NZ Junior and Cadet Open Report

Malcolm Wong flew up to Auckland for the recent KVB Kunlun TTNZ 2012 New Zealand Junior & Cadet Open held April 19-22. He was there as one of the official umpires and I hear it was non-stop at the umpire stand for all umpires involved so thanks to all of them! Following is Malcolm’s report along with photos borrowed from various sources. Local Wellington and Belmont player Thom Nguyen represented New Zealand at this event.

Results and details are on this page on the TTNZ website and on the ITTF website.

Junior Boys Doubles Final (22 April)
Ben Hurr (Umpire) Thom Nguyen (NZL) Daniel Lowe (NZL) Nathan Van Der Heiden (AUS) Dillon Cathcart (AUS) Malcolm Wong (Umpire)
Match won by Cathcart/Van Der Heiden 3-1 (11-5 5-11 11-7 11-7)

NZ Junior and Cadet Open – Cadet Girls Doubles Final (22/04/2012)
Malcolm Wong (Umpire), Ruofei Rao (NZL), Sophia Dong (NZL),
Samantha Ong (MAS), Desiree Hung (HKG), Graham Boyton (Umpire)

This tournament was held at the Auckland Table Tennis Stadium at Newmarket, Auckland. There were 82 participants (46 boys and 36 girls). Most were from New Zealand (37) and Australia (23).Other countries were The Cook Islands (8), Kirabati (3), Hong Kong (2), Malaysia (2), New Caledonia (2) Singapore (2) Norway, Solomon Islands and Thailand.

Only 6 umpires were available for all 4 days, with a few more on Saturday only. This meant the umpires were required for all rounds from 9am and finishing 9pm for the first 3 days. Play on the last day finished at 7pm. So it was a very tiring experience for the umpires. On the first day I umpired 8 team matches. I umpired the finals of the Cadet Boys Teams, Junior Girls Oceania World Championship Qualification, Cadet Girls Doubles, Junior Boys Doubles and the Junior Girls Singles.

Thom Nguyen was Wellington’s sole player at this tournament. He won a Bronze Medal in the Junior Boys Team as a member of New Zealand B (with Daniel Lowe). These two also won the Silver Medal in the Junior Boys Doubles.

-Malcolm Wong

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PS: A great news story on Manawatu umpire Val Scarr is here.

Half way around the world to Te Rama

Now that it is April 2, I can add that the following is completely false!

World #2 Liu Shiwen of China notices the scoreboard being turned

Malcolm pulled off quite a coup recently on one of this recent umpiring trips overseas. As reported by the Guangzhou Gazette, following a quarter-final match that Malcolm was umpiring, world women’s number 2 Liu Shiwen was impressed and approached him to ask about learning the art of umpiring in New Zealand.

Apparently Liu Shiwen has long had an interest in New Zealand since playing rugby for a Guangzhou local side and watching the All Blacks while growing up. After being umpired by Malcolm, Liu was reported as saying that she noted that he was able to stay awake for the entire match; turned the score cards with precision; and she was particularly impressed with the net measuring tool Malcolm deployed prior to the match starting.

After some discussion Liu has arranged to come to Wellington to learn umpiring and in return she will play with Malcolm Wong and Martin Young in Premier 1 this year under the revived banner of the Te Rama Club, though whether she will play one or both doubles matches is yet to be determined as Martin and Malcolm have been a pretty mean doubles combination in the past.

International Umpire in our Midst

I talked to Malcolm Wong following the recent 2010 Junior Open:  ”I became a provincial umpire in 2000 as I felt I should know the rules of the sport I played.  Umpiring at the NZ World Junior Circuit Tournament in Wellington (2003) encouraged me to go further in umpiring.  I umpired the world men’s number 1, Ma Long, at this tournament.”

In 2004 Malcolm became a National Umpire, a National Referee in 2007, and then passed the International Umpires exam in 2008.  Last year he umpired at the French Junior Open and the Commonwealth Championships.  After attended and passing an exam at a Racket Control Seminar (5 April) in Auckland he can now  be appointed to be Chief Racket Controller at ITTF Tournaments.

On umpiring at the recent NZ Junior Open (6-9 April) in Auckland:  ”The first three days I was umpiring twelve hours each day, including 21 matches on day one.  A lack of umpires meant I was umpiring virtually every round!

“Umpiring requires a good knowledge of the rules, the ability to concentrate during matches and apply the rules in an impartial manner.” – If you are interested in learning more about Table Tennis umpiring, Malcolm would love to hear from you!

NZ Junior Open 2010 – Cadet Girls Singles Final (9April). Richard Ammundsen (Assistant Umpire) Wong Chung Wan (Hong Kong) Lily Phan (Australia) Malcolm Wong (Umpire).

Racket Control Seminar: Paul Jackson, Steve Reilly (Fiji) Malcolm Wong, Fanny Ho (Australia) Piet van Egmond (Course Instructor – Netherlands) Tomoko Fukudo (Japan) Bryan Yan Jennifer Tang, Daniel Fan

Attached: Malcolm’s Report on Racquet Control Seminar and New Zealand Junior Open 2010