Report on the International School Sport Federation (ISF) World Schools' Table Tennis Championships
25th/31st March 2010 - Brno, Czech Republic
A warm welcome was extended to the 20 delegations taking part in the ISF World Schools' Championships held in Brno, Czech Republic by the host city and the Association of School Sports' Clubs (ASSK - CR). The 56 teams, their coaches and officials were entertained at the Opening Ceremony held in the VUT Hall by champion gymnasts and street dancers before the games were officially declared open.
The championships were staged in four sections: Boys' School Team, Girls' School Team, Boys' Selected Team and Girls' Selected Team - first in groups followed by a knockout system.
The Bedford Modern School Boys' Team (Joshua Robinson, Nishanth Narayanan, Alex Farmer, Harpreet Rupal with NPC Paul Birch) started with tough matches against Slovakia and Poland which gave an indication of the challenges ahead. A hard fought 4-3 victory against Malta lifted the Bedford spirits before they faced Ireland in their final group match, losing 5-2. This defeat placed them 4th in their group with a place in the 9th/16th knockout. A victory against Italy (4-0) gave the boys a 14th place final position. This event will have proved an incentive to this young team for the future.
Morpeth School from Tower Hamlets, London (Sally Hoang, Majada Yasmin, Chantal Wilson, Sayeeda Miah with NPC Grant Solder) came to this event as ESTTA 2009 Butterfly National School Team Champions and 2010 finalists. There are no easy groups at this level and defeats against the hosts and the ever conquering China on the first day of the competition showed the need for determination which was obvious in the 6-1 win against Belgium Flanders in their next match. A 4-1 victory against Italy in the play-offs gave them an 11th place finish.
A 6-1 win for the Selected Boys' Team (Sean Cullen, Lewis Gray, Daniel Lowe, Sam Walker with NPC Dave Pilkington) against Israel gave them a good start followed by a victory against the Czech Republic. The match against Belgium Flanders proved crucial. After two '5 set' individual matches, the score was level. Victory in the doubles kept the match 'all square' but sadly finished an overall 3-4 defeat and a top four place denied. Good wins in the play-offs resulted in a creditable 5th place final place.
The Selected Girls' (Emily Bates, Yolanda King, Natalie Slater, Chloe Whyte with NPC Gail Johns) enjoyed the company of teams from Chinese Taipei, Israel, Belgium Flanders and Greece in their group. An opening match defeat against Chinese Taipei was followed by victories over the other three countries giving them a shot at the medals in the play-offs. This was a good all-round performance in both individual and doubles matches. A 4-0 loss to China, the eventual winners, gave the girls a match against the Czech Republic for 3rd/4th place. A great start by Emily and Natalie saw England with a 2-0 lead which slipped to 2-2 but the same players put in a great effort to ensure a 4-3 victory and the Bronze Medal.
A reduction in time allocation by one day resulted in the Individual Championships for both boys and girls being played as a straight knockout. Sam Walker progressed to Round 2 where he was defeated 13-11, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11 by Umud Dogan (Turkey). Sean Cullen reached the same stage of the event and was unlucky to go out 8-11, 17-15, 10-12, 11-9, 10-12 to Germany's Gregor Surnin. Lewis Gray also progressed to Round 2 before losing to Lee Chun-Lin from Chinese Taipei. Daniel Lowe put in the best performance, reaching Round 3 by beating Adrian Gaj dos Chik (Slovakia) in the second round 9-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4, before losing to Lee Chia-Sheng from Chinese Taipei.
Chantal Wilson, Sayeeda Miah, Emily Bates and Chloe Whyte all reached Round 2 with Natalie Slater making Round 3, only to be defeated by Yue Deng from China PR. Yolanda King reached the last 16 with wins over Burcak Bas (Turkey) and Pauline Clairand (France) before losing to Aliki-Maria Kioufi from Greece.
A Friendship Doubles event for Round 1/2 losers, organised for the first time, proved very popular.
At the Closing Ceremony, the Fair Play Trophy was awarded to Italy.
Thanks are due to Ransome Sporting Goods for the supply of Butterfly Clothing for the teams, to John Blackband for acting as Head of Delegation and to Margot Fraser and John Hardcastle as the England official umpires.
ALSO READ THE PLAYER'S REPORT BY NISHANTH NARAYANAN OF BEDFORD MODERN SCHOOL
