Serve up a shot at new sport
DID you know table tennis is good for the mind as well as the body?
Halton Borough Council and Halton Table Tennis Club were celebrating national #tabletennisday on Wednesday (July 18), serving up the benefits of ping ponging your way to health.
On the day itself there was an over 50s ‘Come & Try’ at Halton Table Tennis Centre, Select Security Stadium, Lower House Lane, in Widnes. All participants needed were training shoes as bats and balls were loaned, at a cost of just £2 per session, to encourage fitness and activity in the older participants.
Then in the evening a ‘Come & Try’ for young people aged 7-18 years, was held with fun games and coaching.
Halton TT Club has more than 600 members. It is the leading clubs in the north west as a Table Tennis England Centre for Excellence.
In competitive play the National Under 10 champion is member Louis Cheung-Turner, Under 13 girls number four is Niamh Scarborough while 20 other juniors are on the England ranking list.
Jack Hunter-Spivey is in the GB Para TT Squad; Joe Davies and Grace Williams are in the Para Futures Squad; while Mark Allen and Jade Carr play and regularly win medals in British and European Transplant TT events.
St Augustine’s School were celebrating National TT Day for the first time with the opening of the new outdoor Table Tennis tables at 1pm in the presence of North West chairman, Table Tennis England, Karen Tonge MBE.
The dedicated day creates a focal point and an opportunity to do something as a community.
It’s also about helping to raise the profile of the sport and to reach out to new participants.
Table Tennis England introduced National Table Tennis Day in 2014.
Clubs, schools, businesses, players and fans came together to celebrate the sport with a series of spectacular events, including open days, outdoor table events, fancy dress and celebrity involvement in the big day. ●
Urmston had restricted Widnes t to 48-4 and it was Majid Majeed a and Alex Hewitt who were tasked w with rebuilding the run chase. And that was exactly what they did, sharing a fifth wicket stand of 176 as Widnes reached their target and finished on 224-4 off 46.3 overs, claiming a crucial win, and a big 25 points.
Majeed was unbeaten with 81, with 10 boundaires and three maxmums from his 81 balls faced, while Hewitt reached 89 not out, also with 10 boundaires and four sixes in his 107 ball stay.
Widnes sit in fourth place in the table, 19 points off the promotion places. This Saturday, the 1st XI host Macclesfield at Beaconsfield Road.
After winning only one of their opening 11 games, the 2nd XI have now managed to win two in as many games.
Like the 1st XI, the 2nd XI also defeated Urmston on Saturday.
Urmston 2nd XI only managed to score 161-7 off 50 overs. Widnes 2nd XI chased their score down, finishing on 163-1 off 32 overs.
The 2nd XI still sit on the bottom of the table, on 119 points, 16 points from safety. This coming Saturday, they face a trip to table-toppers Cheadle.