Welcome Back, China

While a fifteen day visit to New Zealand by a team of young Chinese players naturally evoked memories of the ground-breaking 1972 tour, there were more differences than similarities.

The 1972 event was part of an international political and diplomatic drama which began a year earlier and made headlines world-wide. The players that came here were a mix of former top players, provincial players and young players whose collective task was to demonstrate China’s table tennis skills and at the same time foster friendly relations between the two countries. The touring party included politicians and high level government officials. The players were instructed to go easy in some matches to maintain the declared theme of “friendship first, competition second.”

In contrast, the 1980 visitors had all earned their trip by performing well in trials featuring China’s best young players. All were ambitious and had their sights on possible selection for the 1981 World Championships. The only diplomats in the party were the manager and the interpreter. The players (and the coach) were here to win.

Compared with 1972, the 1980 tour produced better table tennis.

The visit was the result of negotiations between NZTTA and the All-China Sports Federation through the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China in Wellington. Australia joined the negotiations and the tourists visited that country as well. Unlike the last minute panic preceding the 1972 visit, key details such as the itinerary, point of arrival and the number in the party were all finalised by the end of January – four months in advance.

Popular Visitors

Immediately on arrival, the entire Chinese party proved very sociable and friendly. They toured from 26 May to 9 June, visiting eight centres and playing two tests. The players (four men and three women) ranged in age from 17 to 21. They could hit the ball harder, impart more spin, and move faster than the NZ players and most worrying of all, could produce an intimidating array of heavily spun and well disguised services.

In the face of such talented opposition there were some brave New Zealand performances, especially as the Chinese players had no intention of showing any mercy. As he had in 1972, James Morris produced the highlight of the series when, in the opening rubber of the second test in Wellington, he played the match of his life and extended 1979 Chinese junior champion Fan Changmao to five games. Also in the Wellington test, Jan Morris and Shelley Palmer took the second game off Li Chunli and Jiao Zhimin and ran them close in the fourth. In a contest between China and an invitation team in Palmerston North, former NZ Champion Richard Lee and local star Malcolm Darroch took the first game off Zhu Jianwei and Wang Baojun. Richard also recorded very respectable scores of 18 and 19 in his singles against Zhu in the same contest. In a China/South Island match, Michael Hamel and Stuart Armstrong rose from the ashes of a disastrous first game (which they lost 4-21 after being down 0-14) by leading Wang Baojun and Fan Changmao 15-10 and 19-17 in the second before eventually losing 21-19. Although well beaten, Kerry Palmer had many spectacular rallies with Fan Changmao in an invitation contest in Hamilton.

There were also contests played against Northland, Otago and South Canterbury. The first test was played in Auckland. Every fixture was a clean sweep to the Chinese.

In the two test matches New Zealand was represented by James Morris, Graham Lassen, Jan Morris and Shelley Palmer. On paper the two (unrelated) Morrises had the better results but their two team-mates gave their best and justified their selection. Some would say that Debbie Looms could make at least an equal claim for selection in the women’s team, with a 1979 ranking of second behind Jan Morris. She got her chance in the China/South Island contest and at least matched, if not out-peformed, team-mate Jan Morris in that event.

Former Champion, Future Champions

The Chinese team was managed by Xi Enting, 1973 world champion. His dramatic and very close win in that event (in which he beat NZ’s 1970 Swedish guest Kjell Johansson in the final) was very much against the odds. He was seeded only 12th.

Among the players, all ambitious and looking like future champions, Fan Changmao was the most popular. His fierce attacking pen-grip style was augmented by his spectacular serve: tossing the ball high and cleverly varying the spin. The device amused audiences and tested the concentration of the players who had to fight the temptation to watch the ball disappearing into orbit and instead focus on the bat poised to impart spin on the ball when it eventually descended at high speed. The ball height was averaging about five metres per serve until the tourists reached Dunedin where the high-ceilinged Caledonian War Memorial Gymnasium allowed Fan to pull out all stops and send it up more than fifteen metres during the concluding exhibition match.

Another crowd-pleaser was Jiang Zilong, the “oldest” in the party at 21 and arguably the best player. He used the western “shake-hand” grip and specialised in chop defence, often exceedingly long range. His armoury also included a blistering backhand drive, used only occasionally but reminiscent of NZ’s Murray Dunn.

Left-handed Wang Baojin (shake-hand grip) and Zhu Jianwei (pen-grip) completed the men’s team. Both were fast-moving attackers.

The top woman player (Tian Yujing) was, like Jiang, a shake-hand defender. Also using the shake-hand grip was speedy and versatile Jiao Zhimin. Hard-hitting pen-gripper Li Chunli completed the women’s team.

Destined to Become a Medal-winning Kiwi

Nobody knew it at the time but within six years Li Chunli would be brought to New Zealand by an enterprising Palmerston North table tennis stalwart and a few years later would attain New Zealand citizenship and represent this country in many international events including the World Championships. She was destined to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal in New Zealand colours.

Skellerup All-Stars

While Chinese table tennis players are automatic crowd-pullers in themselves, a generous sponsorship from Skellerup Industries Ltd gave the tour an even higher profile. It was advertised lavishly as the “Skellerup All Stars International Table Tennis Series”. Good crowds were drawn in at all venues. NZTTA made a profit of $2,336 and a further $3,173 was raised by the host district Associations. The exception was South Canterbury who had to postpone their contest due to floodwaters blocking the highway and trapping the tourists in Dunedin, resulting in a $92 loss to the Association.

As in 1972, the Chinese visitors were exposed to all aspects of New Zealand culture, and participated in a Maori concert and hangi in Whangarei. There were civic receptions in most centres and a state function at Parliament.

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Television Exhibition Trumps Test Match

Which should take priority – an unfinished test match or a television exhibition? It was a question match organisers at the second NZ/China test in Wellington on 31 May had to face. A fixed slot had been allocated for a segment of the eleven-match programme to be telecast live and, had the timetable been kept to, the telecast would have included the entertaining Chinese exhibition doubles match as well as the closing stages of the test.

But with matches taking longer than predicted, notably James Morris’s epic five-game opening rubber, it became apparent that the period of the telecast might end before the much-heralded concluding exhibition match had even started. Under pressure from television, and knowing the promotional value to table tennis of the spectacular exhibition being shown nationwide, the organisers chose to cut the test match short to ensure the exhibition was telecast. The decision was no doubt popular with television audiences but was greeted with disapproval by the spectators in the stadium and with extreme disappointment by the New Zealand players.

Two matches that had already started were left unfinished, one of them Graham Lassen’s exciting reverse singles against Fan Changmao. Lassen had lost the first game easily but staged a spectacular comeback in the second before finally losing 23-25. He was poised and eager to sustain the pressure in the third game when the match was called off.

“It is a test match, isn’t it?” said a bewildered James Morris, after his reverse singles had also been stopped, in his case after only one game.

Officials defended the decision by pointing out that once the score of 6-0 was reached the test had been won by China. But as the programme had listed a full schedule of ten matches plus the exhibition, patrons could justifiably feel aggrieved that they had not got value for money.

The option of resuming the test after the exhibition either wasn’t considered or was deemed impractical or too anti-climactic.

There was television coverage of the Auckland test and the South Island match in Christchurch.

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Under 16’s Wreak Havoc at NZ Championships

Three players who had reached their respective finals in the Under 16 age category proceeded to cause a series of upsets in the open events, each one of which would have raised eyebrows on its own. Collectively the performances stood out as a key feature of this year’s NZ Championships.

The players were New Zealand’s Wendy Cuthbert and Barry Griffiths, and left-handed Australian Gary Haberl. Cuthbert, a day or two after her 15th birthday, beat NZ’s No 2 ranked woman Debbie Looms (pictured) to reach the quarter-finals. She then bowed out to Angela Brackenridge but her upset win crowned a championships week in which she had, while still 14, won the Under 18 and Under 16 girls singles.

In the men’s quarter-finals Haberl and Griffiths eliminated two players who had been automatic selections in NZ teams for the last ten years: Richard Lee and James Morris. Lee, not at his best, went down to 15 year old Haberl who, facing a three-times champion, had nothing to lose and remained relaxed and confident throughout. He won all three games 21-19.

Griffiths, now aged 16, beat Morris 21-18 in the fifth game. Even the former champion’s extensive experience couldn’t counter his young opponent’s energetic and aggressive forehand loop and accurate blocking.

Upsets in the men’s singles didn’t end with the elimination of Lee and Morris. Malcolm Temperley, who had all but won the North Island title earlier in the year (losing narrowly to Richard Lee - a performance which earned him 4th seeding for the nationals), was himself beaten in the casualty-ridden quarter-finals. In a close five-game match he lost to Franklin stalwart Geoff Rau, who had shown great promise as a junior and was only now emerging as a top-level senior player. He was seeded 7th and finished the year with a ranking of 3. It also should be noted that he was an active administrator, had just been elected a national selector and would go on to become an internationally respected ITTF official.

The only men’s quarter-final that followed predictions was Graham Lassen’s win over Stuart Armstrong but that too was a close call. Armstrong won the first two games before faltering in the face of Lassen’s increasing confidence. Lassen won the last three games 21-17, 21-18, 21-8.

In the semi-finals the two young giant-killers met each other. Haberl’s consistency overcame Griffiths fiery 3rd ball attack and vicious loop and he won in four games. The other semi was a spectacular cliff-hanger between Rau and Lassen won by Lassen 21-14, 25-23, 9-21, 14-21, 21-19. The final, won easily by Lassen, was an anti-climax with Haberl at times gesturing helplessly to his Australian supporters as he made multiple apparently unforced errors. Lassen’s skillful defensive variations were a major factor nonetheless. It was his second successive NZ singles title.

The closing stages of the women’s event were more predictable: Brackenridge beat Shelley Palmer in one semi-final and Jan Morris beat Christine Lee in the other. Morris won the final.

Drama in Junior Events Too

Unexpectedly Barry Griffiths lost to Michael Steele in the Under 18 boys quarter-final, thus missing out on the chance to meet Gary Haberl who won the event. But the two had earlier met in the Under 16 final with Griffiths winning after miraculously surviving six match points to come back from 14-20 down in the third and win 14-21, 21-10, 22-20. It was his third title in succession in the same age-group – a rare feat which, amazingly, was replicated in the Under 12 boys singles by Gary Traill, who also had retained his title over the same three year period: 1978-80, beating his brother Murray in this year’s final.

The girls singles events were a triumph for the Cuthbert family, formerly of Otago and now Hutt Valley. Mention has been made of Wendy’s Under 18 and Under 16 titles. Her sister Yvonne won the Under 14 singles and was runner-up in the Under 12’s having won that age-group last year. This year she lost to Franklin’s Eileen Hoete.

Australia’s Matthew Walker won the Under 14 boys singles.

The recently introduced Under 14 junior teams competition changed to Under 15 this year. Junior team numbers continued to increase.

The Championships were hosted by Hutt Valley for the first time since 1961.

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Unique Auckland Team

Auckland had come close to achieving a rare team combination in recent years but 1980 appears to be the first time each of the nominated members of any team at the NZ Championships was either the reigning NZ singles champion, a previous champion or a future champion.

It was the winning Auckland A grade men’s team that achieved this distinction. The team was Richard Lee (champion three times), Graham Lassen (champion twice), Barry Griffiths (champion eight times, between 1982 and 1992), Kerry Palmer (champion once) and Peter Jackson (champion twice – 1990 and 1993). And with Alan Tomlinson still playing a fine game (he won a NZ doubles title only last year and reached the doubles final this year), he could well have been added to the Auckland team as a sixth player had the rules allowed it. That would have contributed four more championship singles titles, bringing the total to 20.

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Barry Griffiths: Player of Year

He didn’t win the North Island Championships, but he narrowly lost the semi-final to the player who narrowly lost the final (Malcolm Temperley). He didn’t win the New Zealand Championships but he had beaten one of the finalists earlier in a junior event. He didn’t win the Australian Championships but he beat the title-holder (Bob Tuckett) and reached the final (refer next article).

And he was only sixteen.

These performances are a mere sample of Barry Griffiths’ multiple successes which won for him the Player of the Year Award. He also won numerous junior titles and enjoyed other successes at senior level. He had won the same award last year, at the age of 15, on the strength of his huge array of Under 18 and Under 16 titles. He was then the youngest player to receive the award, five months younger than the previous record-holder Richard Lee, who in 1970 had also won when aged 15.

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Juniors, and “Sub-Juniors”, in Australia

New Zealand has, since 1978, been a regular participant in the Australian Junior Championships, played in September and comprising Under 18 team and individual events. This tournament is followed by the Australian Open, also competed in by NZ’s best juniors and occasionally, usually at their own expense, by NZ seniors.

For the first time, approval was granted by NZ and Australia for a New Zealand boys team to enter the Australian “Sub-Junior” Championships (for Under 16 and Under 14 age-groups). This latter event is held annually in May, clashing with the regular NZ junior training camps.

NZ Teams Maintain Their Positions

At the main championships in September the boys’ team lost 4-5 to Victoria and Queensland and won all their other matches to finish third; the girls were second behind Victoria. The Under 16 team at the May event also finished second to Victoria, again losing 4-5. Barry Griffiths played a total of 36 team matches in the two events combined, and lost only one (to talented Western Australian junior Nick Fields, who was also senior WA State champion in 1979/80), and even that match was lost by the wafer-thin margin of 23-25 in the third game.

Griffiths’ team mates in May were Peter Jackson, Alan Pedley and Guy Palmer; and in September Jackson, Pedley and Gavin Laughton. The girls team (September only) was Kadia Rice, Linda Dyer, Kristen Phillips and Christine Prendergast, with Kadia Rice returning the best results. The May event was held in Geelong, Victoria and the September championships in Hobart, Tasmania.

Griffiths v Haberl

Inevitably, both events were yet another battleground for NZ’s Barry Griffiths and Australia’s Gary Haberl. They met three times in individual events and the scores demonstrate how closely matched the trans-Tasman rivals are. In the May event they clashed in the Under 16 semi-final with Haberl winning 21-19, 21-23, 22-20. In September Haberl again prevailed, 18-21, 21-10, 21-19, this time in the boys final.

In the Australian Open following the September junior championships, the two met again in an early round of the men’s singles and Griffiths won 21-19, 16-21, 20-22, 21-12, 23-21. This event turned out to be the highlight of the year for Griffiths – he went on to beat defending champion Bob Tuckett in four games, demolished Queensland’s Gary Thomas in the semi-final before losing the final to Paul Pinkewich in four games.

It was a sign of things to come for Barry Griffiths.

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Peter Hirst Returns

After a successful two-month tour in 1979, English coach Peter Hirst returned to New Zealand for a shorter visit this year. In just one month he conducted a combined girls and boys national junior training school (working with a range of NZ coaches), ran three seminars for coaches, and supervised a training session for the NZ senior squad.

Following Peter’s recommendation to build a seamless structure from school, club and Association to national level, the country was divided into seven regions with a coach to be appointed for each.

Later in the year a member of Peter’s English coaching staff, Gail McCulloch, also visited this country. She was on leave and NZ was part of her holiday itinerary but she offered her coaching services to several Associations on an informal basis and was well received.

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Seismic Shift in Men’s Ranking List

Geoff Rau came from nowhere to hit number three spot on the men’s national ranking list – not surprising considering that in the NZ Championships semi-final he all but beat the man who became champion (refer NZ Champs article above). Barry Griffiths came from nowhere into number seven spot – the only surprise being that it wasn’t higher. And James Morris dropped to number five after having been either number one or two since 1975. His response was to rocket back to number one in 1981 and hold on to number two spot for a further two years.

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Auckland Busy Organising Tours

The Auckland Association arranged for a group of Under 15 players (three boys and a girl, led by a manager) to tour New South Wales and compete in the ACT Open in Canberra. Auckland also invited a group from Mie Prefecture in Japan to compete in the Auckland Open, continuing an enduring relationship with players from that district. The visitors included Kazuko Itoh who, as Kazuko Yamaizumi, had toured New Zealand in 1960.

Finally, five men from New South Wales spent 21 days in New Zealand, playing in the Auckland Open, touring the North Island and competing in the NZ Championships in Lower Hutt. This tour also was organised by the Auckland Association.

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Off Again, On Again World Events

An announcement was made during the China visit that New Zealand would not be sending a team to the 1981 World Championships in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. The reason given was that money was tight and would be better spent in other areas, notably coaching.

It was a double blow as our other regular international event, the Commonwealth Championships, had already been cancelled for 1981. The host city (Belfast, Northern Ireland) had withdrawn its option due to pressure from competing nations. There were major concerns over security since a recent terrorist act (the assassination of Lord Mountbatten).

The news got better when the decision not to attend the Worlds was reversed on the condition that the players make a larger contribution to the costs than in the past. This condition was met and New Zealand competed.

And it got better again when Bombay, India offered to replace Belfast as host of the Commonwealth Championships. They could not hold them until 1982 but the offer was accepted making the event the first to be held in a non-World Championship year. New Zealand competed in these Championships also.

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Death of Alan McCallum

The death occurred in Christchurch on 10 September of Alan McCallum, after 20 years of administrative service to the Canterbury Association. He was also a South Island selector for ten years and a Life Member of NZTTA since 1971. He served two terms as NZTTA President.

Also to pass away this year, on 6 November, was long-term NZTTA Executive member Bill Jopson. He was also an active administrator for the Wellington Association.

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New Zealand’s First International Umpires Qualify

Four dedicated New Zealand umpires (George Wilkinson, Ivan Houghton, Keith Fraser and Keith Pointon ) (pictured in order below) sat the difficult International Umpires Examination in July and all were successful. They were the first New Zealanders to obtain this qualification.

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