Words of Wisdom from an NZ Legend

I decided to really add some substance to my content by stepping back into an era of NZ table tennis history where we had some players committed to competing on an international stage. For most of us Barry Griffiths is just a name etched on titleholder boards, but from the stories I had heard Barry was a super hero in the sport in New Zealand winning 8 New Zealand Open Mens Titles and in 2009 gaining induction into the TTNZ Hall of Fame. I hope you enjoy this interview, Barry has given some thoughtful and informative answers.

Full Name: Barry John Griffiths

Date Of Birth: 29th February 1964

Nation represented: New Zealand

Highest World Ranking: 124

 Left: Peter Jackson Gold Medalist, Right: Barry Griffiths Silver Medalist

1988 North Island Championships Open Mens Singles Event

Photo Courtesy of Table Tennis New Zealand.

Equipment Used?

Blade:

Can’t remember – something like Butterfly Power Drive. Probably because it was sponsored. But, I was a Yasaka/Stiga sponsored player and my blade of choice was a Butterfly blade. I really liked it.

FH Rubber:

Mark V – fast, spinny and had good grip for shots requiring severe angles.

BH Rubber:

Yasaka Do – this was a Japanese rubber, similar to Chinese Friendship rubber. Not that fast, but amazing grip on the ball, which allowed severe bat angles to be used. When trying those shots with Sriver, the ball would slide off the bat. This style of rubber really suited my backhand.

Your Career

Who did you play table tennis for, when and how did you start?

I started playing table tennis at home. We had the only table in the street and all the other kids would come and play. They were all better than me, but I played every morning before school with my father and eventually caught up. Our school entered a competition at the Auckland Stadium and our team, with players entirely from our street, won.

From there I started playing tournaments and then made Auckland junior teams. I had a breakthrough at the NZ Champs in 1979 winning U16 singles, doubles and mixed and then U18 singles, doubles & mixed. I gained a lot of confidence from this and developed an all round attacking game from both wings, which proved effective.

I played for Auckland for many years, but after a dispute with Auckland administrator, David Jackson, left to play for Counties. I played the rest of my career for Counties with Geoff Rau, Kevin Barry and Alan Pedley – all top 10 players.

What was the highlight of your table tennis career?

I had many highlights, but the single most memorable match was in the Under 16 NZ Champs against Australian, Gary Haberl. There was an Australian Team playing the NZ Champs and a lot of betting was organised for this match. Haberl was a tough player and was leading the deciding 3^rd game 20 – 14 (6 match points). The Aussies went to collect their bets, but I clawed back a couple of points and eventually made my way to 18 -20 down. Haberl then misread a serve to make it 19 -20, at which point I knew I had won. I have never heard such noise from a crowd before and hit 3 clean forehand winners in a row. Haberl couldn’t believe it and the Aussies were heading for the exit in a real hurry…

Other highlights include beating the Nigerian team at the Commonwealth Champs. They had one of their strongest teams ever and Malcolm Temperley was our surprise star winning all 3 matches against them. I chipped in with a win over Atanda Musa (Commonwealth Mens Singles Champ), while Peter Jackson beat Francis Sule.

In 1980, at age 16, beating reigning Australian singles champ Bob Tuckett was a huge highlight and I made it to the final, losing to Paul Pinkewich who was in his prime and a very tough opponent.

Then in 1987/88 winning the NZ Champs, Aus Champs and Oceania Champs was probably the peak of my table tennis standard.

How do you feel the game has changed playing now from when you played yourself? More specifically what is it do you think that allowed a higher standard of players in New Zealand in your era as a Senior Representative than those in our teams now?

Table Tennis hasn’t changed much at all. The differences I see in NZ players is the lack of short play, which would allow a good player to claim the initiative too easily. Also, many players seem one dimensional trying to play high speed. I see them struggling when an opponent changes the pace and spin on the ball.

There seemed to be greater depth in the past, with a strong top 10 and a solid standard down to around 20. There was also a greater variety of players ranging from choppers like Graham Lassen and Dave Hall, to blockers/counter-attackers like Malcolm Temperley, James Morris and Alan Pedley. These players forced you to work hard for your points and build rallies rather than to go for outright winners. Also, their return of serve was much tighter. So, in general, it required more work to win the point, which developed higher standards.

Who was your biggest rival out on the table in your career?

In NZ, my biggest rivals were Malcolm Temperley, in the early part of my career and Peter Jackson in the latter part. In Australia, it was always Gary Haberl, one of the most tenacious competitors I’ve ever faced.

I noticed you paid a visit down to the Oceania Championships in April last year, what did you think of William Henzell's game?

I really liked Henzell’s game. I suppose that’s natural because that’s almost exactly how I played. I found it interesting that when he struck a bit of trouble in the final he slowed the pace of his forehand and his Australian opponent mistimed a lot of blocks. Smart play from Henzell.

You enjoy playing tennis nowadays, what does tennis have that table tennis lacks?

Tennis is easier with almost no spin. It’s slower, the movements are smoother and timing of the ball is easier. Because tennis is slower, the rallies are longer and it’s just fun to play an outdoor sport. It’s also easier to watch because spin and big 3^rd ball attack can make table tennis a poor spectacle at times.

Most young players like myself have never seen you play a match, tell us a little bit about your game style and how you liked to play.

I used to attack from both wings, but focused on attacking at around 80% speed. I did this to allow recovery time for my next shot. My thinking was to attack hard enough to keep the initiative and control the rally. Many times, my opponents would try to counter-attack some of these shots, which was a low percentage play. Generally, I let them do it, confident the odds were in my favour.

I also liked to return serve short, where possible or deep into my opponent’s crossover to limit their attacking options. Often followed up by a block punch wide and then counter attack.

I was always happiest playing consecutive backhand or forehand loops and felt confident in these rallies.

You won the New Zealand Mens Open title 8 times, do you think you could come back and win it again given the current standard of players in NZ?

I think I would have a chance, particularly last year… Not sure if my body would hold up though.

Barry's induction into the TTNZ Hall of Fame at the TTNZ 75th Jubilee, Whangarei 2009.

Photo Courtesy of Table Tennis New Zealand.

What do you believe table tennis needs to raise its profile in New Zealand?

Publicity and specific target markets such as schools, Asian community, social, etc. Table Tennis associations need to be organised on the publicity side, which requires hard work and commitment, but is very achievable. It’s important to remember that media outlets do not want to spend time or money covering Table Tennis, so it must be made easy for them. For newspapers and radio we did the following:

• Media cut off times were often around the 4pm mark, so we started featured events early in the morning, with all finals completed around 3 – 3:30pm. This also guaranteed crowds as other events continued into early evening.

• A media officer phoned through results to radio stations and were often broadcast on sports news.

• A media officer (in our case, Geoff Rau) wrote articles about the tournaments, etc for the newspapers, which were accepted, edited and then published.

Basically, we had to spoon feed the information to the media and make it as easy as possible for them.

Other options include website info with articles and results. Also, links to uploaded videos of matches. People like this and it’s easy to follow.

Off the Topic Questions

Who’s your favourite sportsperson of all time?

Favourite, I don’t know.

• Table Tennis would be Waldner – a true genius.

• In tennis I’m a big Federer fan – I just love the way he plays the game and his attitude.

• Cricket would be Tendulkar – very elegant.

Favourite food?

Shabu Shabu. This is a Japanese food made with thinly sliced premium beef cooked for a few seconds in boiling broth with vegetables. It is so tender…

Tennis or Table Tennis?

I still love table tennis, but it’s hard on the body and requires lots of training to maintain skill levels. Tennis is great, but I dislike the advantage a tall big server has. Why do they get 2 serves anyway? If they can’t get one in they should lose the point…

Dream Car

I’m not really a car guy, so never really thought about it. But, I’d love a flying car or jet pack. They’re not that far away now.

Ideal holiday destination?

Somewhere warm with a tennis court and swimming pool and ideally no internet access or phone lines. It would also definitely need a bar.

First thing you would do if you won $1million?

Phone up the tennis guys and go to the pub. These tennis guys were all table tennis guys – Hagen Bower, Kevin Barry and Aaron Winborn

Your Team Mates

I’m not sure if this is a question, but I had a lot of team mates:

Tennis:

Hagen Bower – talented cunning and loves a post match drink.

Kevin Barry – POWERFUL and loves a post match drink.

Aaron Winborn – Loves a post match drink.

Table Tennis:

Richard Lee – great player on his day. Always wanted the best for his team.

James Morris – gritty player.

Graham Lassen – astonishingly erratic for a defender. You never knew how he was going to play.

Malcolm Temperley – a nightmare opponent with reflexes like a cat. Always tough.

Peter Jackson – a great team player who was always at his best when the team needed him.

Geoff Rau – solid if he could control his nerves.

Kevin Barry – excelled in team matches. I loved having Kevin in my team.

Alan Pedley – very steady.

Tony Radford – a talented player who gave his teammates many heart attacks.

Maurice Burns – a legend with a forehand to die for.

Who was the most reputable player you beat in your career?

Probably Atanda Musa, from Nigeria. Watanabe from Japan in the Aus Open in 1988 was also a good win. I had some good wins in training, which don’t count, but includes Jiang Jialiang (when he was World Champion) and also Stellan Bengtsson.

Jiang Jialiang winner of the 1985 and 1987 World Championships

Photo Courtesy of http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=41523&title=historic-table-tennis-photos

Who trained the hardest in the training hall?

Kiyoshi Saito, from Japan, was an incredible trainer who would do 45 minutes of forehand only footwork at a time and just never tired. Stellan Bengtsson also trained very hard. I didn’t train with any of the top Chinese players, but reputedly they were amazing.

Who’s was the funniest team player?

I think we probably had 2 of the funniest players in Malcolm Temperley and Graham Lassen. Graham did so many strange things and occasionally would just start laughing in a very infectious way. I think one piece of coaching advice he gave to Geoff Rau was pretty funny. Geoff was playing one of the top players in the Commonwealth and had just lost the first game around 21 – 2 or something like that (apologies, Geoff). He came to the bench and got advice from Graham. I heard a little chuckle from Geoff and he went out to play the second game feeling a bit more relaxed. Geoff was still getting thrashed about halfway through when I asked Graham what advice he gave Geoff. Graham said he gave something to aim at, but doubted Geoff’s ability to do it. A few more losing points went by and I asked Graham what he told Geoff to aim at. Graham said “The other side of the table” and promptly fell off his seat laughing and remained on the floor laughing until the match was over… Poor Geoff!

Malcolm’s humour was a bit different. He was just plain different. When we had to play Nigeria he refused to leave the hotel saying he was unwell. The trouble was we had no reserve. He eventually turned up just before being defaulted and proceeds to lead the first game against Musa, which nobody could believe, especially Musa. Then during a crucial point Musa prepares to serve, but can’t see Malcolm, who has gone under the table to pound his bat into the floor. Musa bends down and has a look and Malcolm tells him his counterweight has come loose. Musa was not amused and hammers a 3^rd ball forehand to Malcolm who smashes it for a clean winner. Next point Musa hammers another forehand to the other side and Malcolm punch blocks another clean winner. Poor Musa had no idea what to do and Malcolm arrogantly finished him off as if he was giving a kid a lesson. I’ve never seen anything like it…

Who had the best nickname?

Aaron Winborn’s nickname is ‘Donkey’. I won’t say any more about that one…

And Lastly

Would you like to add one last tip, or an inspirational message for other table tennis players looking to succeed?

Train hard, but with purpose. Always train with a strategy for a match. When playing a match visualise the type of rally you want to create, then follow it through. Always think 2 shots ahead in every rally.

If in doubt think of the most awkward place you can position the ball. If you can’t get an obvious advantage, then make it as awkward for your opponent as possible.

Finally, ignore your opponent’s reputation. Play to a plan and apply the pressure without thinking about your opponent. If they’re going to beat you, make sure they have to work hard to do it. It’s amazing the shots a great opponent can miss when you continue applying pressure to them.

An amazing interview by any accounts, thanks Barry for taking the time to continue inspiring table tennis players in New Zealand.

To Follow this Blog

Hi All

I will be endeavouring to make daily updates to this blog, for regular updates you have a number of options.

1. Add me on Facebook, www.facebook.com/pingpongwizard
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Hope you are finding the content interesting! I have 5 more interviews in the pipeline and also am looking at some form of competition for an awesome prize in the very near future!

Cheers :)
Matt

Helping Kiwis Fly a bit Higher

Tony (Teng Teng) Liu is a player I'm sure New Zealand would love to claim permanently. He is here until February next year. In his short time here already he has won the three events he entered: Auckland Summer Open, North Island Championships and the Counties Manukau Open.

Tony at the Australian Senior Table Tennis Championships 2011. Hobart, Tasmania.

Having left school at 11 to pursue the sport of Table Tennis, his technical skills and unique shots have made him a very strong opponent for any New Zealand player. Tony was selected as an instrumental player in our NZ Mens A team which competed at the Australian Senior Table Tennis Championships this year in June. His results were outstanding.

Gold Medalist:

Open Mixed Doubles with Miao Miao (Aus)
Under 21 (Youth) Mens Singles
Under 21 (Youth) Mens Doubles with Kevin Wu (NZL)

Bronze Medalist:

Open Mens Singles
Open Mens Doubles with Kevin Wu (NZL)

He also strongly contributed to the team's 4th place result in the Team Event, winning all but one match which he narrowly lost to Victoria's Simon Gerada.

Here is the highlights reel made of videos I recorded in Hobart, Tasmania.

Features: Justin Han, Xin (Chris) Yan, Seung Yong Park and Simon Gerada

Beyond his incredible talent as a table tennis player, Tony is a gentle and fun spirited young man and we had an amazing trip with him and wish him the best of luck improving his english and making the most of his stay in New Zealand. We await the New Zealand Senior Table Tennis Championships to see if there is a challenger among us worthy of his ability.

Final Day of NZ Junior Table Tennis Championships 2011

I was fortunate enough to venture up to North Harbour for the day today to check out the final day of the Junior Nationals tournament, was great to see some good friends there for the day and to watch some good matches. After his intense performance winning the Under 18 event the evening prior it was up to NZ National Mens Champion Roger Rao to sweep the singles title for the Under 15 boys also, overcoming Dominic Huang of Australia in the final 3-1 and sister Ruofei Rao to beat Samantha Ong also 3-1 in the Under 15 girls final.

The Under 15 Boys Doubles Final saw a spectacular show with Auckland's pairings clashing head to head. The team of Daniel Lowe and Xu Ning taking a 2-0 lead against team mates and opposition pairing Roger Rao and Victor Ma who fought off the onslaught of Lowe and Ning to take the match into a 5th set. After some incredible rallies and amazing play, Lowe and Ning converted their 14th match point to take the match and claim the title, an incredible effort by both sides.

Siblings Roger and Ruofei Rao in the Under 15 Mixed Doubles Event

The Under 15 Girls Doubles title was claimed by Auckland Sophia Dong and Ruofei Rao who carefully dispatched of Canterbury's Ola Ratka and Juliana Hung 3-1. The Mixed Title was a rivalry of siblings, though not with each other for once! The pair of Roger and Ruofei Rao stormed the title in a 3-0 victory of Samantha and Jay Ong.

I managed to get a quick clip of this point to include with this info:

Dean Shu and Daniel Lowe lock horns. Dean coming back from a 2-0 deficit plays some spectacular table tennis and earns a place in the semi final of the Under 15 Boys Singles Event after an 11-5 victory in the 5th and final set.

For more coverage of results from the New Zealand Junior Table Tennis Championships, see the North Harbour Table Tennis Association website at: https://sites.google.com/site/nhttastadium/

The Evolution of the Game

Was just checking out some clips today and thought it would be interesting to do a 3 or 4 part timeline of how the game and equipment have evolved over time. Check this beauty of an old clip out.

1949 English Open Final: Victor Barna (GBR) vs Marty Reisman (USA)

With hard bats it's quite remarkable to see the speed they managed to produce when attacking, as you can see it was a gentleman's game they even wear trousers and the footwork is very interesting.

1978 European TT Champs Semi Final: Desmond Douglas vs Jaqcues Secretin

Having evolved to better quality bats the game was a lot more entertaining and more sporty, check out the crowd. What a great rally too, the game was a lot more consistent on the backhand back then, the forehand was always the big weapon, this is a style which lasted well into the 80s and even players today still adopt it. As you can see the service rules don't apply yet and matches are best of 5 to 21 in these world events.

1992 Barcelona Olympic Games Final: Jean-Phillipe Gatien (FR) vs Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE)

By now you will have noticed the introduction of a new service rule, the ball toss. The late 80s and 90s had introduced a strong entertainment value to table tennis and rallying was a big part of the game, we can tell this as service is still long on most occasions. Rubber had advanced and looping on the forehand was a big powerplay. Matches still best of 5 to 21 with 5 serves each.

2008 Supercircuit Event: Oh Sang Eun (KOR) vs. Wang Hao (CHN)

This marked the end of an era for 'Speed Gluing' you can see the ridiculous amount of speed which the combination of new rubber technology and speed gluing had achieved as opposed to prior decades. Service rules now dictated that there must be a 14cm ball toss and that no part of the body must obstruct the path of the ball from vision of the opponent. This is one of my favourite matches as it is incredible to see Oh absolutely destroying one of China's best players. Matches are now best of 7 to 11 with 2 serves each. Also the ball size had increased from 38mm to 40mm marginally slowing the game down.

2011 Chinese Super League: Ma Lin vs. Ma Long

The game now completely dominated by Chinese players has some incredible matches. The speed and footwork and technical aspects of the game are constantly being finetuned. Players have now begun to adapt to the speed glue free environment with new water based glues available. With strong tactical focuses and short serving and short play elemental in the game, looping on both wings is a major element of the game.

It's incredible to see how the game has changed over the last 50-60 years in terms of gameplay, equipment and rules. With plans in the pipeline to change the ball after the 2012 Olympics we can expect to observe more changes in the future!

Hero of our time Jan-Ove Waldner

Image from: http://www.usatt.org/events/2001Worlds/images/waldner_drills1.JPG

Hope you enjoyed the timeline :)

Northland Open - Saturday 6th August

Reminder to all that the entries for the Northland Open close on the 2nd August. I attended the tournament last year and really enjoyed it, they have a great venue and a very kind group of organisers. If you are considering entering please do! Entry forms can be found here: http://www.nhtta.info/table-tennis-northland

Enter the Oval Office of Ping Pong

This is a subject which I think you may find interesting. For those of you who are not aware in December 2010 I was nominated and subsequently elected the President of Waikato Table Tennis Association. You are probably wondering what use a 20 year old (now 21) is in that role and it's a good question. You are probably wondering why a player would want to be involved in administration, that is also a good question. I'd like to give a well rounded review of my experience in 2011 as President of one of New Zealand's Regional Table Tennis Associations.

I joined the WTTA Committee at the beginning of 2009 and was immediately involved as a member of the Selection Panel, an odd position for an 18 year old. 2010 brought me into the role of organising the Interclub Competition each term, a role which I still continue to carry out. The end of 2010 I became in charge of Grants and Funding. Now 2011 I'm President. Some would say it is a gift to have the opportunity to channel your passion for the sport into action. That's the idea I had, I felt I could really make a difference for the sport, I had plenty of fresh ideas and initiatives that I wanted to put in place and I planned to bring a framework to the foray which would set us on our way. This started with setting 3 key strategic goals. These were to increase player numbers, to break even or profit financially and to improve the communication systems within the association and the flow of information from us to all stakeholders (players, coaches, parents of juniors etc). To that end I created a 36 page Marketing Plan which involved collecting research from players about what it was that they thought could be improved and any ideas they had for developing player numbers which seemed to be the key issue.

Essentially I outlined a rescue plan for an association who's player numbers were in decline. I dug into the demographic problems of there being a lack of junior players involved and developing into committed elite players and also a large lack of female players which is a problem reflected national-wide and internationally in the sport. I took these issues and generated a number of solutions, but then I stumbled across my first barrier.

The Barriers


Yes, my barrier was in support, or lack there-of. I worked hard to find solutions but with the support I had there was little chance of me being able to implement them. I had begun to learn during the year that in the case of WTTA the shortage of volunteers and a small lack of reliability had left a large incidence of workload upon my shoulders and that which did not fall upon me was often not done for quite some time. My ideal image of Presidency and having the opportunity to focus on the bigger picture and delegate the operational tasks of the stadium and the association was completely askew. I wanted to make changes but I didn't have the people power. Obviously I say this, I have not given up, there is still a number of months left till my term ends in December and I would like to action some of these solutions, BUT I fear that once I leave here and give up my position things will continue to decline.

The Effect on Training and Play 


It is difficult having a passion but being restricted in acting upon it. Essentially during this time I had become very stressed out with things not being done on time and having to step in myself often or chase things up constantly. That stress followed me home and destroyed my ability to sleep. With an average sleep time of 6am for my first 3 months in my new flat and only achieving 4 hours sleep most nights, I was ruined. Of course my love for the sport urged me to continue training and I did as much as I could but the effect of this on the earlier regional tournaments in the year was devastating to me personally. I definitely felt I was underachieving in relation to the goals I had set out.

The Idea of the Story


Really the morale of the story can be different depending on different perspectives. I have come to realise that the job of Presidency is for anyone who not only has the passion AND the motivation and skills to carry it out, it has to be in a well established environment where everyone can come together under a common set of goals and contribute as much as they possibly can. The problem with this is that it's volunteer work. The roles in table tennis associations SHOULD be treated like full time jobs, however given their zero income status they are often not. I don't think I would change the way things have gone it has been a great experience so far (and a bit of a power trip if I don't say so myself), with 2009 and 2010's combined grants of only $5000, I was very proud to lead an association forward this year with a strong focus on grants and achieve $11,000 in funding for training and $20,000 for a schools programme for the region. There are rewards to the job but I am now of the belief that if a player is training for an elite outcome, then administration is not the place for them. It robs time and focus away from the real objective and although for a valuable cause, it is up to each of us to prioritise how much we really give away to it.

Left to Right: Myself, James Harter, Aaron Page, Mark Page

Win while you still can, save Admin for later!

So there is my piece of mind on administration, I say don't rush into making decisions or taking up roles. Start off in small roles like running small clubs or events, helping fundraise etc. You can still contribute in many ways but taking on the Oval Office as it were is a BIG pair of shoes, there is a lot of expectation to succeed and can be a lot of disappointment in failure.

Let it be noted that I pay no discredit to Waikato Table Tennis Association or any of my colleagues there in making this statement. It is merely a personal account of my experiences and thoughts.

My TTDaily Interview with William Henzell

      Interview with Oceania's Best William Henzell

TableTennisDaily Interview

I was lucky enough to interview William Henzell recent winner of the Oceania Cup, 8 times Australian National Champion, 5 times Australian Open Champion and 3 times Oceania Champion. Having recently got to know William a little bit I can tell you all he is a very professional and humble athlete, very nice guy and very approachable. Thanks for the time William. Here is the interview below.

Image Courtesy of Adelaide Now: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/

Full Name:
William Henzell

Age:
29

Date Of Birth:
23 March 1982

Height:
179cm

Club represented:
Kalmar BTK (Sweden)
Lyckeby BTK (Sweden)
FC Tegernheim (Germany)

Highest World Ranking:
108

Equipment Used?

Blade: Yasaka Ma Lin Carbon
FH Rubber: Tenergy 05
BH Rubber: Tenergy 05

Your Career

How long have you been playing table tennis for, when did you start?
Since the age of 6, so 23 years now. I left home at 14 and moved to Sweden to make a go of table tennis. I stayed for 10 years before playing in Germany for two years and then relocating back to Australia before the 2008 Olympics.

Who has been the biggest influence on your career?
My parents have supported everything I’ve ever wanted to do in table tennis, including allowing me to ship out to Europe when I was 14!

Do you serve practice often?
Not often. I prefer to practice my serves in rally situations. I certainly don’t think service practice is a bad thing though and am planning to more of this when I move back to Europe later this year.

You’re a very successful table tennis player now, what do you feel has been your biggest achievement to date?
Winning silver in the men’s singles at the 2006 Commonwealth Games was huge for me personally. I had to walk out on my club contract to compete at the Games so I basically lost my job to compete there. I played the best table tennis of my life to beat players ranked a long way ahead of me.

I also played great at the 2008 Olympics, beating Jens Lundqvist and having chances to beat Wang Liqin and Yoon Jae-Young of South Korea.

Ok, maybe you don't like looking back to this but what was your biggest low in your career?
Losing the final of the men’s singles at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Tell us about your new website ttEDGE.com
ttEDGE is an online table tennis coaching website that I’ve created with the help of fellow Australian national team member Robert Frank. The site has coaching videos, training exercises, match analysis videos and blogs. We use a lot of ultra-slow motion footage to get across what we’re trying to explain.

Are you looking forward to the 2012 Olympics?
My focus at the moment is solely on qualifying for the Olympics. I’m moving to Austria and the Werner Schlager Academy in September to spend 5 months preparing for the qualifying. 2 players qualify from Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, Pacific islands) for the singles and I want one of those spots.

What's your view on the Chinese dominance at the moment; why are they so good do you believe?
Numbers and dedication. If you’ve got millions of people who are desperate enough to do whatever they can to succeed then you’ve got a winning recipe. Most other countries rely on a handful of players who are serious enough to do what it takes.

How do you train on the mental aspects of the game? Do you find this side of the game is just as important as the technical parts?
It is and I think that table tennis players, coaches and clubs put too little effort into this in general. I’m working on a few things at the moment but could dedicate more time and effort to the area.

What impact has playing in Oceania had on your table tennis, how do you train to compete at a level higher than the Oceania standard?
It isn’t easy. I don’t get the level of competition that I used to in Europe. I used to lose matches all the time in Europe which forces you to evolve and come up with solutions on your feet. I might lose just 1 or 2 matches per year in Oceania and that restricts my development. And I know most of the top players games inside out here so I don’t have to adjust to unfamiliar situations enough. I try to keep my training levels up and focus on technical weaknesses in my game.

Who's the toughest opponent you have ever overcome in a match?
I’ve had a 20-year rivalry with Simon Gerada from Australia and we’ve been number 1 and number 2 in everything we’ve done from Under 11’s to seniors. The matches are all about getting the upper hand mentally so it’s more a psychological battle than anything else.

What is the most memorable match you have ever played?
The match against Wang Liqin at the 2008 Olympics will stay with me. I was playing really well and was leading 1-0 and 7-1. During the 2nd set, the normally so loud Chinese crowd went almost completely quiet and was an eerie silence throughout the hall.

What is your advice to the many forum readers around the world about how to achieve their goals as table tennis players?
Get as much good coaching and advice as you can. Looking back at my career, I realise that I didn’t always have the best help and advice, which cost me years in development.

A match of William's I really enjoyed watching from the 2007 Swedish Open

William beats Japan's Koji Matsushita in a well controlled and tactical match! 

Off the Topic Questions

Who’s your favourite sportsmen of all time?
I don’t watch sport often as I much, much prefer to be playing than watching.

Favourite film?
Donnie Darko was good. I like Lord of The Rings as well.

What car do you drive?
No interest in cars so it’s a ’92 Nissan Pulsar.

What’s your favorite music?
Temper Trap right now.

What do you do in your spare time other than table tennis?
Table tennis takes up almost all my time – working and spare! Working on ttEDGE.com has been very rewarding but equally demanding. I do collect wine in my spare time.

Do you eat well or eat junk?
Well. Eating junk makes me feel like crap.

PS3 or XBOX 360?
I used to have a 360 but just don’t have any time these days.

Your Team Mates

Who’s the funniest player in the training hall?
Boajn Tokic from Slovenia provided endless entertainment during the two years I was training at Frickenhausen in Germany.

Who trains the hardest in the training hall?
I try extremely hard at training and always try to get the most out of it. I remember Patrick Baum being a very hard trainer and deserves all his recent success.

Who’s the funniest team player?
In Germany, I had 3 Serbian guys in my team (FC Tegernheim) – Rade Markovic, Boris Vukelic and Bojan Milosevic. All crazy, all hilarious.


Who has the best nickname?
Mark Smythe from Australia (former top player and now coach) is nicknamed ‘Duck’. If you see him walk you’ll understand – he actually waddles!

And Lastly

And lastly, thanks very much for your kindness in taking part in this interview for all the members of the Table Tennis Daily forum to learn and know more about the life of a professional player.

Would you like to add one last tip, or an inspirational message to us all?
I’d like everyone reading this to get a picture in their mind of a recent match they won and played well in. That feeling of satisfaction is hard to beat and I know it provides me all the motivation I need to get out on the table and practice every day. You get back out what you put in.



Good luck in your next competition

Thanks!

Matt Hetherington and the Table Tennis Daily Staff

Thanks Will, gotta get some media from down here up there and you are without doubt the perfect candidate. Best of luck for in the leadup to Olympic Qualifications! :)

Article on my Aus Open Selection

Kelly Exelby | 14th June 2011  

He had to shift to get his name in lights and now Tauranga's Matt Hetherington is backing a tilt at Australia's best to set him on the path to Commonwealth Games selection.

Hetherington, 21, is in the 11-strong New Zealand team competing at the Australian Open Championships in Hobart. He is the first born-and-bred member of the Otumoetai (recently renamed Table Tennis Tauranga) club to gain New Zealand selection, with his beginnings in the sport going back 13 years to when he would walk to the Matua hall to play.

"There would be family club night on Fridays and my whole family would play. I'm not sure I enjoyed it much back then but it quickly grew on me the more I played and it wasn't long before I really got into it.

"At the moment I get withdrawal if I don't play for maybe three to four days - I just can't get enough of it. It's the speed and intensity I like the most, it's such a versatile game."

Hobart is Hetherington's overseas debut for New Zealand, where the national men's team take on Aussie state sides in a teams event before individual competition. "The Aussies have a higher ability to execute in matches than us and a much higher level of top players in the sport. The problem we have in New Zealand is that good players come from overseas and play one national champs before realising that the little money in table tennis is not in playing but in coaching."

Studying for a Bachelor of Business Analysis with an economics major at Waikato University, where he's also the president of the Waikato Table Tennis Association, Hetherington's best chance of success is in the under-21 grade and doubles.

"As a left-hander I have an advantage in pairings and also have a good track record for doubles in New Zealand, winning 14 doubles titles last year including the North Island B grade men's and under-21 champs [with doubles partner and flatmate James Harter]."

It's been a big year for Table Tennis Tauranga, which uses Matua hall and the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre as venues.

In February, an 11-strong team competed at the annual New Zealand Masters Games in Wanganui, winning 14 table tennis medals (and 29 medals in all sports).

Recently, four members of the club competed successfully at the national marae championships in Manurewa.

In August, the club is making a week-long table tennis tour of the North Island, playing in regional or club events at Palmerston North, Wanganui, New Plymouth and Hamilton.

The tour, with 20 club members taking part, is believed to be the first of its kind in New Zealand table tennis.

Hetherington would love to see the sport thrive in the city, which he said lagged behind Waikato in development opportunities.

"Tauranga had potential when I first started but the legs fell out from underneath it and it needs a strong focus on reviving the sport. I spent four years with minimal competition at my club and no exposure to the kind of play I needed to succeed at a top level.

"Waikato has a strong high performance squad which trains four times a week and great coaches and players who have helped me develop my game since moving here in 2009. Getting recognised out of Tauranga as a junior was difficult - it's hard to make a case to selectors when you aren't actively training or playing under a coach."

Blast from the Past

KELLY EXELBY | 25th September 2007

Shannon used to beat Matt but now it's Matt who has the wood on Shannon. But both have to bow to a former women's international who wipes the floor with the pair of them.

Shannon Smith, 22, and 17-year-old Otumoetai schoolboy Matt Hetherington will fly the Tauranga flag tomorrow in the New Zealand table tennis championships in Cambridge.

Smith, a relief teacher and tennis coach at Welcome Bay, will play in the national C (outside the top-100) and D (outside top-200) grades, while Hetherington will have a busy 10 days, lining up in the under-18, under-21 and the men's B and C divisions, as well as the teams' competition for Waikato.

The pair are part of the Otumoetai table tennis club and are regular combatants, although they'll happily concede former women's international Kadia Keller-Rice's speed and dexterity wins out whenever the challenge is laid down.

Keller-Rice, a former New Zealand champion who was based in Switzerland for 15 years and went to her first world championships in 1981, is top seed for the women's 35+ division and will also compete in the open grade at the nationals.

The 42-year-old completed a notable return to the sport at the recent North Island championships, winning the masters (over 40) division and winning through to the semifinals of the open division.

Keller-Rice's son Marco, 12, will play in his first nationals in the boys' under-13 grade.

While the sport is booming among the midweek seniors at the Otumoetai club, with 40-50 regulars filling the Matua Community Hall each week, interest amongst the younger set has dwindled.

"We used to easily get upwards of 40 here on a Tuesday and Friday night but now it has dropped to between 10 and 20, and that'd be a good night," said Hetherington, whose national under-18 ranking has slipped from 25th to 44th.

"We're struggling and have to face the reality that table tennis isn't really considered a sport in Tauranga."

Hetherington and Smith have taken table tennis into schools but fear Tauranga may have dropped the ping pong ball when it failed to support Chinese player Sun Yang, now ranked No2 in New Zealand, and her plans to develop the game here.

"She spent three years in Tauranga but there just wasn't the interest to make it financially viable so she's now coaching in Christchurch," Hetherington said.

"Coaches in other areas are getting $50 an hour but Sun Yang could barely scrape together four kids for a coaching session."

Smith started playing table tennis six years ago and said the pace of the game left tennis for dead."You also have to think a lot and be quite strategic, whereas slugging a tennis ball back and forth across the net can get quite boring. I'm more stuffed after an hour of table tennis than I was after two and a half hours on court playing in the (Welcome Bay) men's tennis final."

Smith is a big hope in the men's D grade, with his main competition coming from Papamoa-based top seed John Lea.

The Slap Diary

My long standing motto: 'Don't give in to the Spin' comes to the foray. Playing in Tauranga in a club of players lower than my own level bred a need for me to develop a brutal killshot in my game, simply because the most basic of serves would set it up for me. Now it has become somewhat of a reputation of mine that I am in fact a slapper. Here is the indisputable evidence, my slap diary.

Features: Gregg Davey, Danny Kim, John Cordue, Gregg Letts, Aaron Gong, Jeffrey Chin, Kevin Wu, Jonathan Yam, Puneet Kumar, Sarah Her-Lee, Mark Page and Depak Patel.

Hope you enjoy.

Training Video 2010

Here's a peak into some of my training in 2010. Was just me experimenting with Windows Movie maker, some of the effects are pretty awful admittedly.

Features: Mark Page, Peter Craven and Myself

For quality it's best to watch on youtube.

Wellington Open 2011

Wellington Open wasn't my ideal run for a tournament, I was looking to rebound from Counties the week before but didn't have much luck. I managed to play my match against Depak Patel quite well here are the highlights of that match courtesy of Win Nguyen.

I also came up against Keith Aldersley which was a good match for me to reset my bar after Counties. I had struggled with Keith in the past and he won 12-10 in the 5th at the end of the day. In reflection it was clear that poor service at key points during the match was a main area that let me down and when Win released the video of parts of that match I noticed that point even more, especially in the last few points of the match. It is definitely an area of my game which has always been weaker than the rest so service will have a high incidence of practice in the next month.

For full highlights of the TTSports Wellington Open 2011 please visit Win Nguyen's Youtube Channel 'ttwfan' he puts a lot of time and effort into editing these clips, show your appreciation by watching them.

Australian Senior Table Tennis Championships 2011

Here are some of my highlights from the teams and individuals in Hobart, Tasmania at the Australian Senior Table Tennis Championships in June 2011. This was my first time in representing New Zealand in an International event in a New Zealand Team, it was a great experience and one I will work hard to achieve selection to again in the future.

My highlights reel is biased in my favour so for the record,  results from those matches: (Them - Me)
Simon Gerada  3-1
Phi Nguyen      0-3
Hemming Hu    3-0
Aaron Gong     3-1
Jason Lim        1-3
Greg Letts       3-1
Abraham Ng   1-3

I met some great new people too Greg, Jason and Bin (West Australia) really awesome guys, Geneo and Miao, William of course who unfortunately had to pull out, Sharad and of course it was awesome to have a great New Zealand team environment while we were there. Here are some photos of me and my new friends from Aus! :)

Left to right: Jason Lim, Tony Liu, Me, Aaron Gong, Myles Collins, Binayak Banerjee.

Jason, Me, Myles and Bin.

Me, Jason and Bin and the fabled Grenade.

Just found this video of my match against An Phan from South Australia.

TTEdge

http://www.ttedge.com

TTEdge is a fresh new site created by Australian Table Tennis stars William Henzell and Robert Frank recently competing finalists in the Oceania Cup in Adelaide where Henzell was crowned champion. TTEdge has a growing database of media for technical improvement across Basic, Intermediate and Advanced levels. The Site also boasts blogs from the two players, The Edge video section with more complex technical mechanics and excercises, an ask the coach section and my favourite part of the site, the Match Analysis where William commentates his own performances and international matches.

The site is still young but has a lot of hard work and dedication from the TTEdge team so be sure to check it out at the link above and join the FB page http://www.facebook.com/tabletennisedge

Table Tennis Daily

http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/forum/forum.php

This is a place where I dedicate some of my time to help a passionate young man Dan Ives from the UK, Table Tennis Daily is a great site and as most of you table tennis fans will know a highly viewed youtube channel for table tennis. The site has a large media section and active forums on equipment, profile events, players, news items and is a great place for players to get opinions and advice from a large base of players around the world.

I enjoy being Admin for the facebook page where me and Dan keep regular news feed updates for players and also as a member and moderator of the site I have plenty of content on the site myself. It's a great place for players to get in touch with other players and create a global table tennis community. Be sure to take a look at the link above and join the FB page here: http://www.facebook.com/TableTennisDaily

Mountain of a Hill to Climb for NZ Senior TT Championships

The entry forms for the New Zealand Senior Table Tennis Chamionships have now been posted online. Entries can be found on the TTNZ site http://tabletennis.org.nz/nationalevents.htm or at the hosts site TT Manawatu http://www.ttmanawatu.org.nz/O​pen_Championship.htm.


This blog is to follow my aspirations in Table Tennis. I'm not a brilliant player, but I hope to be one day. My goals at the moment are to make the New Zealand National Mens Training Squad for 2011 and to gain selection for the Australian Senior Table Tennis Championships in 2012. I would also like the opportunity to play the Oceania Table Tennis Championships again but realistically being in Fiji, entering individually wouldn't be worth the costs.


This is quite a special nationals for me as it is my 10th. Yes that's right I participated in my first nationals in 2001 and missed only the 2002 Invercargill Nationals to date. My current plans mean (all going to plan) that I won't be in New Zealand for this event next year. I hope to make it a good one and I will need some good results to raise my profile in the sport.


In the last month I have had some less than pleasing results and my rating has slipped quite dramatically. My focus is now on the 4 remaining tournaments in the northern region in the lead up to nationals. These are the Northland Open, Manawatu Open, Auckland Open and of course the Waikato Open. I hope to build my rating back up so I have an accurate seeding for Nationals and also to try and make the Waikato Mens A team.


I have a lot of work to do, was please to win the B Grade at the North Harbour Open and redeem myself a little in my match against Wayne Gear however wasn't able to qualify losing to Craig Dye who is playing pretty well at the moment. I have been struggling with pressure a lot lately and the one qualifier per group has stung me quite a bit as I have been underperforming. 


I've learnt valuable lessons in the last month and am ready to go to work to do my best in preparing for the upcoming tournaments and my 10th National Championships. I look forward to seeing you all there! 

Here is a picture of Tony (Teng Teng) Liu (left) and myself (right) playing in the Australian Open as our teams the NZ Mens A and NZ Mens B clashed horns. Watching Tony play at that tournament was more than inspiring and having to play him myself was a wake up call to the standard I would need to be to compete at higher levels.