19th September-07
Poland v China in Spectacular Harlow Super League Final

Did I read that correctly? Poland v China? In Harlow of all places. Was this an international ranking tournament? Well for answers to all these burning questions and more read the below, Super League is back!
It was the first meeting of the new season in BATTS 2nd season at their new home, the Norman Booth Centre. A rejuvenated centre close to all major road links, had a very professional and 21st Century feel to it. Rumours of plasma screens in the main hall and streaming matches live over the internet are rather exciting. Gratitude must go to Barry Granger, Neil Brierley, Fred Dove and team for another wonderful evening of table tennis. Neil, for such excellent overall co-ordination and attracting such a quality field. "Where does he get them from?" - I heard from a curious Peter Radford. Well I can reveal the Polish link (Filip Syzmanski) came from Eli Baraty and the young lady from China (Katie Shuying) from Mr John Holland. Unsure of Katy's ability, John wished to trial her prior to this weekend's Premier British League Weekend. Impressed with this performance, no doubt Katie will slot straight into the BATTS 1st team, rotating with Craig Bryant, John, Neil Charles & Ritchie Venner. Nearly as good as their 2nd team of Sean Gibson, Fred Dove, Abigail Embling & Oscar Selfridge. Joe Kennedy and Martin Kubert to come in. BATTS might be in trouble against Mossford though, while Euan Liddle and Matt Spero can't seem to crack the art of winning against players they should beat, super league is evidence of both raising their games against the top players.
Awesome Power
Filip was just too powerful in the end for Katie, generating too much topspin and therefore blocks missed the table by some stretch. The Polish player really showed everyone great technique, generating tremendous power that hadn't been seen elsewhere in the hall that evening. Katie beating players like Lorestas Trumpauskas and Hubert Noah 3-0 & Costas Papantoniou 3-2. Costas was very animated, certainly scaring most of us with his very deep voice. Exclaiming "yes" after key points against the likes of Zoltan Hosszu, Euan Liddle & Mark Smith. Papantoniou looked sharp and in winning form. He took all these scalps succumbing only to the excellent two wing hitting of Shuying and 9 in the fifth at that, pushing Katie further than any other player up until the final. Although, I would recommend random drugs tests be carried out by the tournament committee, having said that we congratulate Mr Papantoniou on his amicable attire. Whether, the same results could have been achieved with shorter or even longer shorts is another question. Noah didn't slip up again, looking particularly dominant in his final matches against Tom Cutler & Matt Spero, Spero managing only 15 points overall.
Buffet Spread Boosts Energy Levels
Neil Charles had a pretty decent run, beating Trumpauskas for a bronze finish and losing only to Syzmanski. However at 6-11, 11-6, 6-11 leaving a 2 sets to 1 deficit in round one against Matthew Mulley, Charles was in trouble. Neil did well to recover to a 11-3 in the fifth win and seemingly didn't look back, destroying the likes of Steve Dobbins and Ashley Stokes in due course. I say destroying, perhaps better described as muddling through 6 in the fifth against Dobbins in the last 16 and 4 in the fifth against Stokes in the last 8. With 4 out of 5 matches going to 5 sets, Neil was appeciative of the buffet put on upstairs. I certainly found a strong correlation between stuffing my face and producing excellent table tennis. After a 3-0 defeat to Oscar Selfridge I hit the Carrot sticks and honey mustard dip, only to find a complete transformation giving Abdalla Al hajiri (3-0) and Yasir Mauthoor (3-2) no chance whatsoever. Although, considering the number of jewish players in the draw (5 in total) perhaps the amount of pork products on show was excessive. Perhaps next time also, those mini-pitta breads would also go down well!
Mauthoor's Progress v Spero's Consistency
The win against Mauthoor was poetic justice somewhat for Yas, the contraversial Progress player. Follow Mr Mauthoor around the circuit and you will never be far away from a debate.
Amidst the exceptional play from our foreign visitors, there were some notable absentees, John Holland couldn't quite make it in time, Gergely Urban may well have been caught up in the terrible traffic that we were all subjected to with the M25 closed and major roadworks on the A406. No Abdul or Jimmy Walsh either, no doubt too scared of drawing me first round and getting whipped.
Best of the Rest
Well what else? Mark Mulley impressed with a win over Abdalla Al hajiri, clearly father Paul taking the two brothers around many different clubs and tournaments is bringing fruitful results. It wasn't Tom Cutler's night against chop - losing out to both Steve Dobbins and Euan Liddle. Dobbins had his best night to date also defeating Yasir Mauthoor after being 2-0 down and seemingly out of it. Regarding juniors, the common philosophy of most seems to be if they are good enough, then let them play. I guess the estimation on whether they are good enough or not is another question and if there are 8 juniors all around the same level, still really looking to breakthrough to the level where they can even challenge that third tier of Super League (get in the 17th-24th positions), then perhaps play them but only when stronger players are unavailable and maybe even rotate the places to accommodate all the juniors being able to have a go. Certainly, good behaviour is noticed, but it is disconcerning when juniors disrespect their more experienced elders and the kids must realise super league is strong and every point counts. Heads going down half way through games and cocky attitudes don't do anyone any good. Any road, something the committee are considering for the future is a cap of around 8 on junior players to ensure the strength, variety and depth of super league is kept in check - somewhat pivitol to its success - I think you'll agree
When's the next one? 18th September, 2nd October, 6th November, 4th December, 8th January, 5th February, 11th March and 1st April - all going in my diary now. See you then. Not on valentines this year in Feb though, which is a shame, I think those that attended rather enjoyed the romantic atmosphere.
Congrats to Steve Leven on his award for ETTA Press Officer of the year award for his work on the Wembley & Harrow League. Who is nominating me for next year?
Cheers
Keith