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2009 – The Michael Hawkesworth Championships
2 – 3 May 2009 - Sheffield

I have been playing table tennis for approximately 4 years either in the Stroud and District or Bristol and District leagues. During the 2008-09 Winter season, I made a conscious effort of solely concentrating and playing all my matches in the Bristol and District League.

During this period, I’ve also participated in various tournaments held across England for those with a pan disability primarily through Disability Sport England (DSE) and Mencap Sport. At this point I am grateful for Mencap Sport who has kindly adopted me, which has allowed me to attend their England National Squad training sessions. Without doubt these training camps has certainly benefited my game. Whilst my table tennis progress has been slow, I am only now beginning to calm down, which is resulting with me not getting so tense and nervous during match play. However, I still have to work on this part of the game, but at least it is now beginning to move in the right direction. It was evident during the Bristol and District Winter league when I managed to win 7 league matches with an average of slightly below 13%.

The British Table Tennis Association for Disabled people (BTTAD) was held in Sheffield between 2 – 3 May 2009 and for the first time I was participating in this tournament. I knew from past experience of the high tournament standard because in my category are individuals who have competed at the highest level, the Paralympic Games.

The opening morning of the tournament consisted with the Doubles group matches, which I wasn’t involved. It was agreed to give some of the junior players who were also not involved with the opening morning play some tournament experience by giving them some matches and a minor round robin matches were held.

My tournament involvement commenced after lunch when the Category groups round robin matches were held and was in a group of 4 other competitors, with two of them, Paul Karabardak and David Wetherill representing Great Britain at the Beijing Games in 2008. To my surprise I was asked to participate in all my matches one after another. At least I couldn’t use the excuse of not being properly warmed up.

By nature my style of play would be described as cautious and safety conscious and this was evident during some of the group matches. It was only when one of my opponents David Wetherill comfortably beat me in the first two sets when I realised I should go out and try to execute some of my forehand shots I have been working on to develop over the years. Whilst the end result concluded in another set and match defeat, at least I was able to cumulative more points in this one game compared to the previous two put together. Another area of my game where I need to learn how to play against spin and this was evident when I struggled against Martin Adams.
The second day of the tournament consisted with the Mens Standing B and I was in a pool with three other players. My first match was against my friend and Mencap England squad member Simon Green. Whilst Simon won in four sets, overall I was pleased with my performance especially when I was able to take a set off him. The second match was average, but I thought over the three sets defeat I executed some good shots, but must learn to become more positive and confident using my forehand. My third match I knew I was on a hiding to nothing after watching A Facey-Thompson smash his way to victory in his two previous matches. I knew what to expect and it was evident from the start in the first set when he started to smash the ball past me. My game plan was to play a short game over the net and to force my opponent to use his backhand, which had limited success. Whilst I lost this match 3 – 0, I was not too downhearted because A Facey-Thompson became the overall winner within this Division.

In summary during this tournament I was not as nervous compared to previous tournaments held for people with disabilities, but I still have to learn to become more relax that would help me to execute forehand shots and confidence to move around the table more freely.

Ian Thomas
Filton College
Mencap Sport England Squad Member