Well done to Griffeen Valley Educate Together National School

Griffeen Valley TTC would like to congratulate Griffeen Valley ETNS on winning the U13 Boys Division 1 Primary Schools Shield 2016-2017.  It's a fantastic achievement for the school to win two years in a row the  Leinster Schools League.

Congratulations also to the girls who were Division 1 runners up  for the second year..  They were unbeaten in the league, drawing only one match to the eventual winners.  They lost out on the Shield by only 1 point!

The boys team was made up of  Bence, Masem Tim &  Alex) - all club members.

The girls team was made up of Anna, Mia, Rose & Sadbh (Anna & Sadbh both club members)

The boys team will go on to represent Leinster in the All Ireland Primary Schools event at the Baskeball Arena..

In the Leinster Schools Cup, the boys were runners up and the girls took 3rd place.

Well done to both teams and their coach Philip Mc Laughlin.

More pictures from the All Ireland tournament here 

Boys Team with the Leinster Schools Shield

3rd place in All Ireland Primary Schools

Leinster takes gold in the Junior Interprovincials with some help from Griffeen Valley players

The junior interprovincials took place at DCU on April 16th.

At this event the top ranked Leinster players in each age category represent their province.  Art & Dillon were selected for the U13 boys team.  Mia was part of the U18 girls team and Sadbh made her interprovincial debut in the U13 girls team.

Full details of the event can be found here

Leinster came out winners and retained the Victor Barna Shield. Art didn't drop a set throughout the day and was awarded U13 player of the tournament.

More pictures from the day.

Leinster win the Barna Shield at Junior Interpros 2016 - Mia, Art, Dillon & Sadbh were part of the team.

Mia was presented with trophy for No. 1 ranking U15 girl 2015-2016

Art won U13 player of the tournament

Primary Schools International 2016, Guernsey

While the last Leinster ranking tournament was taking place, fellow club members Art & Dillon were representing Ireland at the Primary Schools International in Guernsey.

The team event started on Friday and the boys team which also included Thomas Joyce and Matthew Cherry had a fantastic tournament eventually taking the gold. The girls team made it a double win for Ireland.

In the singles event both Art and Dillon made it to the semi-finals with Art making it through to the final. He had to settle for silver losing 3-1 to English player Naphong Boomyaprapa.

Well done Art & Dillon!

Further details can be found here

Ireland Boys Team - 1st place

Boys Individual Event - Art 2nd, Dillon 3rd

Leinster season concludes for 2015-2016

For a number of our club players 2015-2016 was their first full season of Leinster competitions and each tournament brought improvement and great experience.

Over the season we have had Plate successes and some have moved closer to the finals!

In the Junior Masters on April 3rd/4th we had Adam, Sean, Kevin, Bence, Ciaran, Alex, Anna, Masem, Tim & Sadbh competing.  All had the chance to play a good few matches throughout the weekend.

On Saturday Tim played the U15 and gained some great experience for his first time in this age category.  He had a tough first group which included Alan Pattison, Paddy Vaughan and Orqo Hickey.

Sadbh & Anna played the U11 girls.  Anna finished in 4th position and Sadbh came 1st.

On Sunday we had a number taking part in the U13 boys and girls.  Alex played in the Plate semi-finals and Masem finished 7th.  Tim made it to the semi-final where he faced Tommy Nyugen (York Road TTC).  He lost to Tommy and played a very exciting 3rd/4th match against Gellert from Carlow losing 11-8 in the 5th set.

Sadbh played in her first U13 girls event this season and finished in 1st place doing the double!

Well done to all!

The Junior Interprovincials tournament takes place in DCU on the weekend of April 16th/17th April where the top junior players in Leinster will battle it out against the best of Connacht, Munster & Ulster to retain the shield.

Sadbh won U13 girls

Malacky Open, Slovakia

After a busy weekend at the Butterfly National Junior Championships, Art and Dillon traveled to Bratislava in Slovakia for a 4 day training camp where they trained with other players representing Germany, Czech Republic, Spain and Slovakia.

 

They then made the trip to Malacky to represent Ireland along with their team mates (David Taylor, Thomas Joyce, Natasya Barry & Nicole Scott) in this mini-cadet open.  It was a great experience for all with details about the tournament here

Dillon & Art with team mates Thomas Joyce & David Taylor - Coach Conn Higgins

Connacht Junior/Senior Open & Butterfly Junior National Championships

Butterfly Junior National Championships took place 5th/6th March in the NBA, Tallaght.

This was last National tournament of the 2015-2016 season.  Mia had a great double win in both the Cadet and Junior events.  Art came 3rd in the Cadet boys and 2nd in the U13 event after a 5 set thriller.  Dillon reached the U13 semi-final but lost to Thomas Joyce taking 3rd place.

Well done to Sadbh, Anna, Bence, Ciaran, Alex, Adam, Kevin, Tim, Joe & Paul who also took part. For some members it was their first National event.  More details on the event can be found here.

Photographs from the event

          

            

               

  

The Connacht Open took place in Breaffy, Mayo in February.

Mia had a great tournament winning the Cadet girls and the Senior women's singles!  She also won the mixed doubles senior event with Conor Mullally.

This was Tim's first National tournament and it was a great experience.  Art took 4th place in Cadet boys and Sadbh won the Hopes event.  More details about the tournament can be found here.

Junior British League, Derby, February 2016

Mia headed over to Derby on the weekend of 6/7 February to play Junior British League for Warrington TTC. 

This was the final weekend of two. The previous weekend in October, Warrington had won all their matches and were leading Division 1.  Their aim was to consolidate that and gain promotion to the Premier Division for 2016/17 by finishing in the top two.  Mia's teammates were Rachael, Amy and Rebecca. 3 players are on a team for each match and each player plays two singles each.

Warrington got off to a great start on the Saturday morning winning v London Academy Bournemouth 5/1 and  Ulster 6/0.  Their final match of the day was v Batts and this saw another win for Warrington - 6/0.

Warrington were still on top heading into Sunday, knowing that to be guaranteed promotion they needed to at least draw their first match on Sunday when they were up against Burton Uxbridge and draw they did! 3/3.  

In the last match they beat Draycott EM Girls 5/1 emerging as Winners of Division 1.  Mia played a total of 16 matches over the two weekends winning 15. Well done Rachael, Amy, Rebecca and of course Mia!

Griffeen Boys represent Ireland in Hungary

At the start of February, Art and Dillon made the journey to represent Ireland at the 21st Janos Molnar tournament in Budapest, Hungary.

This boys tournament is held annually by the BVSC Table Tennis Club in Budapest in memory of their former player Janos Molnar, a talented young boy who tragically lost his life in a car accident in 1995.

Joining them at the tournament were Thomas Joyce of Mayo Academy, Conor Nugent (Glenburn TTC) and Eoin Cathcart (Ormeau TTC).

Dillon and Thomas played first in the 2004 boys tournament with Dillon making it to the quarter finals!  He was knocked out by Balogh (Hungary) but brought home a medal.

Dillon & Art played in the 2003 boys the next day.  Art topped his group but was unfortunately knocked out of the next round by the Spanish player Lloret (Spain).

Both took part in the U15 and U18 events with both players performing very well.  Art was unfortunate to lose out qualifying for the 2nd round of the U15 through countback.

Further details about the tournament can be found here.

Well done to both.

Dillon & Art heading to Budapest, Hungary

Dillon with quarter final medal

Club success at Newbridge Challenger, February 7th

Some of our players took part in the Newbridge Celtic TT Challenger event.

Well done to Tim and Paul for reaching the final of Division 3.  Tim took 1st place and Paul 2nd.

Alex reached the final of Division 4 finishing in 2nd place.

Well done to all!

Alex, Tim & Paul at the Newbridge Challenger

Munster Junior & Senior Open, Neptune Stadium, January 15th-17th 2016

Griffeen Valley Table Tennis Club had a fantastic weekend at the Munster Junior Open in Cork City.

Friday 15th January:

Mia and Art took part in the Women's & Men's singles event.  Mia made to the quarter finals.  Art nearly made it to the final 16 but was knocked out by Ballincollig's Alan Walsh.

Mia entered the Women's Doubles with Leeside's Zofia Wawrzyniak and won the competition!  Dillon & Art entered the Men's Doubles and made it to the quarter finals.


Saturday 16th January:

The U15 & U11 events took place on Saturday and Griffeen Valley took three out of the four golds!

Mia & Art did the double by taking 1st place in the girls and boys U15 events while Sadbh took 1st place in the girls U11.

Mia & Art U15 winners

Sadbh with U11 girls

Sunday 17th January:

The U18 & U13 events on Sunday brought more prizes for the club.

Mia beat Chloe O'Halloran 3-0 in the girls final to take 1st place in the U18 event.  Art came 2nd in the U13 boys after a tight final against Thomas Joyce.  Dillon took third place after a tight semi-final against Art.  Sadbh came 5th in the U13 girls event.

Dillon 3rd U13

There was more to come with another great win for Mia in the U21 girls event.

There are more photos from the tournament at Munster Table Tennis and further reports available at ITTA.

Well done Griffeen Valley players - you did us proud!

Challenger success at Mountrath

Well done to Paul Lynch who finished second in his division at the Mountrath Challenger event on December 12th!

Douglas Huston Ulster Open, November 2015

Mia, Art, Dillon & Sadbh made their way to Lisburn for the Douglas Huston Ulster Open.  The event attracted top class junior and senior players from Ireland as well as abroad.

FRIDAY

Art & Mia played the Men's and Women's singles on Friday evening with Mia qualifying through to the final stages on Saturday.  She beat the Ireland number 1 to qualify for the semi-finals against the Welsh no. 1 who knocked Mia out and went on to win the trophy.

SATURDAY

Mia, Art & Dillon played in the U15 events on Saturday while Sadbh took part in the U11 event.

Mia got through to the final beating Natasya Barry of Connaught to take the U15 gold.

In the boys event Dillon was knocked out of the quarter finals by Alan Pattison and Art played an exciting semi-final match against the Swedish player Jonathan McDonald.  It was a close match which went to the fifth set. Art was knocked out but beat Alan Pattison for the bronze trophy.

Sadbh won all her matches to win the U11 girls event.

Art & Dillon paired up for the Men's Doubles event.  They went through to the consolation event after losing to Dylan Grace and Alan Walsh of Ballincollig but were knocked out in the final.

Mia played the Women's Doubles event with Zofia Wawryzniak to win the consolation final.

SUNDAY

On Sunday, Mia played in the U18 girls and Art, Dillon & Sadbh took part in the U13 event.

There were some great games throughout the day and Mia came through her matches with a second gold after meeting Nya Nyugen in the final.

Sadbh played some great matches and took 2nd place in the Band 1 final of the U13 girls.

Dillon & Art made it through to the semi-finals of the U13 boys to meet their old rivals David Taylor and Thomas Joyce from Connaught.  Art beat David for a place in the final but it wasn't to be for Dillon who eventually took 3rd place position.  Art and Thomas played a thrilling final which went to the fifth set with Art winning 11-9 to take the gold.

Well done to all - you made the club proud!

Read more about the Ulster Open results here

 

Leinster Junior Metropolitan - 2nd Leinster ranking of the season

The 2nd Leinster ranking tournament of the season attracted many young players from the province and there was quite a buzz at Palmerstown Community School on November 8th.

The players from Griffeen Valley Table Tennis had a fantastic day!

Mia won both the U18 and U15 girls tournament, while Art took 1st place in the U13 and U15 boys event.  Dillon took 2nd place in U13 and 3rd place in U15.

Omar came 2nd in the U18 boys plate while Ravi took silver in the U15 boys plate.  Tim and Masem met in the U13 boys plate final with Tim winning the plate.

In U11 girls Sadbh came 1st, Aine 3rd and Anna 4th.  In the Under 11s Paul and Joe both won some matches and went home with medals

Well done to all our players for taking part.

Congratulations to Mia on her selection to represent Ireland in the individual event at the Senior Six Nations in Lisburn November 13th-15th - Good luck!

Great performance from Griffeen in first Leinster Junior of the season

Palmerstown Community School provided the venue for the first Leinster Junior Classification of the season.

For some of our players it was their first time playing in a Leinster competition. The U13 and U18 events were played in the morning.  Mia O'Rahilly Egan played in the U18 girls event and Bence Gellert, Masem Ali, Tim Mullaney, Dillon Byrne and Art McLaughlin entered the U13 boys event.

Bence had to play club mate Dillon in the first round with Dillon going through.  Tim went through to the second round but was knocked out at this stage.  Masem made it into the U13 plate competition final and won!  Art & Dillon met in the final with Art winning 3-0 to take 1st place and Dillon 2nd place in the U13 event.  

Mia played a great match against Kate Whelan (Mountrath) narrowly losing to take 2nd place in the U18 event.

The U15 and U11 events started in the afternoon.  Ravi Seth, Art & Dillon took part in the boys and Mia O'Rahilly Egan took part in the girl's event.  Ravi went into the U15 plate competition and finished in 2nd place.

Art & Dillon came through the 2nd round grouping to meet each other again in the semi-final.  Art got through to the final against Paddy Vaughan (Mountrath).  A 3-0 victory saw Art do the double by winning the U15 boys event.

Mia got through to the final of the U15 girls but lost out to Jessie Hayes (Mountrath) to take home the 2nd place trophy.

Paul Lynch took part in the U11 boys event and played very well.  Aine Carles, Anna Gellert and Sadbh McLaughlin took part in the U11 girls.  The girls put up a great performance with Sadbh taking 1st place and Aine taking 2nd place.

What a great day for the club.  Well done to all who took part!!

Griffeen Valley players star in first National event 2015/2016

Irish Junior Classification, NBA Tallaght - September 19th/20th 2015

Day 1

Under 13 boys

Dillon Byrne and Art McLaughlin competed in the U13 event on Saturday. Both went through to the semi-finals - Dillon had to play Thomas Joyce of Mayo Academy and Art met Matthew Cherry (Glenburn). It was not to be for Dillon with Thomas going through. Art had a 3-0 victory over Matthew to meet Thomas in the final.

The match was hard fought and went to a tight fifth set with eventually Art losing 11-8 to take the silver trophy. Dillon came 3rd to take the bronze after a victory against Matthew.

Art & Dillon with 2nd / 3rd place trophies U13

Day 2

U15 boys & girls

The two boys went into battle again in the U15 event (Cadet boys). They were joined in this event by club mate Ravi Seth. Ravi had to play Dillon and Paddy Vaughan (Mountrath) in the first group. Dillon and Art got through their 1st round but had to meet in the 2nd grouping along with Thomas Joyce and Ethan Duffy. It was a tough group and only two could go through to the quarter finals. Art and Dillon had to play each other to decide and Art qualified.

Next he had to play Paddy Vaughan of Mountrath. Art won the match 3-1 and met Conor Nugent (Glenburn) in the semi-final. This match was a great display of junior table tennis which went to the 5th set. Conor was victorious and went on to win the Cadet boys. Art beat Alan Pattison of Dundrum to take 3rd place.

Mia O'Rahilly Egan played in the Cadet girls event. She qualified from her first group and went on to beat Nicole Scott (Glenburn), Pravesha Ragi (Hilton Grove) and Lucy Craig (Glenburn) to qualify top from round 2. She faced Zofia Wawrzyniak (Leeside) in the final. Mia took the gold after a 3-1 victory!

Art - 3rd - Cadet Boys

Mia - 1st - Cadet Girls

U11 - Hopes Event

Paul Lynch played in his first Hopes event and enjoyed the day with plenty of matches. Sadbh McLaughlin and Aine Carles entered the girls Hopes and had lots of fun. Sadbh won all her matches to come first - well done Sadbh.

Griffeen Valley players that took part in the first National event of 2015/2016 season

More pictures from the day here