PTS Sherwood and MBF organized Finland's largest beginner competitions for children, youth and adults in Kerava on November 23, 2024
Tapio Passinen, PTS Sherwood
PTS Sherwood and MBF organized the traditional children's and youth beginner competitions in Kerava on November 23, 2024. These were probably the largest competitions for beginners in Finland so far. No less than 50 children and youth participated in the competition, of which 41 were boys and 9 were girls. The players were from PTS Sherwood, MBF, TIP-70, PT 75, PT Espoo, Porvoo Marathon and LrTU.
Four players dared to enter the competition in the new adult category.
A few cancellations were easily filled through last-minute inquiries.
The competition, like previous competitions, was aimed at children and young people who are just starting out. The rating limit was set flexibly at “around 750 points”. Different classes were organised for children based on whether they still had a rating or not. As in previous competitions, the division of classes for the competitions was left open in the competition invitation. This has proven to be a good decision, as it has guaranteed the organiser sufficient flexibility to tailor the most suitable classes for as many players as possible.
Due to the large number of players, each age group had its own class. The smallest players in the competition were under six years old, and no fewer than four players under eight years old were able to participate in the competition.
MBF's Eki Valkeapää won the 9-year-old (unrated) series
The players were divided into different classes based on their year of birth, with each year of birth having its own class. This kept the number of games and the children's workload reasonable. In the competitions, both singles and doubles were played in the old way.
Compared to previous beginner competitions, the level of players and games has clearly increased. Although the turnover in players is naturally high at this age, during the competitions it was clear that there were both talented and well-trained completely new players. In several games, longer ball rallies were already seen and the kill shot was a familiar concept to many. The atmosphere remained good throughout the day and encouragement was common. A curiosity was the first cheering banner seen in the stands, which should be used more widely by clubs in the next beginner competition in Kerava.
MBF's Joona Rauvola (III), Upi Valkeapää (II) and Leon Blomberg (I) took a triple victory in the rating category
The large number of participants in the competitions was great proof that various clubs have started working again for new juniors. The high dropout rate of adolescent children in table tennis, which was highlighted last year, has apparently now been reversed in several clubs.
MBF's Albert Takkula placed second in his first competition (14-15 years old without rating)
After the morning's results were announced, it was time for the award ceremony, which was held simultaneously for all participants in the singles categories to maximize the atmosphere. All participants were awarded trophies in the old fashioned way, which brought a positive smile to many children's faces.
At the awards ceremony, a gift card donated by MN-Pingis was also presented to the best runner of the day, which this time went to Vilho Jokinen of PT 75. The gift cards donated by Porvoo Marathon went to Alvar Sell of PT Espoo and Milana Shmyalin of Sherwood. Thank you to the donors of the gift cards. Gift cards are considered very important among children.
The organizers do not want to single out any individual player in terms of results, because all the children who participated in these competitions are heroes and winners. The adult category was also played seriously and “sweaty”. Let's hope that in the next beginners' competitions, more adults will dare to try competing.
It was great that a few children volunteered to ask if they could judge. This shows that judging skills will be acquired very quickly, even at national competitions.
MBF's Upi Valkeapää was also a judge
In addition to doubles and doubles, the so-called PTS Sherwood J was played during the day.Unnu from the Cup, which is awarded to the team with the most points for the next six months. This time the trophy went to PTS Sherwood, after spending the last few months at MBF. It's great that this rotating trophy has started to rotate among different clubs.
The attitude of other clubs towards this competition format seems to be very positive. The good atmosphere was created by the skilled players, their support teams, the Christmas vendors who were at the school at the same time, and a visit from Santa Claus.
PTS Sherwood and MBF would like to thank all participants, parents, grandparents and guardians for participating in the competitions and their arrangements!!!
PTS Sherwood and MBF beginner competition 23.11.2024 Kerava
| Doubles | |||||||
| Girls rating | Boys 12 years old without rating | ||||||
| 1. | Viola Siege | PTS Sherwood | 1. | Ville Kinnunen | PT 75 | ||
| 2. | Onerva Maijala | PTS Sherwood | 2. | Nikolas Syren | TIP-70 | ||
| 3. | Sandra Finnish | PTS Sherwood | 3. | Aaron Haapamaki | PT 75 | ||
| 4. | Sofa Mountain | PTS Sherwood | 4. | Jiri Vesamäki | PTS Sherwood | ||
| 5. | Paola Noso | MBF | 5. | Juho Anttila | PTS Sherwood | ||
| Girls without rating | Boys 13 years old without rating | ||||||
| 1. | Jessieette Harlin | Maraton | 1. | Tsoupakis Manthos | PTS Sherwood | ||
| 2. | Milana Shmyalin | PTS Sherwood | 2. | Sergei Shmyalin | PTS Sherwood | ||
| 3. | Darya Avetisyan | PTS Sherwood | 3. | Haiko Ilmari | PTS Sherwood | ||
| 4. | Leisma Oiva | PTS Sherwood | |||||
| Minis – under six years old | |||||||
| 1. | Veijo Aalto | PTS Sherwood | Boys 14-15 years old without rating | ||||
| 2. | Seela Finnish | PTS Sherwood | 1. | Saarinen Roope | LrTU | ||
| 2. | Albert Takkula | MBF | |||||
| Boys 8 years old without rating | 3. | Hellish Poe | PT 75 | ||||
| 1. | Laurenz Egler | PT Espoo | 4. | Kevin Westerlund | PTS Sherwood | ||
| 2. | Ivar Karlsson | Maraton | 5. | Vili Laitinen | PTS Sherwood | ||
| 3. | Alvar Sell | No follow | |||||
| 4. | Heikki Wu | No follow | Boys with ratings | ||||
| 1. | Blomberg Leon | MBF | |||||
| Boys 9 years old without rating | 2. | Whitehead Upi | MBF | ||||
| 1. | Eki Whitehead | MBF | 3. | Rauvola Joona | MBF | ||
| 2. | Aarni Servi | does not follow | 4. | Passed Eemil | PTS Sherwood | ||
| 3. | Kasper Tevilin | PT Espoo | 5. | Strandstöm Eemil | PTS Sherwood | ||
| 4. | Kevin Ojanen | MBF | |||||
| 5. | Nikolai Pitkanen | MBF | Adult class | ||||
| 6. | Aaron Herdell | does not follow | 1. | Kazymov Maksym | PTS Sherwood | ||
| 2. | Karlsson Tobias | Maraton | |||||
| Boys 10 years old without rating | 3. | Hellish Poe | PT 75 | ||||
| 1. | Niklas Nissinen | TIP-70 | 4. | Suppala Lei | PTS Sherwood | ||
| 2. | Kimi Oak | PTS Sherwood | |||||
| 3. | Eljas Wu | No follow | |||||
| 4. | Väinö Yli-Karhu | PTS Sherwood | |||||
| Boys 11 years old without rating | |||||||
| 1. | Alex Kuokkanen | TIP-70 | |||||
| 2. | Hugo Larvala | TIP-70 | |||||
| 3. | Vilho Jokinen | PT-75 | |||||
| 4. | Anton Nieminen | TIP-70 | |||||
| 5. | Anton Takkula | MBF | |||||
| 6. | Sulo Eronen | PT-75 | |||||
| Boys' doubles | |||||||
| 1. | Mountain Niilo – Passing Eemil | PTS Sherwood | |||||
| 2. | Strandström Eemil – Valkeapää Upi | PTS Sherwood – MBF | |||||
| 3. | Tevilin Kasper – Lauri Egler | PT Espoo | |||||
| 4. | Jokinen Vilho – Haapamäki Albert | PT 75 | |||||
| 5. | Pitkänen Nikolai – Takkula Albert | MBF | |||||
| Girls' doubles | |||||||
| 1. | Viola Saarto – Sohvi Vuorinen | PTS Sherwood | |||||
| 2. | Sandra Suomalainen – Onerva Maijala | PTS Sherwood | |||||
| 3. | Paola Noso – Jessiette Harlin | MBF – Marathon | |||||
| PTS Sherwood – Junior Cup 23.11.2024 | |||||||
| 1. | PTS Sherwood | 55 | |||||
| 2. | MBF | 31,5 | |||||
| 3. | TIP-70 | 22 | |||||
| 4. | PT 75 | 13 | |||||
| 5. | PT Espoo | 12 | |||||
| 6. | Maraton | 6,5 | |||||
| 7. | LrTU | 5 | |||||