TABLE TENNIS NEWS Published each month, October to May in­ clusive. Postal subscriptions £2.75 for eight issues. Overseas airmail £4.50. ON THE Advertisements: Mrs. Christine Wilkes, English Table Tennis Association, 21 Claremont, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 IRA, 'Phone: Hastings (0424) 433121. Subscriptions: Mrs. Bessie Clark, Eng~ish Table INTERNATIONAl Tennis Association, 21 Claremont, HastIngs, East Sussex, TN34 IHA. 'Phone: Hastings (0424) 433121. Distribution: Mrs. E. Doreen Yates, 43 Knowsley Road, Smithills, Bolton, Lanes. BL1 6JH. 'Phone: Bolton 42223. fRONT Editorial: George R. Yates, 43 Knowsley Road, Smithills, Bolton, Lanes. BL1 6JH. 'Phone: Bolton 42223 (h); 061-228 2141, Ext. 2698 (b). by THE EDITOR ENGLAND TRIUMPH IN CROIX C. Bergeret lost to J. Hammersley -16, -19; After the disappointment of losing 2-5 away to Birocheau/Secretin bt Douglas/Jarvis 19, 10; Yugoslavia in Novi Sad on Sept. 9th, England C. Martin/B. Thiriet lost to Douglas/L. Howard LAST 'N, F'RST OUT picked themselves up to the extent of beating the -18 -18" Secretin Jarvis 16, 9; From all over the country reports are reigning champions France 4-3 in Croix on Oct. bi 12th - a repeat of their feat last season in obtain­ Birocheau lost to Douglas 16, -11, -15.., to hand of open tournaments, both senior ing the same result in Millom. The current table toppers are Hungary who, in and junior alike, being over entered and Up against a fearsome Yugoslav trio comprising Budapest on Sept. 28th, beat promotees Federal that, on the basis of last in first out, many Dragutin Surbek, Anton Stipancic and Erzebet Germany 5-2, and away to Yugoslavia in Tuzla on entries have had to be rejected. Palatinus only Desmond Douglas, against Oct. 12th, obtained the same result. A feature of Stipancic, and Jill Hammersley against Miss the match in Budapest was the double defeat of Such action has evoked wrath 'from Palatinus, succeeded with Paul Day starting out Hungary's reigning European champion Gabor established players whose entries had brightly in both his sets but fading alarmingly. Gergely by Jochen Leiss and Wilfried Lieck. But the champ came good against Yugoslavia when he been submitted prior to the closing date Individual scores:­ beat both Zoran Kosanovic and Zoran Kalinic. and yet, when the cut-off has been D. Surbek bt P. Day 20, 7; Scores:­ applied, they have been among those A. Stipancic lost to D. Douglas -6, -13; v Federal Germany disappointed. E. Palatinus lost to J. Hammersley 10, -15, -13; T. Klampar bt W. Lieck 12, 16; Stipancic/Surbek bt Douglas/N. Jarvis 17, 18; G. Gergely lost to J. Leiss -18, 12, -22; Whether such action is fair to those Stipancic/Palatinus bt Douglas/L. Howard G. Szabo bt U. Hirschmuller 19, 18; -18, 9, 15; Gergely/Klampar bt Leiss/P. Stellwag 19, 16; players already included in the ranking Surbek bt Douglas 20, 15; Gergely/Szabo bt Lieck/W. Hendriksen 13,21; lists poses a problem as indeed it does Stipancic bt Day -22, 13, 5. Klampar bt Leiss 10, 15; for those with ambitions of breaking into It was a different story however in Croix where Gergely lost to Lieck 19, -19, -17. the upper strata. Will the selection com­ Douglas figured in three wins, against Jacques v Yugoslavia Secretin and Patrick Birocheau in single combat, Z. Kosanovic lost to Gergely -20, 19, -19; mittee be aware of the facts relating to Z. Kalinic bt Klampar -24, 21, 21; their non-participation? and with Linda Howard in the mixed doubles. The fourth and vital win came from Mrs. Hammersley B. Batinic lost to Z. Olah -18, -13; Kosanovic/Stipancic lost to Gergely/Klampar The answer may well lie in graded who accounted for Claude Bergeret to put England 2-1 in the lead. Individual scores:­ -9 -18' tournaments which, to be honest, would Stip~ncic/Palatinus bt Gergely/Szabo 4, -20, 18; J. Secretin lost to D. Douglas 20, -18, -15; Kosanovic lost to Klampar -9, -15; be a much more manageable proposi­ P. Birocheau bt N. Jarvis 21, 12; tion, especially for the organisers of top­ Kalinic lost to Gergely 13, -16, -16. graded tournaments confined~ say, to all Also unbeaten after two matches are Czecho­ slovakia who, in their opening match away to ranked players and those others now Sweden in Stenungsund on Sept. 29th, won 4-3 comprising the "Elite" Class players not after taking a 4-1 lead. Scores:­ eligible to enter the Mixed Class 2 U. Thorsell bt J. Pansky 21, 23; singles, as in the Humberside - some S. Bengtsson lost to M. Orlowski -22, -18; 60 players in all. E. Stromvall lost to I. Uhlikova -11, -14; L. Franklin/Thorsell lost to Orlowski/Pansky This number could possibly be 15, -14, -20; Bengtsson/Stromvall lost to Orlowski/Uhlikova increased if the selection committee -10 -16' could devise a formula for categorisa­ Thor~ell bt' Orlowski -15,26, 18; tion, thus stifling the moans as entry for Bengtsson bt Pansky 9, 16. a 3-Star event would be confined to such At home to the Soviet Union in Usti nad Labem players. Of course such action would on Oct. 12th the Czechs won 5-2 after the Russians have financial repercussions as entry had gone 2-1 into the lead following wins by Valery Schevchenko over Jindrich Pansky and by fees would be much diminished but, if Valentina Popova over Ilona Uhlikova. Scores:­ certain tournaments are earmarked for Orlowski bt M. Kreeris 8, 11; ranking purposes, then it seems logical Pansky lost to V. Schevchenko -9, 12, -14; that those in contention should be Uhlikova lost to V. Popova -19, -5; Orlowski/Pansky bt S. Gomozkov/Schevchenko allowed to enter. 14, 15; Orlowski/Uhlikova bt Gomozkov/Popova -20, 20, 18; ENGLISH TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION Orlowski bt Schevchenko 12, 15; Pansky bt Kreeris 10, 19. Patron: Her Majesty the Queen. Prior to, in Herson, the Soviets had gone down Presi«1ent: M. Goldstein, O.B.E. by a like score to France with Secretin successful Life Vice-President: Hon. Ivor Montague. in his three sets played. Scores:- Chairman: T. Blunn. Schevchenko lost to Secretin -13, -21; Deputy Chairman: G. R. Yates. Kreeris lost to Martin 14, -16, -17; Hon. Treasurer: M. S. Greatrex. L. Bakshutova bt Bergeret 15, 9; General Secretary: A. W. Shipley. Kreeris/Schevchenko lost to Birocheau/Secretin Management Committee: -17, -12; (Vice-Chairmen) Dragutin Surbek of Yugoslavia, a winner over Schevchenko/Popova lost to Martin/Thiriet C. J. Clemett, R. J. Crayden, A. E. Ransome, Desmond Douglas and Paul Day in Belgrade. 18, -21, -19; . N. K. Reeve and E. G. White. Photo bt Norbert Rzepka, Delmenhorst, Schevchenko bt Martin 17, 11; Federal Germany. Kreeris lost to Secretin 16, -15, -9. Page 2 In the city of Augsburg on Oct. 12th Federal Germany, after establishing a 3-0 lead over Sweden, were pipped at the post when their visitors staged a grandstand recovery to win 4-3. The tide was initially turned by Ulf Thorsell and Lars Franllin in the men's doubles, the former administering the coup-de-grace by beating Peter Stellwag 19 in the third of the final set. Scores:­ J. Leiss bt Thorsell -IS, 20, 13; P. Stellwag bt S. Bengtsson 17, -10, 15; W. Hendriksen bt E. Stromvalll4, 16; Leiss/Stellwag lost to Franklin/Thorsell 16, -21, -19; Lieck/Hendriksen lost to Bengtsson/Stromvall -IS, -IS; Leiss lost to Bengtsson 17, -15, -12; Stellwag lost to Thorsell 19, -19, -19. SUPER DIVISION PWL F AP Hungary 2 2 0 10 4 2 Czechoslovakia ............... 2 2 0 9 5 2 France ................... ........ 2 1 1 S 6 1 Sweden 2 1 1 7 7 1 Yugoslavia . 2 1 1 7 7 1 England .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. 2 1 1 6 S 1 Federal Germany .. ..... ... .. 2 0 2 5 9 0 Soviet Union 2 0 2 4 10 0 Fixtures for Nov. 7/Sth are:- Nov. 7-France v Czechoslovakia (Chateauroux) S-Soviet Union v Hungary 8-Sweden v Yugoslavia S-England v Federal Germany (Preston) Wilfried Lieck and Wiebke Hendriksen, the European mixed doubles champions, who were beaten by Gabor Gergely and Gabriella Szabo in Budapest, their final victims in Duisburg. DIVISION ONE Photo by Horst Muller, Dusseldorf, Federal Germany. Holland, last season's demotees from the Super Division, met with immediate disappointment when the home team's Stefan Stefanov being successful Greece v Bulgaria at home to promotees Italy, in Maastricht on Sept. in both his singles. Scores:­ Italy v Ireland 2Sth, they were beaten 4-3. The Italians were I. Stoianov lost to Putz -21, -17; DIVISION TWO inspired by the form of their No. 1 Stefano Bosi S. Stefanov bt Hartmann 18, 14; who in his singles beat Nico van Slobbe and Anne A. Rangelova bt Risch 13, -14, 19; Turkey, the promoted country to Division 2 Vlieg and further shared, with Massino Costantini, S. Ribatchov/Stoianov lost to Hartmann/Putz began their second division campaign with a 5-2 in a men's doubles win to which Sonia Milic added -16 -16' win over Finland in Istanbul on Oct. 12th, three the women's singles beating Sandra de Kruiff. Stoia~ov/Rangelova bt Putz/Risch -17, IS, 15; days before Scotland slumped to 3-4 defeat to Scores:­ Stoianov bt Hartmann 20, -16, 12; Belgium (see Scottish Notes for details). Scores N. van Slobbe bt M. Constantini 12, 19; Stefanov bt Putz 19, 16. in Istanbul were:­ A. Vlieg lost to S. Bosi 19, -17, -19; S. de Kruiff lost to S. Milic -19, 15, -12; Greece opened their campaign in Athens on H.