Annual Report 12/13 - The English Table Tennis Association

Karl Jindrak (Austria) was the
appointed ITTF Competition
Manager with Petr Bohumsky
(Czech Republic) and Karen Tonge
(England) as Referee and Deputy
Referee. Stuart Sherlock acted
as Technical Liaison with ITTF. All
the Umpires/Racket Control and
Doping Staff did an excellent job.
4.2.8 Diccon Gray, our Tournament
Manager, oversaw the event
once it had commenced and
was supported by a great team
of volunteers and staff members
including a significant contingent
from the Liverpool League.
4.2.9 The event was filmed and
televised for Sky TV in the UK as
well as ITTF live streaming and full
updates on the ETTA website and
social networks. The event was
shown as highlights on Sky in two
programmes shown 17 times from
14th-29th October. Highlights
were shown each night of the
event on Eurosport 2. China’s
CCTV5 showed live coverage in
China, also some coverage in
Japan and Singapore. The total
worldwide audience was in the
region of 50 million. The estimated
value of that TV coverage across
all the sponsors was over $68
million according to data from
ITTF.
4.2.10 The ideally located Jury’s Inn
Hotel was the base for all the
players, officials and sponsors,
providing good access to the
venue, a mere 50 metres away.
Being located on the Albert Dock
meant that players and officials
had the chance to sample the
cultural delights of Liverpool.
4.2.11 The ITTF was very pleased with
the event especially the venue
and location, and took the trouble
to tour the whole complex with a
view to other major events being
offered to Liverpool, via ETTA, in
the future.
4.2.12 The Association can be proud
of this event, which was first
class in all areas, with the only
disappointment being the low
attendances.
4.2.13 Finally sincere thanks to the
event sponsors, Liebherr, Donic,
Double Happiness, Gerflor and
Topspin Sports; all traders, Port
Designs (gift bag) and J Sainsbury
(water provision); John Moore and
Emma McHarrie of Echo Arena,
Diccon Gray, Stuart Sherlock,
Paul Cornell, all ETTA and the
wonderful volunteers; great job
well done.
4.3 Competitions Committee
4.3.1 The newly established committee
met four times over the year
with core business being an
umbrella forum bringing together
representatives from all ETTA
competitions. This seemed
to mainly serve as a ‘health
check’ reporting opportunity
and therefore may require an
amendment of committee terms
of reference going forward.
4.4 English Senior National
Championships
4.4.1 We acknowledge the considerable
and continued support from
Sheffield International Venues,
Sheffield City Council and
sponsors Tees Sport (Butterfly)
at this season’s event that was
held at Ponds Forge International
sports centre, Sheffield, 1st –3rd
March 2013.
4.4.2 The size of entry was lower than
last year but very strong in terms
of quality (relating to England
rankings). Congratulations to all
the winners, particularly Kelly
Sibley who achieved the ‘triple
crown’ for the second successive
year, and to Liam Pitchford
who won his first men’s singles
national title. It was estimated
that the number of spectators
was also slightly down on last
year though a good number
were present to enjoy the finals
session. Full results can be
found in the results section of this
report.
4.4.3 Due to cost there was no
TV coverage, however ‘live
streaming’ from one table was
transmitted onto the ETTA website
and healthy viewing figures of
approximately 11,000 ‘hits’ were
recorded. Sports presentation,
including award ceremonies, was
again enhanced with music, a
dance troupe and ‘march-ins’ to
introduce the players.
4.4.4 Development and legacy activities
were a new feature this year with
come & try tables set up in the
atrium for the general public to
enjoy alongside the development
and coaching stand. In addition,
the live streaming screen and a
results screen was on view for the
general public to raise awareness
of the competition and the sport
in general.
4.4.5 Thanks again are extended
to the hard working volunteer
team, including Stuart Sherlock
(Tournament Manager), Steve
Welch (Referee) and his team
of umpires, racket controllers,
Dave Evans and Jim Kenny (field
of play), and to Shirley Pickering
and Sandra Deaton (sports
presentation) who contributed
to the delivery of this event. The
mix of volunteers and professional
staff works well for this event.
4.4.6 The three-year contract
with Sheffield is now up and
discussions are ongoing with local
authority representatives to host
the event from 2014 onwards.
4.5 English Cadet & Junior National
Championships
4.5.1 These Championships were once
again held at the Hertfordshire
Sports Village, Hatfield, on 24th
and 25th November 2012, and
this brings to an end the current
agreement with this venue.
4.5.2 The change in the event format
has reduced the income from
entry fees to offset the costs of
the event.
4.5.3 We congratulate all the winners,
which can be can be found on
page 40 in the results section.
4.6 English Under 11-14s National
Championships
4.6.1 The now regular qualification took
place with great support across
the regions on 6th and 7th April
2013.
4.6.2 This year’s finals were staged
at the Tipton Sports Academy,
Tipton, on the 1st and 2nd June.
This year 150 boys and 101 girls
battled it out for the 10 national
titles on offer.
4.7 Other Events
4.7.1 Social competitions are within the
remit of the competitions staff,
and several avenues have and
are being pursued in this area
of work as it will help to achieve
Departmental Reports
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