Blast from the past – Wgtn A-reserve interclub 20 years ago

Malcolm Wong has a lot of old records and sent in a story about the interclub grade he was involved in 1993, 20 years ago (pre-merger with Hutt Valley so it is only the Wellington teams). For those of you who have been around long enough some of the names will be recognisable and many are still playing today!

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Blast from the Past

1993 Wellington A Reserve Grade remembered.

There were ten teams representing seven clubs, with Titan providing three teams. After the first round the top six teams qualified for Divison 1 and the bottom four teams for Division 2. Team results, and individual averages attached.

The first round was won by Onslow A (22 points) ahead of Karori (20) and Te Rama (19). The Onslow A team were all juniors. Their top player was Jamie Lennox, who had won the NZ under 13 Boys Doubles (1992). He would be selected for the New Zealand under 17 Boys Team (1995-96). Jonathan Armstrong was to win the NZ Under 21 Men’s Doubles (1996). Andrew Wiggins was the Wellington Secondary School’s Boys Singles winner that year.

Karori had the veteran, Ken Hindson, and two juniors, Simon Reed and Mark Jurgeleit. Ken had won the Te Rama Club Singles (1989) and would be in the Te Rama Team (with Matthew Hobbs and Malcolm Wong) that would win Division 2 at the Manawatu Teams Tournament (1996). Simon would be later involved in coaching Wellington Junior teams (1998-2001) and was the Manager/Coach of the Wellington Under 19 Boys Team that won the NZ Under 19 Boys Teams Title (2000) beating Canterbury 5-4 in the final.

Te Rama had an experienced team. Malcolm Wong and Martin Young were in the Te Rama Team had won the A Reserve Grade (1991) with David Robinson. Malcolm was in the Te Rama Team that won the C Grade (1986) and B Grade (1989). He has won 9 Te Rama Club Singles and also the Titan Club Singles (1995). Martin was in the Ling Tse Team that won the C2 Grade (1987) and C Grade (1988). He has won 15 Te Rama Club Singles. Brian Neale had played A Grade for Victoria University and Newlands. He was in the Newlands Team that won the A Reserve Grade (1971,1986 & 1989). He has won 10 Newlands Club Singles.Brian was in the Victoria University Team that won the NZ University Teams Tournament (1963) and he was runner up in the Men’s Singles.

Another good junior was Graeme Windley (Onslow B) who played mainly B Grade that year. He was NZ Under 17 Boys Singles runner up (1995) and won the NZ Under 19 Boys Doubles (1996) and NZ Under 21 Men’s Doubles (1999).

Other players still involved today were Kevin Haines (Onslow B), Bob Bell (Newlands)[recently moved to Napier] and Matthew Hobbs (Titan C). Bob won the Newlands Club Singles (1996) and Onslow Club Singles (2011). Matthew won the Onslow Club Singles (2012).

In Division 1 Te Rama won all their matches. There were 2 crucial matches. In the third round Te Rama beat Karori 6-5 despite Ken Hindson winning his 3 singles. Then in the penultimate round Te Rama played the leaders Onslow A, who were leading by 2 points. Te Rama needed to win by 7-4 or more to gain 3 points and move into the lead. Onslow started well and lead 4-2 only for Te Rama to win the last 5 matches. Malcolm Wong won all his 3 singles for Te Rama. In the last round Te Rama beat Titan A 9-2 to win the Grade. Division 2 was won by Titan B.for whom Ross McFarland starred.

In the grade match against Hutt Valley (8 August) two A Reserve Grade teams were selected. A Reserve 1 (Malcolm Wong, Martin Young and Hamish Rennie) and A Reserve 2 (David Buckrell, Nick Julian and Matthew Hobbs). The Hutt Valley A Reserve 1 Team (Staff Marshall, Stan Joe and Brett Pottinger) won 7-4 and their A Reserve 2 Team (Jeremy Evans, Steve Westmoreland and Darren O’Brien) won 8-3

In the A Reserve Grade Chanpionships (25 August) Te Rama had more success. Martin Young won the Singles against team mate Malcolm Wong (1990 & 1991 winner). In the Doubles Malcolm Wong and Martin Young won for the third successive year when they beat Jonathan Armstrong and David Buckrell.

Statistics from this grade in 1993: 1993 WTTA A-reserve Interclub.

Te Rama’s 1993 A Reserve Champion Team reunite after 20 years: Malcolm Wong, Brian Neale and Martin Young.

Brian Hearfield – Technical/Te Rama Stalwart

This is the latest player profile from Malcolm Wong:

Brian Hearfield in 2011

In 1950 Brian (then 15 years old) joined the Technical Table Tennis Club in Wellington. There were 2 tables in the Technical Old Students Tennis Pavilion in Taranaki Street, which is today occupied by Massey University. On Sundays Brian would often play from noon to late at night. He recalled that players had to prove they were a certain standard to join the club. There was a limit on the membership and good players were asked to join the club, rather than the other way around.

The Technical Club was formed in 1936. The Club has won 32 Wellington interclub titles including 6 A Grade (1939-41, 1943-44 & 1946). The A Grade team included Frank Mooney, Wellington’s top ranked man (1943) who was also a wicket keeper in the NZ Cricket Team (1949-54). The W M Jackson Shield (Most interclub points) was won twice (1946 & 1977). The Sportswear Model Trophy (Highest point average for 3 nominated teams from a club) was won 6 times (1974, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1989 & 1990). The most interclub teams entered were 11 in 1971 & 1977.

Club members were involved in several notable achievements. Max Gosling was selected for the first ever NZ Team in a match against the touring Hungarian Team (1938). Eric Boniface was selected for the first NZ Team to travel overseas (1939). The team travelled to Australia for matches against state teams. John Crossley and John Stewart were in the first NZ Team at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary (1950). Crossley won the first international title by a New Zealander when he won the Scottish Open Men’s Singles held in Edinburgh (1950). Gosling (1939), Boniface (1940-41) and Crossley (1944) were ranked Number 1 in Wellington and all won the Wellington Open Men’s Singles. Crossley was North Island Men’s Singles Champion (1949).

29 New Zealand Open Titles were won. The first was achieved in 1940 when Dawn Croxton won the Women’s Doubles with Leonie Kennedy, and the Mixed Doubles with Max Gosling. This was the first year of the NZ Inter-Association Teams Championships and Wellington won both the Men’s and Women Teams Title. Club members representing Wellington were Max Gosling and Eric Boniface (Men) and Leonie Kennedy, Dawn Croxton and May Wareham (Women).

In 1950 Club members were in all 5 NZ Open individual finals. John Crossley lost to Bob Jackson (Auckland) in the Men’s Singles. John won the Men’s Doubles with Neville Brightwell (Canterbury). Margaret Hoar won the Women Singles, Woman Doubles with Thyra McGregor, and the Mixed Doubles with Owen Jaine (Auckland). As well, Murray Dunn won the NZ Under 16 Boys Singles that year. Murray was to win a record 9 Wellington Open Men’s Singles and also 4 NZ Men’s Singles (1960-63).

Margaret Hoar was the number 1 ranked Wellington and NZ Woman (1949-50) when she was at the Club. She was the Wellington, North Island and NZ Women’s Singles Champion in those years. Christine Beasley (nee McGregor) was the number 1 ranked Women for 7 consecutive years (1973-79) and won 10 Wellington Open titles including 5 Women’s Singles (1973-74, 1976-78). She was also an excellent tennis player and won the Wellington Tennis Open Women Singles (1979), achieving a unique tennis/table tennis double.

In 1967 the club moved to the Te Rama Tennis Pavilion in Kilbirnie when the Technical Tennis Pavilion had to make way for new buildings. In 1972 the club changed its name to Te Rama to meet city council requirements to stay at the site as the tennis club had folded up. In 1984 the club moved to the Kilbirnie Gym due to the Aqua Centre being built where the Tennis Pavilion was. In 1985 the club moved to St Giles Church Hall and later to the Newtown Stadium. A team was last entered in interclub in 2001.

Brian Hearfield started off in F Grade and was in C Grade the following year. He played mainly in B grade. He recalls filling in at A Grade interclub and playing Murray Dunn, Geoff Jennings, John Crossley, Ron Foster and Ivan Houghton. In 1956 at the Hutt Valley Open, Brian and Bill Stewart (both C Graders) upset Mike Beder/Stan Ferguson ( NZ Boys Doubles Champions 1955) to reach the quarter finals where they lost to the top seeds, Murray Dunn/John Crossley (NZ Men’s Doubles Champions 1954). Brian has been in 9 Technical/Te Rama winning winter interclub teams (See below).

A Reserve A Grade 1963 Brian Hearfield, Foon Chin, Thyra McGregor

B Grade 1966 Brian Hearfield, Jack Ngan, Diane Bates
1974 Brian Hearfield, Ray Bryan, Dawn Perks, Judy Sharman
1977 Brian Hearfield, D Hitchcock, Roger Watkin
1989 Brian Hearfield, Henry Anastasi, Malcolm Wong
1990 Brian Hearfield, Roger Watkin, Peter Wong
1993 Brian Hearfield, David Feist, Roger Watkin, Giles Moiser

C Grade 1959 Brian Hearfield, John Wilcox, Andy Curran
1986 Brian Hearfield. Malcolm Wong, Jeff Larsen, Olaf Leijon

Brian had the highest interclub average in B Grade (1990, 1991 & 1993). His best result was 37 wins from 39 matches (94.9%) in the B Grade (1985, 1990). He won the B Grade Singles (1966) and the B Grade Doubles with David Fry (1965) and Bruce Mills (1966). Brian represented Wellington in the annual match against Hutt Valley 7 times. C Grade (1959), B Grade (1965, 1966, 1974, 1989, 1990) and B/C Grade (1993). Wins were achieved in 1959 (7-5) 1965 (10-2) 1966 (9-3). He donated the Brian Hearfield Cup for the B Grade Singles at the Wellington Grade Championships. The first winner was fellow club member Henry Anastasi in 1989.

Brian has been Secretary, Treasurer and Club Captain for the Club. He served on the Wellington Committee (1962-77) and (1992-2009). He was a long serving member of the interclub subcommittee and chaired it when there were 167 interclub teams. Brian was the Secretary/Treasurer (1999-2001) and Secretary (2002-2009). He was a regular sight on night duty at interclub. Brian is a Life Member of the Te Rama Club (1980) and the Wellington Association (1994).

Brian played cricket for Institute Old Boys, Wellington South Institute, Technical College Old Boys and Onslow. His 1971-72 Onslow team included Trevor Mallard (Labour Member of Parliament since 1984 and former Minister (1999-2008). He was a batsman/wicket keeper with a highest score of 85 not out. Brian was in three winning teams: Technical College Old Boys 3B (1958/59); Technical College Old Boys 5th Grade (1960/61); and Onslow 3C (1972/73). The Onslow 3C Team also included a young Kevin Haines, the current TTW Treasurer.

Wellington Table Tennis Association AGM (1997)
Brian Hearfield (Life Member and Committee), Paul Escott (Life Member and President), Malcolm Wong (Secretary/Treasurer) and Eric Tindill (Life Member, The first Treasurer 1933, Double All Black)

Te Rama Club Championship (1999)
Martin Young, Roger Watkin, Brian Hearfield, Malcolm Wong, John Lister and David Robinson.

- Malcolm Wong

Lindsay Ward – The Titan Warrior

Thanks again to Malcolm for his latest player profile, this time on local celeb Lindsay Ward!

Lindsay Ward in the early 70s

Lindsay Ward in 2011

Lindsay first played Wellington A Grade interclub in 1972. Almost 40 years ago! He was also a former Wellington Regional 1 tennis interclub player for more than a decade. Lindsay is the only person to win both NZ Veterans Tennis and Table Tennis Titles. In his school days he was a fast sprinter and represented his primary and secondary school in athletics. His speed helped him in his rugby and he was a winger in the Wellington Intermediate Schools Team that won the Southern North Island Tournament (1968) where he scored 2 tries in the final. Today Lindsay is also a keen cyclist.

Lindsay first played tennis at age 10 and was a Wellington Primary Schools Representative. He won the Wellington Boys Under 15 Singles (1969). Lindsay was the Club Singles Champion at Vogelmorn (4) Miramar (2) and Wellington (5). He played Regional 1 tennis for Miramar and Wellington. In a Dominion Post story he was nick-named The Surgeon for the way he dissected his opponents. In 2000 Lindsay won the NZ Veterans Tennis Over 45 Men’s Singles, the Over 45 Men’s Doubles with Terry Poynter, and Over 40 Mixed Doubles with Robyn Flynn.

Lindsay first played interclub table tennis in 1969 for Kilbirnie RSA. By 1972 he was playing in their A Grade team with Brian Kennedy, Adrian Lust and Boris Halama. He won the Wellington Secondary Schools Table Tennis Boys Singles and Doubles title and was a Wellington Junior Representative that year. In 1973 his Kilbirnie RSA team won the A Grade title (Gerald Bell Memorial Cup). Lindsay was ranked number 1 (Wellington Junior Boys) and Number 10 (Wellington Men’s) and won the Under 18 Boy’s Singles and U21 Men’s Singles at both the Wellington Regionals and Wellington Open Tournaments. When the Kilbirnie RSA folded up, the players formed Kilbirnie United. Kilbirnie United (Lindsay with Brian Kennedy, Adrian Lust and Warren Mak) won the Wellington A Grade Competition in 1974.

1979

In 1976 Lindsay joined the Titan Club and has represents them in interclub ever since. In 1978 the Titan team (Lindsay Ward, Adrian Lust and Warren Mak) reached the final of the Rothmans National Club Competition in Auckland where they lost 4-7 to Manurewa. The Titan Team (Lindsay with Warren Mak, Adrian Lust and Nha Nguyen) won the A Grade in 1980. Lindsay was a member of the Titan team that won the Wellington Premier 1 competition for 5 consecutive years 2002-2006. Robert Chung was the only other player in the team for all 5 years. Other players included Jie Zhang, Harry Singh, Nha Nguyen and Catherine Zhou. Lindsay has also won the Titan Club Singles 7 times ( 2001-2002, 2004-2006, 2009-2010).

In the top grade Lindsay has won more than 1,000 matches. He has been the top Wellington player in the averages 18 times. Since the Premiers Grades began in 1981 Lindsay has maintained an overall average of over 83%. His best year was 2008 where he won 36 out of 37 matches played (97.30%) but was surprisingly only ranked 7th on the Wellington Men’s list. He is the only person playing Premier 1 in the first year of the competition (1981) still playing in the grade today.

In 1982, L/R: Lindsay Ward, Peter Miller, Ann Gyongyos, Kay Kelly,
Adrian Lust, Dianne Ord, Lloyd Richards, Robert Kerr

Lindsay was first selected in the Wellington Men’s Team (with Lloyd Richards and Ron Foster) for the NZ Teams Tournament in 1976. He last played for the top Wellington Men’s Team at this tournament in 2005 and would still be a contender for this team if available. Lindsay was a member of the Wellington Over 45 Men’s Team that won the NZ O45 Teams in 2004 (with Bryan McConnochie and Chris Talbot) and 2008 (with Chris Talbot and Depak Patel).

Lindsay was the Wellington number one ranked Man 17 times during the period 1978-2005. He has won the Men’s Singles at the Wellington Open 7 times over 28 years (1978, 1983, 1984, 1986, 2002, 2003, 2006) and was a losing semi finalist this year. He has also won the Men’s Singles at the Hutt Valley Open, Kapiti Open, Wairarapa Open and the Manawatu Open. In 1978 he reached the semi finals of the NZ Men’s Singles and was ranked number 9 in NZ that year. At the NZ Open Lindsay won the Over 45 Men’s Singles twice (2001 and 2008) and the Over 45 Men’s Doubles with Ian Talbot (2003). He was selected in the Over 50 NZ Men’s team in the test against Australia (2008).

This year Lindsay won the Over 50 Men’s Singles at the North Island Tournament for the third year in a row. He won the Over 30 and Over 50 Singles at the Wellington Open. Lindsay lost a close match with Craig Dye in the NZ Men’s Over 30 Singles final. He still has many years of table tennis ahead of him!

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Lindsay made it to the semi-final of this year’s Wellington Open:

Lindsay is currently 51st on the TTNZ Men’s open Ratings list (the 3rd placed Wellingtonian there).
(Thanks to the TTNZ Archives for the older photos and Win for the video.)

Warren Evans – A lifetime in table tennis

1960!

It all started way back in 1952 when Warren (10 years old) went to a coaching session at the Taita Table Tennis Club run by the English Coach, Ken Stanley. His father, Vincent, a Life Member of the then Hutt Valley Table Tennis Association, was his first coach. Both Warren and his younger brother, Barry, keenly took to the game and improved rapidly.

Warren had an outstanding junior career, winning five New Zealand Junior Titles, including the Under 16 Boys Singles (1956) and Under 18 Boys Singles (1958). In 1957, on the same day, his brother Barry won the North Island Under 16 Boys Singles while Warren won the South Island Under 16 Boys Singles.

Warren went on a table tennis OE to England (1960-62). He joined the Putney Club in London where he meet World Men’s Singles Champions Victor Barna and Johnny Leach. He played in a number of interclub leagues during the week and won the Willesden League Men’s Singles (1962). Warren formed an excellent doubles combination with South African, Derek Wall (who was to represent England and Canada). They won the Men’s Doubles at the North of England (Manchester) and West of England (Exeter) Tournaments in 1962. The highlight of the trip was playing in the European Champions (1962) in Berlin.

On his return to New Zealand Warren showed the benefit of playing overseas by twice beating former Australian Champion, Geoff Jennings, in Wellington interclub (1962). He was a member of the Wellington Team which won the New Zealand Men’s A Grade Teams Title in 1962 and 1963.

Warren then joined the Empire Club and was in teams that won 6 Hutt Valley A Grade interclub titles (1964-67, 1969 and 1972). He has won the Empire Club Men’s Singles on four occasions in four different decades (1965, 1986, 1990 and 2002). He won the 1972 Wellington Open Men’s Singles.

The highlight of his table tennis career was reaching the New Zealand Open Men’s Singles Final in 1970. He beat Gary Frew (Last 16), Richard Lee (Quarter finals) and Alan Tomlinson (Semi finals) before losing to Gary Murphy (Otago) in the final 21-15 16-21 17-21 17-21.

As a veteran Warren won the New Zealand Open Over 35 Men’s Singles (1986) and Over 45 Men’s Singles (1988 & 1990). He also won the Over 40 Men’s Singles (1988) at the NZ Veterans Championships.

Warren is still a keen member of the Empire Table Tennis Club and has a great knowledge of all aspects of table tennis and is currently on the Table Tennis Wellington executive committee.

At the Marlborough Open (1960)

L/R rear: Barry Radford (Men’s Singles winner, Mixed Doubles winner with Audrey Eden),
Warren Evans, Peter Thompson (Men’s Doubles winners)
front: Miss Audrey Eden (Women’s Doubles winner with J Sara),
Miss Jennifer Sara (Women’s Singles winner)

Winners Hutt Valley A Grade Interclub (1964)

Empire Club team: L/R Warren Evans, Malcolm Evans, Keith Pointon

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- Player Profile by Malcolm Wong