Table Tennis player compete at champs

By Chris Valli

A large contingent of Marlborough table tennis players and supporters travelled to Christchurch last weekend for the South Island Teams Tournament and the Canterbury Open

The men’s side of Alex Kennedy, Michael Kamson, Nathan Cross and Josh Sim had some tough matches with Alex the only player from last year’s team.

Their closest match was a 4-3 loss against Otago with Alex winning both of his singles and combining with Nathan for a doubles win.

Following defeats against Canterbury 1 and Canterbury 2, which both had national team players in them, their last match was against Southland. The southerners won 5-2, with Marlborough’s points coming from a singles win to Michael and a doubles win to Alex and Nathan.

Matt Millar and Jason Kennedy played in the Veterans Section and after a first up loss to Nelson1 by 4-1. They beat Canterbury1 3-2,

Canterbury2 4-1 and Nelson2 4-1. They finished with a three wins, one loss record, the same as Nelson1 and Canterbury1.The Marlborough duo finished third on a countback with Nelson1 winning the grade. Matt won 7 out of 8 singles.

The Under-15 Boys’ Team had strong opposition but managed to get a good win over Otago2.

Oliver Phipps won 5 singles out of 10, with Adam Beattie and fill-in player Seth Fernando each winning 3 out of 10.

The Under-13 Boys’ Team finished third and just missed out on second place. They beat Otago 4-3 and South Canterbury 5-2 and lost to Canterbury2 by 4-3 and the powerful Canterbury1 team by 7-0.

Hunter Wong won 5 from 7, Harry Speakman 3 from 8 and Tommy Phipps 3 from 5. Levi van Kuyk played his first matches at this level and won a set against Canterbury2.

Zaraya and Cora Wilson were also making their tournament debut and came up against strong opposition in Canterbury and Southland in the Girls’ Under-13 Grade. on up and bring warm food and drinks and something to sit on for a shared lunch after.

Alex Kennedy had a great showing in the A Grade as he qualified for the last 32 in the singles. He combined with Marlborough Open finalist Max Henderson in the Men’s Doubles and the unseeded duo beat the top seeds, Canterbury’s Sang Yong Park and Mr Han in the quarter finals, before losing in the semi-finals. This was a good win as Mr Han went on to win the Men’s Singles.

Nathan Cross won the C Grade after beating two Canterbury players.

Jacqui Wood combined with her daughter, Vanessa Wood-Lin, for a semi-final finish in the Women’s Doubles.

Oliver Phipps and Harry Speakman reached the semi-final of the Boys’ Under-15 Boys’ Doubles. Harry also reached the semi-final of the Under-13 Boys’ Doubles with Hunter Wong and then did really well to reach the quarter finals of the Boys’ Under-13 Singles.

The midwinter swim will be

Players selected for NZ U20’s rugby

The Tasman Mako has two players selected in the New Zealand U20 rugby team to contest the world cup in South Africa.

Macca Springer and Noah Hotham, are part of the 30 man squad with Noah captaining the team. The World Cup kicks off in a few weeks where New Zealand play France, Wales and Japan in their pool.

The 2023 edition will be the second time that South Africa welcomes the future stars of the game after 2012 when the Junior Springboks won on home soil. The age-grade tournament will be held from 24 June-14 July.

Penney Crusaders bound ‘24

By Chris Valli

Crusaders rugby fans will have a new coach next year with the appointment of Rob Penney to replace Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson.

Penney, a former Canterbury coach helped mentor Robertson in the early part of his professional coaching career and has been coaching in Japan after being sacked as head coach of the Waratahs in 2021.

The two year deal will see him joined by current Crusaders assistants Tamati Ellison, James Marshall and Dan Perrin along with newcomer Matt Todd, a former Crusaders and All Blacks loose forward.

Robertson is leaving the Crusaders after seven years at the helm to coach the All Blacks after this year’s World Cup. Current Crusaders assistant Scott Hansen will join him at the All Blacks. “I’m excited and honoured to have been selected to lead the coaching group at the Crusaders from 2024 onwards,” Penney said in a statement.

“The Crusaders franchise has a strong history and record of success and excellence, both in on-field performance and off-field culture, and I’m excited to immerse myself into the environment.”