Ellenborough Youngsters
A Season To Be Proud Of

Vincent Stacey winning a silver at the National Table Tennis Championships!

Vincent Stacey from Forty Hill finished runner-up in the U12 Boys Singles at the end of season National Table Tennis Championships with a display of lightening fast table tennis. He only started playing table tennis two years ago! In a tough draw, he secured impressive wins over Josh Bennett (Sussex), Tom Jarvis (Lincolnshire) and Hugo Pang (Dorset) before finally succumbing to Marcus Giles (Surrey) in a well-contested final.

The match of the day was Vincent’s five set victory over England No.1 Hugo Pang. Two sets to one down, Vincent cast aside his doubts over an umpiring decision at the end of the third game to fight back with a devastating display of attacking table tennis to win the match 11-5, 9-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-2. His formidable backhand topspin was no surprise to anyone who has followed Vincent’s development, but the combination of him being equally offensive on the forehand (playing closer to the table) and a newly found temperament was a revelation to everyone watching (and would not have gone unnoticed by the England selectors!).

Remarkably for a community table tennis club, Ellenborough TTC had seven youngsters at the U11-14s National Finals. Daniel Wright reached the last sixteen of the U13 Boys Singles which included an impressive five set win over Matthew Fields (Lancashire No. 1) in the U14s. Samantha Lai and Eda Aydin reached the last 8 of the U13 and U12 Girls Singles respectively. Eda has been invited to Lilleshall (she joins the aforementioned Vincent Stacey who is already part of the England Youth Development squad at Lilleshall). Ellenborough TTC was also represented by 10 year old Jasmine Chan, 9 year old Anthony Close and 8 year old Denise Payet (who reached the last 8 of the U11 Girls Singles : certainly one to watch for in the future!). Denise has also been invited for a weekend at Lilleshall – remarkable for a 8 year old!.

This news follows on from team success in the regular season with the juniors winning the Junior British League Division 4a title at the first attempt and the cadets winning the (North London Region) National Cadet League. Bradley Tuttle Connor Neenan have also won several junior titles during the season and, in doing so set a new standard for the younger children to aspire to. In addition, Connor was part of the Middlesex Cadet Team who won the Premier County Championships and Bradley was part of the Hertfordshire Team who won the Division 1 Junior County Championships.

With a cluster of promising youngsters enjoying a purpose- built facility (extended in 2006) and a new professional coaching structure, local children are well placed to join the renaissance of table tennis in London. Many say that the heyday of Ellenborough TTC was in the late 70s and early 80s when it boasted two English and two Welsh internationals, but maybe it is still to come!

All these youngsters want to say a big “thank you” to volunteer coaches, Terry Wilson and Nick McCoy, who welcomed them into the club.

Other honours this season include:

Ellenborough TTC (Beau Durmam, George Gil & Anatol Gabioswski) (London Region) National Junior League Div. 2 Runners-Up

Ellenborough TTC (Samantha Lai, Eda Aydin & Denise Payet) third place in the London Youth Games Junior Girls Team event

Bradley Tuttle: Cippenham 1* Open U16 and U18 Boys Singles Winner; North Hertfordshire Grand Prix Mens Singles Band 5 Winner, North Middlesex Closed Junior Boys Singles Winner, Mens Singles Band 6 Runner-Up and U21 Mens Runner-up

Connor Neenan: Derby 4* Cadet Banded Winner; Chesham 2* U17 and U15 Boys Singles Winner; North Middlesex Closed Cadet Boys Singles Winner, Junior Boys Doubles Winner and Junior Boys Singles Runner-Up

Sam Cowan: Reached the last 16 of Cadet Boys Singles at the Liverpool 4* Open and the Cheltenham 4* Open

Daniel Wright: Chesham 2*Open U15 Boys Singles Winner, BATTS 1* Open Boys Singles U15 Runner-Up, BATTS 1* Open U13 Boys Singles Runner-Up, North Middlesex TTL Div. 3 & 4 Closed Tournament Winner, Burger King Fusion All Star Open Tournament U15 Boys Runner-Up,

Vincent Stacey : Sussex 2* Open U12 Boys Singles Winner and U14 Boys Singles Winner; BATTS 1* Open U13 Boys Singles Winner, U14 Boys Singles Winner and U15 Boys Singles; Cippenham 1* Open U14 Boys Singles Winner; National Championships U13 Boys Singles Runner-Up; Greater London Championships U13 Boys Singles Runner-Up; North Middlesex Cadet Boys Singles Runner-Up

Eda Aydin: Greater London Closed Championships U13 Girls Singles Winner; BATTS 1* Open U15 Girls Singles Winner and U13 Girls Singles Winner; Lambeth 2* Open Junior Girls SinglesRunner-Up; BATTS 1* U13 Girls Singles Runner-Up; Cippenham Young Players Festival 2* U12 Girls Singles Runner-Up

Luke Holder: BATTS 1* Open U11 Boys Singles Runner-Up

Jasmine Chan: Canary Wharf Open Team Table Tennis Championships U13 Girls Team Winner

Anthony Close: Northfield 2* Open U11 Boys Singles Winner; Ernest Bevin 1* Open U11 Boys Singles Winner; Burton-Uxbridge Open U11 Boys Singles Winner; Westfield 1* Open U11 Boys Singles Winner, Blackpool 1* Open U11 Boys Singles Runner-Up; Watford Closed Cadet Boys Singles Runner-Up;

Denise Payet: Canary Wharf Open Team Table Tennis Championships U13 Girls Team Winner