N E W S

Catch up with all the latest news about the Club . . . .read on . . . . .

OTTC's first season of the WHB Sutherland Table Tennis league ended today. Dylan De Silva continued as he has done all season with convincing wins in division 1 to finish top of the table and so takes the overall league trophy.

'I am delighted to be the first person to have their name engraved on this new trophy' said Dylan. 'Although I haven't lost a game all season I had a few tough matches against Xianmin (Chang), Graeme (Christie) and Ross (Donaldson). Next season I will be the target and so I'm sure it will get tougher'.

Second place and the runner's up medal for the league went to a deserving Xianmin Chang. A trophy was also presented to the highest ranked junior player who this season was Steven Smith. Steven came under pressure towards the end of the season from a number of rapidly improving players including Kyran Taylor, Dan Clewitt and Mark Lewington, but did just enough to hang on to the lead by 2 points.

Well done to Steven who becomes the first name engraved on the new Junior trophy. Second place goes to a deserving Dan Clewitt who played consistently throughout the season.

Orkney Table Tennis Club Chairman, Ross Donaldson, said he was extremely pleased with how the league had gone. 'We have been trying to get a league going for a few years now but being a small club have struggled with numbers to make it viable. This year we decided just to give it a go and the result has been a success overall. A lot of new juniors have joined the club and we have a core of promising youngsters now. I look forward to seeing how they develop over the coming years'.

Trophy winners: Steven Smith, Cathrine Symons (representing sponsor WHB Sutherland), Dylan De Silva and Xianmin Chang (runner up)

OTTC's close relationship with The Drumchapel Table Tennis Club brought an intensive training opportunity to the local clubs' senior members as preparations continue for the 2007 Island Games in Rhodes (30th June - 6th July).

Coach Terry McLernon Snr. brought along elite coach Ryan Jenkins and other top coaches from the Drumchapel Club (Terry McLernon Jnr., Andy McFadyen and Jason Godfrey) to give the local team a chance to learn from the best. The training got underway on Friday evening with a two hour session to help everyone get into their stride before the intensive 6 hour session on Saturday.

Ryan Jenkins is a former Commonwealth champion, British Champion and Welsh Champion. There's nothing quite like being put through your paces by one of the best in the country ! Saturdays session was very hard work but everyone got stuck in and gave their best in every practice routine, and coaching tips were being thrown at us thick and fast throughout the day.

The final session on Sunday was organised as a competition with the Orkney and Drumchapel players being split into two mixed teams with a series of singles and doubles matches played. Inevitably, the team which Ryan captained won through on the day although the score was a draw until the final match played between Ryan and Orkneys very own Xianmin Chang. We suspect Ryan was merely toying with Xianmin throughout the final game judging by some of the amazing shots he played !

OTTC would like to thank coach Terry McLernon Snr. and his assistants, and a special thanks to Ryan who had travelled all the way from his home in Wales just to share his knowledge with us.

Orkneys top player, Catherine Symons has been selected to Captain the Scotland Ladies Team in the Commonwealth Championship which is being held in Jaipur, India between the 30th of May and the 5th of June. This news comes at a great time for Catherine as she, along with other OTTC members, continue preparations for the Island Games in Rhodes in July.

The Commonwealth Championship will be the first time that Catherine has been given the role of Captain and is a landmark event in her advancing career. OTTC's coach, Terry McLernon Snr., has been a major influence on Catherine and everyone at the OTTC would like to thank Terry for his continued support and we all wish Catherine the very best of luck in India.