Over 90s: Winner (right) Bernard Harrison with runner up (left) Eric Harrison
Susie Venner, Chair of the Veterans English Table Tennis Society (VETTS) reports on the National Masters staged at Aldersley Sport Centre in Wolverhampton on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th May.
The VETTS concluded a record-breaking season with 330 players participating in its “Blue Riband” tournament, the VETTS National Masters Championships at Wolverhampton, England.
The VETTS is an independent Society which promotes table tennis in a friendly and competitive environment for all players aged 40 and above. It holds a series of Regional Masters tournaments; team events and supports other ratings tournaments around the country during the season, culminating in the grand finale, the VETTS National Masters Championships.
The VETTS National Masters Championships is open to all VETTS members who compete over a weekend for 24 prestigious titles in singles and doubles in age categories from Over 40s to Over 90s.
Over 90s
One on the highlights of the tournament is the fiercely contested Over 90s competition which this year saw defending champion 94 year old Eric Renshaw pushed to the limit by ‘newcomer’ 93 year old Bernard Harrison.
In an event which drew a huge and enthusiastic crowd, Bernard took the title 15-13 in the fifth, and the entire hall stopped playing to give the nonagenarian warriors a standing ovation.
Over 40s
At the other end of the age spectrum, the Over 40s saw the arrival of new talent as several players from overseas participated in the event. Jacek Koziarski from Poland emerged the victorious in a three set final over Oleh Biletskyi (13-11, 11-6, 11-8). Jacek had put out Jason Ramage in the quarter final stage and Adam Klos in the semis.
Oleh was pushed all the way in his run up to the final with an 11-8 win in the fifth set of the quarter final over multiple VETTS Champion Lorestas Trumpauskas and an even tighter semi final 11-9 in the fifth win over Guang Shi.
Lorestas and Guang did pick up gold in the Men’s O/40s doubles beating Jacek and partner Roman Doryn in the final.
However, Jacek added a second gold to his haul with Gabriela Tankel in the mixed doubles final against Adam Fuzes and Sara Williams.
The women’s event was dominated by Estonian friends Kaitlin Poldveer and Pille Veersaar with Kaitlin emerging as the winner (11-1, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3). The Estonian pairing were denied a second gold in the Over 40s Women’s doubles as friends and multiple VETTS Masters winners, Hurey Ahmetoglu and Tumay Ekrem took gold in a three set final, (11-6, 11-8, 11-9).
- (left) John Hilton – over 75 winner (centre)
- (centre) Tumay Ekrem & Hurey Ahmetoglu – over 40 women’s doubles winners
- (right) Gabriela Tankel and Jacek Koziarski, over 40 mixed doubles winners
Other results:
Lorestas Trumpauskas added the O/50s Men’s Singles title to his haul of previous O/40s titles with an 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 over Jason Ramage. Co-incidentally as Lorestas was winning the O/50s title, in another part of the country, his son, Larry, was winning the Under 21’s England National title. A nice double for the Trumpauskas family.
In the Women’s O/50s final, Jo Keighley and Sara Williams contested an all-England final with Yorkshire’s Jo winning (11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 13-11).
Former European Champion and VETTS President, John Hilton, won gold in the O/75s and silver in the O/70s.
Ritchie Venner, playing in his first O/60s tournament, did a debut double with victory in the singles and then partnering with Tim Dyson also took gold in the O/60s doubles.
Phil Bowen did a similar feat with a win over his long-time team-mate, John Hilton in the O70s singles and partnered with John Poysden to take gold in the O/70s doubles.
Linda Simpson completed an undefeated season in the VETTS Regional Masters tournaments with a win in the O/70s singles against Ireland’s Teresa Devaney, and partnered with Sandra Rider to take the doubles.
Many of the VETTS members who participated in this event will now play in the European Veterans Championships in Novi Sad in June 2025. We all look forward to meeting old friends and making new ones in the spirit of table tennis friendship and competition.
VETTS
The VETTS National Masters 2025 was organised by volunteers within the VETTS. It comprised 330 players, 36 events, 38 tables and 1630 matches over a weekend. The Tournament Referee was Kim Mudge, assisted by Cliff Bell, and a whole team of VETTS volunteers, who serve the organisation with professionalism and good humour throughout the year.
The VETTS is an independent, self-funded Society and membership is open to anyone over the age of 40 who wishes to participate in friendly, competitive table tennis as a player or a supporter. We currently have about 1,000 members and membership costs £15 a year. For more information, see www.vetts.org.uk or contact Susie Venner, VETTS Chairman, on susie.venner@yahoo.com