State Championships Provides Valuable Experience for Young Stars

The Rockhampton Table Tennis Association’s sole representative at the Queensland Junior Closed Championships that concluded a few days ago at Moreton Bay returned home with some proud achievements to his credit. Judd Carr, who plays in the local weekly fixture in the top division of open grade, took part in the teams and individual singles and doubles events at this annual tournament that immediately followed the state senior closed titles at the same venue.

Carr joined Shivvy Pandey of the Cairns club in the Under-17 team’s section as a composite outfit and they came home in fifth spot which was quite creditable considering the standard of play provided by a heap of two-player teams in the comp. He also registered some solid performances in the individual events.       

This carnival that was staged at the South Pine Sports Centre turned out to be huge with the senior segment, that includes the Under-19 division, being played first prior to the junior competitions hitting off. This gives the state’s better youngsters the opportunity to bolster their experience by participating in the senior section.

The city had two representatives in the Under-19 section with Cooper Bulow and Tom Tonkin involved in both the teams and individual draws. They also took to the courts against very strong opposition and will benefit greatly from the experience of being pitted against the best players from other clubs from throughout the state in this age-group.

These three young players have all progressed through the local club’s junior coaching activities and hopefully will continue to improve their games with the view to being leading city’s players in the future. Youngsters can join the club’s main junior coaching session at the Leichhardt Park playing centre on Campbell Street from 4.30pm on Thursdays which is ideal for an after-school commitment. Equipment is available for beginners and qualified coaches are always on hand to mentor players who need to wear non-marking sports shoes.

For the not so young who want to improve their game or be just involved with some moderate sporting exercise the social session on Mondays from 7.30pm is ideal. This session offers the opportunity for players of all playing standard to improve their consistency in a fun and enjoyable environment.

The club also offers practice sessions on Wednesdays from 9.00am and also at the popular Saturday afternoon hit-out between 2.30pm and 4.30pm. For those wanting to experience something different in the sport the Top Table session on Thursdays from 7.00pm would be most suitable. Players of varying standard take to the courts playing time based mini-games where opponents are changed at every break.