Congratulations to Aliln State, Maxime Cros from Q.E. High and Sophie Richards, James Nash and Gethin Jones from Bro Myrddin in the recent Dragon event held in Cardiff. In their first ever table tennis tournament they excelled with Alin finishing 14th, Sophie playing extremely well and finishing 20th, Maxime 23rd, Gethin, 25th and James 26th. Well done!!
Despite being just 2 weekends before Christmas the December Dragon Tournament was contested by 56 players spread between the 3 age groups.
There has now been an incredible 89 young players who have sampled competitive table tennis via the Dragon Tournaments. Indeed such is now the clamour for entries that the organisers advise players to get their entry forms off early, as the competition is full before the closing date!
The under 11 event saw Jac Jenkins in fine form winning his 2nd under 11 Dragon, runner up was Matthew Francis. Mathew also played out of his skin and some of the best table tennis I have seen him play to beat Caitlin Williams from Nantymoel. Player of the under 11 event however, must be North Gwent’s Lewis Jones, who playing in his 1st Dragon managed 3rd place.
In the under 15 event ace defender Ethan Lewis finally managed a well deserved win after being close in the last 2 Dragons, Jamie Davies was runner up for the 2nd time. Surprise of this event was TTK Tonypandy’s Callum Thomas who finished in 3rd place to spoil the Ferndale party. TTK Tonypandy’s new coach Alan Monks has certainly done a good job on this young man.
The under 13s event also held some suprises, this time in the form of the eventual winner Alex Francis from the Penlan club and member of the Swansea Centre of Excellence, and a brilliant 3rd place by Caitlin Williams of Nantymoel. Runner up was Ethan Lewis who collected his second trophy of the day.
The next Dragon will be 17th of January 2010, organisers advise entries are sent in early to avoid disappointment.
