

The presentation night is 10th July at Cronulla RSL, let us know if you are attending.

Leaders in yearly point score are Laurie on 100, from Craig Ibbotson & Maureen on 96.

Doubles percentages, Kevin leads on 72% from Bevan on 70%.

Next week may be the Kiwi trophy.

Mon 6th Jun - Jim Colwell Teams Event

Last night 18 players turned up which meant we could finally play our ‘floating’ Jim Colwell team’s event which has been played since 1964. There were 6 teams, each with an A grade, B Grade and C Grade player and everyone played 3 singles and 2 doubles.

It was an extremely close event with 3 teams all winning 7 games and losing 5 and these were ‘Come-on’, ‘Old Guys’ and ‘Slice of Heaven’. The 3 other teams, ‘Champions’, ‘Ball Bashers’ and ‘Whalers’ all won 5 games and lost 7. The final result was not known until 11pm when the sets scores showed that ‘Come-on’ won with a set score of 19-13, from Slice of Heaven 15-12, and the ‘Old Guys’ 16-14. Well done to the ‘Come-on’ team which consisted of Ron, Craig and Maureen. Craig and Ron stayed back to cheer Maureen on to win her last match against Galina and pull her team over the line. It was Maureen’s second win in two weeks.

‘Slice of Heaven’ was judged to have the best team’s name.

In the individual tallies Chad was the only player to win 5 games and Ron, Dennis and Evan won 4 games.

Thanks to Maureen and Laurie who had the challenging task of scheduling doubles and single matches to keep the four tables going. We are finding that a player cannot be on two tables at once!

Welcome to our 3 new members – Evan, Chad and Andrew.

The Presentation night has been set at the RSL on Sunday 10th July from 7.00pm to about 10pm. The cost for the two-course set meal is $55 per person which unfortunately is significantly more than last year but we will be subsiding our playing members by at least $15 on the night. The $55 per person needs to be paid by Mon 27th June to secure your booking. We can accept cash on Monday nights or you can pay by direct debit and Rod, Ross or Maureen can advise you of the banking details for that.

Next week we will probably play a graded handicap comp.

Mon 30th May - Ladies Championship

We have a new ladies champion - Maureen Crowther.

5 ladies competed for the Rodney Forrester ladies championship. The format was that the ladies played each other with the top 2 qualifiers to play in the final.

There was some very close matches, the ladies are very evenly matched. The results from the qualifying was Janet 4/0, Maureen 3/1, Galina 2/2, Judy 1/3 & Margaret 0/4.

So the final was Janet vs Maureen. Janet has been the ladies champion 6 times, so went into the final as slight favourite with the bookies.

In the first 2 sets, Janet used her backhand slice to great effect winning the sets 11/6 & 11/6.

In the third set, Maureen started well, leading 5/1, utilising more attacking shots, but Janet came back and it was anyone’s game at 10/10. Both players had chances to win the set, & for Janet the match. There was a couple of lucky lets either way, with Maureen prevailing 14/12.

The 4th set was close, but with Maureen hitting some attacking forehands, Maureen ran away with the match 6/11, 6/11, 14/12, 11/7 & 11/4.

Congratulations Maureen on winning the ladies championship. It was encouraging to see 14 players stay and watch the final.

The men played 2 singles and 2 doubles.

Mon 23rd May - Monthly

A big fun night – 25 players, 47 games, and everyone played at least 5 games.

• After last week Rod reached an official handicap of a ridiculous minus 15.30 – too low - so he went to minus 10 and adjusted the handicaps for many other players.

• We played a graded handicap comp with 2 singles – 3 doubles

• Very even night – only one player won all their games and only one was winless.

• Bevan enjoyed his new handicap and won his five games and AlexT, Mike, Laurie, Maureen and Dennis all won 4 games each. Paul beat Ross but found out it was a ‘sub’ game and he officially got a ‘duck egg’ on the night. But he is off overseas for 3 months so have a great trip, Paul.

• Good to see the young blokes Evan and Andrew having a good hit and improving quickly.

• Next week we will be holding the Ladies Championship if we get at least 4 ladies turning up.

• Last year’s winner in the ladies championship Galina will be challenged by Janet who has won the event 6 times, can Janet make it 7. There will be strong challenges from the ever improving Maureen and don’t count out Judy’s steady game. No doubt it will be a close tussle between the ladies.

• Can we fit in a fifth table?

Mon 16th May - Treasurer’s Event

We had a great turn-out of 21 players last night and we welcomed Chris as a new member to our club. We played the postponed Treasurer’s event and everyone played 3 doubles and 2 singles before the final. We all thought Rodney, who was now playing off an incredibly low handicap of minus 12, after his victory in the Secretary’s event last week, would have no chance but he was the only player to win his 5 lead-up matches. Laurie, Ron, and Kevin won 4 games and Kevin had the best set-score to advance to the final to play Rodney. Some of us were wondering how many times, over the last 25 years have Kevin and Rodney played each other and which one knew the other’s game the best?

In the final Kevin got away to a great start and won it easily 11-0 but then the tide turned. In the 2nd set Rodney caught up the 16-point deficit before Kevin was able to score a point. Kevin was heard to mutter ‘doesn’t he ever miss?’ Rod closed that set out 11-8. The 3rd and final set was extremely close and Kevin had a good lead but Rod did not go away and saved 4 match points before prevailing 13-11, and take his second title in 2 weeks. He previously won this title back in 2009. Once again, the handicapper (Rod) is under pressure to even the playing field – how low can Rod’s handicap go?

Newer players need to know that quite often we need to utilise substitute or ‘sub’ players where we have odd numbers, or forfeited matches or to complete the numbers in doubles draws. Last night we had 10 players play as subs which meant they all played an extra match but the results do not count for them. But we don’t always advise players that they are subbing because we want them to play their normal game. This can lead to players thinking they have completed all their matches and they might leave early. We request that if players want to leave early that they advise the organisers first, just in case they have another game pending.

Laurie has now poked his nose in front of Craig in the YPS. Good luck Craig for Saturday’s election.

Ross would like to thank everyone for the cards and kind thoughts from members following his father’s passing.

Next week we are due to play the Kiwi Trophy event.

Mon 9th May 22 - Secretary’s Event

We had 19 players turn up and we welcomed two new visitors, Chad and Andrew. It was good to see AlexT and Judy for the first time for a while. We decided to play the Secretary’s annual event and for the first time we included doubles in the event. We may do this for our other handicap events because it ensures plenty of games for all, even with an increase in attendance numbers. Doubles are also arguably more fun.  

We played 3 singles and 2 doubles and it was a very even night with no one winning all their 5 matches and there was only one ‘duck-egg’. Laurie, Maureen and Rodney all won 4 matches and Laurie and Rod made it into the final on a set-score countback.

In the final Rodney got away to a great start winning the first 9 points before Laurie was able to mount some resistance, but Rod prevailed 11-8 in the first set. Rodney again got away to a good start in the second set but Laurie tried to hold him off including a fantastic return of a full-blooded smash by Rod to save the first match point. But Rod won the second set 14-12 to add this year’s title to those he won in 2011 and 2013.

Rodney will be having a serious discussion with the handicapper (himself) about his starting handicap for next week, but it will be a very low number.

It was with sadness that members learnt of the passing of Ross’s father David, who for three and a half years attended our games and won a ridiculous number of raffles. He died peacefully and was 97.

We will be trying to play a few more annual events in the next 7 weeks and the 30th May has been set down as the date for the Ladies Championship if we can get the minimum number of four ladies turning up.   

Our presentation night has been set for Sunday 10th July at Cronulla RSL, further details to be advised.

Mon 2nd May 22 - Graded Handicap

A good roll-up of 19 players played a graded handicap competition with two singles and 3 doubles matches. We welcomed three new visitors, Bob, David and Evan.

The night was very even with only John winning all his five matches (plus a sub match) which he attributes to his new bat. Well done, John. Dennis had another good night winning four out of five matches as did Maureen and Galina. Galina is enjoying being back on a nine handicap.

In A grade Laurie managed a duck egg which was extraordinary given his recent good form. Victor is playing well off his new handicap of five and Mark won his two matches off his very impressive minus nine handicap.

But the candidate who won the vote last night in A grade was Craig Ibbotson who won four of his matches. He now has a 3-point lead in the YPS and he appears to have only ‘One Notion’, and that is to defend his joint John Penrose Yearly Point Score trophy from last year!

We hope to be able to hold the Rodney Forrester Ladies Championship for 2021-22 before the end of June and Maureen will be canvassing our lady players to find out what dates are the most likely for the event.       

Anzac day 25 April - monthly

13 players turned up on Anzac day, we played 4 singles and 2 doubles.

Winner on the night was Laurie, 5/6, with a host of players on 4/6, being Bevan, Dennis, Rodney & Sergey.

We have a politician in our ranks. Craig Ibbotson is a member for one nation. Craig will be doing his best to look after the table tennis community. Good luck Craig!!

Mon 18th April - Graded Monthly

We had 17 players turn up and we played a graded monthly but unfortunately Rodney had to leave early. Welcome to Wendee who is now a member of our club.

We managed to play 3 doubles then 3 singles. In B Grade it was good to see Dennis and Janet have excellent nights winning all their games. In A Grade Sergey won 5 games and Mike won 4. Victor and Laurie won their three singles to show they are handling their new reduced handicaps well.

With 10 weeks remaining for the year Craig is leading the John Penrose Yearly Point Score competition but Laurie, Guy, Victor, Kevin, Maureen, Galina and Dennis are all still in contention. In the Mark Noonan Best Singles Win % trophy competition Maureen on 69.4 and Laurie on 67.3 are currently way ahead. In the Best Doubles Win % trophy competition Janet on 75.0 and Kevin on 74.1 are well ahead at this stage.

Because of the COVID-reduced playing schedule and for several other reasons we may not be able to complete all our official events for this playing year and some of those events may need to change in format in the future to suit playing numbers and time restrictions. For the remainder of this year we will assess the schedule on a night-by-night basis.

Our perennial spectator and raffle winner over the last four years David, Ross’s father, managed to shrug off a stay in hospital with COVID and was discharged a day before his 97th birthday, and is now doing well recovering in his nursing home.

Mon 11th April - World Table Tennis Day

Cronulla RSL table tennis club held a great night to celebrate world table tennis day

Some highlights:

• 11 visitors with 23 members, so new record for Cronulla RSL Table Tennis, with 34 overall.

• All the visitors really enjoyed themselves, all so happy to have found out about the club. The publicity via RSL, including The Leader article, brought most visitors in.

• The energy in the room was amazing, and so noisy! Lots of conversations, laughing, excitement and jumping around - everyone had a lot of fun.

• We played 4 rounds of doubles and a round of singles, split across 4 'grades'/tables.

• It was great to watch the 'A grade' table in action - wonderful for aspiring players to see.

• Play was stopped briefly for the raffle with 3 main prizes of new table tennis bats, followed by a group photo - we took up the whole stage....

• A fabulous night and so proud of our club!

All the members chipped in to help, special thanks to Rodney for organising the draw - no small task given the comings and goings, let alone the noise and large number of people.

Also a big thank you to Janet and Judy who sold the raffle tickets and managed the front desk sign in, couldn't have done it without you 2.  Visitors were made to feel welcome  and comfortable and I'm sure most will be back.

Mon 4th April 2022 - Graded Monthly

Welcome to Greg and Sean, great to have you join us.  Good to see Bevan back.

We had 14 players for Graded Weekly and played 3 doubles and 3 singles.

In A grade: Bevan achieved 5/6 and Craig 4/6.

In B grade:  Greg and Maureen both won 5.

 Bevan and Mike provided a quick demo of correct serving technique - focusing on not serving out of hand, ensuring the ball is visible to your opponent.  Thank you both.

Next week, 11 April is World Table Tennis Day where we are encouraging new people to come (free for visitors, usual $5 for members) and enjoy a special night with raffles and great prizes.  Bring some extra cash for raffles!!

Mon 11th April - World Table tennis day

We held this event in 2021, it was a great success, we are holding it again.

Mon 28th Mar 22 - Monthly

Welcome to Dean, a Kurnell resident and hope to see you regularly.  Welcome  back to Wendy Gray, a competitive tennis player, hope you are enjoying the change to Table Tennis - your skills are definitely transferable.

17 people came for Graded Weekly and we had 3 games of singles and 2 games of doubles.

In A Grade, Sergey was strong, including a win in a mighty battle against Mike, winning 3 from 3 in the singles and 4/5 overall.  Victor  was on-song again, continuing his recent strong form, winning 3/3 in the singles, with 4/5 overall.  

In B grade, Peter and Maureen won 3/3 in the singles and Janet and John both won 2/2 in the doubles, resulting in Janet, Peter and Maureen winning 4 games. A commendable result from new member, John - keep up the good work.

Overall, an action packed night, finished at 9.30 and perfectly timed to be home before the rain started (yet again....).

There is a log-jam at the top of the Yearly Point Score with Craig, Guy and Kevin all on 62 pts with Laurie on 61. Interestingly, Galina and Victor are on 58 pts with identical statistics for both their singles and doubles results.

We are holding a special night on Monday 11 April in line with World Table Tennis Day, see the poster above. It will be $5 as normal for the playing fee and we will be holding $5 raffles with great prizes. We are trying to get new players to turn up and they will be given free entry on the night. We would like know numbers in advance, so if you are coming along, please let a committee member know.

Mon 21st Mar 22 - President’s trophy

Craig Ibbotson was the defending champion of the president’s trophy, and he won it for the second year in a row!!

Welcome to visitors, Bruno and Wendy.  Wendy was introduced by Peter & Margaret, Bruno found us via our new website/Google search.

16 players for the President's Trophy event.  We had 4 games of singles,  with 5 players achieving 3 from 4 games, shows improvement across all levels.

Rodney and Craig were undefeated in the rounds and played off in the Final.

 After some coaching tips from Kevin prior to the Final, Craig started strong, winning the first game 11-1.  In the 2nd game Rodney prevailed, winning 11-7.  However, comeback from Craig in the 3rd and he won 11-5 to take out the trophy 2-1.  It was a great final to watch and commiserations to Rodney.

Congratulations to Craig and welcome to a 1 point reduction in your handicap to 4.

Mon 14th Mar 22

13 players attended for a graded handicap comp, on a perfect night for table tennis.

Welcome back to Paul Matthews after a long break, and it was great for Paul to bring a mate along. Welcome to John Smith. Both Paul and John will have their handicaps increased to 4 and 8, respectively for next week.

We played 2 doubles and 3 singles, with 3 players finishing the night with 4 wins from 5 matches - Ron, Craig and Laurie. After winning the Bill Malone Trophy last week and his wins this week the handicapper has no choice but to now drop Ron’s handicap to -2, the same as it used to be before his long break. Guy has now hit the lead in the Yearly Points Score with last year’s joint winner Craig and Kevin not far behind.

A few people are away on holidays, Ross, Rodney and Judy and Kevin - hope you are having fun, looking forward to your return. Bon voyage, Dennis - cruising the big river in the south, and Ron - cruising the big reef in the North.

Could everyone please take a few minutes to look around our website. Natalie Hawkins, the RSL’s Community Project’s Officer has done a great job in modernising our website and has made a few changes in the positioning and the formatting of the pages. We would like you to provide any comments or suggestions as feedback to Rodney within the next week so that he can pass them onto Natalie, so we can complete this aspect of our marketing and promotion. Please see the YouTube video that Natalie put together about our club, which is in the ‘About’ page.

Next week we have scheduled the President’s Event..

Mon 7th Mar 22 - Bill Malone Trophy

16 players turned up for the Bill Malone trophy, we played 4 singles. It was good to see Peter & Margaret back after their trip to Melbourne for Peter’s mother 100th birthday. Kevin was the first to win the first 3 matches, & looked on track to get to the final.

However, Kevin lost his last match, there was 5 players who each won 3 matches. Kevin lost the first final. In the first semi Ron defeated Maureen, & then Victor defeated Laurie.

So the final was Ron versus Victor. Victor wasn’t showing Ron any of his shots in the warm up, it looked like it might be a long match, as during the warm up there was some long rallies.

Ron had a break from the game due to injuries, but showed his experience in the final. There was some very long rallies with Victor unwilling to take any risks, some of the rallies went 25 or 27 shots. Ron showed his defensive prowess, winning 11/8, 11/8.

We have a new you tube video of Cronulla RSL table tennis club. Thanks to Natalie from Cronulla RSL for organising this.

Mon 28th Feb 22 - A Grade Championship

Congratulations to Rodney Forrester – Club Singles Champion for the 21st time since 1997!

The perfect number of 16 players turned up for our club singles championship. The seeded knockout draw meant that by the second round 12 players had dropped out and these players then played in a separate and unofficial handicap competition. In that competition Victor won his four games to have the best result and Judy, Kevin, Laurie and Maureen all won 3 games each. Galina had to battle on her new handicap and hopefully she can adjust to it.

In the main championship draw Mark, Ron, Sergey and Rodney made it to the semi-finals. Mark beat Ron in 3 straight sets and Sergey frustratingly lost to Rodney 9-11,9-11,9-11.

In the final Rodney was the 2nd seed for about the first time since creation and a very close contest was expected. However, Rodney proved he is still easily the best player in our club with a resounding 11-5,11-8,13-11,11-1 victory over Mark, to take his 21st singles title. Mark looked to have turned the match around in the third set winning 4 points in a row with some winning forehands to lead 11/10, but Rodney returned serve with 3 winning forehands to take the third set. Commiserations to Mark who has had plenty of injury concerns of late and who was not at his best last night. Thanks to Craig for umpiring the final.

Natalie Hawkins, the RSL’s Community Projects Officer turned up to see what we get up to on a Monday night and took some photos, videos and sound recordings. We are looking forward to Natalie assisting us in promoting our club’s activities through social media and marketing strategies.

Next week we have scheduled the Bill Malone Trophy event.     

Mon 21st Feb 22

12 players turned up and we played the Jack Anastas Trophy event. Unfortunately, Laurie was on holidays and not able to defend his title. It was good to see Mark make a return following several months away with injury.

During the round robin stage Mark defeated Rod off scratch, and 11-9 in the 3rd set to lay down the gauntlet to Rod for next week’s A Grade/Club Championship and Mark will be looking to go one better than last year and dethrone the 20-time champion. Sergey will also be a contender next week.

On a warm night we played 4 single matches with Guy winning his 4 games to progress directly to the final. Rodney and Galina won 3 matches each and Galina defeated Rodney in the play-off match 2-1 to also progress to the final. In the final Galina won the first set 11-6 but Guy hit back 13-11 in the 2nd set before Galina held on to win the 3rd set 11-9 and be just the second player for many years, with a handicap of 9, to win an annual handicap even. Galina’s handicap will now drop to 8.

Earlier in the night Guy teamed up with Rodney to play Mike and Ross for the A-Grade Doubles Championship final which was postponed from last week. Rod and Guy easily won the first set 11-6 and Mike and Ross just prevailed 11-9 in the second set. Rod and Guy went ahead in the final stages of the 3rd set and had a match point at 10-9 before Mike and Ross scraped home 12-10 to take the title. It was Guy’s first of two finals on the night to signal him as one of our most exciting up-and-coming-and improving players!!

Mon 14th Feb 22

With a 16-player roll-up we decided to run the doubles championship which had been previously postponed. A visitor and a friend of Margaret’s, Wendy was able to play, effectively as a sub, and partnered Victor and we all played on newly sanded and polished floorboards.

There were two grades of 4 doubles teams each. For a non-handicapped event the games were all exceptionally close with all 8 teams winning either 1 or 2 games each. After the 3 preliminary games in B grade Janet and Judy progressed to the final on set-scores and Victor and Wendy also progressed defeating Peter and Galina in a close play-off match. Janet and Judy took the first set of the final 11-7 but Victor and Wendy won the next two sets 11-7,11-5 to run out deserved winners.

In A Grade Rodney and Guy made it straight through to the final on set-scores and Mike and Ross had to reverse a previous loss to Sergey and Craig, in the play-off, to also progress. Unfortunately, Guy had to leave early so the final had to be postponed and will be played at a later date.

Next week we are looking at playing the Jack Anastas Trophy event.

Mon 31st Jan 2022

13 players turned up and we played the B Grade Singles Championships. Most players played at least 5 matches in the round robin. There were some upsets with Victor beating Craig and Lee beating Guy. Galina again triumphed against Janet off scratch to prove her Ladies Championship win was no fluke.

Ron and Kevin won their groups, with Laurie and Dennis as runners-up. Ron played Dennis in the first semi winning 2-0 and Laurie beat Kevin 2-1 in a close 2nd semi.

In the final, Ron proved a worthy champion winning 3-0 against Laurie.

Thanks to Maureen and Laurie for running the night and to Craig for stepping up to umpire the final.

Next week the hall will be closed for floor-sanding so we will be back on 14th Feb. If we get enough players on that night, we could play an event or even play the delayed Doubles Championship.   

Monday 24th Jan 2022

A modest turnout of 10 players saw the awaited return of Lee and AlexT. We played 3 doubles and 4 singles.

Craig won the most games on the night with 6 wins and Guy and Maureen won 5 games. AlexT was a bit rusty but Lee surprised himself with a top display. Guy was let down by his partner Ross in doubles when they were up 8-1 in the deciding set only to lose 12-10 to Craig and Laurie. It was Sergey’s turn to have a shocker and he took home a ‘duck egg’ on the night.

Kevin is now leading the Yearly Points Score with Laurie, Craig, Guy and Galina not far behind.

Next week we may try and play the B Grade Singles Championship because the following week, the 7th Feb is when the hall will be closed for floor maintenance.  

Mon 17th Jan 2022

13 members turned up on a warm night and we had 6 members play the C Grade Championships.

Victor beat Janet in the first semi-final to go into the final. Guy and Dennis played an extremely close second semi with Guy coming back from an impossible position in the 3rd set to triumph over Dennis and go into the final. Guy was too strong for Victor in the final and won 11-7, 11-6 to win his 5th C Grade Championship since 2009. At 90 years young Guy is the ‘most mature’ player to ever win a championship at our club and his game is on track to peak in about 5 years-time!!

The remaining 7 players played an informal handicap comp and the winners on the night were Kevin winning 5 out of 6 and Craig winning 4 out of 5 matches. Sergey’s singles game is peaking and will need to be strong to challenge Rodney for the A Grade Championship at the end of Feb.

We hope Peter and Margaret will be back and healthy ASAP.

Much thanks to Dennis who, over the last 3 weeks has used his mechanical skills to fix a couple of our tables.

Next week we will run a normal weekly handicap competition.

Mon 10th Jan 2022

11 players turned up which is commendable given the current COVID fears and a fairly hot night. We played 3 doubles then 3 singles but at a fairly relaxed pace. 

Victor was the only player to win his 3 doubles matches. After the singles matches the winners on the night were Kevin, Craig and Janet who all won 5 out of their six matches. Maureen did well to beat our current Ladies Champion, Galina off scratch. Ross had a shocker and managed a deserved ‘duck egg’. 

Ross presented Craig with his 20-21 President’s Trophy money with due apologies for the delay caused by a mix-up. 

The C Grade Championship has been programmed for next Mon 17th Jan but that might depend on the numbers and players that turn up on the night.

Mon 20th December 2021

We took the opportunity to hold the annual Captain’s Event but the very hot night meant that the 11 players in attendance played only 4 round robin games. It was again a very close fought contest with 6 players winning 2 games each. 

Only Ross and Victor won more than 2 games and they played-off in the final. It was an extremely close match, except for the first and third sets!! Victor’s tight chopping game mixed with some fierce smashes proved far too effective and Victor was the victor winning 11-2, 12-14, 11-3. It was his second Captain’s Trophy win in 3 years. 

We now have a 2-week break and we look forward to getting back playing on 10th Jan.  

I hope you all have a great Xmas and New Year period. 

Mon 13th December 2021

14 players turned up for a graded monthly and we managed to get 4 single and 2 double matches in despite holding our AGM prior to play. 

With 12 out of 14 players winning either 2, 3, or 4 games the clear winner on the night was the handicapper. However, Janet played well to win 5 matches – the most on the night. Galina, Kevin and Guy all won 4 matches. 

Galina is now leading our yearly point score ahead of Laurie, Kevin, Dennis, Guy and Maureen. 

The raffles were won by Peter, Ross, Kevin and Guy. 

Because of the shortened year we need to play our annual events whenever we get the chance, so next week, 20th Dec, being our last playing night until 10th Jan, we will try and hold either the Doubles Championship or maybe the Captains Event. 

At the AGM the Office bearers for the 2021 year were elected as follows:  

President/Captain - Rodney Forrester – returned.  

Vice President – Janet Kent – returned. 

Vice-Captain – Maureen Crowther – newly elected. 

Treasurer/Publicity Officer – Ross Hufton – returned. 

Thanks was extended to Ron Welfare who had held the Vice-President’s position for the last two years, and Maureen was welcomed onto the Committee.

Mon 6th December 2021

13 players turned up for a monthly, we played 4 singles and 2 doubles. Rodney was the winner on the night with 5 wins.

Our annual presentation night at Cronulla RSL was a successful night. Special awards went to:

-Guy Costanzo - perfect attendance award

-Rodney Forrester - 20 club championships

-Dennis Hawke - club person of the year

The end of November handicap review found only one of our members required an adjustment and that was for Mike whose handicap has now risen to minus 1. Everyone else is playing close to their handicap and that is being reflected in the evenness of the results. 

Next week we will be holding our AGM at 7.00pm and we will still be able to get a good night’s play in even if we need to go slightly later than normal. We may even be able to run the Doubles Championship depending on numbers. 

Mon 29th Nov 2021 Weekly Handicap Comp – Graded

With 17 players turning up we still managed to get 45 games played by 9.30pm. We played 4 singles and 2 doubles and we welcomed our visitor Jess, who played off a handicap of 6 and she acclimatised well.

In A Grade, Laurie and Ross won 4 games and Bevan and Kevin won 3 games. In B Grade Galina – our new Ladies Singles Champion continued her great form and won 5 games. Jess and Guy won 4 games.

Our ‘Statistics’ and ‘Honour Roll’ pages have now been updated on this website. At the end of Nov Laurie, Galina, Ross, Maureen, Victor, Dennis, Guy and Kevin are all in a close race at the top of the Yearly Point Scores. Galina and Maureen currently have single winning percentages of 71.4. It is great that our C graders are proving to be a force to be reckoned with and that is a good endorsement of our handicapping system.   

It was good to see Slavko call in to say hello.

This Sunday night 5th Dec is our Presentation Night, starting at 7.00pm at the RSL and we have 20 confirmed attendees.

Next week we are due to play our Doubles Championship but that will depend on the number of players that turn up.  

22nd November - Ladies Championship

We have a new ladies champion - Galina Li.

The ladies championship has been delayed many times due to COVID, and/or not all ladies available at the same time. We had 5 ladies turn up, Maureen, Margaret, Judy, Janet & Galina.

All matches were very close, most were won 2 matches to 1.

After the round robin of 4 matches each, Galina won 4, Janet 3, Maureen 2, Judy 1 & Margaret 0.

So Galina went straight through to the final, & Maureen & Janet played off to see who would make it to the final. It was 1 set all, a very close match. However in the 3rd set, Janet showed her years of experience to win the 3rd set.

The final was the 6 time champion Janet versus the first timer Galina.

Galina has improved lately, along with the other ladies. Galina’s coach Victor has been showing Galina some new tricks.

In the first set, Janet took an early lead and looked to have the match in her keeping. However, Galina came back and won it in a very tight set 11/9. In the second set, Galina led early, there was some long rallies, but with Galina’s consistency Galina was the champion 11/9, 11/8.

Congratulations Galina on your first ladies championship!!

The guys played singles matches, it was good to see Bevan back. Victor completed a great night for the Li family winning his 4 matches. Rodney won 3 out of 3 matches. 

We are now accepting booking/monies for the Presentation Night and the price has been set at $45 for a 3-course meal (now no 2-course option) which needs to be paid in advance. The 3 courses will allow more ‘swapping’ in what will be an ‘alternative’ food choice. We need to confirm numbers with the RSL this Thurs 25th Nov so if you haven’t already advised your attendance and you intend to go please ring or text Ross on 0427 115 413. ‘We might see if doggy bags are possible’. 

15th November - Committee Challenge

Because we had 16 players turn-up, we decided to run the Arthur William’s Committee Challenge. Previously the Event was the Presidents vs Captains Trophy but the new 4 team format gives a better ‘team awareness’ for the players and includes doubles results.  

The four Committee members selected their teams and they were the President’s (Rodney’s) Ball Bearers, the Vice President (Janet’s) Over 55’s, The Treasurer’s (Ross’s) Rally Chasers and the Vice Captain’s (Ron’s) Victors. We played 3 doubles, then 3 single matches and the Ball Bearers consisting of Rod, Judy, Dennis and Laurie won all their doubles matches to take a huge lead into the singles matches and eventually won the night with 12 wins. Ron’s Victors finished with 9 wins and Janet’s Over 55’s with 8 wins and Ross’s Rally chasers with 7 wins. 

Besides Laurie who had a great night and won all his six games everyone else won between 2 and 4 matches. After Margaret and Maureen won their first titles last week it was good to see Judy, another 9-handicapper winning her first title, and it was good to see Dennis back on the winner’s podium. 

Next week we hope to have the five ladies turn up so we can run a belated 20-21 Ladies Championship. 

Mon 8th Nov 21

Handicap Doubles Event A & B Grades

18 players turned up for our annual Handicap Doubles Championship and our first event for 2021-22. We had 5 teams contest ‘A’ Grade and 4 teams contest ‘B’ Grade.

In ‘B’ Grade Galina and Victor won their 3 round robin matches without losing a set to progress directly to the final. Judy and Steve played Maureen and Margaret in the playoff to determine the second team finalist. The two ladies won 2-0 to meet the favourites in the final. Galina and Victor squeezed home 11-9 in the first set but Margaret and Maureen did well to win the next two sets 11-9, 11-9, so we couldn’t have had a closer result. Congratulations to Maureen and Margaret winning their first championship. Also, well done to Galina and Victor.

In ‘A’ Grade both Laurie and Ross, and Kevin and Alex won 3 of their four round robin matches with Laurie and Ross sneaking into the final with a better set-win %. Kevin and Alex beat CraigI and Ron to progress into the final. Laurie and Ross were able to reverse their loss in the earlier round to take the final 11-5, 11-6.

Our handicapper also had another good night with every team winning at least one game and there were several reversals in results on the night.

We will wait to see how many turn up next Monday before we decide on the playing format for the night.

1st Nov 2021 Weekly Handicap Comp - Ungraded

Last night 14 players turned up for a normal weekly handicap comp and it was ungraded. With four of our six best players not there it was the chance for the C graders to shine. We played 2 doubles and 4 singles and the night was extraordinarily close with 11 of the 14 players winning either 3 or 4 games out of 6. Winners on the night were Maureen, Janet, and Guy, all with 4 wins.

It was good to see Ron back playing after a long absence. Thanks to Ron and Laurie for helping behind the desk.

Our Presentation Night/Xmas function at the RSL on Sunday 5th Dec will now commence at 7pm and more information will be provided in the next 2 weeks.

Our new calendar – playing schedule is now on the Calendar page on this website and is a guide to our scheduling intentions but many events will be dependent on numbers and circumstances on the night. Our Statistics page on this site has been updated.

Next week we intend to hold the handicap doubles event.

25 October 2021 - monthly

It was great to see 18 players turn up for our first night of table tennis after 4 months of COVID closedown. Ron also turned up to attend the extraordinary meeting which was held before play. The meeting was held to discuss fee changes, COVID restrictions, the playing schedule, the Presentation Night date and a request for organising assistance in running the weekly competitions from members. 

We played a normal weekly handicap competition in a graded format. Some of the better players appeared a bit rusty after such a long break but everyone seemed very happy being back and playing. In a shortened evening we managed to play 3 singles and a doubles match. The results in B grade were very close with no-one winning their 4 matches and no-one getting a ‘duck egg’. Galina continued her good form from the last playing year and she won 3 out of 4 matches, as did Peter. 

In A Grade no-one got a ‘duck egg’ and Ross managed to squeak home against Craig Ibbotson in the last game to win his 4 matches for the night and Laurie won 3 matches. 

Janet will be trying to determine when the 5 ladies will be attending on the same night so that we can finally run the Ladies Championship. At this stage the preferred date is 22nd Nov and the second preference if the 15th Nov. 

Next week we will run a normal weekly handicap competition.  

25th October - Normal Weekly Handicap Competition

After an 18 week suspension from play due to COVID restrictions we will be returning to play on Mon 25th Oct at 6.45pm. We will require all players to have proof of being double vaccinated against COVID, to wear masks and observe distancing guidelines. The playing and annual membership fee structure has been updated from last year and is explained in the ‘About Us’ page. It would assist organisers if you could advise of your intended presence on the 25th Oct and the texting through of proof of vaccination if you haven’t already done so.

21st June - Graded monthly

Last night we had been hoping to hold the Ladies’ Championship but only 3 ladies could make it so we will hopefully be able to run it next week if at least 4 ladies turn up – our last chance for the year. 

The 15 players who turned up allowed us to run a 3-grade competition with everyone playing 4 singles and 1 doubles match. The night was extremely close with no ‘duck eggs’ and no-one winning all their matches. Mike’s handicap dropped to minus 2 and Rod’s to minus 9 after their heroics in last week’s Kiwi Trophy Event. 

Ross won 4 matches in A Grade, as did Janet in C Grade. Incredibly all players in B Grade won 2 singles game each. Galina in C Grade, continued her good form now that her new glasses allow her to see the ball, and she won 3 singles matches.  

The Yearly Point Score lead is now tied between the two Craigs going into the final week of the playing year. 

The raffles were won by Ross and AlexW. 

Presentation night is 24 July. Members $35 & visitors $45, you can play cash from next week, or direct to club’s bank after 1 July.

14th June - Kiwi trophy

13 players turned up for the Kiwi Trophy and we all got to play 5 games. CraigIbbs got a ‘duck egg’ and is now holding only a 1-point lead in the Yearly Point Score. Everyone else won 2, 3 or 4 games to show the handicaps are working well. 

With 4 wins each, Rodney and Mike made the final. Mike had not been getting the results of late despite his obvious ability. Last night in the final he played some superb counter-attacking shots and was able to dull Rodney’s attacking raids. Mike easily took the 1st set 11-3 but Rod took the 2nd set 11-6. Rod caught up to Mike quickly in the 3rd set to be 3-all but Mike got to a 4-shot lead then hung on for a very close 11-9 win to take the title. Congratulations Mike. 

Alex took some photos and videos and the slow-motion videos turned out really good and made us all look like we knew what we were doing!!

Next week we hope to play the Ladies Championship with a minimum of 4 ladies needing to be present for the Event to occur.  

7th June - Graded Montly

With 12 players for a graded monthly everyone got to play 4 singles and 2 doubles. Kevin and Galina both won 5 games. Galina proved that there is a definite link between good eyesight and winning. Galina’s new glasses allowed her to see the ball and she won her first 5 games to have her best night of the year. 

Sergey had a very rare ‘duck egg’ on the night, after having his handicap cut by 2 after a good winning streak. Rodney got a shot back from the handicapper and that gave him a boost and he won 4 games. Laurie's handicap dropped to 3 and AlexW to 4. We hope your tests went well Alex. Hope to see you back next week. 

Congratulations to Mark who now has the lowest handicap in our club at minus 9. He is the first player since Adam was a boy to have a handicap lower than Rodney. Is this the changing of the guard? Hope to see you back soon Mark. 

Our Presentation Night is set for 7pm, Saturday 24th July in the Gerrale Room at the Cronulla RSL. We will provide more information about that in the next few weeks. 

We are trying to establish when at least 4 of our ladies will be available so that the Ladies Championship can be played in the next 3 weeks before the end of our playing year. That will determine when we can play the Kiwi Trophy Event and it could be next week.   

31st May 2021 - Captains’s trophy

19 players turned up including a visitor Dennis, who knows Dennis, and everyone got to play at least 4 games. It was the Captain’s Event and it was a fairly closely fought night with only Craig Ibbotson and Alex Wylie winning their 4 matches to make the final. Everyone else won at least one match in the Event.  

Peter unfortunately injured his foot in his first match against Rodney and had to leave early but it was Rodney who was wrong-footed and conceded a very rare ace in his match against Sergey.  

In the final, Alex Wylie proved his ‘hot favourite’ tag and managed to win the final 11-5, 11-2 against Craig Ibbotson. Alex will be off a plus 4 handicap next week when we play an ungraded monthly. 

The raffles were won by Mike and David (again). 

The Yearly Point Score is a close battle up at the top with CraigIbbs on 144, CraigDuff on 140 and Guy on 137 with 4 weeks to play before the end of the year. You can check your YPS and other statistics by clicking on the adjacent ‘Statistics, YPS and Handicaps’ page. Please note the handicaps shown on that sheet will be reassessed before next Monday evening’s play.  

24th May - monthly

13 players turned up for an ungraded monthly and we each played 5 singles and 1 doubles match. 

Sergey again won all his singles matches and won the night with 5 out of 6 matches, but Slavko had won 4 out of 4 before he had to leave early. Victor, Dennis and Mike all won 4 out of 6 matches and Judy again won 3 games. 

The raffles were won by CraigIbbs and Mike.  

Next week will be the Captain’s Event, the second last event for the men for the year and the hot favourites are Sergey and AlexW. 

Our website has been revamped and all passwords removed so please have a peek at all the pages adjacent to this page. We will be attempting to update the Statistics and Calendar pages before you receive this report each week. We will be reviewing the photos on the site over the next few weeks. Any feedback to Rodney or Ross regarding the appearance or content of the site will be welcomed.   

17th May - monthly

A 16-player turn-up meant we could trial a Graded Teams Event with 4 teams of 4 players with everyone playing 3 singles and 3 doubles. The format allows each player to play the other 3 players in their grade and to play a doubles match with each of their team members. The four teams were: 

Clueless – CraigD, Ross, Guy, and Judy 

Top-spinners – Rodney, Laurie, AlexW and Galina 

Over-spinners – Sergey, Slavko, CraigIbb and Victor 

Kevin’s Killers – Mike, Kevin, Dennis and Maureen 

In the singles, Sergey, Laurie, AlexW and Victor won their 3 matches but there was only one ‘duck-egg’. The doubles were a real leveller with Sergey being the only player to win 3 doubles matches. 

Overall Sergey won his 6 games, and AlexW and Victor won 5 each. 

 So, the final team results were also very close with the Over-spinners scraping home with 11 wins over the Top-spinners on 10 wins, and Clueless and Kevin’s Killers won 8 and 7 respectively. It would have only taken a few results to go the other way and the overall team results would have been completely different. The best team-name went to ‘Kevin’s Killers’.  

 Sergey and AlexW are definitely in the handicapper’s sights, but while not worrying the handicapper too much yet, Laurie had a great night defeating three seasoned B Grade players, after starting the year on an plus 8 handicap.  

After winning her first match last time it was great to see Maureen win 3 games on the night. Judy also won 3 games. 

 In order to make our website pages more accessible we will be removing the passwords to the Yearly Point Score and Handicap pages which means all visitors to the site will have access to the pages. If you do not want your name shown on the site, or if you only want your Christian name shown please advise Rodney or Ross in the next week. 

 Next week will be an ungraded monthly.   

10th May - Graded monthly

We began the night with an Extraordinary General Meeting to ratify our newly amended Constitution. 

Only 13 members turned up to play a graded monthly but for organisers it was very hectic trying to keep 4 tables going while they were also playing. Everyone got to play 4 singles and 2 doubles and AlexW again shone with 6 wins from 6 games. Kevin and Guy won 5 and CraigD won 4. Ross got a ‘duck egg’ but apparently, he was very unlucky!!! 

Rodney had one of the best comebacks that he can remember against a good opponent by coming back after losing the first set and being down -8 to +10 to Kevin in the second set. Rodney then proceeded to win the next 20 points to keep the game alive, then won the third set to take the match. Another Lazarus!!! 

The raffles were won by Rodney and CraigD. 

Our website is currently being revamped and we have now included an ‘Honour Roll’ page which is still being added to. However just the three pages of historic results there at the moment shows you the long and rich history of our club. We will also soon be adding a list of the Office Bearers over the past 20 years or so. The commitment by all our committees and the great support of the Cronulla RSL Club over the years has resulted in us being on the oldest and one of the most successful Table Tennis Club in Australia, having commenced in 1947. 

Next week will be an ungraded monthly.    

3rd May - Presidents vs Captains trophy

16 players turned up for the annual Arthur William’s President’s vs Captain’s Event. With Rod being both our President and Captain Rod picked the President’s team and Ross, who fancies himself as a selector, picked the Captain’s team. 

Everyone played plenty of games with 4 singles and 2 double games each. The Captain’s team took an early lead and eventually ran away with a convincing 27 to 13 victory. The Captain’s team included Galina, Ian, Kevin, Peter, Guy, AlexW, CraigD and Ross. 

Individual results were less even than normal with CraigD, Guy, Peter and Ross all winning 5 out of 6 games and AlexW won the night with 6 wins. 

Congratulations to Maureen who was very pleased to win her first singles match. 

Peter is excited with his new bat & bamboozled Rodney with an ace, as well as winning a tough doubles with Kevin.

Thanks to AlexW, Steve and Dennis who are setting the tables up early so that everyone can have a good warm-up before the nightly draw is made-up at 7.15pm sharp. 

Next week will be a graded monthly.

26th April - graded monthly

20 players turned up for a graded monthly and despite a couple of false starts we managed to get 40 games in with 3 singles and 2 doubles each. 

In A grade the results were very even. Slavko and Ross won 4 out of 5 games but probably the real winner on the night was Mark who won 3 out of 5 games against quality opposition despite being savagely hit by the handicapper. Mark’s handicap of -9 is now the same as Rodney’s and is well up from the -1 handicap Mark had just two years ago. 

In B Grade Guy and CraigIbbs won 4 out of 5 games with Craigibbs appearing to be handling his new handicap well. 

The Raffles were won by Ross and Ian. 

Next week is the Captains Vs Presidents Trophy night.  

19th April - monthly

16 players turned up for an ungraded monthly and we managed to get through 5 singles matches each and one doubles for a total of 44 games.  

The clear winner on the night was the handicapper with 14 out of the 16 players winning 2, 3 or 4 games, and no players won their full 6 games and there were no ‘duck eggs’.  

The other winner on the night was AlexW who is playing with great confidence against better players and won his 5 singles games. Peter won the raffle. 

It was good to see Ian back after a break and he won 3 games.  

Dennis is off to Norfolk Island for a week’s holiday and next week we will have Rod and Judy back for a graded monthly. 

12th April - Treasurer’s event

16 players turned up for the Treasurers Event with six players having adjusted handicaps. After 4 games each, only Mark and Sergey had won all their games.

The final was close with Mark having to make up 5 points in each game. Sergey easily took the first set 11-4 but Mark got his bearings and won the next two sets 11-6, 11-8. After beating our club champion off scratch last week Mark is now at the top of his game. 

Janet organised some great raffle prizes and the winners were David (again) and Rodney. 

Welcome to our two new members – Maureen and Steve. 

Our president is taking a week’s holiday and next week we will be playing an ungraded monthly. 

TREASURER’S EVENT 2021

5th April - World Table tennis day

The World Table Tennis Day is 6th April.

Easter Mon 5th April was one of the best nights in the club’s history with a special 5 grade event to coincide with World Table Tennis Day (6th Apr). We had a record 26 players turn up, 5 grade winners, some great prizes and most players got to play 4 games. 

It was good to see Charlie Xu make an appearance and he managed to beat Mark 3-1 in the A Grade final after Rodney was defeated by Mark & Charlie in 3 tight sets.

In A Reserves Alex Tweed upset Craig Duffeld and went on to defeat Sergey 3-1

In B Grade Ross beat Slavko 3-1 in the final, the last set went to 18/16 with both players blowing chances to take the set.

Victor showed his improvement, winning all his matches and defeating Guy 3-2 in a close match in the C Grade final.

Peter beat Janet 3-0 in the final in D Grade. 

All grade winners won a new table tennis bat donated by Table Tennis Australia and Craig Duffield, Maureen Goddard, Mike Ford and Rodney all won new bats in the members draw. 

As at the end of March the Yearly Point Score leaders are Craig Ibbotson on 114 from Craig Duffield on 111 and Guy on 102, Dennis 94, Mark and Ross 88, Rod 82, Victor 79, and Kevin and Lee on 72.  

The proposed amendments to our constitution are now on display on the notice board for 3 weeks prior to ratification. 

Next week will be the Treasurer’s event.   

29th March - monthly

Despite some late withdrawals on the night, we had a good turn-up of 17 players for a graded monthly and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Peter and Ross returned after long breaks and it was good to see Gavin make an appearance for the first time in a while. AlexT also introduced Jack Johnstone as a visitor. 

We managed 4 singles and 1 doubles game for each player for a total of 39 matches on the night and the handicapper did well with all players winning at least one singles match.  

In A Grade AlexT continued his good form winning 4 out 5 games and Slavko returned to form and also won 4 out of 5 games. 

In B Grade CraigIbb won all his games to be the night’s winner and Dennis and AlexW won 4 out of 5 games. 

Special thanks to Dennis who had everything set up early for warm-up games and then helped out with the match scheduling and was the last to leave. We hope our President feels better next week. 

The Treasurer’s Event which had been set for next week, 5th April will now be rescheduled to make way for next week’s special World Table Tennis Day Event.

22nd March - monthly

14 players turned up for the monthly, good turn out given the weather.

We played 4 singles and a doubles.

Alex Tweed turned up, first time for a while, and showed he has lost none of his skill, winning 5/5. Those who won 4 were Kevin, Dennis, Craig I & the other Alex.

If you are coming along to our event on 5th April, please advise a committee member ASAP.

15th March - graded monthly

15 players turned up on the 15th for the graded monthly, we played 3 singles and 2 doubles.

The ladies were discussing the ladies championship, with Margaret turning up later to say hello to everyone.

Talk around was as Laurie wasn’t there, everyone had a better chance of a win!!

Craig Duffield was the winner on the night, winning 5/5.

Kevin looked younger as he had a fight with the lawnmower. Welcome to visitor Paul.

8th March - Bill Malone

Good roll up of 17 players for the Bill Malone trophy, which was not held last year due to the club’s break from play.

We played 4 singles, and Laurie took his new handicap of 5 in his stride, he won 4/4, straight through to the final.

Winners of 3/4 were Sergey, Mark & Victor. There was a playoff, with Mark taking on Sergey. In a game full of big smashes, Mark won a tight game. Semi final was Mark versus Victor. Victor utilised his handicap start, going for some big smashes, a number came off, he won the match 2 sets to nil.

So the final was Laurie versus Victor. It was a very tight battle, Victor won 1st set 11/6, and looked to have the win in the bag, leading 2nd set 10/8. However Laurie showed the fighting qualities where he has lost very few matches recently, and won 2nd set 12/10. The third set was very tight, Victor hit some good attacking smashes, while Laurie hit his attacking shots with angles away from the opponent. Laurie led 10/8, Victor got an edge to 10/9 with the crowd gasping, then Laurie won 6/11, 12/10 & 11/9.

Congratulations Laurie winning the Bill Malone trophy, Laurie’s trophy cabinet is expanding in 20/21!!

Dennis won the raffle.

1st March - monthly

14 players turned up for the monthly on a very humid night. We played 3 singles and 2 doubles.

Winners on the night with 4/5 were Guy, Alex and Craig Duffield.

Without Laurie there, players commented that they had a better chance of a win!!

Ron and Janet are still on the mend, get better soon..

Great to see Sergey back, who hasn’t been to our club for around 6 months.

Yearly point score is a battle between 2 Craig’s. Singles Craig I 100, Craig D 98, Ross 85.

YPS Doubles Craig I 15, Kevin 14.

22nd February - graded monthly

14 players turned up on a very humid night for the graded monthly, we played 4 singles and a doubles.

The winner on the night again was Laurie, with 5/5. Laurie has had no issue adjusting to his new handicap of 6, the handicapper is keeping an eye on him.

Welcome to visitor Chris, who is keen to join the club. Chris played off 2, won 3/5 matches, an admirable first up effort.

Ross is having fun at Tassie, he found a table tennis club down there, and will probably come back in better shape than he left.

15th February - monthly

It was going to be the ladies championship, but with a few ladies away, we had a monthly. 11 players turned up, we played 5 singles and a doubles.

Winners on the night were Laurie 6/6 & Craig Ibbotson 5/6. Laurie showed that the new handicap of 6 didn’t affect him, word around was take another point off him!! See what the handicapper thinks.

Some good doubles matches, including Craig D/ Victor VS Mike/ Rodney, very close match, 1 set all, Craig hit a big winning smash at 10/6 in 3rd set, Rodney reacted returned it deep, & then Mike/ Rodney proceeded to win the next 6 points and win 12/10.

The ladies championship is now set for sometime in April.

8th February - Jack Anastas trophy

13 players turned up for the Jack Anastas trophy, we played 5 singles.

4 players won 4/5 and made it to the semi finals. In the first semi, Victor defeated Judy 2/0, in the second semi Laurie defeated Alex 2/0.

Laurie was the favourite for the title, and proved his favouritism was true. Laurie defeated Victor 11/8, 11/5. Laurie showed some of his new spin serves, along with an attacking backhand, & never looked in trouble, winning his first major singles title, no doubt the first of many.

Dennis showed he is a man of many talents, coming 2nd in the 3 km swim on the weekend in the over 75 category, well done Dennis!!

Next week is the ladies championship, can anyone defeat Janet?

Ross is enjoying a good holiday in Tassie..

1st February - Monthly

15 players turned up for the monthly, we played 4 singles and 2 doubles. Good to see Bevan who showed everyone how to play.

Winner on the night again was Laurie, with 6/6, handicapper is looking out for him. Guy and Bevan won 5/6.

Early favourite for Jack Anastas trophy next week is Laurie.

Ross is off to his annual trip to Tasmania now that it is on the agenda.

25th January - Doubles championship

16 players turned up for the annual doubles championship. Last year’s finalists were Dennis & Sergey who defeated Craig Duffield & Janet Kent.

This year we split the players into A & B grade divisions. In A & B, one of the top 4 played with one of the bottom 4 based on current handicaps, draw was done randomly out of the hat.

In the very first match, there was a big upset with Mike/ Kev defeating Rodney/Ross. In A grade, Mike/ Kev were first though to the final, with Rodney/ Ross & Mark/ Dennis playing off to join Mike/ Kev.

Mark/ Dennis won the first set easily 11/7, Rodney/Ross replied winning 2nd set 11/4. The 3rd set was very tight, with some very good rallies exhibiting that doubles is often a balancing factor for different standards having to play for your partner not just yourself. At 9/9 the match could have gone either way, then at 10/9 Rodney hit his best forehand of the match to take it 11/9.

In the B grade, Lee/Laurie started off on fire, winning their first 2 games 2 sets to nil. However, in their 3rd game, new player Peter and Craig Ibbotson reversed the tables winning 2/0. So the final was Lee/Laurie vs Peter/ Craig.

Lee & Laurie have both improved recently, & both showed that improvement, taking the championship 2 sets to NIL. It was Laurie’s first major win, a sign of things to come.

In the A grade final, Rodney/ Roos were looking to reverse their early defeat at the hands of Mike/ Kev. Mike/Kev started well early, leading 6/4, but Rodney/Ross came back winning the first set 11/9.

The second set looked to be all Mike/Kev, out to a 6/2 lead. Mike hitting some impressive backhands, & Kev angling shots away from the opposition. Rodney/ Ross came back, Rodney caught Kev out a few times with drop shots, Rodney/Ross won 11/9, 11/9.

11th January 2021 - 1st night back

A good turn-up of 21 players to start the year and Alex Wylie brought his dad Steve along for a good hit. We played 3 singles and 2 doubles. The handicapper had a good night with only 4 players winning more than 3 games. Laurie won the night with 5 wins and also the eye of the handicapper! Ross, Kevin and Galina all won 4 games. 

Slavko won the raffle. 

A reminder to renew your RSL memberships if they haven't already done so.

Craig Duffield is keen to get a club team to play in the shire comp, if interested, please let us know.

The lady’s championship will be played at a date to be determined and requires 3 lady players to be in attendance. Next week will be an ungraded monthly. 

30th November - monthly

18 Players turned up for a graded monthly divided into 3 grades and we played 3 singles and 2 doubles, and we welcomed Adam as a visitor. 

In A Grade Kevin and Ross won 4 out of 5 games, as did Craig Ibbotson and Dennis in B Grade and Adam in C Grade, but the winner on the night was Laurie who won all his 5 games. 

At the end of November, the Yearly Point Score leaders are Ross 66, Craig Duffield 64, Craig Ibbotson 62, Mark 57, Guy 55, Dennis 53, Slavko 47, Sergey 45, Rod and Victor 44. 

Next week 7th November we will be playing a ‘monthly’ and it will be our last playing night of 2020 before our break until Monday 11th January 2021. 

We have 21 people confirmed and deposits paid for our Xmas Party on Monday 14th Dec at the Watergrill Restaurant at the Cronulla RSL – 7.15pm. We still have a few spare seats so next Monday is the last date for confirmations and deposits. We have to adhere to strict rules due to COVID.  

23rd November - monthly

Last night was an enjoyable but hectic night of 20 players, playing 3 singles and 2 doubles in an ungraded monthly, including new visitor Kaj. 

Four out of 5 wins were recorded by the two Craigs, Lee, Alex Wyllie and Ross. The raffle was won by Mark.  

Where is Sergey, hasn’t been seen for a few weeks? If you are turning up late, please let us now so we can put you in the draw.

Our President spent all night looking for his bat. Its new rubbers must have transformed its appearance and it was in front of him all the time – first signs!!!! 

The Doubles Championship, previously scheduled for next Monday night has been postponed until some-time in the new year, and will be replaced by a monthly next week. 

If you haven’t confirmed your attendance at our Xmas ‘Party’ with Ross please text or ring him on 0427 115 413 in the next day or two because we need to confirm numbers with the Watergrill Restaurant at Cronulla RSL this week. The booking will be for 7.15pm on Monday 14th Dec – not Thursday as incorrectly shown on some flyers. Remaining $10 deposits are required by next Monday night please.  

16th November - Handicap doubles championship

15 players turned up on a hot night to contest the Handicap Doubles. It was good to see Janet back with a couple of new eyes. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’ Grades played 3 round robin matches.  

In B Grade Janet and Craig Ibbotson won their 3 round robin games and the other 3 teams all won one game each. In the playoffs Victor and Lee made the final to take on Craig and Janet. Craig and Janet were favourites but Lee and Victor got home in a very close match 11/8, 6/11,15/13. Congratulations to Lee for his first event win. 

In A Grade the round robin was very close with no team winning their 3 matches. Rodney and Kevin made the final playing Craig Duffield and Guy. Craig and Guy got home in two sets 11/8, 11/9 and Guy continues to amaze winning A Grade events in his 90th year. It was also good to see Kevin have a good night and make the final. 

There was no raffle and next week will be a graded monthly. 

Next week Ross will be collecting $10 deposits from members who will be attending our Xmas ‘Party’ at Cronulla RSL on Mon 14th Dec.

9th November - monthly

19 players turned up for a fun night of 3 singles and 2 doubles in an ungraded monthly. Phil was a new visitor and Laurie and Graham are welcomed as new members to our club. 

It was good to see Galina and Judy win their 3 singles matches. Laurie, Lee, Craig Duffield, Mike and Phil all won 4 out of their 5 matches. The raffle was won by Kevin. Next week is the Handicap Doubles Event. 

In order to support the RSL Club our Xmas function this year will be a sit-down dinner at the Watergrill Restaurant at the Cronulla RSL on Mon Dec 14th instead of our normal Marton Hall ‘party’. More details will be provided at play next Monday. 

Orders for new playing shirts will be taken over the next few weeks so please advise Ross, Rod or Judy if you would like a new playing shirt. Prices are expected to be around $35 per shirt and maybe more for embroidery.  

Next week is the doubles handicap championship, will likely be 2 grades.

2nd November - monthly

We achieved a club record attendance of 24 players on the night and all players still all got to play 4 games, all playing a doubles match for the first time since March. We had 5 visitors play with Graham, Kyle and Peter M being first timers and all doing well. 

Adjusted handicaps included Rodney, Ron, and Kevin dropping back to -9, -2 and 4 respectively, and Mark, Alex, Slavko and Paul improving to -7, -1, 2, and 3 respectively.  

We played a graded monthly with A, B, and C grades. 

In A grade Sergey and Mike won their 4 games and Mark handled his minus 7 handicap well with two singles victories. 

In B grade visitor Peter M, Craig Ibbotson and Victor won 3 out of 4 games. 

In C grade visitor Kyle won all 4 games and visitors Jim, and Graham won 3 out of 4 matches. 

The raffle was won by visitor Peter M.

Next week is a monthly.

26th October - Secretary’s event

19 players turned up for the Secretary’s Event including two new visitors, Alex and Laurie. Good to see the number of female members has further increased with Galina Li joining our club. 

Rodney was excited about his new rubbers and our new Double Fish 40+ balls!

Guy, Paul, Dennis, Slavko and Ross all won 3 games but only Rod and Mark won their 4 games to make the final.

So it was a repeat of the A grade final from 2 weeks ago, this time Rodney had to give Mark 5 points start.

It was tight match, Mark stayed in front in the 1st game, winning it 11-8.

In the second game, Rodney caught Mark early, & it looked like the match was going to a deciding 3rd set. There was a number of good rallies won by both players. At 8-8, the set could have gone either way, Mark got to 10/8, Rodney got it back to 10/10. Mark ended up winning 11/8, 13/11, welcome to -7 Mark!!

Mark’s new handicap will reflect his great form of late and he will continue to challenge Rodney for Top Dog! 

Julie won the raffle. Next week is a graded monthly. 

19th October - graded monthly

19 players turned up for a graded monthly and the victor on the night was the handicapper with no one winning all their 4 games. In ‘A’ Grade Zoe, Mark, Craig Duffield, and Ross won 3 games while in ‘B’ Grade Victor, Guy, Lee, Dennis and Peter also won 3 games. 

3 visitors Mike, Zoe and John turned up for the first time and appeared to enjoy the night. Dale also cheered on Zoe and John.

Look out if Zoe becomes a regular member as Janet’s ladies championship is in grave danger!!

Our President was again troubled by another arm injury which is worrying at his young age!  

The raffle was won by Craig Duffield. 

Next week is the Secretary’s Event which was won last year by Ross. 

12th October - A grade championship

Rodney Forrester has won the Cronulla RSL club championship for a record 20th time in an absorbing final against Mark Lancaster.

21 players turned up for the night, including Mike Ford who returned from a 12 month break from back complications, and newcomer Stephen Matison.

There was 3 groups of 4, and a group of 5, and the 4 ladies played their own event. Top 2 from each group went through to the quarter finals.

The quarter finalists were Slavko/ Rodney, Ross/ Craig, Mike/ Sergey, and Gavin/ Mark. Each of the quarters were won 2 sets to 0, so the semi finalists were Craig/ Rodney & Sergey/ Mark.

Craig showed the improvement he has made over the last 12 months, and played a very consistent game. However he couldn’t control Rodney’s topspin, Rodney won 3 sets to 0.

Sergey and Mark was a tight battle, with a number of long rallies. At 1 set all, the match could have gone either way, but Mark made no mistakes to win the 3rd set 11/3 & take the 4th.

The final of Mark versus Rodney was a repeat of the final 12 months earlier, and Mark showed why he won the club’s most improved last season by taking the 1st set 11/8. Rodney returned the pressure, taking the 2nd 11/5 and 3rd 11/6.

Mark then took the 4th set 11/6 and at 2 sets all, the match evenly poised. Rodney won the 5th with a number of winners form topspin loops, but Mark hit a number of backhand winners, some from Rodney’s spin serves.

In the 6th set, Mark led 8/5, it looked like the match was heading for a deciding 7th rubber, but Rodney won the next 5 points to lead 10/8, and had match point.

Rodney then proceeded to serve the ball long, the crowd gasped. At 10/9, Rodney hit a winning forehand to take the match 4 sets to 2 in the best and tightest A grade final seen at the club for may years. 16 members stayed to witness what turned out to be a great final. 

In the ‘9-handicapper’s challenge Margaret beat Judy in the decider 11-6, 11-13, 11-5. Well done Margaret. 

Thanks to Ron for organising the purchase of our 4th table and to Kevin for loaning us his own table for the last few years. 

Our best wishes are extended to Janet who is undergoing cataract surgery on both eyes and hopes to be back seeing the ball better before Xmas, and before the ladies Championship in January. 

Rodney has now the A grade championship 20 times, the years of 1997-98, 2000-05, 2007, 2010-2020. The number 20 matching Rafael Nadal’s 20 majors!!

5th October - graded monthly

Thirteen players turned up for a graded monthly on a Public Holiday with Mark playing off his amended handicap of minus 5 and Alex off his of zero. Peter was the other player who attracted the handicapper’s attention and is now off plus 8. 

In ‘A’ grade Craig Duffield did well to win his 5 matches and Ross won his 5 matches in ‘B’ Grade and Craig Ibbotson 4. 

The bookies are adjusting their odds for next week’s A Grade Championship after an untimely injury to the odds-on favourite, Rodney who is vying for his 20th A Grade Championship win. We hope he won’t be scratched. Mark’s price is shortening! 

28th September - American Cup

Good roll up of 19 players for one of the keenly contested events on the calendar, the American Cup.

The handicap system again showed its worth with only Peter winning all four of the preliminary games. 

At the presentation, only a couple of weeks ago, the comment was when is Peter going to win an event, and get off +9 handicap. Well Peter broke through for his first event win beating Mark 2-0 in the final and will now have to deal with a handicap adjustment. Mark did a fault to hand Peter the win.

At the end of September, the Yearly Point Score is as follows - Alex 39, Guy 34, Craig Ibbotson 33, Craig Duffield, Ross and Slavko on 32, Mark on 31, Sergey 30, Dennis and Ian on 27. 

Next Monday is a Public Holiday but we will still be playing either a monthly or graded monthl

21st September - graded monthly

17 players turned up for a graded monthly and Alex again proved unbeatable in ‘A’ grade. Lee had a good night and won his 4 games in ‘B’ grade. Rod and Dennis both had rare ‘duck eggs’ to prove just how competitive and even-matched the players are off their current handicaps. 

It was good to see Paul back and two enthusiastic visitors in Claude and Gabriel. 

Incredibly, David won the raffle – again!  

Next week is the American Cup, can Rodney defend the title he won in 2020? In three weeks’ time the ‘A’ Grade championship with Rodney vying for an unprecedented 20th title. 

14th September - B grade championships

Great roll up of 21 players for the club's B Grade Championship. It was good to see Bevan make an appearance and play in the round robin for A Graders who were not entitled to play in t he B grade championships.

There was 4 groups of 4, the top 2 in each group went through to the quarter finals.

In the first quarter final, Ross played Slavko. The first upset of the night had been Guy defeating Slavko, which meant that Ross came up against his nemesis Slavko. Ross got the win, even though he gave himself little chance. The next quarter final was one of the early favourites Alex who beat Dennis. Next match was Guy against Victor, a tight match, Victor got up. Final quarter was another early tip Craig Duffield against Kevin. Kevin started well early, but couldn’t handle the heat from Craig.

So the semis Alex/ Ross & Craig/ Victor. The first match had some close moments, but Alex & Craig got through to the final.

The final was an absorbing long drawn out match. Neither player wanted to make a mistake, give an inch. There was a good crowd watching the match.

Craig looked to have the first set in the bag, but Alex hung in there, and got up 13/11. The second set was a set of long extended rallies, one rally going for around 50 shots!! Chop, chop, attacking shot, then chop again, the crowd’s necks were getting sore from going side to side. Alex had the chance to go up 2 sets to nil ,but Craig hung in, taking it 12/10. The 3rd and 4th sets could have gone either way, Craig got some cheap points from his serve, but couldn’t handle Alex’s smash when it hit the table. Craig won the 3rd 11/9, Alex 4th 11/9, so it set up a deciding 5th set.

Craig looked unbeatable at 5/0 in the 5th, but Alex hung in, making no mistakes, and got the score back to 4/6. Craig was up 9/7, Alex had an easy smash, rushed the shot into the net, and Craig won 11/7.

Congratulations Craig on winning the B grade championship.

In the battle of the A graders, there was a number of close matches, Rodney won 4/4, Mark, Sergey and Ron each won 2/4, and Bevan had a duck egg even though he was very close in a number of matches. It sets cup an exciting A grade championship in a month’s time.

22 players and family turned up for our delayed 2019-20 presentation night at the Kurnell Recreation Club. Plenty of food, drink and prizes and everyone commented on the good night. Special thanks to Janet for her organising efforts but also great efforts from the Forrester family, Ross, Ron and Kevin. Kevin received a special appreciation award for his many years of service on the committee. 

7th September - graded monthly

Another great turnout of 19 players for the third week in a row.

Six players - Alex, Mark, Kevin, Sergey, Janet and Ron had their handicaps adjusted.

We played a graded monthly and in 'A' grade Sergey, Mark and Alex had 4 wins each. In 'B' grade Janet enjoyed her new handicap and won 4 matches. Ross had a 'duck egg'.

Next week is the B Grade Championship with early favourites Craig Duffield & Alex, with Slavko, Ross & Kevin keen to upset the apple cart.

We hope to see Eva back soon. 

Our presentation night is this Saturday Night.

BARRY WARD, Member 2000-2012

The Sutherland Shire Leader, 2/9/20 Edition, Deaths & Funerals, notifies the death of Barry Ward. However this may not be the actual Barry Ward many of us all remember. We have been unable to confirm this fact, so we have withdrawn “Vale”.

31st August - Jim Colwell teams event

Another good turnout of 19 players, this time for the annual Jim Colwell Teams Event. Ian's Team beat David's team fairly easily by 23 to 17. The winning team members were Ian, Craig D, Sergey, Mark, Peter, Janet, Judy, Dennis and Slavko.

Best on the night were Ian (leading his team well), Alex and Ron all winning their 4 games. Judy, Margaret and Peter Sheean won 3 out of 4 as did Mark and Slavko. The adjusted handicap system is appearing to have its intended affect with the winning percentage for players off handicaps 8 or 9 now up to 46%. Craig Ibbotson had an unfamiliar 'duck egg' on the night. Welcome to new member Lee.

There are a few players in line for a handicap adjustment before next Monday. 

Guy has resumed his familiar position at the top of the list for the John Penrose Yearly Points Score Trophy after two months of play with 26 points. Craig Ibbotson is next on 25 pts followed by Alex, Craig Duffield and Slavko on 24, then Ross 22, Ian 21, Dennis 20, Julie 19, and then Mark and Ron on 18.

Next week will be a graded monthly.

24th August - Graded monthly

15 players turned up for the graded monthly. We played 4 singles.

Alex smashed everyone, winning 4/4, and the question around was when is his handicap going to drop?

Julie had a good night, winning 3/4, along with Guy, Sergey & newcomer Ethan.

Next week is the team’s event, Jim Colwell trophy.

Where is Mike, Paul & Dragan?

The presentation night will be Saturday 12 September 7pm at Kurnell Recreation Club.

17th August - C Grade championship

Great roll up of 19 players for the C grade championship and 9 other players for an Ad-Hoc event, 42 games in all.

There was 10 players for the C grade championship, 2 groups of 5. Sorry to hear Ian got sick at last moment and could not attend because we know he was looking forward to the night.

Guy won 1 group, played off against Dennis, the runner up in the other group. Dennis was favourite, having beaten Guy a number of times in the club recently. The first set was very close, Dennis had a number of set points, but Guy won it 14/12, Dennis reversed it 11/8 in the 2nd, but Guy returned in the 3rd, winning it 11/2.

The second semi pitted Victor against the winner of group 2, Craig I. Hard won to pick, but Craig showed his recent form was no fluke, taking the match 11/9, 11/7.

So the final was last year’s runner up Guy, on his 89th birthday, against Craig. No doubt who everyone was cheering for, but the crowd was disappointed in the first set, with Craig angling a number of shots away from Guy yo win the set 11/4. Things turned around in the 2nd set with Guy using his attacking forehand to advantage, taking the set 11/9.

The third set was very tense, both players having chances to take the set, with Craig even doing a Slavko fault at set point. Craig finally took the set 15/13. Craig then ran away with the 4th set 11/6. Congratulations Craig on winning the C grade championship.

In the battle of the other players, Alex played Craig D. in the final. There was some long chopping rallies, with Alex hitting some good smashes off both sides. However, Craig proved too consistent, winning in 3 sets.

10th August - Graded monthly

• 15 players turned up for a graded monthly.

• In B grade both Judy and Craig Ibbotson won 4 out of 5 games.

• In A grade Ron and Alex won 4 out of 5 games.

• Doctor's orders stopped Janet from playing but she did a great job with COVID and raffle duties.

• Rodney pulled out after two games with an inside elbow injury.

• Kevin enjoyed returning and playing without having any committee duties but found a duck egg on the night!

• David won the raffle again and is the undisputed 'raffle-king'!

• Where is Paul?

• Next week is the C Grade championship which Micky Bridle won last year. Early favourites are Guy, Dennis and Craig I.

• Our Presentation Night is being arranged for Sat 12th Sept at the Georges River Sailing Club (just east of the northern approaches to the Captain Cook Bridge at Sans Souci).

3rd August - President’s trophy

Good roll up of 16 players for the president’s trophy, we played 4 singles.

In the first match, Rodney played Craig I. Rodney gave 17 start, caught up to 9/10, then made a silly error, eventually losing 2/0 to Craig, this match proved vital in the overall result.

At the end of 4 matches, only Ron & Craig I. had won all their matches, so they played off in the final.

Everyone stayed for the final, played in a good atmosphere.

Ron won the first set, he made no mistakes, winning 11/9.

In the second set, Craig hit some attacking forehands, & held out for longer rallies, winning 11/8, although Ron originally thought it was 10/8. Rodney yelled out form the floor game is up to 12, further confusing the players, eventually saying he was only kidding.

Craig ran away with the third set, winning his first major competition. He has recently purchased a table tennis table, so it seems persistence pays off!!

27th July 2020 - Monthly

Twelve players turned up on a wet and windy night. Janet had a disagreement with her car boot which stopped her attending. Dennis helped out with the scoring. I postponed the President's Event until next week. We had a graded monthly.

Highlights:

• A grade - Alex Tweed and Ross won 4 out of 5. Craig D. won 2 out of 5 games but said he enjoyed the long games, nearly all 3 sets. Mark was off-colour.

• B grade - Good spread of wins with all six players winning either 2 or 3 games out of 5.

Next week is the Presidents trophy.

20th July 2020 - AGM and monthly

12 players turned up for the AGM.

The new committee is:

President - Rodney Forrester

Vice President - Janet Kent

Secretary - Rodney Forrester

Treasurer - Ross Hufton

Captain - Rodney Forrester

Vice captain - Ron Welfare

Publicity Officer - Ross Hufton

Congratulations to the committee members chosen. Kevon Davis has stepped down as a committee member after 20 years of service, thanks very much Kevin.

We played 4 singles, winner on the night was Craig Ibbotson, no doubt having a table at home has helped.

Next week is the president’s event, last years winner was Mark.

13th July 2020 - Table tennis resumed

After 4 months of no play, our club was opened up again for table tennis.

We played 4 singles, an umber of players were very rusty, the shots were there, but so were plenty of errors.

15 players turned up, a good roll up for first week back.

Mark was on fire, winning 4 matches out of 4.

Welcome to visitors Paris & Alex..

Next week is our AGM

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE 26th March 2020 - SUTHERLAND SHIRE COUNCIL NOTICE

SSC ADVISE THAT AS OF 25th MARCH 2020 ALL COMMUNITY CENTRES WILL BE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE..

We hope you all keep safe in the interim. Rod & Ross are finalising the score spreadsheet. We played 48 of our 50 matches this year. The TT season finished on 16/3/20, 2 weeks earlier than the end date of 30/3/20. Consequently we will not be playing our final trophy match, the Bill Malone Perpetual Trophy. We will advise members of any developments.

Monday 23rd May 2020 - CORONAVIRUS Update - Postponement of play

We have decided to postpone our weekly play at Kurnell for a month due to the coronavirus.

As you all know the virus continues to spread and we do not want to take the risk that one of our players catches the virus while playing table tennis.

We will monitor the situation and give an update in a month.

I hope every one keeps healthy and look forward to our next get together.

Sergey is the winner of the yearly point score for the first time, congratulations on your consistent performance. Doubles winner to be confirmed.

The annual presentation was set down for mid May, but it will be more than likely postponed, an update to follow later

Sunday 17th May 2020 - Ramsgate Challenge at Ramsgate. CANCELLED, RAMSGATE TABLE TENNIS HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN DUE TO CORONAVIRUS

VALE - COLIN WASTELL, 10th March 2020, aged 78

Probably not many of our current players will rember Colin. He played for a while at our club prior to 2003. He was anice man. His son Mick Wastell also played at the club.

Monday 16th March 2020 - Monthly

14 players turned up for the event. We played 4 Singles and a Doubles. All members regularly washed their hands and no one shook hands. Victor, Slavko and Sergey won all of their 4 singles. Slavko was the night’s winner scoring 5/5. Rod and Margaret, both scored “Zip”. Margaret won the Raffle.

Ramsgate Seniors Table Tennis have had their venue shutdown by Bayside City Council. We are ensure where we stand with Marton Hall at Kurnell. We will advise members of any developing actions. Stay safe!!!

Monday 9th March - monthly

Great roll up of 19 players, we played 3 singles and 2 doubles.

Handicaps were adjusted, Ron lost a point, Mark received 1 point back.

Judy was excited to win her first singles match, also won the raffle. Victor is getting used to his new handicap, winning 3/3 singles.

Winners on the night with 4/5 were Victor, Ian, Slavko & Paul.

Yearly point scores: Sergey 123, Craig 112, Ron 110, Dennis 105; doubles Ron 22, Dennis 21, Slavko 20

Monday 2nd March - monthly

11 players turned up for the monthly, we played 4/5 singles and a doubles.

Last week’s winner Victor struggled with his new handicap. When Craig played doubles he kept having only 1 serve, thought the captain was rigging the points. Craig needs to understand how the handicap system works..

Robert struggled to get a point from Ron who chased every ball down.

Paul was back, a week too late to defend his title last week.

No ladies this week, they were all away.

Yearly point score : Sergey 121, Craig 108, Ron 106, Dennis 105; doubles Dennis/ Ron 21, Sergey/ Slavko 19.

Monday 24th February 2020 - Captain’s Event, 2019 Winner PAUL

Last year’s winner of the captains event, Paul didn’t turn up to defend his crown.

18 players turned up, we played 4 singles. After 3 matches, Ross, Victor & Ron had won 3/3. Ron was due to play Peter, the club burglar next. Somehow Ron actually defeated Peter, and with Victor winning his last match, and Ross losing to the ever improving Craig, the final was set for Ron vs Victor.

This was Victor’s first major final, Ron went in as favourite.

The first set was tight, but Ron made a few easy mistakes, Victor won 11/8. The second set was entirely different, Victor came out swinging, hitting a number of heavy smashes to win points, showing the improvement he has made since he joined our club.

So the captains trophy went to Victor, winning 11/8, 11/6, congratulations Victor.

Monday 17th February 2020 - Monthly

15 players turned up, we played 4 singles and a doubles.

Winners on the night with 4/5 were Kevin, Guy & Rodney.

Visitors John & Tom from USA enjoyed the games & learnt a few new tricks.

Craig won 3/4 singles, the call was made to adjust his handicap!!

Monday 10th February 2020 - Monthly Graded

15 players turned up for the graded monthly, we played 3 singles and 2 doubles.

Winners on the night were Dennis, Peter & Ross who won 4/5 matches.

New member Judy turned up, and said where are the ladies? Janet, Margaret, Julie, Eva another lady to compete against you.

Robert won the raffle.

Monday 3rd February 2020 - Monthly

9 players turned up, we played 4 singles and a doubles. Ron won 3 singles and a doubles. Craig won his first match of the decade, in fact won 3/4, showing his handicap can be handled.

A new player, Alice showed she will be a contender for the 2020 ladies championship, taking out Sergey & Ron off scratch, Ron won 1 set, and lost to Rodney in a tough tussle 11/8, 11/9.

Paul & Gav still sight unseen.

Monday 27th January 2020 - Captain Vs President’s Event

15 players turned up. The President & Captain (Rodney ) was away, so Kev represented the President and Ron represented the Captain. The President’s team were:: Kev, Sergey, Slavko, Dennis, Victor, margaret, and Eva. The Captain’s team were: Ron, Craig, Ross, Guy, Ian, Janet, Robert, Peter, We played 3 singles and a doubles. The President’s Team won 15/13, but the result came down to the final doubles; where Victor/Eva beat Ian/Janet, but only 12/10 on the final game. Ross, Victor and Kevin won 3/3 singles.

Dennis won the Raffle, on a very hot & humid night. Rod is due back next week. Mike and Mark are still on the injury list.

Where is Paul and Gav?

Monday 20th January 2020 - Monthly

Only 11 members turned up. There was a blackout in the Shire and storm damage; this kept a few away.

Rod & Mark are on the injury list. We played 4 singles and 2 doubles. Ron won all of his singles and a doubles , ending up with 5/6 games. Second placing was Dennis with 4/6 games. Mickey came back and won 3/4 singles, before retiring early. Craig had not much luck in the singles (his minus handicap being a handicap) however, he won both of his doubles.

Good news!! the RSl is so far continuing their 50% subsidy for Marton Hall rent.

Monday 13th January 2020 - TT resumes - Monthly Graded

18 players plus Rodney turned up for the monthly, we played 4 singles & 2 doubles. Rod has hurt his ribs playing Squash!! Good to see Mario back, he showed he hasn’t lost any of his speed and skill.

Dennis and Guy won all of their 6 games,, whilst Slavlo & Sergey won 5 games and Dennis & Mario won 4 games each.

Rod adjusted the handicaps. Not everyone was happy. Craig past winning form put him down to -1,

Monday 16th December 2019 - Xmas Party, then a break for 3 weeks

Great roll up of 22 players for our annual Christmas party. Gavin arrived later in the evening and he took the Group photo.

We held the very first fast 5 tournament, it was very fast, finished before 8pm. Only had to shorten the warm ups, especially Paul who would have liked to warm up after 8pm each match!!

The fast 5 was a knockout, with A graders on scratch, B’s on 1, & Cs on 3. When Robert played Victor, they started on 3 each, so after the 1st point, it was game point, very exciting for the spectators.

The final was Ron vs Rodney. Rodney won 5/3, then Ron replied in fine fashion, winning 5/1. Rodney held on 5/3 in the final set.

Next event was to see who could do the longest serve. After 2 tries, Ross & Paul played off, with Ross the first to miss, so Paul was crowned the first winner of the Cronulla long serve championship. Distance was 6.5 metres from serve to the table.

We also played the usual round the table, and individual games.

Everyone enjoyed the food and the raffle. Thanks to Kevin & Janet for preparing and cooking the food, without Kevin burning himself. Also thanks to Julie and Irene for their help.

We had 15 lucky door prizes, but not everyone was lucky. Kev raffled off 2 bottles of Bourbon, Ross & Janet were joint winners.

Yearly point scores : Sergey 90, Mark 86, Craig 80; doubles Sergey 16, Ross 14, Mike/ Sergey 13.

See everyone next year!!

15

Monday 9th December 2019 - Monthly Graded

Great roll up of 17 players, we played 3 singles and 2 doubles.

Mark had his new bat, & it worked a treat, winning 3/5.

Kevin just got back from his cruise, where he won the table tennis competition on the ship, and he continued that form, winning his 3 singles.

Winners on the night were Dennis & Victor with 4/5.

Next week is the Christmas party, there will be special events on the night.

One event will be the very 1st Fast 5 table tennis tournament to be held in Australia. It will be a knockout, best of 3 sets, each game 1st to 5 points, only 1 serve at a time, the event should be completed within 45 minutes. A graders to start off scratch, B off 1, & C off 3.

There will also be a challenge to see who is the best long server in the shire, details on the night. Kev won the Raffle..

Monday 2nd December 2019 - Monthly

12 players turned up for the monthly.

There was plenty of games, we played 4 singles, and tried something different, 3 doubles where your matches were just in the group of 4 you were in.

Craig was telling everyone he joined the club, defeating the captain 11/9 off scratch in the 1st set. Problem was in the 3rd set, he was up 9/0 and choked, going down 12/10.

Sergey and Mark had a battle as they usual do, Sergey won the 1st set & led 10/6 in the 2nd, only for Mark to come back & take it to a 3rd. It was 9/9 in the 3rd set, only for Sergey to reverse their result from the club champs & win 11/9.

Winners on the night were Ron & Sergey with 5/7, & Rodney 5/6.

Christmas party in 2 weeks time, lots of fun games to be held on the night.

Monday 25th November 2019 - Monthly

Good roll up of 16 players for the monthly. We played 3 singles and 2 doubles, all 4 tables were in use.

It was great to see George back, he has been out of action for a while.

Dragan was on fire, winning 5/5, many requests for a handicap reduction.

Monday 18th November 2019 - Monthly and Ladies Championship

The Ladies Championship was finally played as we had 4 lady members present. This is the first time the event has been played since 2009.

A round robin was held, and after 2 matches, Margaret & Janet had won 2/2, & Eva & Julie had lost both.

So the final was Margaret vs Janet, everyone stayed to watch & cheer the ladies on.

As the last winner of this trophy, Janet was determined to repeat the win, and started on fire with her trademark low shots over the net. Janet won the first 2 sets 11/1, 11/1.

The third set was closer, at 3 all Janet caught the ball thinking it was a net, but no, point to Margaret. Janet hit some smashes to take the set & match 11/4.

The guys played 3 singles and a doubles, Ron & Craig won all their singles. Craig needs a second scorer, as during his match against he captain, he was up 11/10 & walked to the other end as if he had won the set.

Good to see Ross is back.

LADIES - FOR THEIR CHAMPIONSHIP

Monday 11th November 2019 - Monthly

4 members turned up to play a graded Monthly. We played 3 sigles and a doubles. Victor and kevin won 4/5 games each. Deniis , Ian, Sergey and Ron won 3/5 games each. Sergey, Victor and Dennis won all of their singles. Andres is changing his grip from penhold to conventional.

Julie and Eva got some match play in rediness for a possible upcoming Ladies Champioship,. We need our 4 lady members , Janet, Julie< Eva and Margaret to all be present to contest the event. Mark won the Raffle.

Monday 4th November 2019 - Bill Malone Trophy (Ross 2018 winner)

13 players turned up for the Bill Malone trophy, we played 4 singles. Rodney couldn't back up from last week, with a duck egg.
After 3 rounds, Dennis & Mark had won 3/3, looked odds on to make the final, but then they each lost their final match, there was 5 winners with 3/4.
Kevin defeated Mark to go through to the final. Paul beat Dennis, then Craig beat Paul.
The final was Kevin, his first in nearly 2 years, against Craig, his first final. Everyone stayed to watch.
In the first set, Kevin struggled with Craig's spin serves, the second was different, Kevin handled them, and hit a number of attacking winners. At 8/8 in the 2nd set, Kevin said close game, then he proceeded to hit 2 shots straight into the net. Kevin had his chances to take the match to a 3rd set, but Craig came up with the winners. So Craig won his 1st final 11/7, 14/12. Welcome Craig to ssratch next week?

Paul won the raffle. Guy is recuperating and should be back soon. Ross and Janet are on holidays. Ian, Julie & Eva are ??

Monday 28th October 2019 - A Grade Championship, can Rod win again?

12 players turned up for the annual club championship. It was a knockout format, and the seedings proved correct with the top 4 seeds progressing to the semi finals.

First semi final was runner up in B grade versus Rodney. The luck went all Rodney’s way with a few net cords, but Ron failed to handle Rodney’s topspin, the final score was 11/4, 11/6 & 11.4.

The second semi final pitted Sergey, runner up in the last 3 years final versus Mark who had won the B grade title last year and has continually improved. It was a very tight battle, and Mark had match point in the 4th set, but Sergey held on, taking it to a 5th set.

The 5th set was very close, at 9 all, Sergey hit a chop into the net, then Mark hit a winning forehand to win the match 6/11, 11/7, 11/7, 10/12, 11/9.

So the final was Mark versus Rodney. In the first set, Mark made a few mistakes early, and Rodney led 10/6. However, Mark held firm, and when Rodney hit a few of Mark’s low returns in the net, it was 10/10. The first set then went point for point, with Mark prevailing 17/15.

In the second set, Rodney used his topspin loop much more, and ran way with the set 11/4.

The 3rd set was very tight, Mark led 6/5, then Rodney hit a number of winners to lead 10/6. Not to be out done, Mark then hit a number of winning smashes to get the score back to 10/8, but Rodney won 11/8.

In the 4th & 5th set, as Mark said later Rodney took control of the table, winning the match 15/17, 11/4, 11/8, 11/1, 11/8.

This is Rodney’s 19th title at Cronulla RSL table tennis club, and 10th straight.

In the repechage, Slavko showed his improvement, defeating Kevin 3 sets to nil.

Monday 21st October 2019 -Graded Monthly

Only 10 players turned up for the night’s play. We played a Monthly, 4 singles and a doubles. Best of 5 for each game. Craig was on fire, winning all of his 4 singles and the doubles. Slavko, Kevin and Mark won 3 of their singles. Next week we play the A grade Singles. Who can beat Rod? Maybe Mark, Sergey or Ron???

Monday 14th October 2019 - Doubles Championship, (Rod/Marty 2018 winners)

16 Players contested the Event. Higher & lower handiappers were teamed together. We then played two groups of 8 players, then the final.. Doubles players were:- Ron/Margaret, Sergey/Dennis, Mark/Frank, Peter/Slavko were in Group 1. Kevin/Victor, Guy/Andres, Craig/Janet, , Paul/Ian were in Group 2.

Sergey/Dennis were clear winners of their group, winning 3 games. Craig/Janet were clear winners of Group 2, winning 3 games. These 2 winners played off in the final.

We played best of 3 sets in the group matches and then best of 5 sets in the final. Sergey/Dennis won 3-0, 11/9, 11/4, 11/5.

Andres won the raffle. The Captain has been o/s cruising. He advises that he played and won 3 TT tournaments, Pool volleyball & reg. volleyball. Who can end his winning streak on October 28th?

Monday 7th October 2019 - Monthly

14 players turned up for the night. We played 4 Singles and a Doubles. Slavko and Craig won 4 games each and were the joint winners of the night. Slavko was the only player to win all of his single matches. Players winning 3 matches were Kevin, Guy, Sergey Janet, and Ron.

We set up 4 tables, played on three tables and used the 4th table for practise. Kev bought along 2 more barriers which were given to us by Ramsgate Seniors.

David won the Raffle. We hope Micky recovers soon and we look forward to seeing him back playing.

Monday 30th September 2019 - Treasurer’s Event

14 players turned up for the Event. We randomly drew 3 groups of players. Ron was the winner of Group 1, Dragan was the winner of Group 2. Ross was the winner of Group 3. We then had a three way play off,. After a coin toss, Dragan defeated Ross 2-0, 11/8 & 12/10. In the final Dragan took on Ron. Dragan won the final 2-0, 11/8, 11/7.. Dragan was declared the winner of the Treasurer’s Event. Paul & Ross played well, winning 3 games each.

Ron won the raffle. Dragan never lost a set all night. Some say his handicap of +1 is unfair as he also won the “B: grade Championship.

Welcome to -1 next week, Dragan!!

Monday 23rd September 2019 - Monthly

A good roll up, 21 players. Welcome new members Frank and Andres. We played on our 4 tables, 4 singles and then a doubles. We split the players into 4 gruops of 5. The most wins of the night was 4 games, these were achieved by Dragan, Craig, Slavko, Ross, Mark, Dennis and Victor. Only a few missing regulars:-Rod, Gavin, Alex, Mickey and Eva. Janet/Paul were the Raffle winners. Victor’s handicap may have to be reassessed.

It took the combined efforts of Ron, Ross and Kevin to run the games, with Janet selling raffle tickets. We asked the players not to practise on spare tables until the drawn games are completed. This then makes it easier for the Recorders to see who is to play next on an empty table.

Monday 16th September 2019 -Monthly Graded

Big roll up of 18 players for the graded monthly. We played 4 singles and a doubles.

Handicaps were all adjusted 10% up to reduce the length of games. Much discussion was made how did the B grade champion Dragan go from -1 to +1. Well Dragan was actually on -0.50, increased to +0.55, so just on border of both sides!!

Paul was the winner on the night, winning all his matches, handicap to go come down Paul!!

Welcome to new player Andres.

Monday 9th September 2019 - B Grade Singles (Mark 2018 champion)

14 players turned up for the B grade championship. Mark, Rodney & Sergey couldn’t play, awaiting A grade in October.

We had 3 groups playing. There was an early upset with Ross defeating the favourite Mike 2/0.

Winners of their groups progressing to the semi finals were Ron, Ross & Dragan, all progressing without losing a set.

Playoff for the remaining semi final spot was Mike vs Paul. Paul won the 1st set, and it was close but Mike came back to win in 3.

Semis were Ron vs Mike & Dragan vs Ross. The finals matches were as close as any finals that have been at Cronulla RSL.

Ron & Mike were 2 sets all, Mike led 8/5 in the decider, but Ron never gave up winning 7/11, 11/4, 12/10, 5/11 & 11/9.

Ross was the surprise semi finalist, but showed his form, winning the second set against Dragan, & leading the 3rd set 9/8 before Dragan came back, winning 11/9, 9/11, 11/9 & 11/4.

So the final was Dragan vs Ron, first time with our new set up of tables. This was a match that fluctuated many times. Dragan won 1st set, Ron 2nd, the 3rd set was 9/9, then Ron hit a shot that looked out, nicked the edge for the point, then at 9/10, Dragan did a fault - where was Slav?

Dragan won 4th set, then 5th set was neck & neck, Dragan hit a number of solid winners from backhand & forehand, Ron won with chop returns. Dragan finally won 11/7, 8/11, 9/11, 11/8 & 12/10, what a match!!

Monday 2nd September 2019 -Monthly

14 players turned up for the monthly, we played 4 singles and a doubles.

The tables were turned around 90 degrees so that we could fit 4 tables. Everyone got more games, especially Paul who was never off a court!! The ball didn’t bounce so far away, so games got through much quicker.

Dragan was the winner on the night, winning 5 from 5.

Mike showed his form is solid, defeating Rodney 11/7 off scratch in the first set.

Next week is B grade championship, favourites include Mike, Dragan, Ron, Slav & Ross,

Monday 26th August 2019 - Jack Anastas Trophy (Dennis 2018 winner)

16 players turned up for the Jack Anastas trophy. Could Dennis repeat, no - won 2/3.

There was 3 winners of their 3 matches, Ross, Rodney & Mike. There was a draw out of the hat, Ross to play Rodney. Ross won 1st easily, then led 10/2, looked to have it in the bag, Rodney came back to win 12/10. Third set, same story, Ross led 10/1, couldn’t happen again, yes, Rodney won 12/10.

So the final was the in form Mike against Rodney. Mike led 8/4, Rodney still hadn’t got to zero from his minus handicap. Then Rodney made no mistakes, won 10 points in a row, down 8/6. Mike hit a few winning shots, won 11/7.

Second set was all Mike, a number of Rodney’s topspins were returned twice as fast, heard the handicapper say “need to look at your handicap Mike”. So mike won 11/7 & 11/3.

B grade championship is in 2 weeks, Mike is the early favourite with his recent form.

Monday 19th August 2019 - Monthly

Good roll up of 16 players, we played 3 singles and a doubles.

Alex turned up for the 1st time in a year, and showed he hadn’t lost it with good wins over Paul & Sergey.

Ross was the winner on the night with 5/5, showing he is over his shoulder problems and a force to be reckoned with. At the other end, Sergey had a duck egg.

Jack Anastas next week, current holder is Dennis.

Monday 12th August 2019 - C grade championship

15 players turned up for the C grade championship, we had 5 players battle it out fore the championship.

It was a round robin, 4 games each, results were Mickey 4, Guy 3, Dennis 2, Ian 1, Eva 0

So the final was Mickey vs Guy. Guy won last year’s C grade championship, could he repeat?

The final was a see sawing battle, 1 player led, then the other came back.

It looked like Guy was going to win, up 2 sets to 1, leading 10/9 in the 4th set, Guy missed a smash, and Mickey came back, winning 4th 12/10.

In the 5th set, Mickey led 5/0, looked to have it in the bag, then Guy came back, it was 6/6, 7/7, Mickey led 10/8, went for a winning return, it was long, Mickey said, you have to go out with a bang. Mickey missed another return, it was 10/10 in the 5th.

Mickey finally prevailed for his biggest win at the club, score 11/9, 10/12, 7/11, 12/10, 13/11, what a match!!

In the battle of the other’s, winners were Craig & Ron with 4/4.

Monday 5th August 2019 - Monthly Graded

16 players attended 5/8/19, perfect for a round robin
4 groups of 4 were drawn using the randomiser app.
Slavko, Janet and Ron each won their groups with a max. of 6 games while Paul and Mickey were forced into a playoff winning 5 games each. Paul won reversing the earlier result.
Slavko defeated Janet in the first semi and Ron defeated Paul in the second.
the final between Ron and Slavko was very tight. Ron won the first game, SLavko the next. The decider was close all the way with Slavko holding 10/8. Ron changed from chop to fast serve and won the next two points. At 11/10 to Ron Slavko hit a smash. Ron just got his bat on it. It went high and came down taking an edge to win 12/10.

Monday 29th July 2019 - Secretary’s Event (2018 Winner-Ian)

Great roll up of 17 players for the secretary’s event. We played 4 singles.

Ian was excited to see if he could repeat last year’s win, however Julie & Eva with 1/4 were better than Ian’s duck egg.

Julie showed great improvement, having some very long rallies with Ross.

There were 3 winners with 4/4, being Janet, Mike & Ross. Mark looked likely to also have 4/4, but Julie had a great win over Mark.

Janet & Ross played off, Ross winning 2 sets to nil.

So the final was Ross vs Mike, expected to be a tight battle as both have been in fine form lately.

Ross had 4 start, and led 8/0 in the first set. Mike came back to 7/8, but Ross won the first set 11/8.

The second set was all one way, Ross winning 11/8 & 11/4.

Great to see mickey back after a long lay off. Kevin is back in 2 weeks time.

Monday 22nd July 2019 - Monthly

9 players turned up for the monthly, we played plenty of games, 5 singles and a doubles.

Winner on the night was Mike who won 5/6 matches, continuing his recent good form.

Ross 7 Rodney had a very long match, the first set was won by Rodney 20/18, then Ross won the next 2 sets.

Secretary’s event next week, last year’s winner was Ian.

Monday 15th July 2019 - Monthly Graded

13 players turned up for the monthly, we played 4 singles and a doubles.

Guy & Ron were the winners on the night, winning all their matches.

Irene was cheering Ian to victory, then won the raffle.

Robert was back from a long sabbatical, his email is getting fixed, he had over 1,000 messages that went into never never land.

Monday 8th July 2019 - American Cup (2018 Winner-Micky)

9 players turned up for one of the big events on our table tennis calendar, the American Cup.

We had 2 groups, the winner of each to meet in the final.

The first group was Janet, Guy, Mark, Mike & Slav. Mark & Mike each won their first 3 games, so the last match of the rounds would determine the winner.

Mike had won all his matches the previous week, and was in form, Mark has improved his handicap 6 points in 12 months, also in form.

It was expected to be a tight contest, but Mark showed his -6 handicap was appropriate, winning in 2 straight sets.

The second group was Denis, Ross, Sergey & Rodney.

Sergey & Rodney were first up, the finalists in 2018 A grade championship, and it was an extremely tight battle. 2 sets went to 13/11 & 12/10, with Rodney prevailing 2 sets to 1.

Ross defeated Dennis, then Rodney & Ross played. Ross showed his sore shoulder wasn’t a factor, taking advantage of his handicap, easily winning the first set, & leading 10/1 in the second. Rodney came back winning the set 12/10 & the 3rd set.

Rodney won his 3 games, so the final was Mark vs Rodney.

With the club championship only a couple of months away, this match may well be a preview of this year’s battle. The last 2 year’s championship final has been Rodney vs Sergey, but Mark may have a say this year.

Sergey was handling the scores, and Dennis said the scores.

Rodney caught the 5 start early in the 1st set, but Mark hit some fine attacking shots early in the 2nd to lead 7/1. Rodney then blunted Mark’s attacking shots & hit a number of his own to win 10 points in a row & take out the set 11/7.

The 3rd set was all Mark, winning 11/0.

In the final set, Rodney hit a number of attacking loops that were unreturned, winning the match 11/7, 11/7, 0/11, 11/8.

Monday 1st July 2019 - Monthly

12 players turned up for the monthly, we played 4 singles and a doubles.

Mike was on fire, winning 5 out of 5, then beating Mark off scratch for 6/6.

Paul tried to show everyone how to serve legally, then Paul was called by Rodney for serving with the ball in his fingers. Slavko wasn’t there for Paul to comment on his serves. Paul played Sergey later and took a game off scratch from Sergey.

Where is GAV - collecting bottles?

Few members on extended holidays, American Cup next week, which GAV loves to win.

Monday 24th June 2019 -Monthly

Good roll up of 17 players turned up for the monthly, we played 3 singles and a doubles.

Winners on the night, with 4/4 were Sergey, Janet & Ross.

Julie showed quick improvement, winning 2 matches.

Ross is continuing his solid form, even though he says his shoulder is not ready. Sergey won the raffle.

Monday 17th June 2019 - Handicap Doubles, 2019 winners Dennis/Guy

14 players turned up for the annual handicap doubles.

We had 2 groups, A : Mark/ Sergey, Kevin/Paul & Dragan/ Ross & Craig/ Rodney; B : Ian/Julie, Janet/Guy & Dennis/Eva

It was a round robin in each group, in A, Craig/Rodney won 3/3, & Dragan/Ross won 2/3 so went through to the final.

In B Janet/ Guy won 2/2 & Ian/Julie won 1/2, both through to the final.

Repechage singles for the losers was held, the final was Dennis vs Mark. Mark showed his improvement, & easily accounted for his -6 handicap with a comfortable win, even though the crowd let out some roars fro some winning shots from Denis.

B final was up first, the 1st final for Julie. The 1st set was all Julie/ Ian, winning 11/3, Janet was heard to comment “what is going on, oh well forget the 1st set.” In the second set, Julie/Ian led early, it got to 10 all. Julie/Ian had 2 match points, but winning forehands from Guy saved the day, winning 14/12.

The final set was all the way for Janet/Guy with a number of winning forehands from Guy dominating the match.

The A final was a repeat of a match earlier in the night where Craig/Rodney easily defeated Dragan/Ross. But this time, it was reversed, with a comprehensive win by Dragan/Ross. 11/8 & 11/1. Ross has a sore shoulder, & was heard to say maybe this is how I should play, no attacking shots.

Our member Peter Sheean is a swimming star. He took 12 seconds off the 2,000 metres and 5 off the 1000 also was given the senior male athlete of the State champs trophy.

Monday 10th June 2019 - Monthly Graded

12 players turned up for the monthly, we played 4 singles and 2 doubles.

Ross played doubles, in some pain with his shoulder.

Even spread of games won on the night, those with 4/6 wins were Mike, Denis, Mark & Craig.

Mark showed he could handle his -6 handicap.

Mike took a set off scratch from Rodney, a first for Mike.

Kev & Slav are away.

Monday 3rd June 2019 - Monthly

A high turn out of 18 players, including local visitors John and teenage son Aiden and also Alex (Dragan’s friend)..We played a graded monthly splitting the players into 2 groups. We then played 3 singles and a doubles. In retrospect we played 1 singles too many as we struggled to finish by 10pm.

Janet and Ian both won 4/4 games whilst Paul. Craig and Guy won 3/4 games. each. Welcome to Eva who joined the club. Sergey won the raffle.

Mark is dismayed how his handicap has blown out to -6! Many thanks to Ross who volunteered to run the night’s draw.

Kev and Ian’s wife also joined the Club as social members.

Monday 27th May 2019 - Teams Event

Good roll up of 18 players for the teams event. Dennis won the raffle.

Teams were A: Rodney, Mike, Craig, Ross, Paul, Denis, Guy & visitor Alex; B : Mark, Kevin, Sergey, Ron, Dragan, Ian, Janet & Julie.

The A team got off to a quick start, & led all the way. B team started to reel them in, but A’s won 18/16.

Kevin got excited, saying he won a set off the preso, in fact the score without handicaps was 10/9, so Kev you can’t claim that.

Gav continued his high serves, but did too many Slavko’s. 3 ladies played, so it looks like we will have a ladies championship this year, first for a while.

Monday 20th May 2019 - RAMSGATE CHALLENGE

We played Ramsgate last night, and we won 25/24 in a very close match. We led early 10/5 & 17/10, but Ramsgate came back strongly, particulalry in the B grade.

There was some exciting matches, and it was great to see support for our club, with supporters Guy, Denis, Ross and dad, George and even Mario who has not been seen for a few years.

Last year we played this challenge at the Ramsgate club. Unfortunately we lost 15-30. we turned this around in spectacular fashion.

Overall results were in A we won 10/6, B lost 16/9, doubles A won 3/0, B won 3/2. No doubt the fact that we play regular doubles showed, as Cronulla often win the doubles in this challenge.

Individual singles results were as follows:

A: Rodney 3/4, Sergey 1/4, Charlie 2/3, Ken 4/4

B : Slavko 1/4, Mike 1/3, Ron 2/4, Craig 0/4, Dragan 1/3, Kevin 1/1, Mark 3/4

Special thanks to Janet who was chief cook and bottle washer on the night. The party pies, sausage rolls, little boys and snacks were much appreciated.

A further special thanks to Dragan who put any videos on our Facebook site.

We look forward to our return visit at Ramsgate later in the year.

Monday 13th may 2019 - AGM followed by a monthly

Great roll up of 18 for the AGM & monthly. Committee that was voted on is as follows:

President - Rodney Forrester Vice President - Janet Kent Captain - Rodney Forrester Vice Captain - Ron Welfare

Treasurer - Kevin Davis Congratulations & Thanks to those nominated.

We played 3 singles. Everyone enjoyed seeing Charlie who has not been seen for a while. Charlie & Rodney had a very entertaining match which Rodney won 11/9 in the 3rd set. Mike, Guy, Paul & Rodney won 3/3, good warm up for next week’s challenge.

Saturday 11th May 2019, 7pm, Annual Presentation at RSL

23 members attended for an enjoyable night.

Monday 6th May 2019 - Monthly

14 members turned up to play plus Ross & David and visitor Julie.

We played a normal monthly, 3 singles and a doubles. Paul won all of his 4 matches, whilst Sergey, Guy, Peter, Dennis and Mike won 3 matches each.

Micky is on the sick list, we wish him a speedy return. Rod was away due to a “home ‘ event. Irene won the raffle. Julie was a visitor; she showed some good form and may join our club.

Monday 29th April 2019 - President’s Trophy (Sergey 2018 winner)

Could Sergey repeat - nearly..

14 players turned up for the monthly, good to see Dragan who has a bad back.

We played 4 singles, few complains about Peter’s +9 handicap, but Ian knocked Peter out.

After 4 matches, Sergey & Mark were the only players to have won all 4 matches.

Just about everyone stayed to watch a gripping entertaining final.

Mark was out of the blocks early, led 9-7, Sergey came back to win 11/9, helped by a Mark fault at 9/7 up.

The second set looked to be all Sergey, smashing many winners, led 8/2. Then Mark turned it around, hit a number of winners, along with some mistakes from Sergey, Mark won the next 9 points to win 11/8. Mark had changed his game to defense before his attacking loop.

The final set was tight early, then Mark played a number of attacking shots to win 11/6.

Monday 22nd April 2019 - Monthly

Small roll up of 9 players on a public holiday Monday. We played 4 singles and a doubles.

Denis showed some new attacking weapons, while Mickey watched and learned.

Mark was the winner on the night, winning all his matches.

Presentation night is coming up on 11th May at Cronulla RSL.

Match against Ramsgate is on 20th May, if you are keen to play, come down for a hit so we can pick our tram.

Monday 15th April 2019 - Monthly Graded

We played a normal Monthly as we only had 13 players again. Mark was playing well, winning all of his 4 matches. Next highest match winner were Ron and Peter wining 3 matches ,Kev & Slav won zip. Ross and David were spectators and Margaret had a practice game with Peter. David won the raffle. Rod is probably cleaning up all the TT players on board.

Monday 8th April 2019 - Monthly

13 players turned up for the night’s play,. We played a Monthly, 3 singles and a doubles. Kevin and Mike won 3/4 games, six other players won 2/4 games.

ian is back winning singles. It was a pleasant surprise to see Dennis back at TT. Ross and his dad were spectators. Happy birthday to David, Ross’s father. Kevin won the raffle again , for the second time.

2019-2020 Calendar is up on this site: 2018-2019 Yearly Point Score is also up.

Monday 1st April 2019 - 1st week of new TT year & Graded Monthly

12 players turned up for the first day of the table tennis year, we played 3 singles and 2 doubles. Ross turned up also but as a spectator.

Mark was the winner on the night, with 4 wins.

Craig was early for a change, even had a warm up. Kevin won the raffle. Janet is looking at the Sphinx. Dennis is touring, George is resting, Gav is out collecting cans. Where is Dragan, Marty and Alex?

2019-2020 Annual Fees are due from this date. $6 joining and $4 week. $80 once off payment for the 50 week year. We had to increase the ‘once of fee’ to help offset the Marton Hall Hire fee.

Monday 25th March 2019 - KIWI Trophy (Ian 2018 winner)

Could Ian repeat from last year, no, didn’t win a singles. Ian did win the yearly doubles score though.

15 players turned up for Kiwi trophy, we played 4 singles. Mark won all his matches & went straight through to the final. We had 4 players on 3 wins who played off. Mickey beat Sergey, & Ron defeated Rodney,. a turn around from Rodney’s victory over Ron earlier in the night. Ron then defeated Mickey to play Mark in the final.

Mickey had a consolation, winning the yearly point score by 1 point over Guy, making up a 1 point deficit on the last night of the table tennis year.

The final between Mark & Ron was a very tight affair. Mark won the first set 12/10, but Ron came back winning the second set 11/7. In the final set, Mark was up 10/7, looked to have it in the bag. Ron then flipped his rubber, Mark put 1 into the net, then faulted at 10/8, & another into the net at 10/9. Ron completed the comeback, winning 10/12, 11/7 & 12/10, a very gripping match. Rod congratulates Ron and says “welcome to -3”. Sergey won the raffle.

Monday 18th March 2019 - Monthly

15 players turned up for the monthly, we played 3 singles and 2 doubles.

Ross & Mark were the winners on the night, each with 4 wins. Rod wins raffle again.

Very tight in the yearly point score, 1 week to go, Guy holds a slender lead in singles, & Ian in doubles.

Singles Guy 117, Mickey 116, Slavko 108; doubles Ian 17, Denis 16, Rodney 15.

Annual presentation, tentative date is SAT 11 MAY at Cronulla RSL, put it in your calendar.

Monday 11th March 2019 - Graded Monthly

13 players turned up for the monthly, we played 3 singles and 2 doubles.

Paul & Mickey won 4 matches on the night, they paired up in doubles & won that match.

Mickey caught Guy up in the yearly point score, only 2 more nights to the end of the table tennis year.

YPS Guy/ Mickey 113, Slav 107; doubles Denis 16, Rodney/ Ian 15.

Monday 4th March 2019 - Monthly

15 players turned up for the monthly, we played 3 singles and a doubles.

Sergey utilised his handicap point back winning all his matches, along with Mark.

Yearly point score Guy 109, Mickey 108, Slavko 103; doubles Denis 16, Ian 15, Rodney 14.

Monday 25th February 2019 - Captain’s Trophy Event (2018 winner Robert)

Could Robert repeat last year’s win, no, didn’t win a match.

Good roll up of 17 players for the captain’s trophy. We played 3 singles. Sergey defeated Rodney in the warm up, not a good omen, Sergey didn’t win another set all night.

At the end of 3 matches, we had 3 players who won all their 3 singles, Ian, Paul & Rodney. After Ross drew Paul out straight through to the final, Ian played Rodney in the semi. Ian won the first set, Rodney the second, and Rodney won the 3rd in a close tussle.

So the final was Paul vs Rodney, the first final for Paul. Nearly everyone stayed to watch, there was good atmosphere in the hall.

Mickey had warmed up Paul prior to the match, this seemed like a bad idea early as Rodney ran Paul around the court. However Paul hung in there, Rodney won the first set 12-10.

In the second set, the crowd, in particular Mickey urged Paul to go for his shots, and it worked. Paul hit a number of winning forehands, and with a couple of mistakes from Rodney, Paul won the set 11-0.

The third set was a tight tussle, Paul up 8-5, with some good rallies. Paul continued to go for his shots, and hit some winners to win 11-5.

Congratulations Paul on winning the Captains trophy, welcome to +4 next week. Mickey at least won the raffle.

New leader in yearly point score; Guy 106, Mickey 104, Slavko 102; doubles Denis 16, Rodney/ Ian 14.

Monday 18th February 2019 - Graded Monthly

Another good roll up, 18 players. Welcome to new players Tom & Chris. We played a normal Monthly; 3 Singles & a Doubles. Slavko won all 4 games and definitely deserves a handicap adjustment. The next higher scoring players, winning 3/4 games were: Sergey, Mike, Mark and Guy).

Marty won the raffle.

Monday 11th February 2019 - Graded Monthly (Monthly actually played)

Excellent roll up of 20 players on a warm night (25deg), we played a Monthly, 3 singles & a doubles. Next week we will play a Graded Monthly.

Good to see Dragan, hasn’t been seen for a while. Dragan bought Prakeesh along, his workmate. Roma visited us from WA” last time we saw her was 3 year ago..

Rodney was the winner on the night, winning all his matches (4/4). The next higher scoring players, winning 3/4 games were: Kevin, Marty, Slavko, Dragan, Roma and Mark.

Ron won the raffle, so far, 3 times in a row. Where is Ian?

Monday 4th February 2019 - Captain’s Vs President’s Event

12 players turned up for the event, including visitors and local residents, Graig and his son Jay. Rod is actually the President and also the Captain. Kev was deputised as the Captain for the night. The temperature was 27degrees C. We played 3 singles and 2 doubles.

The winners were captains by 13/11. The captain;s team and scores were:= Kev 2, Mike 1, Dennis 3, Guy 1, Janet 4, and Craig visitor 4. Rod’s team and scores were :- Rod 3, Ron 3, Ross 3, Mickey 4, Marty 2, Jay 0. Ron won the raffle. Ron”s handicap was adjusted down to -1.

Monday 28th January 2019 - Monthly

Our new 3rd table was assembled with the help of nearly all members present. It only took about 70 mins in stinking hot circumstances. As per normal practice the Instructions were’not consulted until after we had put the wrong bolts in the wrong place. Anyhow. all is well and the table is a great addition, for which we should thank the RSL for purchasing it. Five members turned up early for the table assembly , all hoping Rod would come and guide us. Rod sent an email prior that he could’’t attend!!

We now have 3 Stiga Expert Roller tables plus Kev’s Stiga Expert Roller table on loan.

14 members turned up for the night’s play. We played only 4 singles as we started late and it was too hot to play a doubles.

Ron won 4/4 games and Kev, Guy and Mark won 3/4 games. Ron has been winning all of his games for about the last 4 Rounds. Handicapper Rod may have to adjust his handicap? Gav won the Raffle.

Monday 21st January 2019 - Play resumes at Marton Hall with a Monthly

Only 10 members turned up for our first night back for 2019, We played a Graded Monthly of 4 games. Winners on the night were Ron & Guy winning 3 games each. Ron drew the winning raffle prize. Rod was a bit rusty from our 5 week lay off.

TT Club Holiday Period, 5 weeks NO PLAY, 17.12.18, 24.11.18, 31.12.18,7.1.19, 14.1.19

Monday 10th December 2018 - TT Club Xmas Party at Marton Hall

21 members turned up for the Xmas party. They were: Janet, George, Guy, Rosco & David, Peter, Margaret, Kevin, Paul, Micky, Slavko, Dennis, Ian, Gavin, Rod, Mark, Mike, Dragan , Gavin, Bevan and Craig. Marty was a “know show”. Kevin registered the party with the Police Dept. so as we could have a few drinks. Janet and Bev volunteered to cook the party pies and cocktail frankfurts. Rod talked about the Yearly Point Score results and asked the members to patronise the RSL Club at Cronulla to show our gratitude to the RSL, as they have just bought us a new 3rd table and for subsiding our hall rent.

The members enjoyed the party but surprisingly they only drank about 1 beer each! Lucky Rodney won the Jack Daniel’s Raffle. Gavin enticed Rod to open up that wallet and spend $10 in the Raffle.

The committee look forward to seeing you all next year when we re-commence on 21/1/2019, with our new table being in play.

Monday 3rd December 2018 - Monthly

What an amazing roll up!! 21 players, a record at Cronulla RSL table tennis club.

We played 3 singles & 2 doubles. It was hot early, then the breeze came through the hall to cool it down.

Great to see Bevan come back, and Mark after his recent illness.

Winners on the night were Gavin & Ron, winning all their matches.

Next week is the Christmas party.

Yearly point score is very close; Guy 92, Mickey 91, Denis/ Slavko 88; doubles Denis & Ian 14, Mike/ Slavko/ Rodney 11.

Monday 26th November 2018 - Monthly

Best roll up since we commenced play at Marton Hall, Kurnell of 19 players.

We played 3 singles and a doubles. Winners of all their matches on the night were Stephen (2nd week in a row), and Rodney. Couple of comments how did Stephen get +8 handicap, last week was +9, the handicapper will look at this situation.

Welcome to new member Ross Carbone.

Monday 19th November 2018 - Monthly Graded

18 players turned up tonight including new member, Stephen. Rod split the playing group into two competitions. We then played 3 singles and a doubles.

Stephen was the only player to win all of his 4 games, but next week Rod will lower handicap to a more realistic value. Mickey, Kevin, Mike, Craig and Rodney all won 3 games each. In one “crowd pleasing” effort, Kevin survived 3 hard returns from Sergey and then he (Kev) hit a miraculous shot from the back wall, about 3m high, to win that round. Dennis won the raflle

It was good to see Margaret return and looking well. Mark is still recovering at home and misses his TT.

Where is Gavin, Alex, Jack and Dragan?

Monday 12th November 2018 -Monthly

15 players turned up for the Monthly. We played 4 Singles & a Doubles match. Ian and Ross won 4/5 games each Slav, Guy, and Craig won 3/5 games each.

Most other players won 2/5 games. George returned after a short absence, however his -6 handicap didn’t help him. Janet won the raffle.

Yearly point score: Mickey 78, Guy 77, Denis 74; doubles Denis & Ian 11, Mike 10.

Monday 5th November 2018 - Bill Malone Trophy

15 players turned up for the Bill Malone trophy.

We played 4 singles, and there were 2 winners who won all their 4 matches, Rodney & Ross.

This was the first final for Ross, and he started off in fine form, winning the first set 11/2, Rodney came back to win the second 11/8.

In the final set, Ross hit some unusual spins, and won 11/4.

Congratulations Ross, winning your first title. Congratulations Rodney for winning the raffle. Paul has joined up.

Monday 29th October 2018 - Doubles Championship

Winners of the annual doubles championship, off scratch, were Marty & Rodney.

16 players turned up, we had 2 groups of 4 pairs.

Winners of their groups were Sergey/ Denis & Marty/ Rodney.

First quarter final was Mike & Ian against Craig & Guy. Very close match went to the 3rd set, winners Mike/ Ian.

Second quarter final was Slavko/ Mickey vs Kevin/ Peter. Dynamite pair Slavko/ Mickey won in 2 sets.

First semi was a reply of a match earlier in the night. Hot favourites Sergey/ Denis were upset by Mickey/ Slavko 2 sets to nil, couple of lucky nets helped.

Second semi was a close affair, with Ian/ Mike up 7/4 in the 1st set against Marty/ Rodney. Marty/ Rodney came back, winning 11/9 & 11/8.

This was Marty’s first final, in fact hadn’t won many games since joining. However Marty showed littlew nerves, and in one of the most one sided battles seen At CronUlla RSL, Marty/ Rodney defeated Mickey/ Slavko 11/2, 11/3 & 11/3. Lucky Slavko won the Raffle. Good health wish to Mark.

Monday 22nd October 2018 - B Grade Singles Championship

We have a new winner for the B grade championship, Mark Lancaster. Mark defeated Mike in the final 3/0.

Great roll up of 17 players, all could play except Rodney & Sergey. There was some very close matches, in the first semi final Mike & Ron had some very long rallies, at 2 sets all & 10 all it was anyone’s game. Mile won the last 3 points to win 13/11 in the 5th set. The second semi was Mark versus Gavin, who hasn’t been seen for a while. Mark’s improved loop worried Gav, who was a bit rusty from lack of play. Mark won 3/1.

The final was Mark vs Mike. Mike was up 5-1 in the 1st set, but then made a few mistakes & Mark’s loop proved very effective. Mark won 11/7, 11/5 & 11/7 for his first B grade championship. Mickey won the raffle. Paul a visitor from Kurnell, turned up for a few trial games.

The repechage final was Kevin against Ian. Ian started well, up 4-2 in the first set, but kevin wore him down with his backhand drives. Kevin won 11/8 & 11/5.

Monday 15th October 2018 - A Grade Singles Championship

Can Rod win again for the 18th time? Yes, Rodney defeated Sergey 4/0 in the final.

12 players turned up for the annual club championship. Semi finals were Mike vs Sergey & Mark vs Rodney. The first semi final was an extremely close affair, 2 sets all went to a deciding 5th set. Mike was stifling Sergey’s attacking game, but Sergey prevailed 11/9 in the 5th. In the second semi final, Mark showed his improved loop, but Rodney gave him little time to use it, Rodney winning 11/4, 11/6 & 11/7.

The final was a repeat of the 2017 final between Rodney & Sergey. Sergey led early, looked like he would win the 1st set, but Rodney came back to win it 11/9. Confidence for Rodney grew then, with a number of winning loops, Rodney won the next 2 sets 11/4 & 11/6. In the final set, Sergey hit a number of his winning smashes, and looked like he may win the final set, only for Rodney to come back 11/9.

This is Rodney’s 18th club championship, and 9th straight.

In the repechage, the final was between 2018 newcomers Craig & Ron. It was one of the closest matches seen the club, going to a 5th set, There was some very long rallies, with both players not prepared to make a mistake. At 9/9 in the 5th & deciding set, Craig did a fault, but then won the next point. Ron finally won 7/11, 11/6, 5/11, 11/6, 13/11.

Next week is the B grade championship. There is no clear favourite. Any member who is not an A Grade Player is illegible. George & Sergey cannot play in the contest.. . Likely winners could be: Mike, Mark, Gav (if he turns up), Slav, Ron & Craig. Will last year’s winner Alex turn up?

Monday 8th October 2018 - Monthly

13 players turned up for the monthly, getting their form in order for the club championship next week.

We played 3 singles and a doubles, no one won all their 4 matches.

Kevin & Rodney were back together on the same night, first for a while.

Mickey & Kev now have the same rubbers as Rodney, word is spreading about their qualities.

Yearly point score is very close; Mickey 72, Guy 71, Denis 70; doubles Denis & Ian 11, Mike 10.

Monday 1st October 2018 - Treasurer's Event

Can Gavin win again? No! he has been a “no show” for some time.

13 players turned up, Rod & Kev were away. George ran the night and also won the Treasurer’s Event.

4 Singles were played. Slavko, Craig, (still playing as a “Visitor”) and George all won 3 games each.

At the Semii Final, Slavko was most unlucky to lose to Craig. George played Craig in the Final. George won in a tight contest, 7/11, 11/9. 14/12.

Monday 24th September 2018 - Monthly

13 players turned up for the Monthly. We played 4 Singles and a Doubles.. Dennis won all of his 5 games, whilst Ian and Slavko won 4/5 games each.

Guy won the raffle.

Mark returned after a long lay off and showed all that he has still got form.. Rod is still on holidays.

Monday 17th September 2018 - Monthly Graded

A pleasing roll up of 14 players. We played a normal Monthly, but 4 singles and a doubles.. Craig (still playing as a Visitor) won all of his 5 games, his handicap will be adjusted accordingly.

Mike, returning from a big OS holiday came second, winning 4/5 games, only dropping one match to Sergey. Winning 3/5 games were:-Micky, Ross, George, Kevin, Robert and Marty.

Robert also returned from his OS holiday and he managed to win the Raffle.

Micky fell over on the soft floor, but arose seemingly none the worse? Cap. and Slav are still on holidays.

Gav & Dragan haven’t been sighted for some time!!

Monday 10th September 2018 - B Grade Singles Championship deferred to Monthly

Can Alex Tweed win again? The B grade Championship has been deferred as a number of regular B graders are away on holidays. Watch this site for the date when this match will be rescheduled.

12 players turned up for the monthly, including new member Marty and visitors Marty, Ross and Ajan.

Ajan was given a handicap that was obviously too low in that he cleaned up everyone he played including Sergey. Ajan is looking forward to Rod’s return!

We played 4 singles and a doubles. Ajan won the night with 5/5 games and Craig won 4/5 games.Janet won the Raffle.

The Capt. is on holidays again.

Monday 3rd September 2018 - Monthly Graded

11 players turned up for the monthly, including new players Craig, Marty & Ross.

We played 4 singles and a doubles. Dennis had his handicap adjusted (after last week's win) to +4 and all of a sudden he wasn't winning all the time.

Winners on the night with 4 wins were Guy, Craig, Sergey and Ian. Rod and Micky both have new fast rubbers.

Welcome to new club members, Ron and Martin.

Monday 27th August 2018 - Jack Anastas Trophy

10 players turned up for the Jack Anastas trophy, last year's winner Mike didn't return to defend his title.

We played 4 singles, & Ron won all his matches to go straight through to the final. Rodney & Denis each won 3 matches, so played off. Very close match, Denis won 2 sets to 1, so the final was Ron vs Denis.

Denis won 1st set easily 11/7, but Ron came back winning 2nd set 11/8.

Third set there was some good rallies, Denis attacking & Ron returning from a few metres away from the table. It looked like Ron may catch Denis, but Denis prevailed 11/8. Congratulations Deni

Monday 20th August 2018 - C grade singles championship

Can Denis win again this year? Denis made it to the final, but no.

6 players turned up for the C grade championships, & 5 others played their own event. Ron turned up for the second time as a visitor, but unless he joins the TT Club (as an current RSL member) and gets a few more matches under his belt, he may not be eligible for the B Grade Championship.

Players records in the round robin were:

C - Janet 0,  Peter 1, Ian/ Mickey 3, Denios/ Guy 4

Others - Sergey 1,  Slavko/ KEV 2, Rodney/   3, winner on countback Rodney

So the final was Guy versus Denis, everyone stayed to watch.

What we witnessed was one of the closest finals in the club. Denis won the first set 11/9, Guy came back in 2nd 11/9.

Denis was the more aggressive, but when Guy hit his forehand he won most of those points.

Guy won the 3rd set 11/7. looked to have the match wrapped up at 10/7, Denis got it back to 10/9, then Guy hit a winning forehand 11/9.

Congratulations Guy on winning the C grade championship, next week is Jack Anastas, current holder Lou probably won't be back to defend.

Monday 13th August 2018 - Monthly

8 players turned up for the monthly, we played 3 singles & 2 doubles.

Guy & Janet each won 4 matches on the night.

Rumour has it that KEV may be back next week.

C grade championship next week.

Yearly point score : Slav 50, Guy 48, Denis 47, doubles Ian 9, Denis 8

Monday 6th August 2018 - Graded Monthly

7 players turned up for the monthly, we played 3 singles and a doubles.

Guy was the winner on the night, winning all his matches.

Yearly point score: Slavko 48, Denis 47, Guy 43; doubles Denis 8, Mike & Slavko 7

Monday 30th July 2018 - Secretary's Event

Can GAV win this year, no he got through to the final ,but lost to Ian.

10 players turned up for the secretary's event, we played 4 singles.

Ian won 4/4, straight through to the final.

GAV & Slav won 3/4, played off, with GAV the winner.

Ian defeated GAV in the final 2 sets to nil.
 

Monday 23 July 2018- Monthly

Rod's transcript:- 

8 players turned up for the monthly, we played 3 singles & a doubles.

Mike & Denis were the winners on the night, each winning 3 singles & a doubles.

Next week is the secretary’s event.

XPreso is holidaying north.

Monday 16th July 2018 - Graded Monthly

Good roll up of 11 players for the monthly, we played 4 singles and a doubles.

Mickey & Mike won 3 singles & a doubles.

Mickey showed he could handle the 1 point less handicap after his win last week.

Margaret is recovering after complications from recent surgery, hope you get better Margaret.

Kevin still on holidays, in fact just started.

Good to see GAV, but didn't bring his Russell Crowe vehicle.

Monday 9th July 2018 -American Cup Perpetual Trophy

Can Ian win again this year? Answer is no, Ian didn't turn up.

7 players turned up for the American Cup, we played 4 singles.

Rodney won 4/4, Slavko, Mickey, Sergey & Guy all won 2/4, so played off to play against Rodney.

Sergey & Mickey won, then Mickey won again, so it was Mickey vs Rodney in the final.

Guy was saying how is Mickey on +7, well no more +7, as Mickey won the final 11-1, 11-9.

First set he smashed a number of winners, in the second Mickey was up 10-6, back to 10-9, then Mickey fired a forehand return to win the match.

Monday 2nd July 2018 -Graded Monthly

7 players turned up for the monthly, we played 3 singles & 2 doubles.

Rodney was the winner on the night, winning 4/5, Sergey, Denis & Slav each won 3.

Denis had to check his bat was in once piece. During his match against Rodney, Denis hit the ball, his bat slipped out of his hands & landed in a vacant court. Needless to say, Denis received a reception & proceeded to hand Rodney his only defeat of the night.

Next week is the American Cup, Ian is the defending champion.

Monday 25th June 2018 - Monthly

Another cold night and 9 members turned up to contest the Monthly. We played 4 Singles and a Doubles.

Results were: Sergey, Ian, George and Margaret 2/5 ea, Dennis and Kev 3/5 ea; Peter and Guy 4/`5 ea; Mike 1/5.

Monday 18th June 2018 - Handicapped Doubles

Can Kev and Alex win again this year? No! Dennis & Guy won.

It sure was cold and wet when 9 members turned up to contest the event. Random partners were drawn and results were:

Dennis/George, 2/4; Slav/Guy 2/4; Rod/Ian 2/`4, Sergey/Kev 2/4; Mike/Sub 2/4. So after Round 1 all results were equal.

Rod then drew Random partners for Round 2. Results played out so that Dennis/Guy played the final against Mike/Ian.

The winners were Dennis/Guy, 2-0. 11-7, 11-7.

Monday 11th June 2018 - Graded Monthly

On a cold & wintery long weekend night, 7 players turned up for the monthly.

We played 4 singles and a doubles.

Robert was the winner on the night, winning all his matches.

Monthly winners were Sergey for April, & George for May.

Doubles handicapped next week, can Alex & KEV win again?

Monday 4th June 2018 - Monthly

On a cold and wet night only 9 members turned up for the Monthly. We played 4 singles and a doubles.

Robert played well winning all of his matches, 5/5,  and Slavko won all of his singles, scoring 4/5. (take note handicapper!!!)

Members playing were Ian, Margaret, Guy, Kevin, Robert, Dennis, Micky (not mouse), Slavko and Peter.

We hope to see more members soon.

Sunday 3rd June 2018 - Riverside Challenge at Ramsgate Seniors Hall starting at 6pm

Our team was Rodney, Sergey,  Alex, Mike, Kevin, Slavko. Denis & Lou filled in for us . Can we win again? No, we lost 27/14, B grade close 12/13, but lost the A grade 4/17.

Non starters were Charlie, Ken, George & GAV, then Rodney injured his back in the 1st match.

Thanks to Robert & Dennis who both came to watch came to watch, and give the team local support. However, as we were short of players Dennis was drafted into the team at short notice. Dennis acquitted himself well.

Alex played both grades.

Results were A: Sergey 3/2, Alex 0/5, Lou 1/4, Rod retired hurt

                       B : Alex 3/1, Kevin 1/3, Slavko 2/4, Mike 3/1

Monday 28th May 2018 - Teams Event- Jim Colwell Trophy

12 players turned up. Two teams randomly chosen, contested the event.

Team 1 -Kevin, Mike, Guy, Micky, Slavko & Margaret, scored 11 games, declared the winner.

Team 2 - Janet, Sergey, Ian, Dennis, Robert & Peter, scored 10 games.

We played 3 single and a doubles, Sergey, Micky and Slavko won all their singles. Mike won the Raffle again, 2 times running.

Monday 21st May 2018 -Graded Monthly

13 players contested the event. We played 3 singles and 2 doubles. Ron  W (another Kurnellian) came as a visitor from the defunct Recca's Club TT club.

Top scorers were Slavko on 5 and Dennis with 4. Robert has been winning quite a few matches lately.  Rod let Kev beat him on his own table. Mike won the raffle. Welcome back to Alex who had been missing for a while. Where is Dragan?

Is Gav going to bring his winning Mercedes out to Kurnell?

Rod is busy selecting playres for the upcoming Riverside Challenge.

Monday 14th May 2018 - AGM and Monthly

12 members attended the AGM. Rod was elected President, Captain & Secretary. Janet was elected Vice President and Life Member.  George was elected Vice Captain. Kevin was elected Treasurer and Publicity Officer. After the AGM we played 2 singles and a doubles match. 6 players won 2 of the three matches each. Dennis won the raffle. We had a small party after the AGM. Thanks to Rod for bringing along some hot food.

Saturday 12th May 2018 - Annual Presentation at the RSL

Monday 7th May 2018 - Monthly

George ran the night in the absence of Rod and Kev. The Result Sheet shows that 10 members attended the Monthly. Three singles and a doubles match were played. Robert won all of his 4 matches whilst George and Ian won 3 games each.

Monday 30th April 2018 - President's Trophy, can Jack win again?

The answer is no, Jack won 1/4 matches.

12 players turned up for the presidents trophy, we played 4 singles.

George won all his singles, and Sergey, Denis & Ian won 3 each, so the 3 played off to see who would play George in the ifnal.

Denis beat Ian, then Sergey beat Denis to set up a final between 2 A graders, which breaks the run of C graders in the finals.

The final was a very close enthralling affair. George won the first set with consistent play 11/9, the second was very tight, George looked to have the match, then Sergey won a number of close rallies to win 11/9. In the final set, Sergey hit a number of good attacking shots to eventually win 11/6.

Well done Sergey, first big win for a while.

Monday 23rd April 2018 - Monthly

12 members turned up for the Monthly. We played 4 singles and a Doubles match. Slavko is "on fire" winning all of his matches for the 2nd week in a row. Slav won all 5 matches, whilst Gavin, Dennis and Micky won 4 matches each.  Gav won the raffle and generously donated most of his win to the TT club.

Rod is still on holiday.

Monday 16th April 2018 -Graded Monthly

Only six players turned up on the night; Kev, Micky, Sergey, Slavko, Ian and Guy. Here's hoping the attendance figures increase.

Many of our members are on holidays.We played 4 singles and a doubles, best out of 5 sets. Slavko was the night's winner scoring 5/5 matches.

The AGM is scheduled for 14/5/18 and all committee positions are open for nomination.

Monday 9th April 2018 - Monthly

13 players contested the event. Kev & Rod were absent. George & Janet did a good job in running the night. Four singles and a doubles were played.

Guy and Ian were the winners on the night, each scoring 4 out of 5 matches.

Monday 2 April 2018 - Graded monthly

13 players turned up for the first week of the new table tennis year.

We played 3 singles and a doubles.

Sergey & Janet were the winners on the night, winning all their matches.

The 72nd annual presentation is set for 12th May at Cronulla RSL, cost is $30 for members & $45 for partners.

"Ronnie" passed away last month. She joined the club in 2008 and played up to 2016. Over the years she won a few monthly contests and a few trophy events. Ronnie will be missed.

Monday 12th February 2018 - Table Tennis resumes at Marton Hall Kurnell 

Table Tennis resumed at Marton Community Hall Kurnell,  starting at 7pm sharp, and will be every Monday night .

12 players turned up for the monthly, including visitors Ty & Robert. we have 3 tables, so you have plenty of play.

By 8.10, 3 singles were done, we played 4 singles & 2 doubles. After a :hard night playing six games each we were fished and packed up by 9.30 pm.

Jack & Mark we’re the winners on the night, 5/6 each.  Second we’re Kev & Dennis 4/6 each.

Players like the extra room in this hall as they can stand back from the table and get back balls in play a lot easier than other venues.

We love the kitchen facilities and made use of these for a 'sit around" during a break from playing.  We have coffee/ta making faciliies and the committee sell cold soft drink.

Marton Community Hall is at 92 Captain Cook Drive Kurnell.  Turn right at the roundabout at Kurnell and the hall is immediately on your right.

This venue will be our home for virtually all of 2018 whilst the RSL renovations happen.  Our club is paying 50% of the hiring fee and the RSL club is paying the balance.

The hall is quite large with a timber floor and fully equipped kitchen.  We have stored our 2 tables and barriers there and Kev has loaned us his table. So that we have 3 playing tables. We have to comply with Council's Rules which mainly are:

• NO ALCHOHOL TO BE CONSUMED ON THE PREMISES (UNLESS WE LIST THE EVENT WITH THE NSW POLICE, WHICH WE DON'T INTEND TO DO)

• THE VENUE MUST BE CLEANED UP AFTER USE. WE ASK MEMBERS TO WEAR FOOTWEAR WITH LIGHT COLOUR SOLES SO WE DO'T MARK THE PLAYING FLOOR: BLACK SOLES TEND TO MARK THE FLOOR.

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

ROD: FOR ACQUIRING THE HALL.

KEV: FOR TRANSPORTING & STORING THE BARRIERS, EQUIPMENT AND LOANING HIS TABLE.

SLAV;  FOR PROVIDING HIS TRUCK FOR TRANSPORTING THE TABLES

Yearly point scores : singles; Guy 97, Slavko 89, Rodney 88; doubles Rodney & Guy , Slavko 12.           

1st Feb 2018 - Monthly and last night at Cronulla RSL for most of 2018

 26th October  - Riverside challenge (they changed name from Ramsgate, stupid!)

  Saturday 13th May 2017 - Annual Presentation, Quarter Deck Function Room

26 people attended our Annual Presentation, including 2 people from the O'55 & Golf Club.  We had a pleasant night with $469 set aside for cash prizes. Perpetual trophies had been engraved for winners and 2 small trophies were given out  to Jack for "most improved" and to Dennis for "best club person".

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