Summer League
11th Feb to 1st April: Tuesdays from 6:30pm
Summer League has one more week to run with the Grand Final to finish the season on 1st April. This week, we played the first round of the Finals. The Avengers (Akshay Aneesh and co) won their semi-final by cruising home in a comprehensive 13:7 win over against the Kangaroos (Alvi Kabir and co.). It was much tighter in the second semi-final where the Kings of Spin (Miko Kirschbaum and co.) met the Bats (Jim Brusola and co.). Last week, the two teams had played out a 10:10 draw, with the Bats having the better games record, but this week, the Kings of Spin managed to raise their standard and narrowly won by 11:9 (42:37). In the third match of the night, the Hyenas (Maxwell Hanson and co.) beat the Balls of Fury (Matthew Ball and co.) by 12:8 to avoid coming away with the wooden spoon.
That means that in next week’s final round, the Kings of Spin (Miko Kirschbaum and co.) will come up against the Avengers (Akshay Aneesh and co.) in the Grand Final to play for this year’s Summer League title. In the other consolation matches, the Hyenas (Maxwell Hanson and co.) will take on the Bats (Jim Brusola and co.), and the Kangaroos (Alvi Kabir and co.) will take on the Balls of Fury (Matthew Ball and co.).
In the individual standings, and with more than 7 matches played, Matthew Ball remain undefeated, followed in the standings by Miko Kirschbaum (9:1) Akshay Aneesh (7:1) and Sebastian Finlayson (10:2). In the doubles standings, for combinations having played four or more matches, only the Matthew Ball/Samir Doley, Matthew Ball/Kai Tea and Miko Kirschbaum/Shane Gibson combinations still remain undefeated. In the most-improved category, Emma Chen has further extended her lead with a gain now stretching to an incredible 454 points, followed by Cristin Batchelor with an also very impressive gain of 316 points. Next come Lehan Feng with a gain of 183 points and Tao Feng with a gain of 180 points. In normal seasons, gains close to 200 points would have been enough to contest for the title of ‘Most-Improved’, but not in this season.
Competition start time is 6:30 pm for lower-ranked players, and 7 pm for higher-ranked players. The next and final round of Summer League will be played at the normal time and venue at 1 April. Upon completion of Summer League and starting on 8 April, we will launch into a number of rounds of All-Stars/Drop-In League.
Progressive results and standings are available here.
All-Stars / Drop-In League
Upon completion of Summer League, we will begin a few weeks of All-Star / Drop-In Leagues, starting on 8 April.
All-Star / Drop-In League are one-day tournaments for all players present on that day. There is no need to register, but players MUST be present by 6:45 pm to be included in the evening's draw. Players can expect to get at least 4 matches against similarly-ranked opponents. We usually have players of all playing standards, so it is a good opportunity for new or returning players, for young and old, beginners or experienced players, to have a go. Cost is $7 for the evening's play. Results from all rounds contribute towards overall progressive standings for the whole year.
Upcoming Events: 2025
North Island Team Championships
Saturday 31st May- Monday 2nd June
We are hosting this national event in Palmerston North. Team event categories will include Open, Under 19, Under 15 and Under 13. Open events are held over the first 2 days while junior age groups are held over 1 day. Under 13 on Sunday and U19/15 on Monday. Teams can include between 2-4 players.
New Zealand Open Veteran Championships
18th-21st April in Christchurch
Teams and Individuals. Players must be over 30 or turning 30 this year to be eligible. Additional information found here.
Team events are held on 18th and 19th April. If you are interested in representing Manawatu in an age group team, please let Matt know no later than Friday 7th March. .
Individual entries close on Friday 14th March. Entry must be completed online through the following link:
https://ttnz.tournamentsoftware.com/tournament/34965FAF-A611-41E6-B6C9-9471C4FA468F
Whanganui Veterans Graded Doubles
Saturday 29th March at Jubilee Extension, Springvale Stadium
Can play one or two sessions. Nominated partner for the morning and matched partner for the afternoon. Cost $15 for one session and $20 for two. Entries close Wednesday 26th March. Entry form here.
Taranaki Masters Games Table Tennis
Saturday 5th April at Stratford High School
Please find more details here. Must be at least 35 to play.
TTNZ Regional Qualifier and Wellington ANZAC Open
5th & 6th April at Empire TT Club
Entry is now available on the link below. More details including the tentative schedule can be found here. There are junior events, Over 40 events and graded events so there is something for everyone. https://ttnz.tournamentsoftware.com/tournament/21CBD897-E04E-4F1C-8E97-357FF8B7F195
Manawatu Residential Champs (Age Groups)
Sunday 8th June
More details and entry form will be emailed out later in April. Please mark the date!
Junior Happenings: 2025
Junior Holiday Programme
April 6th, 17th, 23rd and 24th: 1:00 - 3:00pm
The junior holiday programme will be held on Wednesday and Thursdays over both weeks due to public holidays:
Venue is the Waldegrave Lounge at CET Arena
Players must be between 8-15 years of age
Cost is $14 per day or $42 for all 4 days. Players can also attend individual days.
Table Tennis Manawatu Account number for online payments is 02-0628-0189072-00. For reference, please put your child's name and H Program.
Numbers are limited to around 20 players each day.
To register for individual days or all 4 days, please contact Matt (contact details below).
Junior Club Term 2
April 28th - June 23rd: 3:30 - 5:00pm Mondays
Starts Monday 28th April. There are 8 sessions in Term 2 with the last session on the 23rd of June. No session on the 2nd June. Cost is $7 each time or can pay $56 for the term. Junior Club is a great session for new players with a good mix of game play, coaching. skill based games and challenges. If your child is keen to attend in Term 2, please let Matt know.
Primary, Intermediate and Secondary School Competitions
Entries are due by Friday 11th April.
Our school competitions are running in Term 2. For more details can be found on our schools page under competitions.
Primary is on Tuesday afternoons in the Waldegrave Lounge between 3:30-5:30 pm. Teams of 2 or 3. For Years 4-6.
Intermediate and Secondary is on Thursdays in the Barber Hall. Intermediate from 3:45-5:45 pm and Secondary from 6-8 pm. Teams of 3. Intermediate is Years 6-8. Secondary is Years 9-14.
Registrations at first point should be sent to Matt from the school. If you have any queries after doing this, please let Matt know. Entries are due by Friday 11th April.
Junior Autumn Tournament
May 11th Sunday
This is the second of four seasonal tournaments which will be held this year. The others will take place in July (Saturday) and November (Sunday). Players must be Under 19 or born in 2006 or later to play. Suitable for all abilities. Players will be grouped into grades of 6-10 players with others of similar ability. Please click here for more details.
Junior Coaching Term 2
Commences: April 30th & May 2nd: 4:00 - 5:30pm Wednesdays & Fridays
Our 12 and under session moves to Wednesdays for Terms 2 & 3 with the school competitions taking place on Thursday. Invited juniors and players 13 and over continue on Fridays. Commences 30th April & 2nd May. Cost is $12 each time. There are 9 sessions on Wednesdays and 8 sessions on Fridays. No session on Friday 30th May. Fine to pay per session or $108 for Wednesdays and $96 for Fridays for the term. If a player misses a session, they are not charged. A few players will have a small credit for sessions from Term 1. Matt will confirm the amount to pay when you register. Registration for coaching is essential to help manage numbers at each session. Please let Matt know if your child would like to attend coaching in Term 2.
Other Manawatu Events from last year
Manawatu Open
Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd September 2024
This was our main event of the year, held in the Barber Hall & Waldegrave Lounge. Open and Graded events were held on Saturday. Age groups on Sunday. Age groups ranged from Under 11 up to Over 70.
We were also hosting the Inaugural Ping Pong Parkinson's NZ Tournament in conjunction with our Open this year.
All results are available via Tournament Software -
https://ttnz.tournamentsoftware.com/tournament/F428BC00-4901-41FE-83A3-120E345321F9.
Matthew Ball’s contact details
Matthew Ball, phone: 0273 412 246 or mattb.tabletennis@gmail.com.
Banking details: 02-0628-0189072-00
TTM 2025 Super 16 Competition
First competition day: 1 March
Manawatu’s Premier Individual Table Tennis Competition. The 2025 edition of Manawatu's Premier Individual Table Tennis Competition start with rounds 1 and 2 played on Saturday, 1 March (under hot and humid conditions). Matthew Ball won both rounds, with Akshay Aneesh second and Manish Ahlawat third in both the morning and afternoon round. Mohsen Kafi came fourth in the morning round and Harry Chen in the afternoon round. That means that the overall standings are led by Matthew Ball ahead of Akshay Aneesh, Manish Ahlawat and Mohsen Kafi. The next two rounds are scheduled for 10 May.
Detailed results and progressive standings of this year’s Super 16 Competition are available here.
All-Stars/Drop-In League 2025
The first round of the 2025 All-Stras/ Drop-In League was played on 4 March. Matthew Ball won that around ahead of Akshay Aneesh, Jim Brusola and Chrys Podjursky. As this was the first round for this year, the overall standings are identical to this week’s results
Progressive results and standings for the All-Stars / Drop-In League are available here. The next round of All-Stars/Drop-In League will be played on 8 April.
Most-Improved Player in 2025
In the race for this year’s Most-Improved player, Emma Chen has further solidified her position at the top of the standings. Samir Doley is now in second place in the standings, with Henry Giles in third place ahead of Lehan Feng. More notable is a large group of players with impressive recent ratings gains that are suddenly threatening the positions of the front runners. A graph with this year’s players’ rating gains is here.
Ratings adjustments and progress in the Order of Merit standings are based on results from this week’s regular round of Summer League.
Sal’s Pizza Player of the Week :
Henry Giles: 115 points
Players’ Rating Gains
Emma Chen 52 points
Diego Circelli 42 points
Lehan Feng 35 points
Sebastian Finlayson 35 points
Henry Giles 26 points
Kaushik Doley 19 points
Kai Tea 18 points
Samuel Seaholme 17 points
Eng Lim 14 points
Chrys Podjursky 13 points
Malcolm Little 12 points
Cristin Batchelor 12 points
Tao Feng 10 points
Players’ Doubles Rating Gains
Henry Giles 89 points
Emma Chen 62 points
Shuhan Cao 30 points
Diego Circelli 27 points
Sebastian Finlayson 24 points
Yunyan Liu 14 points
Order of Merit - New milestones
Matthew Ball 10,000 points
Angus Bilsland 1000 points
Emily Kan 500 points
Diego Circelli 250 points
Summer League
February to April
Summer League 2025 is underway. Progressive results and standings can be found here.
Autumn League
April to June
Autumn League 2024 has concluded. Final results and standings are available here.
Winter League
July to October
Winter League 2024 has concluded. Final results and standings are available here.
Spring League
October to November
Spring League 2024 has concluded. Final results and standings are available here.
Christmas League
December to February
Christmas League (2024/25) has concluded. Final results and standings are available here.
Super 16
Played on some Saturdays from March to September
Super 16 (2024) has concluded. Final results and standings are available here.
All-Stars / Drop-In League
Played in the period between the main comps on some Tuesdays throughout the year. Progressive results and standings are available here.
Schools' Competition
The 2024 Intermediate and Secondary Schools’ Competition is underway. Progressive results and standings are here.
