North Korea Hosts World Championships

The western world’s top table tennis players were welcomed into an unfamiliar culture by North Korean officials when they arrived in Pyongyang for the World Championships. Communist North Korea had been closed to western visitors for 25 years making the situation reminiscent of 1961 when China hosted the championships and threw open its doors for the first time since the 1949 communist revolution.

It was a remarkably well-organised world tournament with 2,200 officials at the helm. All competitors and support personnel were accommodated in a huge luxury hotel complex a mere five minutes walk from the 20,000 seat stadium. Sightseeing trips were arranged and there was at least one escort/interpreter for each competing nation. A press corps of 500 reported on the championships to a world-wide audience.

Evident everywhere was the local population’s fanatical devotion to their country and its leader, Kim Il Sun. Portraits of him hung everywhere. The fanaticism was even more manifest in the stadium itself where the crowd cheered rapturously whenever a North Korean player won a point (or their opponent lost one). A truly bizarre situation arose when the women’s team final between China and North Korea finished. Many spectators left and officials set about shifting tables and cleaning up, heedless of the noise they were making and ignoring the men’s team final which was still in progress nearby but did not feature North Korea.

This was almost unbelievable as the men’s contest had been full of drama from the moment China suffered an early loss to Hungary in pool play. And when Hungary maintained the pace and won their way through to the final to face China again, one would expect all eyes to be on the contest. It was a great spectacle anyway and again the Hungarians prevailed. Istvan Jonyer, Tibor Klampar and Gabor Gergely were on fire - hitting with too much power and spin and not giving the more favoured Chinese a chance to move in and attack. They won 5-1.

China won the women’s team competition, the women’s singles (Ge Xinai), women’s doubles and mixed doubles. The men’s singles final brought more drama as top seed Guo Yuehua (China) suffered a thigh muscle strain late in the third game. He had lost the first two to Japanese left-hander Sieji Ono (ranked 18 in the world), but in spite of his injury recovered to win the third. Three points into the fourth he collapsed to the floor, could not continue and therefore had to default the world singles final.

China did not reach the men’s doubles final. A strong Yugoslav pair (Dragutin Surbek and Anton Stipancic) upset Hungarians Jonyer and Klampar who, fresh from their teams triumph, had been expected to win once China was eliminated.

NZ Teams Maintain Their World Positions

There was no dramatic change in the world position of either NZ team. The women (Shelley Palmer, Angela Brackenridge and Jan Morris) had a 3-2 win over Australia to make it two in a row, having also beaten them at the 1978 Oceania Championships. Brackenridge was the key player, winning both her singles and sharing the doubles victory with Jan Morris. The team went on to beat Spain (coming back from 0-2 down) but losses to India, Belgium, Malaysia and Denmark left them playing off for 26th place. A loss to Luxembourg and a win over Austria secured a final placing of 28th. They were 26th in 1977.

The men had an excellent chance of earning promotion to Category 2 and a guarantee of future placings in the top 32. They won all their relatively easy pool matches, against Syria, Yemen, Cyprus, Macao and Ethiopia. Two wins out of three play-off contests would secure the promotion but after a loss to Wales (a team they beat at the 1977 Commonwealth Championships) their chances took a dive. The contest against Thailand was interrupted for five hours while a jury considered a NZ appeal on the legality of a Thai player’s bat. James Morris had already lost to the player before the appeal but the bat was ruled illegal for future matches. James was back in the hot seat for the deciding match at 4-4. He handled the pressure well to win in straight games. It came down to a deciding battle with Nigeria. While all the matches were close New Zealand failed to win any of them, losing 5-0. It was a big disappointment. While their final position of 34th was a nominal improvement on 37th in 1977 there was in effect little change as several teams formerly ranked above them didn’t compete.

The full team was James Morris, Richard Lee, Robert Blair and Graham Lassen.

The Australian men, perennial and occasionally beaten rivals of our own men’s team, had a remarkable tournament and finished 12th, their highest ever position.

There was minimal success for New Zealand in the individual events and first-time team manager Keith Pointon went public with his comments on the lack of government support, stating that more money would have enabled a more solid preparation. In fact, the pre-event build-up for this tournament was particularly bad. It was lack of funds that prevented the team from competing at the Commonwealth Championships which, since 1971, have provided an excellent opportunity for international competition leading up to the Worlds. But it was logistically difficult (and expensive) to play at both events this year with the Commonwealths in Edinburgh, Scotland and the Worlds much closer in North Korea.

An even bigger problem regarding their build-up arose from a sudden change in the team’s departure date from New Zealand. A charter flight from Singapore to Pyongyang was provided by the North Korean hosts but at the request of other Asian nations who wanted more time to practise in Pyongyang the flight was advanced by a week. This ruined New Zealand’s plan to play international build-up matches in Singapore. The cost of an extra week’s accommodation in Pyongyang was met by the hosts and the players were able to train with quality players but it was international competition they needed prior to the championships, not training. In 1977 their build-up had included a tour of Czechoslovakia as well as the Commonwealth Championships.

The change of timetable also caused a major headache for team manager Keith Pointon as the travel arrangements to Singapore had been made very carefully many weeks in advance, along with air bookings for individuals travelling from other parts of New Zealand to assemble in Auckland. All this had to be changed with just three days notice.

Captain Rues and Reminisces

James Morris returned from the championships regretting their missed chances and calling for a review of the programme leading up to the 1981 championships. “If we are to climb up the ladder,” he said in an interview with Garry Frew for the Northern Advocate, “It will be essential for a side to travel to Europe at the end of 1980, play in all the big tournaments and then go on to the Commonwealth Championships in Belfast before moving on to Yugoslavia (for the Worlds).”

With regard to the tournament itself, James was disappointed with the standard of umpiring. “It was shocking – cheating really,” he said. “And the bias of the spectators against Americans and for their own players was taken too far.”

Regarding the fanatical devotion to Kim Il Sun, James related the story of a Swiss businessman staying at the same hotel who stuffed a newspaper containing a photograph of the revered leader into his shoe to keep it in shape overnight. This was noticed by authorities and he was required to leave the country.

Generous Sponsorship

The New Zealand TT Association was greatly indebted to the Japanese Tamasu Company, manufacturers of Butterfly equipment. They supplied each team member with a full playing uniform (including shoes) plus tracksuit, windbreaker, bat cover and sports bag. Twelve other organisations had also supported the team with a range of additional clothing and accessories. The NZ Annual Report lauded the team as the best dressed and best equipped ever to represent New Zealand overseas.

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Another English Coach Visits

Ken Stanley was the first, in 1952. Then came Alan Hydes in 1975. When Peter Hirst arrived in late April this year he became the third professional English coach to visit New Zealand. He travelled widely on a two-month contract with his focus primarily on our top senior and junior players at national and district level. He also conducted seminars for coaches.

Peter (31) was a professional coach in the true sense of the word, having specialised in the discipline since the age of 20. His brief playing career (from age 15 to 22) was still enough for him to achieve national ranking and to win the prestigious Yorkshire Open. At the time of his visit here he was one of three fulltime coaching staff employed by the English Association. He specialised in preparing coaching programmes and training coaches.

Under Peter’s guidance NZ players and coaches were able to examine our traditional style of play with a fresh perspective. Among the perceived weaknesses he pointed out was our unnecessarily long swing and follow-through. He believed short quick back-swings were essential for fast over the table exchanges. He also stressed the need to understand the full function of the bat arm: shoulder position (for power), elbow at 90 degree angle (for control), and wrist action (for speed). The position of the free arm was also important for balance. He believed New Zealanders relied too much on competition play for their training. Training, he stressed, is a separate discipline – to be carried out in preparation for competition and additional to it.

As others have done before him, he reminded us that New Zealand badly needs a professional coach to work here fulltime. Peter had attended the Pyongyang World Championships (with the England team) and was aware that the New Zealand men had lost a crucial contest to Nigeria – a country with professional players and the luxury of fulltime Chinese coaches for the last six years.

Nobody knew it at the time, but Peter Hirst himself was destined to become this country’s first fulltime professional coach. There would be a six year wait for that to happen.

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New Zealand Championships: Junior Entry Rockets

The decision to add Under 18 and Under 14 team events to the NZ Championships paid immediate dividends. Entry numbers went through the roof and in the final tally juniors represented 60% of all individual entries. Junior team entries increased from a healthy 48 in 1978 (the first year) to 59 this year. Individual junior entries rose by 34%. Entries in Under 12 events, first played last year, increased from 56 to 139.

Barry Griffiths was the star performer, clean-sweeping all three events in both the Under 18 and Under 16 age-categories.

Seniors Battle it Out

Graham Lassen won the men’s singles after nipping at the heels of previous champions for several years. To get there he had to beat three former champions including James Morris who had beaten him in a grueling five game final in 1976. It was a fitting reward for a man who had subjected himself to an intense training regime after several years away from the game.

The women’s event was thrown open by the absence of World Championships star performer Angela Brackenridge who had moved to Japan to take up a two-year contract with a sporting goods company, and to gain useful playing experience. She was released for the 1980 NZ Championships but not this year’s. Making the event even more interesting was the comeback of former NZ representative Norma Houlihan (nee Attwood) who had not played at this level since 1970. She made her mark in round three by beating defending champion Shelley Palmer (a remarkable result) but was unable to maintain the momentum against Australian Mary Cannon. Cannon, visiting with a party from New South Wales, reached the final where she lost to New Zealander Jan Morris.

Norma Houlihan brought to three the number of women who made post-marriage comebacks after stepping down from international careers. The three (Yvonne Eyre, Anne Noble and Houlihan herself) occupied places four, five and six on this year’s ranking list, behind Jan Morris, Debbie Looms and Shelley Palmer.

The NZ Championships were hosted by Auckland, whose teams decisively won the men’s and women’s A grade competitions and have now won both for several years in a row.

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Battle of the Champs

They were both reigning Champions of their respective countries, both had won their national titles for the first time in 1978, and both had known the indignity of being passed over for national selection without explanation when they felt they had earned it. But there the similarity ended.

Australian Champion Paul Pinkewich first represented his country in 1967, would ultimately attend a total of ten world championships and would go on to become Australia’s most capped player. New Zealand Champion Kerry Palmer (pictured) was never selected to attend the world championships and never represented New Zealand. Pinkewich had reached the Australian men’s singles final on four previous occasions before winning in 1978; Palmer’s 1978 success was his only appearance in a NZ singles final.

So, on balance, it was hardly an even contest when Palmer faced Pinkewich in the prestigious WD & HO Wills invitation tournament played in Melbourne in June. Pinkewich won the match easily.

Kerry Palmer had been invited to fill a vacated spot as a replacement. The Wills tournament is the most lucrative sponsored event in the southern hemisphere, offering prize money of $20,000. Top players from Europe and Asia are regularly invited. It began in 1977 with three top NZ players participating but no New Zealanders were invited in 1978.

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New South Wales Players Visit

A party of eight players from New South Wales, Australia, visited NZ in August. The visit, which included a number of contests between North Island Associations and an official NSW State women’s team, was the result of an Auckland Association initiative. The women travelled widely throughout the North Island, winning contests against North Shore and Hamilton and touring the Rotorua region as guests of the Taupo sub-Association. They moved south and competed successfully against Hutt Valley and Wellington before playing in the Wellington Open. Their only loss was to a New Zealand Invitation team of Jan Morris, Shelley Palmer and Debbie Looms. All three lost to Mary Cannon but NZ won 5-4.

The full NSW party, which in addition to the State women’s team included two male players and a junior girl, competed in the New Zealand Championships. Wendy Jordan won the Under 18 girls singles and Mary Cannon reached the final of the women’s singles.

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NZ Teams on Tour

Following last year’s inaugural trip to Australia, our top juniors again competed in the Australian inter-state championships, held this year in Adelaide. The boys finished second to Victoria and the girls third behind Queensland and Victoria. Richard Williment reached the boys singles quarter-final.

Also travelling overseas was a group of fifteen Hamilton players and four from Franklin. This group’s destination was Fiji where they played contests against local clubs and participated in the Suva Open. Kevin Barry won the men’s singles and the mixed doubles with Lynnette Cooke.

Auckland Secretary Bob Lassen (pictured) led a group of nine Auckland juniors on a hectic 12 day tour of New South Wales, Australia in May. Seventeen contests were played (12 wins, 5 losses) plus travelling, sightseeing and socialising. While the trip was well organised by the host Association and very successful, the team manager recommended the occasional rest day for future visits.

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Drama at South Island Championships

Having broken Jan Morris’s five year run of South Island singles titles last year, Debbie Looms proved it was no fluke by again beating Morris in the final and retaining the title. The two were destined to dominate the event for twelve years with Looms poised to win twice more and Morris three times.

Prior to their dominance the South Island women’s crown had very much belonged to Yvonne Fogarty (she won it six years in a row) and it was the same player (now Yvonne Eyre) that very nearly upset this year’s winner in the semi-final. Eyre led two games to one and held match point in the fourth before succumbing to a determined recovery by Looms.

Looms and Morris were pushed all the way in the women’s doubles final by Ruth Foster (pictured) and Christine Young before winning 21-17 in the fifth game.

While the top seeds (eventually) prevailed in the women’s singles and doubles, the same can’t be said for the men’s events. 20 year old Michael Hamel (Canterbury) beat the much higher profile (and top seed) Wayne Adamson in the semi-finals and went on to beat 3rd seed Stuart Armstrong in the final. Armstrong was Hamel’s doubles partner and the two proceeded to narrowly beat the highly favoured pair of Adamson and Maurice Burrowes in the final. Hamel was rewarded for his giant-killing performances with a national ranking and he retained it in 1980. He did not win the singles again but won the doubles three more times in the next four years.

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Tomlinson and Lassen Make Their Mark in North Island Men’s Doubles

For eleven years James Morris and Richard Lee dominated the North Island men’s doubles event. Only one pair was able to wrest the title from them between 1973 and 1983: Graham Lassen and Alan Tomlinson. They won in 1976 and again in 1979. This year’s win was a landmark occasion for Tomlinson. It was his tenth North Island men’s doubles win and his last title at national level. He first won the North Island men’s doubles in 1955, won five in a row with Bob Jackson and in later years won again with Geoff Jennings, Bryan Foster and 15 year old Richard Lee. His successes in this event spanned 25 years.

Also at the North Islands Michael Hamel (to become South Island Champion later in the year) gave an indication of his form when he defeated 5th seed Malcolm Temperley - in a tournament somewhat tainted by the scratching of several top players and pairs for late arrival.

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Sponsored Exhibitions

Supported by the sponsorship of Barnett Industries of Palmerston North, Richard Lee and Kerry Palmer gave a week-long series of table tennis exhibitions in shops and demonstrations in schools. They were also available for coaching sessions. The visit to Manawatu by the two players took place on the initiative of businessman Simon Barnett. The exhibitions and school demonstrations were particularly successful.

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Table Tennis Week Stutters to a Halt

It seemed like a great idea and it generated some original initiatives but many Associations never really got wholeheartedly behind Table Tennis Week – introduced with gusto in 1976.

This year it was left to Associations to choose their own week and tie it in with some local event around which to focus. In 1976-78 a specific week at the beginning of the season was set aside for a nationwide promotion during which Associations would organise local activities. While it generated publicity, it did not have the desired effect regarding overall membership numbers which continued to fall.

So 1979 was the last year for Table Tennis Week, until it was re-introduced for just one year by a new NZ Executive Director in 1998 – again with limited success.

Every year the week was held, including 1998, Southland was one Association that could be relied on to give it unqualified support – and it paid dividends for them.

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Two Keiths Attend International Umpires’ Seminar

Two New Zealand umpires (Keith Pointon and Keith Fraser) attended an international umpires seminar in Hong Kong in November.

All the major Asian table tennis nations, including China, Japan and Malaysia, were represented as well as Australia and New Zealand.

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