July 2019

Bristol Civil Service Table Tennis Club

Newsletter

Terry Toghill, Chairman of the Table Tennis Club

Issue 19

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a great table tennis season?

First of all I would like to thank all the guys and ladies who turned up at the club

on a recent Saturday morning to clear out the rubbish from the club lo� – you will

see here the skip that was filled. This was a vital exercise under Health and Safety

Regs and to make sure that our insurance was in order. As you all know, the lo�

was closed for week. Thanks to your efforts the closure was very short. Well

done. It was also great for me to meet so many members and players, for the first

(me in a lot of cases. Rest assured that your table tennis commi)ee had explored

several suitable alterna(ve venues and we would have been ok for our sport, and

would have moved if it had been necessary. Luckily it was not.

FUTURE OF THE CSSC

The Bristol Area CSSC Management commi)ee are deeply commi)ed to keeping our club open. Discussions have

recommenced with the new CSSC Director of Strategy and seem to be having a posi(ve outlook. However, the

Management commi)ee are convinced that we have evidence which proves that the club was bought by the

Bristol members for the Bristol members and it is not in the power of the CSSC to close the Bristol club. Please be

aware that should the proposed closure of our club become a serious issue again, we will release a storm of

support and publicity. I will not provide details here. Let's just say that we haven't started yet and are well

prepared. As far as our table tennis prac(ce and matches go, we are fine for next season. We are in nego(a(on

with Table Tennis England and the CSSC commi)ee to purchase a special rubberised floor for the lo� area. I will

keep you informed when I have more on this to tell you.

Finally, I hope that you are all signed up and ge6ng ready for a really successful new

season. May all nets and edges next season be yours except if you're playing against me.

Have a good one.

Terry Toghill

Table Tennis Club Chairman July 2019

Inside this issue

Tony Nelson 2

Club news 2

Overview of 2018–2019 winter season

2

Captains’ reports 3–5

Transplant Games 5

2019 winter league 7

TTE membership 6

Duncan Jones: notes 6

The Summer League is well

supported again this year,

and we are pu6ng out four

teams across the divisions:

Civil Service A

Duncan Jones (C)

Steve Kingsco)

Mark Orris

Charlo)e Taylor

Civil Service B

Nuno Moura (C)

Evan Kaffas

Paul Whitehead

Rebecca Burton

Civil Service C

Tony Cooper (C)

Mark Kinlocke

Richard Rees

Vivian Henry

Civil Service D

Paul Mackereth (C)

Mar(n Turner

Vasily Pribylov

Garry Ford

John Bedwell

Old-style table tennis:

5 serves, up to 21, two

games, with handicaps

according to the last winter

league performance. Every

point counts!

Summer league 2019

Page 2 Issue 19

Tony Nelson, Chairman of the Bristol Civil Service Sports Club

First and foremost, I would like to thank the members of the Table Tennis Sec(on who a)ended the AGM in New-

port on 17th June. Once again it demonstrated to the CSSC Management team that Bristol will not go away but will

con(nue to fight its corner. I was approached a�er the AGM by one of the CSSC directors who is keen to try and

start talks to resolve the present situa(on. I have confirmed that I am prepared to talk but I will not be bullied as

we have been in the past. We remain firm in our belief that this club and land was purchased and paid for by the

Bristol members and therefore belongs to Bristol. It won’t come as a surprise to hear that the CSSC believes it be-

longs to them by default – it will probably be one for the lawyers to resolve. I am hopeful that a solu(on could be

found before the end of the year.

In the mean(me, it is good to see business recovering from the dip it took following the CSSC announcement to

close us. Bookings are increasing especially for day (me events and we are also looking forward to the August to

May sports seasons. We are also now talking with sport and leisure organisers at Abbeywood and believe that a

number of new sports sec(ons will start up over the coming months. We are currently talking to outside

organisa(ons as well as key Civil Service stakeholders to market the use of our facili(es more and more during the

day. We will also be making some changes in the coming months to help facilitate these opportuni(es. Please

remember to recommend us at work for a mee(ng and conference loca(on. Not only are our rooms good value for

money, so are our refreshments and buffets.

Table Tennis con(nues to be our largest sec(on and we look forward to having all the tables busy again once you

guys have had a well-deserved summer holiday. You never know, I might even pop up for a knockabout one day.

Tony

Tony Nelson, Chairman of the Bristol Civil Service Sports Club

Division Team Posi(on Teams in

division

Premier Saracens 9 14

1 Warriors 2 13

2 Spartans 9 13

2 Saxons 12 13

3 Vikings 3 12

3 Buccaneers 10 12

4 Trojans 9 12

5 Commandos 4 13

5 Barbarians 7 13

6 Gladiators 2 13

6 Mighty Pythons 4 13

7 Pirates 6 13

7 Cavaliers 11 13

Final positions at the end of the 2018–2019

winter league

President

Ken Simmonds

Chairman

Terry Toghill

Deputy Chairman; Coach-

ing and Compe&&ons

Mark Kinlocke

Club Secretary

Duncan Jones

Team Secretary

John Bedwell

Treasurer

Mark Kinlocke

Welfare Officer

Tim Harris

Publicity Officer

Charlo)e Taylor

CSSC Table Tennis Commi*ee

• The CSSC team of Daniel Moses, Louis Price and

James Rule won the Belsten Cup last season,

bea(ng the Failand team of Dave and Michele

Reeves and Emma Rose 5–1. The first (me the

club has won this pres(gious trophy.

Great result, well done, guys.

• Louis Price, our under-18 English Interna(onal,

represented his country this year and also won

the Bristol Closed Singles Trophy.

Well done, Louis.

Club news

Page 3 Issue 19

Team reports for the 2018–2019 season

Premier Division Saracens finished 9th out of 14 teams

Division 1 Warriors

A very evenMul year with 9 players represen(ng the team. We started off the season

as a middle third team. But towards the end of the first half we were strengthened

and became not only strong in the 1st

Division, but on paper, the strongest in the

league.

We could not convert that strength to winning the division due to individuals’

unavailability for some matches. However, Warriors ended up in second place so for

19–20 the team will be in the Premier division.

Big thanks to the team. Warriors showed great team spirit and grit when necessary.

Let’s go for it in the prem.

Mark Kinlocke (captain)

Division 2 Spartans

Spartans had a fairly fragmented season. We had a good start with Akram Elnour, our new signing playing well, but

we lost our captain Chris Adamek to injury a�er only 6 games. From then on we struggled with consistency ending

the season with 9 different players on the books!! There were s(ll individual moments of brilliance that kept us

comfortably in division 2. Many thanks to Steve, Pabs and Akram for playing the majority of the games. Let’s push

for division one next season!

Jon Sellars for Chris Adamek (captain)

Division 2 Saxons

2018–2019 Table Tennis season as seen through the eyes of Saxons wiff waff team.

Well that’s another season over, last season we decided that a brief excursion in Div 2

would do us three (no one else wants to play with us!) a power of good, some much required respite from Div 3

where we spent many a happy hour, playing against guys and gals we have grown to know and like and dislike over

many years.

We were by far the strongest, most consistent, reliable, thirsty team in Div 2. Our posi(on in the league was steady

throughout the season at around about bo)om or next to bo)om, which takes some doing with a three man team!

We managed to increase the takings in most local hostelries that were close to our away team pitch, and keep the

bar going at the Civil Service Club, which is rarely used by our teams from what I can see.

We were talking a�er the season (in a pub strangely) that there is very li)le difference between success and

failure (we have mastered the la)er); if we had won only half of our doubles matches we would have been mid-

table easily, or if 30% of the 5 set games had gone our way we would have been even higher, such small percent-

ages that make or break a season.

We endeavour every season to prac(se, arrive early, not to drop serves, and concentrate that li)le bit harder on

each point, somehow it never seems to work out that way, but next season…..

All the very best to all the Civil Service teams this season, and remember it’s only a game, we are there for fun and

enjoyment, there are plenty of guys that are six under that would love to play as badly as we all can from (me to

(me, so stay calm, don’t lose your temper and most of all SMILE.

Geoff Dyer for Rich Cable (captain)

Division 3 Vikings

The 2018–19 season started just like the last one. Not very well. We managed to lose our

first three games, however, we turned it around and lost only a further three games the rest of the season. We

finished a very creditable third place.

Many thanks to Mark Curry, Tim Harris, Tony Cooper and Lawrence Dack (guest player from Aldershot).

Oh and by the way, modesty prevents me telling you that I had a 75%. Nice change that?

Terry Toghill (captain)

Name Played

Chris Price 60

Daniel Moses 42

Jay Price 42

Louis Price 27

Pradeesh Mappa 21

Lorenz Fritsch 9

Akram Elnour 6

Mark Kinlocke 6

Paul Brana-Mar(n 3

Issue 19 Page 4

Team reports con&nued

Division 3 Buccaneers finished 10th out of 12 teams

Division 4 Trojans

Trojans finished seventh in a compe((ve division 5, where most sides were capable of bea(ng each other. Both

promoted sides had one excep(onal player which gave them the edge.

As for Trojans, Will and Mark both had very good seasons. Will with more (me for prac(ce could play a couple of

divisions higher and I expect the improvement Mark showed to con(nue this coming season. Manu did well and I

expect him to do be)er this year as he becomes more used to the senior game. Personally I had a poor season so

will be dropping to division 6.

John Bedwell (captain)

Division 5 Commandos

The Commandos got their Division 5 debut going right from the start and it was as if we were born to be there. We

se)led in well and it always looked like a 4th place finish when the opposi(on became clear. Jon Nomm hit a nice

75.81% average, Duncan Jones 54.84% and Steve Kingsco) 47.69%. Dean Wilson was out with a long term injury so

we were supported by lots of players who came up and added lots of games for us. Many thanks to them for step-

ping up. We’re looking forward to another great Division 5 season and with a bit of luck we could make the top 3!!

Duncan Jones (captain)

Division 5 Barbarians finished 7th out of 13 teams

Division 6 Mighty Pythons

I’m delighted to have this opportunity to tell everyone about our first season in the

league and how much fun and excitement we’ve all had. Our team, the Pythons, are composed of Nuno, Rebecca,

Jeff, Evan, and me, Paul. For me, Nuno, and Evan, it's our first experience of league table tennis. Our name, the Py-

thons, is a bit incongruous, we didn’t realise un(l a�er we’d submi)ed it that the names of all the other teams in

the league are based on themes, but just because we’re in a minority of one, doesn’t mean we’re wrong. I think

Albert Einstein said that, or maybe it was Evan. Now I’ve men(oned Evan, let me tell you about him. Evan loves

playing doubles, in fact, he insists on playing doubles, and as he is best friends with our captain, he tends to play a

lot of doubles. I was only speaking with Evan a few days ago, I asked him what he’d got up to over the weekend, he

told me he’d bought a couple of rubbers for £150, so I said to him, because I know Evan very well, ‘I’m far from an

expert in these ma)ers, but £150 for a couple of rubbers seems extor(onate,’ so he said to me that, ‘if you glue

them on well and don’t use them too much, they can last for ten years,’ so I thought to myself, Paul, you know

nothing, you idiot, you glue them on and they can last for ten years, so I said to Evan, ‘even so, £150 s(ll seems ex-

cessive,’ so Evan con(nued, ‘but Paul, these are state-of-the-art rubbers, they’ll give the balls a tremendous spin’.

So I said to Evan, ‘how is that possible, it sounds a bit dangerous to me,’ then he looked at me a bit non-plussed,

and we resumed our conserva(on about his budgerigar. [Note from editor: Paul assures me that this is a verba&m

account of an authen&c conversa&on.]

Rebecca is the lady of the team. With a penhold grip and quick footwork, she has no problem playing shots from

the LHS of the table. We expect Rebecca to be averaging over 75% next season.

Jeff can quite literally return shots from anywhere, playing aggressive returns six or seven yards from the table. He

is our most spectacular player.

Nuno is Mister consistent, averaging nearly 90% last season. This season he has been a flat hi)er, although he can

loop well, if required. He makes very few unforced errors and has some very tricky serves. Nuno has the wit and

skills to play at a much higher level. Expect to see him in divisions 2 or 3 soon.

Let me say a bit more about Evan. Evan is our most compe((ve player and is, generally, a very good tac(cian. He

once had a na(onal ranking in Greece for junior tennis. He has an excellent forehand drive but can push and chop if

Thank you very much to all those who have contributed to this newsle)er. I am always very grateful for ideas for ar(cles

and offers to write them! If you have any photos of club members in ac(on, do send them to me for the next newsle)er.

Charlo)e: charlo)ejanetaylor@(scali.co.uk / 07976 922636

Issue 19 Page 5

Team reports con&nued

that becomes necessary.

Now me. I’m the least successful player in the team, but with a small library of books, regular prac(ce and

occasional coaching, I’m probably the most dedicated. I hope to play at a much higher level some day.

Paul Whitehead for Nuno Moura (captain)

Division 6 Gladiators

The Gladiators had a great season, thanks chiefly to the storming performances of Camille and Andrew, who

finished the season on 98.11% and 87.1% respec(vely. We therefore finished second, just 10 points behind our

arch rivals, Filton Britannias, and both teams will head up into the dizzy (for me, at least) heights of Division 5 next

season. With Vasily out injured quite early on, we were delighted to recruit Jack, who had just joined the club. He

hadn’t been playing up in the club for more than 5 minutes before I was asking him about his availability and he

has brought great cheer and good humour to our mul(-na(onal team. It has been a great pleasure to play with

such a friendly and spor(ng team and I’m looking forward to the next season.

Charlo)e Taylor (captain)

Division 7 Pirates

Ken Simmons con(nues to break all records. In the season in which he celebrated his 90th birthday, Ken defied the

odds by recovering from a knee replacement opera(on and an eye opera(on to successfully compete in his 69th

consecu(ve season in the Bristol and District Table Tennis league… well done Ken, a role model to us all.

The season started with the Pirates having a full crew complement of Pete Harrington, Ken Simmons, Ron Money

and debutant Viv Henry and high hopes for sailing through the season and broadsiding the opposi(on in search of

the elusive booty that the Pirates always seek. However always beware of the curse from ‘the deep’ and a�er a

couple of matches it struck, with injury to Ron who was forced to miss the rest of the season and Ken who was

struggling with an eye problem (he refused to wear an eye patch and look like a proper pirate). That required some

quick thinking, and we arranged a covert pillaging raid on Westbury Hyenas and press-ganged Garry Ford into re-

turning to our crew with promises of many riches.

Despite the early setbacks we recovered to finish the season in a creditable 6th place with Pete and Garry leading

the way in the averages and important contribu(ons from Ken and Viv, who in his first season se)led in and

showed improvement throughout.

The crew finished the season in high spirits, probably due to breaking out the barrels of rum, but also looking

forward to a period of shore leave and frequen(ng the local taverns un(l we raise the anchor and hoist the Jolly

Rodger for our next journey into the choppy waters of Division 7.

All members of the Pirates would like to thank everyone on the commi)ee for their sterling work in managing to

get a reprieve from the threatened closure of the Civil Service Club and enabling us to con(nue our table tennis

careers.

Pete Harrington (captain)

The Bri(sh Transplant Games are held every year to celebrate survival a�er transplant and to bring

organ dona(on to the a)en(on of the public. I have competed several (mes over the years as I had a

stem cell transplant in 2003 a�er falling ill with leukaemia. There

were about 1000 compe(tors and 1500 supporters in Newport

last weekend, taking part in a huge range of sports, including

archery, swimming, track and field, cycling, darts, tennis, squash

and ten pin bowling. I competed in the table tennis compe((on

and was delighted to win the gold medal in my age category! Transplant Sport aims to raise

awareness of the need for organ dona(on, encourage transplant recipients to lead ac(ve lifestyles and show

apprecia(on for, and remember, donors and their families.

Do please consider signing up for organ dona(on – and if you don’t already give blood, might you give it a go? A�er

my transplant I was given pints and pints of it to keep me going! Charlo)e x

Bri&sh Transplant Games in Newport, July 2019

Issue 19 Page 6

A few comments from our new Club Secretary, Duncan Jones

My first job as new secretary at our club is to thank Chris Adamek for doing so much work to

help keep it going into the future. We owe him and the rest of the committee a big debt of

gratitude for the efforts that have got us to where we are today.

Club Membership

TT Club membership is still running at 60 TT club members with most playing in the league.

On top of that we probably have 40+ CSSC members who just use our facilities for practice.

We will be fielding 14 teams in the winter league this season and will be welcoming several

new players.

Highlights of the 2018–2019 season were promotions to the Premier for Warriors and also Gladiators who go from

division 6 up to division 5. Well done to those two teams! We had one relegation for Saxons who drop to division

3. Everyone else stays put and fights on for 2019-20.

Club Development

The club continues to offer 6 tables and a club robot table for organised practice on Monday, Friday and Sunday

evenings from 19:00 and Tuesday and Thursday lunchtimes from 11:00. Playing is available at other times for the

cost of £6 per hour for the hall. The committee negotiates with the CSSC to keep your costs down for table tennis.

Dan Ives, our Bristol coach, continues to run Saturday morning coaching sessions for Juniors, and coaches Seniors

on request depending on his availability. He also delivers coaching at other clubs and venues in the area and is now

an international TT celebrity playing exhibition matches with some of the world greats in TT and commentating for

TV on international tournaments. Dan will also offer coaching on a one-to-one basis, again depending on his very

busy schedule.

Duncan Jones

Table Tennis England has launched a new membership plaMorm, TT Memberships.

Launched in partnership with Sport:80, the new system aims to be)er support the

sport in this digital era. The plaMorm provides members with all the tools they

require to manage their online engagement with the sport, beginning with member-

ship registra(ons and renewals from the 2019–20 season. The long-term vision is to

work towards a single plaMorm whereby members will be able to manage their table

tennis profile with ease, enter all Table Tennis England sanc(oned tournaments online, view up-to-date results

and rankings, amongst a host of other features.

How to access TT Memberships for the first &me:

In order to access TT Memberships, go to h)ps://tabletennisengland.co.uk/membership/register-or-renew/ and

follow the instruc(ons carefully. For security reasons, members need to set up a new password and update their

personal details. Please note that you will no longer log in with your TT ID. Instead you will log in using your email

address. However, you will retain your TT ID, and this will con(nue to be your membership number and linked to

your account.

Online and phone membership renewals are open now.

If you have any ques(ons or concerns around TT Memberships, please contact the dedicated helpline by phoning

01908 208863 or by emailing helpdesk@tabletennisengland.co.uk.

Table Tennis England’s new membership pla?orm

Issue 19 Page 7

Civil Service teams for the 2019–2020 winter league

More informa&on?

If you have any ques(ons about any aspect of table tennis at the Bristol Civil Service Table Tennis Club –

membership, coaching, costs, how to get involved in a team, what happens at club night on a Sunday –

please get in touch with Duncan Jones at duncanjones324@b(nternet.com and John Bedwell at

johnabedwell@gmail.com. Many thanks to Chris Adamek for his years of great service to the club – he will

now be enjoying his table tennis at St George.

Premier division

Saracens

Emmanuel Le Boulbar

Miguel Oliveira (captain)

Rob Kendall

Sorin Moise

Warriors

James Rule

Chris Price

Daniel Moses

Louis Price

Roget Kov

Mark Kinlocke (non-playing captain)

Division 2

Spartans

Mark Kinlocke

Jaycob Price

Jon Sellers (captain)

Steve Allen

Akram Elnour

Saxons

Geoff Dyer

Jim McLean

Rich Cable (captain)

Paul Brana-Mar(n

Vikings

Anthony Cooper

Mark Curry

Terry Toghill (captain)

Tim Harris

Division 3

Buccaneers

Ralph Mundy

Richard Rees

Robert Dixon (captain)

Tom Hicks

Division 4

Trojans

Colin Dowding

Mar(n Turner

Paul Mackereth (captain)

Razi Ahmed

Fusiliers

Camille Dominique (captain)

Dean Barmby

Will Wickens

Emmanuel Leach

Division 5

Barbarians

Nuno Moura (captain)

Evangelos Kaffas

Paul Whitehead

Rebecca Burton

Commandos

Duncan Jones (captain)

Steve Kingsco)

Mark Orriss

Dean Wilson

Gladiators

Andrew Ng

Charlo)e Taylor (captain)

Vasily Pribylov

Jack McCullough

Division 6

Vigilantes

John Bedwell (captain)

Peter Harrington

Jeffery Griffin

Division 7

Pirates

Ken Simmons (captain)

Vivian Henry

Ronald Money

Garry Ford

Rosie Pearson

Cavaliers

Hannah Luckhurst

Dominic Pipe

Michael Miles (captain)

Steve Williams

Harvey Merre)

Not yet placed in a team – awai�ng

more informa�on

Ma)hew Gardiner

Vitalij Borovskij

Adam Thomis

Aleksandar Avramov

Jon Bowers

Lawrence Dack

Zac Moss

Membership forms will be sent out

as soon as online banking is

available for our new club bank

account. Forms and payment will be

completed online in a much-

simplified procedure.

John Bedwell

Bristol Civil Service Table Tennis Club, Filton Avenue, Horfield, Bristol BS7 0AT

h*p://bristol-cssc-tabletennis.weebly.com/index.html