News
The UK School Games has announced that two programmes featuring highlights from this year's event held in Bristol and Bath will be broadcast on Channel 4 on Sunday 21st and Sunday 28th September 2008 at 8am. (28th September due to be broadcast at 7.25am)
04.09.08
UK School Games 2008 - Report
Table tennis squads from five English regions, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales joined athletes from Athletics, Badminton, Fencing, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Swimming and Volleyball at the Opening Ceremony of the UK School Games which were jointly hosted by the cities of Bath and Bristol.
A warm welcome was extended by the host cities and Kevin Brennan MP on behalf of the Government, before Olympic double gold medallist Rebecca Adlington opened the third annual UK School Games. The 1500 athletes, 750 officials and 350 volunteers were then entertained to a light and sound extravaganza presented by Cirque Bijou.
The table tennis championships were staged at the Sports Training Village, University of Bath with equipment and conditions at international standards, twelve courts in use throughout the competition.
The eight regional delegations playing in the team and individual championships were joined by players competing in wheelchair, standing and, for the first time, learning disability events.
In the Boys’ Team Championship, England Midlands (Chris Doran, Gavin Evans, Damien Nicholls, Liam Pitchford) cruised through their group with three straight 7-0 victories. England South West (Garth Kinlocke, Richard Marshall, Darren Reed, Mathew Ware) were less convincing in their group, narrowly beating England South East (Wing-Yung Chan, Alim Hirji, Darius Knight, William Maybanks) 4-3. In the play-off, England South East came good with Darius Knight leading his team to victory, but with Mathew Ware taking him close.
England North East (Rachel Greener, Karina Le Fevre, Chloe Whyte, Melissa Wright) joined England Midlands (Emily Bates, Lucy Davidson, Natalie Slater, Emma Vickers) as group winners in the Girls’ Team Championships only to be ousted by England South West (Hannah Hicks, Ayonija Sundararajan, Martha Travis, Joy Whitehorn) in the play-off, but the strong Midlands team went on to win 4-2 in the final.
In the Girls’ Individual Championships, following qualification from groups, the quarter-finals saw familiar faces from the English teams: Emma Vickers (Midlands) beat Claire Nelson (Northern Ireland) and Karina Le Fevre (North East) beat Sarra Wang (South East), both in five games; Melissa Wright (North East) beat Caroline Hallows (North West) and Emily Bates (Midlands) beat Hannah Hicks (South West). Current UKSG champion Vickers went down 11-9 in the fifth to Le Fevre who came back from 2 games to 1 down to beat Bates in the final 7-11, 14-12, 3-11, 11-6, 11-4.
The Boys’ Individual Championships saw Mathew Ware (South West) reach the final with close matches – Damien Nicholls (Midlands) appeared to have an easier passage to reach the same stage of the competition and went on to take the UK School Games crown 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 12-14, 11-5 – play being of a high quality and enjoyed by lively spectators. Craig Howieson (Scotland) dented the English domination by reaching the semi-final along with Mark Simpson (North East).
The Wheelchair final saw UK School Games Young Ambassador Jack Pegram (South East) retain his title from last year, beating Jack Hunter-Spivey (North West) 8-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-9. In the Standing Disability group Aaron McKibbin (South East) proved too strong for the other players including Krystian Coombs (South West) who he beat in the final 13-11, 11-4, 11-8. The introduction of Learning Disability players was welcomed by all with Alex Southern (Midlands) shading Liam Brown (Midlands) for the title 11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 16-14.
England Midlands were presented with the UK School Games Trophy by Olympic Gold Medallist Jason Gardener. Other presenters included Olympian David Hemery, Gerry Sutcliffe MP, Minister for Sport and Sue Campbell CBE, Chair of UK Sport and The Youth Sport Trust.
During the Closing Ceremony the UK School Games flag was handed over to Wales who will host the 2009 Games.
For full results see the UK School Games website – www.ukschoolgames.com, from the Homepage click on 2008 Results, then Table Tennis.
For selected photographs see the above website, from the Homepage click on 2008 Galleries, then Table Tennis.
For video clips see the above website, under Latest News click on video, then Bristol & Bath 2008.
