Womens British League The 1st Weekend

The Women's British League first weekend took place at Tipton and Maria for the third year running was a member of the Ormesby team. Maria with Karina LeFevre, Sarah Berge and Chloe Whyte managed to win all their games with Maria ending the weekend with a 100% record (10 out of 10) and twp Player of the Match awards.

An impressive statistic is that in 38 games for WBL Maria has won 35 games, an impressive 92%.

You may listen to Maria talking at the end of the second day to Matt Shaw and/or watch the last point against Isobel Ashly with a pretty good backhand.

Team Results
vs Knighton Park: 6-0
vs Burton Uxbridge: 6-0
vs YHL: 6-0
vs Halton TTC 1: 6-0
vs Draycott East Midlands 1: 5-1

Individual Results
Lesley Keast Knighton Park 11-4 11-4 11-3
Alkisti Olympiou Knighton Park 11-8 11-3 11-4
Kate Hughes Burton Uxbridge TTC 11-6 12-10 11-4
Isobel Ashley Burton Uxbridge TTC 11-8 11-8 11-3
Rachel Trevorrow YHL 11-6 12-10 11-7
Victoria Smith YHL 10-12 11-7 11-7 11-2
Sarah Perks Halton TTC 1 11-6 11-4 11-3
Jasmin Ould Halton TTC 1 11-6 11-6 11-7
Natalie Slater Draycott East Midlands 1 12-10 11-7 11-6
Abbie Milwain Draycott East Midlands 1 6-11 11-8 11-7 11-7

The official report is in the following link

One Month in Shanghai summarised into a Page!

This summer I spent, what felt like an eternity, hitting a small white plastic ball back and forth in front of some unimpressed Chinese table tennis players. Four England Junior players journeyed to the east side of China, Shanghai, for a series of Chinese lessons, calligraphy, paper cutting and of course the main reason, table tennis practice.

The practice included sessions running from 8.30-11.30 with a short 15 minute break halfway through and the afternoon sessions ran from 2.30 to 5.30. The exercises set by the head coach out in Shanghai University of sport were originally challenging and pushed us to our limits but throughout the time there we grew stronger and they didn’t seem so tough at the end. Many exercises such as free play to backhand block, serve then free and relooping exercises were frequently set and with each exercise battling on for 10-15 minutes, you can imagine the amount of sweat dripping off each England player. Five to six litres of water were being drunk by us every day due to the intense training and heat. The humidity out in China exceeded our expectations for the 3 of us who had never been before; we often craved to be inside where the air conditioning could reach us.

Compulsory physical exercise was set by the England Coach, Matt Stanforth, every morning which consisted of 2km runs and core circuits, on occasions we were joined by some of the other European players who were also at the training camp in Shanghai.

As well as the training we managed to venture out into central Shanghai: on one day we went up the third tallest tower in the world and overlooked the whole of Shanghai. On another day we went to the ancient town of Shanghai followed by a trip to a traditional acrobatics show. The scariest day for many of us was the adventure to the underground markets, where the shop assistants would grab us and follow us around the market bargaining for the best price of the ‘real’ electronic items.

Lessons in Chinese (mandarin), calligraphy and paper cutting also broadened our knowledge of Chinese culture. Overall my time in Shanghai was worthwhile as I think my fitness, table tennis performance and ability has increased which was the primary purpose of going out there. I think another trip to China is on the cards.

Sainsburys UK School Games - 2014

The Games are a multi-sport event for the UK's most talented young athletes of school age and is delivered by Youth Sport Trust. They provide competition conditions akin to a major International Games for the 1,600 potential future sports stars across 12 sports. In addition to the competition element, there are opening and closing ceremonies, an athletes village and an athlete education programme.

In the Table Tennis discipline, eight regional teams compete in the Girls and Boys Team Championships with each team consisting of four boys and four girls plus two coaches. The player selection for each team is mainly based on Junior National Rankings. A Girls and Boys Individual Championship follows the team events and features all 64 players who are placed in groups of four, with the 32 qualifiers proceeding to straight knock-out rounds.

Maria played for England South West and had a terrific tournament, culminating in the runners-up positions in both the Girls Team Championship and the Girls Individual Championships - she is proudly sporting her two silver medals in the picture. Maria was beaten in the final of the latter event 3-1 by Tin Tin Ho.

In the Team event South West were beaten 4-2.

Maria  gave South West a winning start with a four-set win over Peake, but Ho levelled by beating Jazmin Johns in three.

Letitia McMullen put South West back in front with a four-end victory over Patel, but again their opponents responded as Ho and Peake won the doubles in three straight.

The clash between Ho and Tsaptsinos was always likely to be a key determining factor in the destination of the gold medals and it proved to be a high-quality match as expected.

Ho opened a 2-0 lead before Tsaptsinos took the third 11-6. The fourth was nip and tuck as the South West girl fought hard to level, but Ho just had the edge to take it 12-10.

With South East in front for the first time, Peake was not about to let the advantage slip and she saw off McMullen in three straight to complete the victory.

Both teams had cantered through their last-four clashes 4-0, South West without dropping an end against Northern Ireland, and South East against Wales – though Beth Roberts took Feredj to five.

Maria's scores for the individual event:
Maria Tsaptsinos v Kate Roberts 11-5,11-6,11-4
 Maria Tsaptsinos v Ella Patel 11-7,11-6,11-4
Maria Tsaptsinos v Hannah Clark 11-3,11-5,11-4
Maria Tsaptsinos v Olivia Churchill 11-5 11-3 11-9
Maria Tsaptsinos v Hannah Lynch-Dawson 11-4 11-7 11-8
Maria Tsaptsinos v
Lois Peake 14-12 11-6 11-8
Maria Tsaptsinos v Tin Tin Ho 13-11 9-11 3-11 5-11

Maria's cores for the team event:
Maria Tsaptsinos v S Jenkins 11-3 11-3 11-3
Maria Tsaptsinos v K Roberts 11-1 11-3 11-5
Maria Tsaptsinos v E Bolton 11-7 11-9 7-11 12-10
Maria Tsaptsinos v M Dillon 11-5 11-5 11-3
Maria Tsaptsinos v L Elliott 11-4 11-5 11-3
Maria Tsaptsinos v R Crawford 11-4 11-5 11-5
Maria Tsaptsinos v R Finn 11-7 11-5 11-8
Maria Tsaptsinos v L Peake 11-7 9-11 11-6 11-5
Maria Tsaptsinos v Tin Tin Ho 9-11 9-11 11-6 10-12

More detailed results can be found here