DaveR
06-27-2008, 11:23 AM
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At Latina – 60km S of Rome, June 18th to June 22nd 2008.
Both BUSA Team finalists entered these Championships which haven’t seen a British team for over 15 years. Winners of the team finals, London Metropolitan, went with the runners up Loughborough University, neither knowing what the event would be like in terms of player standard, playing conditions and control and very little about Latina itself.
There were teams from;
Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Turkey, Russia, Serbia and Poland.
The British teams were:
Loughborough:
Stuart Tweedy, Andrew Woodhead, David Arrowsmith and Tim Yarnall
London Metropolitan:
Jiang Chang Hong, Zhang Hong Ming, Ashley Willetts and Jiang Zhia Tao
Loughborough had the hardest group in the Men’s Team event and were unlucky not to go through to the next round. They beat Turkey (Kavaelmas U) and the narrowly lost 2-3 to Russia (Moscow) and Germany (Saarland). London Metropolitan, in an easier group beat Cyprus and Poland (Zielona Gora) to move into the quarters. There they beat Germany (Saarland) and in the semis Germany (Cologne). In the final London Metropolitan beat Russia (Moscow U of Railway Engineering) 3-1.
In the Men’s Singles, London Metropolitan provided 3 out of 4 in the semis. Jiang Chang Hong beat Zhang Hong Ming in the final with Jiang Zhia Tao the other semi-finalist. Stuart Tweedy and David Arrowsmith were out in R1, Andrew Woodhead and Ashley Willetts in R2 and Tim Yarnall in R3.
In the Men’s Doubles it was again an all London Metropolitan final with Ashley Willets/Jiang Zhia Tao beating Jiang Chang Hong/Zhang Hong Ming in the final. David Arrowsmith/Stuart Tweedy and Andrew Woodhead/Tim Yarnall both lost in R2
Zhang Hong Ming and Jiang Chang Hong tried to make a clean sweep in the mixed doubles with 2 Polish players, but were beaten in the semi finals.
The accommodation was at the local Agricultural College which meant plenty of organic food. The first 2 days were very heavy, but the programme was sufficiently relaxed on the last 2 to enable the teams to spend the afternoons at the Lido. The event was opened with a parade of teams with flags and speeches. There was a final evening dinner and medal presentation ceremony which unfortunately coincided with Spain beating Italy in the Euro 2008. All the other universities had at least 1 coach, many of whom are regulars at European tournaments. The women’s teams were particularly strong from the Eastern European countries. Overall the 2 teams made a good impression and clearly enjoyed the tournament. The other teams and the administration clearly expect that British Universities would be at the 2009 tournament in Macedonia. Whether taking half of the medals on a first visit went down well is another matter.
ETTA Article
At Latina – 60km S of Rome, June 18th to June 22nd 2008.
Both BUSA Team finalists entered these Championships which haven’t seen a British team for over 15 years. Winners of the team finals, London Metropolitan, went with the runners up Loughborough University, neither knowing what the event would be like in terms of player standard, playing conditions and control and very little about Latina itself.
There were teams from;
Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Turkey, Russia, Serbia and Poland.
The British teams were:
Loughborough:
Stuart Tweedy, Andrew Woodhead, David Arrowsmith and Tim Yarnall
London Metropolitan:
Jiang Chang Hong, Zhang Hong Ming, Ashley Willetts and Jiang Zhia Tao
Loughborough had the hardest group in the Men’s Team event and were unlucky not to go through to the next round. They beat Turkey (Kavaelmas U) and the narrowly lost 2-3 to Russia (Moscow) and Germany (Saarland). London Metropolitan, in an easier group beat Cyprus and Poland (Zielona Gora) to move into the quarters. There they beat Germany (Saarland) and in the semis Germany (Cologne). In the final London Metropolitan beat Russia (Moscow U of Railway Engineering) 3-1.
In the Men’s Singles, London Metropolitan provided 3 out of 4 in the semis. Jiang Chang Hong beat Zhang Hong Ming in the final with Jiang Zhia Tao the other semi-finalist. Stuart Tweedy and David Arrowsmith were out in R1, Andrew Woodhead and Ashley Willetts in R2 and Tim Yarnall in R3.
In the Men’s Doubles it was again an all London Metropolitan final with Ashley Willets/Jiang Zhia Tao beating Jiang Chang Hong/Zhang Hong Ming in the final. David Arrowsmith/Stuart Tweedy and Andrew Woodhead/Tim Yarnall both lost in R2
Zhang Hong Ming and Jiang Chang Hong tried to make a clean sweep in the mixed doubles with 2 Polish players, but were beaten in the semi finals.
The accommodation was at the local Agricultural College which meant plenty of organic food. The first 2 days were very heavy, but the programme was sufficiently relaxed on the last 2 to enable the teams to spend the afternoons at the Lido. The event was opened with a parade of teams with flags and speeches. There was a final evening dinner and medal presentation ceremony which unfortunately coincided with Spain beating Italy in the Euro 2008. All the other universities had at least 1 coach, many of whom are regulars at European tournaments. The women’s teams were particularly strong from the Eastern European countries. Overall the 2 teams made a good impression and clearly enjoyed the tournament. The other teams and the administration clearly expect that British Universities would be at the 2009 tournament in Macedonia. Whether taking half of the medals on a first visit went down well is another matter.
ETTA Article