DaveR
07-11-2008, 10:24 AM
http://www.sportfocus.com/newsimage/ALIREZA%20KAMRANI%20MASOOLEH%20&%20ANDREW%20CALLOWAY%20Captain%20&%20GEORGE%20BUCK%20%20%20Coach%20&%20MARTIN%20STRUTT.jpg
The Great Britain Deaf squad recently returned from the World Deaf Table Tennis Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, and can hold their heads up high with pride.
http://www.sportfocus.com/images/dynabiz/ID3153/imggallery/7663.jpg
The team of; Andrew Calloway (Captain), Martin Strutt, Alireza Kamrani-Masooleh and George Buck (Coach) prepared to face strong opposition from around the globe at the nine day event.
In the team event they received a favourable group draw, but there was still much work to be done to ensure a good final standing. In the First match they faced the host nation and with Strutt and Kamrani winning one each, the match was locked at 2-2. It was left to the captain, Calloway, to triumph comfortably for Great Britain to take the match 3-2. Turkey (whom we beat previously at the European Championships in Malmo, Sweden, last year) were the opponents for the second match, but it was always going to be much tighter this time round. After 3 games played it was 2-1 to Turkey, the next game was crucial, not only to stay in the match, but it was almost a forgone conclusion that Calloway would win the 5th game. However, it was not to be, as Kamrani fought a very close match, in which he came from 2-0 down to lead in the 5th and then finally lose 12-10. This gave Turkey a 3-1 win and deny Calloway the chance to play his last game. The final match in the group was against a very strong German team. Germany ran out comfortable 3-0 winners, with only Calloway managing to win one set. This put Great Britain 3rd in the group and so went forward into another group to play for positions 9 – 12.
In the first match in this group they faced the Czech Republic and coach Buck stepped in to play. Kamrani and Buck lost the first two games, but Calloway won the next to give us a glimmer of hope, but it was to no avail as Buck lost the next comfortably. Next up were Croatia, a very experienced and awkward team, hence we all struggled and lost the match 3-0, although Kamrani lost in the fifth and Strutt managed to win a set. The final match was against Lithuania, Kamrani and Calloway both lost heavily and with Strutt losing the third in the fifth, meant that we lost 3-0. This left Great Britain bottom of the group, which, overall placing was 12th out of 18 countries – a very respectable feat.
The next event was the Men’s Singles, and the seeded groupings were always going to be strong, with only the top two players going through. Unfortunately, Buck was unable to compete due to illness, Strutt and Kamrani both finished bottom of their groups with no wins, despite some very close games. Calloway managed to win his first match against a Bulgarian, but struggled against the other two strong players from Ukraine and Venezuela, and consequently finished 3rd in the group.
http://www.sportfocus.com/images/dynabiz/ID3153/imggallery/7661.jpg
The final event was the Men’s Doubles, Calloway partnered Strutt and Buck partnered Kamrani. Buck/Kamrani had to face a fairly weak Bulgarian pair in the preliminary round, of which they won comfortably. In the next round they faced a strong pair from Poland, this was a much tougher task and they went down 3-0 as Buck was struggling to recover from his illness of the previous two days. Calloway/Strutt also faced a strong Polish pair, but with their defensive strategy Great Britain took a 2-0 lead only for Poland to pull it back. However, Calloway/Strutt finally ran out comfortable winners in the fifth, to record a memorable victory. However, this was short lived, as next they faced the number 1 seeds from Taipei for a place in the quarter-finals and lost heavily 3-0.
Overall, a very good championships, in which the Great Britain Deaf squad gave an excellent account of themselves and finished in a very creditable position in the team event. The squad are now preparing for the Deaflympics in Taipei 2009.
http://www.sportfocus.com/images/dynabiz/ID3153/imggallery/7662.jpg
Image1: Alireza Kamrani-Masooleh, Andrew Calloway, George Buck and Martin Strutt
Image 2: Alireza Kamrani-Masooleh, Andrew Calloway, George Buck and Martin Strutt
Image 3: Calloway/Strutt after defeating Poland
Image 4: Calloway training hard
ETTA Article
By Andrew Calloway
The Great Britain Deaf squad recently returned from the World Deaf Table Tennis Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, and can hold their heads up high with pride.
http://www.sportfocus.com/images/dynabiz/ID3153/imggallery/7663.jpg
The team of; Andrew Calloway (Captain), Martin Strutt, Alireza Kamrani-Masooleh and George Buck (Coach) prepared to face strong opposition from around the globe at the nine day event.
In the team event they received a favourable group draw, but there was still much work to be done to ensure a good final standing. In the First match they faced the host nation and with Strutt and Kamrani winning one each, the match was locked at 2-2. It was left to the captain, Calloway, to triumph comfortably for Great Britain to take the match 3-2. Turkey (whom we beat previously at the European Championships in Malmo, Sweden, last year) were the opponents for the second match, but it was always going to be much tighter this time round. After 3 games played it was 2-1 to Turkey, the next game was crucial, not only to stay in the match, but it was almost a forgone conclusion that Calloway would win the 5th game. However, it was not to be, as Kamrani fought a very close match, in which he came from 2-0 down to lead in the 5th and then finally lose 12-10. This gave Turkey a 3-1 win and deny Calloway the chance to play his last game. The final match in the group was against a very strong German team. Germany ran out comfortable 3-0 winners, with only Calloway managing to win one set. This put Great Britain 3rd in the group and so went forward into another group to play for positions 9 – 12.
In the first match in this group they faced the Czech Republic and coach Buck stepped in to play. Kamrani and Buck lost the first two games, but Calloway won the next to give us a glimmer of hope, but it was to no avail as Buck lost the next comfortably. Next up were Croatia, a very experienced and awkward team, hence we all struggled and lost the match 3-0, although Kamrani lost in the fifth and Strutt managed to win a set. The final match was against Lithuania, Kamrani and Calloway both lost heavily and with Strutt losing the third in the fifth, meant that we lost 3-0. This left Great Britain bottom of the group, which, overall placing was 12th out of 18 countries – a very respectable feat.
The next event was the Men’s Singles, and the seeded groupings were always going to be strong, with only the top two players going through. Unfortunately, Buck was unable to compete due to illness, Strutt and Kamrani both finished bottom of their groups with no wins, despite some very close games. Calloway managed to win his first match against a Bulgarian, but struggled against the other two strong players from Ukraine and Venezuela, and consequently finished 3rd in the group.
http://www.sportfocus.com/images/dynabiz/ID3153/imggallery/7661.jpg
The final event was the Men’s Doubles, Calloway partnered Strutt and Buck partnered Kamrani. Buck/Kamrani had to face a fairly weak Bulgarian pair in the preliminary round, of which they won comfortably. In the next round they faced a strong pair from Poland, this was a much tougher task and they went down 3-0 as Buck was struggling to recover from his illness of the previous two days. Calloway/Strutt also faced a strong Polish pair, but with their defensive strategy Great Britain took a 2-0 lead only for Poland to pull it back. However, Calloway/Strutt finally ran out comfortable winners in the fifth, to record a memorable victory. However, this was short lived, as next they faced the number 1 seeds from Taipei for a place in the quarter-finals and lost heavily 3-0.
Overall, a very good championships, in which the Great Britain Deaf squad gave an excellent account of themselves and finished in a very creditable position in the team event. The squad are now preparing for the Deaflympics in Taipei 2009.
http://www.sportfocus.com/images/dynabiz/ID3153/imggallery/7662.jpg
Image1: Alireza Kamrani-Masooleh, Andrew Calloway, George Buck and Martin Strutt
Image 2: Alireza Kamrani-Masooleh, Andrew Calloway, George Buck and Martin Strutt
Image 3: Calloway/Strutt after defeating Poland
Image 4: Calloway training hard
ETTA Article
By Andrew Calloway