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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 22 Nov 2011, 11:45 
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There's a couple of options: 1) I get a no-options automatic promotion to the next grade, with or without my team mates, or 2) my team mates can apply for the next grade on approval from the club, with the risk that they'll get overwhelmed by the new competition.

If and when I take the first 'option', the club will fit me into a suitable team.

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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 22 Nov 2011, 11:58 
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In my club, if you win "leading player" you are eligible for promotion to the next division if you choose to leave your team and join another. However, there must be an available position in another team. If not, then you have to stay in the division you were in. I've seen people leave a team in the lurch so they could play up a division. Its also possible for people to lose their spot in their team thinking they were going to be promoted, only to find they have no team in the next division. This situation isn't helped by the fact that our club only announces the teams on the first night of the season, which can be frustrating at times. Especially for people who are potentially moving from B grade to A grade where a change of night is involved. I've seen people turn up on Monday night thinking they've been promoted to A grade, only to find they are still playing Tuesday night B grade.

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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 22 Nov 2011, 17:35 
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That system seems rather harsh, if your club goes by the bottom team down, and top team up how come there is no spot for the player being raised a division?

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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 22 Nov 2011, 20:12 
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In our organisation I find a 12 yo superstar and say take me to the top, far better way to travel 8)

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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 23 Nov 2011, 08:08 
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rodderz wrote:
In our organisation I find a 12 yo superstar and say take me to the top, far better way to travel 8)

Is that the same 12 year old who gave you a good talking to on how to beat an apponent?

Oskar, your competition and the promotion relegation aspect raises an interesting question. Our league has a lot of players who play for the social side of things - they enjoy playing with the same people year in year out. Promotion isn't what motivates them to play the game. Your league seems to focus mainly on improving and results. What would happen if you refused to play higher than your current division because you "enjoyed" the friendship of playing with your current team members. Would they allow that?


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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 23 Nov 2011, 08:20 
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@ Debater - I would suspect that they would allow it, because the guy who shares first spot on the B1 ladder this season has refused to move up. He said to me that when he tried the A3 division he had only won four games out of about 24 games. Before I joined the Ballarat club and entered the B1 division, he was the player to beat. Well, I beat him, but I have no real desire to stay in that division and collect more B1 trophies and awards. Of course, it'll be a bit disheartening to find myself nearer the bottom of the A3 playing field, but improving my game is more important than collecting 'easy' awards.

Velonstrials wrote:
That system seems rather harsh, if your club goes by the bottom team down, and top team up how come there is no spot for the player being raised a division?


I don't quite understand what you mean by this. Please explain.

haggisv wrote:
You talk about your 'form'. I see 'form' as a long term condition that slowly improves as you practice more and play more matches. What you describe sounds more like the ups and downs of competition nights... some nights you'll play better, some you'll play worse... it can be due to many factors but we all have them. A poor night sleep or a busy day can be a huge factor.... so even thought you're in good 'form', you can still have a 'bad' night.
Just terminology I know :oops: :oops: :oops:

I think the more you practice and prepare for competition (a luxury that we don't always have), the difference between good and bad nights becomes less and less...


I agree with you, haggisv, it's probably not the right term to use. I used the word 'form' because it's often used to describe a batsman or bowler in cricket when they're playing under-par. And it probably means what you describe, i.e. they've been away from practice. The 'ups and downs' I was feeling at the start of the night I was able to shake off, so I think it was less to do with lack of sleep and more to do with being distracted.

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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 09 Dec 2011, 08:21 
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A Very Close Call

Going into the semi-final, my team the Fireblades were confident of victory. Why wouldn't we be? We were the only unbeaten team in our division and the last time we played our opponents, The Triffids, we won 8/3. I'm not saying we weren't nervous. The Triffids are a solid team and I've watched their players go from strength to strength. Just because we hadn't lost a game all season didn't mean we could keep it up.

My team always gets to the venue a good hour before the games begin. I think it's only sensible, so that we get to warm up and do a bit of team-talk - maybe even help each other shake off any nerves before the bloody combat. You know, it still surprises me how few people turn up for this all-important warm up before they have to play, and this is especially true of our key rivals, The Triffids.

It was the night of the semi-final and our opponent's captain was running late. Normally, captains play the first game, but we decided not to wait and commenced the night with the number twos. It was a tough match, but we managed to put the first positive score on the board. During this game, the opponent's captain turned up and he suggested to me that, perhaps, captains of each team should play the last match of the night. His thinking was that the night was going to be very close and that pushing our match to the end might be the decider. I agreed.

From that point forward, the team scores moved back and forward. The Triffids won the next game, we won the next one and on it went until about 10 at night when both teams were five games each. The semi final literally hung on a knife's edge (well, not quite literally, but you know what I mean).

So, there it was. It was up to me and the opposing captain to decide the fate of both our teams. I can't say I was very pleased to have such pressure, but there was nothing I could do about it, except to play the very best table tennis I knew.

Because it was so late in the night, a small crowd had gathered. About two balls into the game and I stubbed my big toe on the edge of the table's leg. Gee, it hurt and I was forced to hop around for a few seconds trying to recompose myself. However, I managed to win the game 11/9. Like magic, the pain in my toe disappeared!

My opponent took the next set 9/11 and it seemed that our match was turning into a microcosm of the whole night's play. Sure enough, I won the next set and he did the same on the fourth.

So, there we were - two sets apiece. There was not a sound in that great hall, except for the panicked beating of both our hearts ringing in our ears. Well, at least I hoped he was suffering like I was! I glanced around and all I could see were the grave faces of everyone watching. You could not have written a better ending to the script of that night. It was almost 10.30 pm and the result was far from clear.

The fifth and final set was a glorious moment for me and I can't really see how it came about. My opponent just had no reply, even though the whole game had revealed how closely matched we were. But there it was, I snatched victory quite comfortably 11/5 and felt the weight of the world slip from my shoulders. All I could say was that it was a genuine Captain's Knock and I'm so glad success landed at our feet and not theirs. With a final result of 6/5 it meant we were going into the finals and, no doubt, to face the Triffids again. I just hope it's not so close next time!

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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 09 Dec 2011, 12:10 
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This deserves to be in the creative writing thread, It really made me feel the anticipation. :up:

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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 09 Dec 2011, 12:18 
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You're going to face the same team in the final as the semi-final? How is that possible Oskar? Do you have a 3-part final series? So losers of semi play winners of other semi and winners of that play the other finalist? I've not seen such a long winded final setup before in TT. The longest series I've seen was 2 semi-finals one week followed by a final the next week. In our club there is only THE FINAL each season which is between top 2 finishers.

Anyway, well done on making the final and your close win. Good luck in the final, which I assume must be the week after next?

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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 09 Dec 2011, 13:26 
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RebornTTEvnglist wrote:
You're going to face the same team in the final as the semi-final? How is that possible Oskar? Do you have a 3-part final series? So losers of semi play winners of other semi and winners of that play the other finalist? I've not seen such a long winded final setup before in TT. The longest series I've seen was 2 semi-finals one week followed by a final the next week. In our club there is only THE FINAL each season which is between top 2 finishers.

Anyway, well done on making the final and your close win. Good luck in the final, which I assume must be the week after next?


Sorry I wasn't clear about it. The first semi final (described above) was 1 vs 2 and 3 vs 4. The winner of 1 vs 2 got to have a break - which, incidentally, took me to lovely Apollo Bay - and the loser of that semi had to play the winner of 3 vs 4 for a place in the grand final. I suppose it gives the loser of the more important semi final a second chance. Anyway, we are seeing our semi final opponents in the grand final.

Velonstrials wrote:
This deserves to be in the creative writing thread, It really made me feel the anticipation. :up:


Thanks, Velonstrials! :oops:

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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 09 Dec 2011, 14:16 
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Velonstrials wrote:
This deserves to be in the creative writing thread, It really made me feel the anticipation. :up:


You should go back and read some of my blogs then :lol: :lol:

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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 18 Apr 2012, 13:30 
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I've been thinking about reviving this blog for a while now. Last year's final didn't go as planned, and it has taken me a long time to accept that! :o :P ;( :lol: :?: |-) :swear: :D

In short, even though we hadn't lost any games all season - and I was close to 100% sure we would win - it just wasn't to be. Good on the other team for teaching us a lesson in humility ... :| :| :|

Anyway, the past is the past, and I'm not going there! :headbang:

Winter Season - Round 1

Last Monday saw the start of the 2012 Winter Pennant at Ballarat. My team, Supernova*, were ready to face our old rivals for the first match. We had something to prove because they had taken away the finals too easily last year. Admittedly, I never go into a season or a match with the confidence that I will win. This is not to say that I don't go in expecting to win - I do - but I try and balance my confidence with a healthy dose of doubt and humility. Of course, there will always be players that I feel I understand almost completely and will present little opposition, but, generally, I'm not cocky and simply try to play the best TT I know I can.

I can't give you a blow-by-blow account because, as I've stated before, I'm not much for recalling the specific details of a game. I know I could alleviate this problem if I made a personal record of each game, but there never seems to be the time or inclination. So, I offer my apologies now if there's any confusion for lack of details.

As always, the first thing I have to do is settle the nerves. Luckily, as experience grows, I'm finding this easier to do. Rituals help, like taking a few moments out just to carefully fill in the scorecard with player names, dates, etc. Breathing helps, too.

As captain and number 1 player, the night went quite smoothly for me. I managed to win all my singles in straight sets and, oftentimes, with healthy margins. The opposing captain even remarked on how much he thought I had improved. Thanks, DJ! It's always nice to get an outsider's perspective, especially when it's someone whose game you appreciate and respect.

Even though I played what I consider very good table tennis, it's not always going to be enough to carry a team to victory, especially a three-man team that needs at least 6 wins. To this effect, I've decided that I will be involved in all our doubles games, just to (hopefully) take the pressure off my team mates. This strategy worked for us on the night (most likely) because my team mates were only able to contribute 2 singles wins between them. Well, the fact is that one team mate won 2 of his singles and the other suffered a night of losses. But 5 singles wins alone is not enough to win the night, so it was absolutely critical to win at least one of the doubles. We managed to win both, so the final result was in our favour 7-4. Phew!

It must be said that, although I felt confident fairly early on in the night that we were headed for victory, I still felt the pressure of a possible loss. From my point of view - having won all my singles without breaking out in much of a sweat - our doubles efforts were both hard won. They really could have gone either way and that's not a feeling I like to experience. For sure, I can and must accept it, but when you want your team to win it can be torture.

I have to tell you of one particularly freakish shot I managed to pull off. It was the final point of my last match. I went for a ball that forced me to lob it up with my back turned to my opponent. The ball went a few metres in the air, missed all the lighting fixtures and returned safely on my opponent's side of the table. My opponent had no answer and I won with one of the most amazing shots I've ever played. Times like that you really need a video camera!

* Unfortunately, the season's fixture reads: Supanova, :doh: but I will endevour to spell it the way it was originally intended on all the scorecards.

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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 18 Apr 2012, 16:59 
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It doesn't matter now, but for future reference, you may wish to know Oskar that a bal that goes above the lights becomes a "let" as the opponent cannot see the ball for the lights - which is enough distraction to warrant a let. Many people think they must deal with a ball that misses the lights or they get the point if it has hit the lights on its way to them. The latter is true, the former is not.

Anyway, good win! :up:

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S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 19 Apr 2012, 07:38 
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Oh, don't burst my bubble, Reborn. There have been so many times when a lob of mine has hit the lights and returned to the opponent's side of the table - and I lost the point. My first reaction is always to curse the position of the lights.

Just to be clear about your comment: are you saying that if the ball hits the lighting fixture (i.e. it doesn't become lost in the glare of the lights) and returns safely that it's a legal shot? If so, then my 'miracle' shot was due compensation for all the times this has happened to me!

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 Post subject: Re: A Naked Bear
PostPosted: 19 Apr 2012, 10:01 
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So let me get this clear. You didn't move up even though you were b1 best player? Or how did that work?

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