Report from the 2008 New Zealand Veterans Table Tennis Championships

Empire members won gold at the NZ Vets Champs in Palmerston North over Easter.
Ron Menchi & Merv Allardyce won gold in the B section of the over 70 men’s teams competition. Seeded No 5 of 6, this determined pair fought their way through a series of sets, repeating the pattern of 2 games down (on the ropes), to 2 all  (fighting chance) and clinching the final game.
In the final of the over 75 men’s doubles, Merv Allardyce & Paul Bargh beat Eddie Moore & Hugh McIlraith 3-2. Not to be outdone, Eddie Moore & Betty Meads beat Merv Allardyce & Joyce Woodward 3-2 in the over 75 mixed doubles final.
Since the publication of the newsletter we have found out that Bruce Connolly and Chris Williams won gold in the Over 60s and Tony Rutledge was half of the team that won gold in the Over 50s.
Congratulations to all these players.
Full results are available at
www.tabletennis.org.nz

Report from the 2007 New Zealand Veterans Table Tennis Championships

The “oldies” (and not-so-oldie’s) annual pilgrimage takes them from one end of the country to the other such is the attraction of the annual New Zealand Veterans Table Tennis Championships.  Last year Invercargill - this year Auckland was the venue for this Easter clash.

Popularity has increased over it’s 20-odd years especially by our neighbours from across the “ditch”. This year there were 45 participants from all around Australia – including Perth.  Most of them are top players – they have trials to get in their State teams.  Some of the Kiwis have hardly missed a year - like Merv Allardyce & Ron Menchi.

Competition is tough. Some of us (i.e.me!) go for the challenge – try to improve each year. If you beat an Aussie it’s been a successful tournament!! (and I had a successful year this year! Wow!!) But the majority of those who go are very competitive – and our Empire Club is well represented with competitive players. We also go for the camaraderie – meet up with all those friendly people each year and do a bit of
socialising here and there. It’s a fun time.

The weekend kicked off on the Thursday evening with the annual Test Match between Australian and New Zealand with teams competing in each age group (Over 40 up to Over 70 years). And who should sing moving unaccompanied renditions of the two National Anthems but our own Leo Barnett. What a voice! Well done Leo. As I said – competition is tough. I believe New Zealand only managed to win one age group – the Over 50 women - although some individuals had good wins along the way. Empire players who represented their country included Ian Talbot in the O50 Men’s, and Eddie Moore and Merv Allardyce in the O70 Men’s.

Empire players participating over the weekend were:
Ian Talbot, Bruce & Margaret Connolly, Chris Williams, Joy Mozer, Nola Borrell, Leo Barnett, Merv Allardyce, Ron Menchi and Eddie Moore.

Medal Winners were:
Eddie Moore  -   3 golds: Over-075 Men’s Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles
                           Bronze:  Over-70 Men’s Doubles
Merv Allardyce - Silver: Over-75 Mixed Doubles
                          2 Bronze: Over-75 Singles and Doubles
Leo Barnett -      Silver:   Over-75 Men’s B-Grade Teams event
Chris Williams - Gold:  Over-60 Men’s B-Grade Teams event
Bruce Connolly- Gold:  Over-60 Men’s B-Grade Teams event
Ian Talbot   -      Bronze:  Over-50 Men’s Doubles

Margaret Connolly

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