Build-up to Table Tennis’s First Commonwealth Games

With the upcoming 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England to include Table Tennis for the first time, anticipation was building throughout 2001. Notable among the lead-up events were the appointment of the Table Tennis Section Manager for the NZ Games Team (Ron Garrett), the selection of a squad of players from which the table tennis team for the Games would be selected, and the welcome receipt of three special grants (from the Hillary Commission, Sports Foundation and NZ Olympic Committee) to boost the team’s preparation fund.

Li Chunli’s silver medal and Chunli and Karen Li’s semi-final performance in the doubles at the Commonwealth Championships (see below) confirmed NZ as a definite medal chance at the 2002 Games.

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World and Commonwealth Championships

At the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, the men’s team (Peter Jackson, Aaron Li, Shane Laugesen and Peter Craven) finished 44th – an improvement of 13 places on their previous world ranking. Their performance included wins over Bermuda, Portugal, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Argentina. A late withdrawal of a selected player from the NZ team prevented a women’s team from competing. Li Chunli attended the championships but competed only in the individual events. She was eliminated in the round of 64. No other NZ players or pairs progressed beyond the first round of the doubles or the qualifying rounds in the singles.

At the Commonwealth Championships (New Delhi, India) NZ was represented by Peter Jackson, Shane Laugesen, Peter Craven, Adrian Soh, Li Chunli, Karen Li and Tracey McLauchlan. The men finished 5th out of 15 teams and the women 4th out of 12. Solid performances in the individual events resulted in two NZ pairs reaching the Mixed Doubles quarter-finals (Chunli and Aaron Li; and Peter Jackson and Karen Li), Chunli and Karen Li reaching the Women’s Doubles semi-finals (bronze medal); Karen Li and Aaron Li both reaching the Singles quarter-finals; and our star performer Chunli collecting the silver medal for reaching the Women’s Singles final. She was seeded 2nd and lost to the top seed Li Jia Wei of Singapore.

James Morris coached at both events and was joined by Simeon Cairns at the Commonwealths who focused on the women’s team.

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Radical Changes: Ball Bigger, Games Shorter

After a lengthy period of trials, debates and consultation, this season a 40mm ball replaced its 38mm predecessor at international and open events. NZ Associations used the new ball for their domestic competitions while at club level some retained the smaller ball. Many players felt rallies became longer on average but by and large reaction was fairly muted.

The other radical change saw the traditional 21 point game reduced to 11. The two-point advantage was retained, service changed every two points and toweling-down was permitted every six points. Best of three and best of five matches became best of five and best of seven. This change was effective at international events from 1 September, and in NZ from 7 October (the conclusion of the NZ Championships). It was a popular move and resulted in matches being more exciting for players and spectators alike.

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TTNZ Life Membership Bestowed on Ron Garrett

Ron Garrett’s long service to TTNZ was rewarded when he was elected a Life Member at the November Annual General Meeting. His service includes seven years as President and ten as a National Councillor or Board Member. He has managed and coached NZ teams overseas on four occasions and this year was appointed Table Tennis Section Manager for the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

His service to his home Association is even more extensive. He has played over 250 first class matches for Southland, has been coaching there since 1970 and has served continuously on the Southland Executive since 1966 including five years as Secretary and fourteen as President.

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Junior Development Officer Appointed

As part of a revitalization of the coaching structure, a new position of Junior Development Officer was created. Early in the year four coaching regions had been established, each with a coach and an administrator. The Junior Development Officer’s role was to liaise between them and work directly with Associations to identify potential talent. David Cook, with 20 years of coaching experience, was appointed to the position.

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Professional Facilitator Leads Development Seminar

On the initiative of TTNZ Board Member Andrew Gordon, a Development Seminar was held under the leadership of professional facilitator Ian Farmer. Stress, Time and Change Management were among the specialist themes covered, with brainstorming sessions on development, marketing, promotion and fund-sourcing strategies.

Ian embellished his presentation with live music and audiovisual material.

Ian Farmer (left) and Andrew Gordon

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Medal Pioneer Dies

The man who initiated medal presentations at national championships, John Lelliott, passed away on 27 May aged 73. A regular supporter of major tournaments in NZ and of the Australian Veterans Championships, John had lobbied for medals before introducing them on his own initiative at the 1986 NZ Championships which he managed on behalf of the host Association, Hutt Valley. Medal presentations have featured at nearly all national championships since.

John had previously managed the 1980 NZ Championships and the 1984 North Island Championships. He again managed the NZ event in 1990 and the North Islands in 1994. He was manager of the NZ team at the World Championships in 1985.

He was a tireless worker for Hutt Valley and, as a player, won numerous Veteran titles. He played A grade interclub for 55 years.

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Northland Hosts Pre-event Training for World Championships

Pre-event training was raised to an unprecedented professional level when James Morris organised a ten day training camp in Whangarei for members of the New Zealand team preparing for the Commonwealth and World Championships. In additional to regular on and off table training, the camp included physiotherapy, massage, fitness testing and team building sessions. A local restaurant linked to a charitable trust concluded a sponsorship deal worth over $18,000 which covered all travel costs for the participants. Negotiations for the deal and organisational work for the camp had begun in October, 2000.

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Peter Jackson Competes With World’s Best

With no Oceania Championships this year, New Zealander Peter Jackson, as the Oceania player with the highest world ranking, automatically qualified to compete in the Men’s World Cup, held in Italy late in the year. With the tournament limited to only 16 players, the continental qualification system is extremely generous to the Oceania region. Peter Jackson’s world ranking was 191 while several of the other competitors were ranked in the world’s top ten. Peter’s opponents were Kreanga (Greece), Ma Lin (China) and Waldner (Sweden) – all among the world’s best. He came home winless, as was expected, but he took a game off Kreanga and led Waldner 10-6 in the fourth game. The winner was Samsonov (Belarus) who demolished world number one Wang Liqin (China) 4-0 in the final.

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New Zealand Invited to Junior International Tournament in China

When an international tournament includes teams from Hong Kong, Korea and India as well as teams from Europe, North America and the Middle East, not to mention hosts China, New Zealand can afford to feel honoured that we too were invited. The event was held in Taiyuan, China from 25-30 August and a boys team of Andy Huang, Simon Wallace, Nathan Lowe, Binbin Zhu, Chris Erskine and Jack Wells was selected. Helen Codlin was the manager and Aaron Li the coach. A number of individual singles and doubles wins were achieved, and a team win over Iran.

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Auckland’s Long-serving Secretary Stands Down

In March Bob Lassen terminated his employment with Auckland TTA, after serving the Association as either a volunteer or a paid employee since 1966.

He was elected Honorary Secretary in 1969 and in 1976 the role was elevated to a full-time paid position. His tasks included running an interclub competition averaging 90 teams and managing the Auckland Stadium, which was enlarged on two occasions. He was also heavily involved in fundraising activities.

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Change at National Office

In November TTNZ Administration Officer John Kiley stepped down after serving almost nine years in the position. His tenure spanned three separate eras: working under Executive Director Merv Allardyce (1993-1996); working under Merv’s replacement Mike Brown (1997-1999); and working alone after the position of Executive Director was temporarily dispensed with due to financial constraints (1999-2001). John and former NZTTA Executive Robin Radford were charged with the task of reducing more than 30 applicants to a short list from which Board Member Ron Garrett chose John’s replacement. The appointment went to Kevin Thomas.

Board Chairman Alan Hounsell paid a generous parting tribute to John at the AGM.

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New Rules for Team Competition at NZ Championships

After a lengthy process involving an AGM discussion (2000), a review committee and consultation with all Associations, two major changes to the NZ Championships team rules were implemented. The first removed all eligibility criteria, allowing anyone to play for any Association. Previously residential or regular competition participation requirements were in place. The change did not remove the right of District Associations to set their own selection criteria.

The second change abolished Composite Teams. Players whose Associations could not field a full team were now able to apply to be drafted into another Association team while retaining their registration with their original Association.

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College Student Wins Prize for Table Tennis Research

Fourteen-year-old Kali Stratford won the NZ Association of Science Educators Award for a paper summarising her in-depth study of the effects of the new 40mm table tennis ball. The Marlborough teenager was rewarded with a $1,000 travel grant after having already secured a $1,000 tertiary scholarship and prizes to the value of $250 by winning local and regional awards for the same research. Her success, and findings, were given press, radio and television coverage.

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