Swedish Spectacular

As if by compensation for a lack-lustre visit to New Zealand by a four-player team from Australia in 1969, a World Champion men’s doubles pair from Sweden set New Zealand on fire with a whirlwind tour of five centres playing exhibition matches that had jaws dropping and sides aching. They were a huge draw-card and their final contest in Auckland, along with their exhibition match, was telecast live. This didn’t just enable the general public to share in a memorable spectacle – it also raised the profile of table tennis and established it firmly as a television-friendly sport. A succession of internal tournaments specially staged for television were to follow in later years.

The New Zealand team at the 1967 World Championships in Stockholm had watched Hans Alser and Kjell Johansson deprive Japan of a clean sweep by winning the men’s doubles, to the delight of the Swedish home crowd. They won again in 1969 and therefore toured this country as reigning world doubles champions.

Apart from one NZ v Sweden test in Hamilton, all contests were against local teams. The tour opened in Christchurch, moved up to Wanganui after a Government reception in Wellington, travelled to Hamilton for the international and finished with matches in Whangarei and Auckland. The tour lasted just one week, from 8 – 15 June.

Good attendances, including 1,200 in Hamilton, and generous support from the Rothmans Sport and Cultural Foundation plus a useful $400 television fee combined to yield a profit to all hosting associations. The Rothmans sponsorship was generous in financial and logistical terms and their public relations machine contributed substantially to the large attendances.

The international contest played in Hamilton was more than just the highlight of the tour – it was also the beginning of a new era for the New Zealand men’s team. For over a decade four players have dominated but 1970 marks the beginning of the inevitable change to a younger group (refer later article). In the Swedish test, veterans Alan Tomlinson and Bryan Foster faced the World Champion pair in the doubles while new international Richard Lee and 22 year old Terry O’Carroll were thrown to the lions in the singles. The selection was somewhat symbolic – one could almost see the baton being passed from the old guard to the new as the players paraded before the match.

Most interest was in Richard Lee (pictured). He was the youngest male ever to play for New Zealand (aged only 15) and in his first international he had to face World No 3 and current European Champion Hans Alser in front of his home crowd in Hamilton. After a shaky start he proved himself admirably, winning 18 points in the third game. Against Johansson he scored 19 in the third game of that match – the best NZ performance of the tour.

Sweden won the contest 5-0 and all the matches in three straight games.

It was a morale boosting tour for New Zealand Table Tennis. It had been many years since an overseas visit had been financially profitable, the publicity generated was heart-warming, table tennis fans and the general public were hugely entertained and, with the debut of Richard Lee, a new and highly promising international career was launched.

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Records (and Seeds) Tumble at NZ Championships

The New Zealand Championships were held in Tauranga as part of Bay of Plenty’s 25th Jubilee celebrations and will be remembered for a series of unexpected results and record-breaking statistics.

The first record to fall was the attendance at the inter-island contest – all too often a low-key, low-interest and predictable part of the championships with the North Island winning the last eleven years in a row, although last year’s women’s contest was tight. But this year the organizers combined the event with an elaborate opening ceremony for NZ Championships week, including a buffet meal and other formalities (not to mention a haka), and changed its traditional (but probably misguided) scheduling from Saturday night to Sunday. The result was a packed house.

The North Island men won 10-2, the women 16-14 in games after 6-6 in matches.

Then came the team entries: 26 men’s teams and the same number of women’s - both a new record. The total of 52 exceeded the previous mark of 46 set in 1969.

The North Island’s stranglehold on the A Grade men’s team competition was also broken: Otago became the first South Island team to win the title in 22 years.

Margaret Hoar’s record of seven women’s singles championships was broken by Neti Traill who first won in 1960 at the age of 16 and won again this year, for the eighth time. This record was to remain intact for 25 years.

The men’s singles competition was littered with unexpected results in its closing stages, making the event highly entertaining for spectators. 15 year old Richard Lee was watched with interest after his brave showing against the world doubles champions earlier in the year and a sensational North Island championships performance a month later (refer later article). But instead of causing any further upsets, he was himself the victim of one. In one of the most dramatic bursts of form ever seen at the championships by an established but hitherto unspectacular player, Warren Evans beat Lee comfortably in the quarter-finals. Evans had performed well as a junior in the late 1950s but his early promise had gone largely unfulfilled until now. Unseeded for these championships, he had disposed of fifth seed Garry Frew in the round of sixteen before facing Richard Lee (seeded 4th). Well and truly on the roll, he went on to beat three-times champion and top seed Alan Tomlinson in the semi-final. Normally inclined to favour defence, such was Evans’ confidence that in this match he out-played Tomlinson at his own hard-hitting, over-the-table game. It was a remarkable match with a remarkable result.

Meanwhile on the other side of the draw, sixth-seeded Gary Murphy was poised for a series of stellar performances which would launch him on a seven year international career. He disposed of 3rd seed Terry O’Carroll, who like Lee had earlier dealt with the Swedish world champions, and proceeded to also beat seasoned international and No 2 seed Bryan Foster in the semi-final. Murphy’s superb form was to cost both O’Carroll and Foster their hoped-for place in the New Zealand team for the 1971 World Championships, to be announced at the conclusion of the tournament.

Murphy prevailed over Evans to win the men’s title in a hard-hitting final. It was the climax of a singles event destined for the history books.

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New Stars Emerge for NZ Men’s Team – Finally!!

Debate will rage forever over whether the longevity of Alan Tomlinson, Bryan Foster, Murray Dunn and Garry Frew as New Zealand representatives was entirely due to their stature as superb individual players (which they were undoubtedly were), or was in part attributable to the failure of our junior development programmes to produce players good enough to displace them.

The era spanned by this group (17 years and counting) has included some brilliant performances and all four were still playing extremely good table tennis well into their 30s. But their total dominance over such a long period did indeed cause our talent identification and coaching methods to be placed under scrutiny. A major step forward was taken this year with the appointment of a full-time national director of coaching.

Before the team to represent New Zealand at the 1971 World Championships was announced at the Tauranga-hosted national championships no-one had any doubt that a new era was dawning – especially as the selectors had declared their hand and confirmed they would be including a developing player in each team. The women’s team of Neti Traill and Yvonne Fogarty with the dynamic Kathy Fraser included as the junior member was somewhat predictable, with Norma Houlihan unavailable. Richard Lee was a certainty in the men’s team – if he didn’t make it as a senior he couldn’t miss the junior spot. He was selected along with Alan Tomlinson and new NZ champion Gary Murphy, with 17 year-old James Morris named (amid thunderous applause) as the developing player, edging out a disappointed Terry O’Carroll. Morris, who had caused upsets at the just-completed NZ Championships and had pushed top seed Alan Tomlinson to the limit, was destined for an impressive international career of well over a decade.

Loyal NZ representative Bryan Foster finally lost his place in the team after fourteen years. He finished the year ranked second so his omission can only be put down to the developing player policy and his upset loss to Murphy in the NZ Championships.

The new-look New Zealand team was scheduled to go on show at the World Championships in Nagoya, Japan, in April, 1971.

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NZ Director of Coaching Appointed

As a result of Canterbury coach Trevor Flint’s (picured below) 1968 self-funded tour of Australia and South East Asia to study their coaching methods, he was able to convince NZTTA that only by co-ordinating our coaching activities at national level could we hope to match overseas countries in identifying and fostering our potential talent. He saw a lack of follow-up after the annual three-day national coaching schools as one of several major failings within our present system.

The proposal to appoint one person to oversee coaching at all levels was radical and met with some resistance. When it was finally agreed to implement the idea late in 1970, the obvious person to propose for the job of NZ Director of Coaching was Trevor himself. He accepted at once and quickly set his long-formulated plans in motion. It was a major step forward for table tennis in this country, leading eventually to the importation of English coaches on short-term contracts and finally to installing one of them in a full-time paid position.

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Table Tennis Stadium Built – Auckland Shows the Way

A new era was launched when Auckland TTA opened its own purpose-built stadium in April. Although Otago already owned their own playing headquarters, Auckland was the first Association to design and build its own stadium literally from the ground up. It began as a 12 table facility with amenities and was extended over subsequent years to double that size.

South Canterbury followed Auckland’s lead and at least six more Associations were to either build or fully fit-out their own premises in the years to come.

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Great NI Championships for Richard Lee; Great Pre-Event Publicity for the Tournament

A month after his first international match for New Zealand, Richard Lee confirmed his status as a top New Zealand player by totally dominating the North Island Championships. To win the singles title the 15 year old had to dispose of three-times NZ Champion and veteran international Alan Tomlinson in the semi-final, and deal with in-form fellow international Terry O’Carroll in the final which Lee won 21-19, 22-20, 21-18. Playing with Tomlinson, Lee also won the men’s doubles. To complete the package, he won the under 18 boys singles, the under 16 boys singles and one doubles in each of the junior age-groups.

With the NZ Championships still to come, and a team to be selected and announced for the 1971 World Championships, Lee’s future looked exciting.

The North Island Championships were hosted by the Franklin Association and the pre-event promotion included an 8 page supplement in the local paper, with advertising space sold by Association members in exchange for a percentage of the revenue. It ensured the championships were given a huge burst of publicity and doubled as a useful fundraiser on the side.

Such was the interest in the idea that details of it were circulated to all Associations.

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John Stewart Retires From NZTTA Management

One of New Zealand Table Tennis’s most versatile personalities stepped down from service at national level early in the season. John Stewart moved to Gisborne in May, thereby ending 15 years of service on the National Executive – the last five as Chairman. But administration was merely one aspect of his talents. He was also a top player (remembered best for his working trip to the 1950 World Championships as a crew member of the “Trojan Star”, along with Neville Brightwell and John Crossley), and a highly respected coach – directing national coaching schools in the 1960s.

His 1970 retirement related only to his work at NZTTA level. He was destined to continue working for table tennis in Poverty Bay for a further 22 years.

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Kapiti Association Gains Full NZTTA Membership

After showing its mettle by hosting an international match at Waikanae in 1969, Kapiti Sub-Association freed itself from its Wellington parent and gained full membership of NZTTA in its own right. The new Kapiti Association made its mark quickly when its men’s team won the Barna Cup (for dress, punctuality and etiquette) at the New Zealand Championships and its women’s team came fourth.

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Richard Bergmann Dies

The entertaining and immensely popular Richard Bergmann, who toured New Zealand in 1949 and made further brief visits in later years, passed away early in April and was mourned the world over. He was reigning world champion for the 1949 tour and, with his six-times world champion touring partner Viktor Barna, presented the most entertaining exhibition matches ever seen in this country up to that time.

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Pacific Island Teams Visit

A party of five Fijian players with a manager and small support group visited New Zealand, primarily to compete in the New Zealand Championships in Tauranga, but they were also welcomed by several Auckland clubs and the four Auckland area associations where they played friendly warm-up contests.

Earlier in the year the Auckland Association had hosted a group of eight New Caledonian players, mostly juniors, to compete against teams of Auckland juniors.

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Northern Districts Junior Round Robin Launched

The results of the Northern Districts Junior Round Robin – a teams event for Associations from Hamilton northwards – appeared in this year’s annual report for the first time. It was to become a long-term annual event.

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