TTNZ Awards

TTNZ would like to congratulate the following recipients of the TTNZ 2012 Awards:

Player of the Year: 

Chunli Li

Chunli won the 2012 Oceania Cup, which qualified her for the Women's World Cup as Oceania representative.  She finished runner-up in the Intercontinental Cup at that event.

Earlier in the year Chunli qualified for the Olympics Games via the Oceania Qualification event, but was not granted selection by the NZOC.  She also competed in the final Olympic Qualification tournament in Doha, and made a strong showing for the New Zealand Women's team in the World Team Championships in Dortmund. All in all, it was a most impressive comeback year.

Junior of the Year:

Michael Zhang

Junior of the Year is an award based on criteria as set on in the TTNZ Handbook which includes, interest in club affairs, enthusiasm, playing results, sportsmanship, personality, potential and dress. Michael's nomination has demonstrated an amazing willingness to help at school, club and association level, often helping with coaching when resources have been stretched, always eager to be involved and give assistance where needed.

Junior Player of the Year:

Thom Nguyen

Thom had a superb first half of the year culminating in his win over Kevin Wu in the final of the Under 18 Boys singles at the NZ Junior Nationals.  He also represented the NZ Senior Men's team in the Oceania Championships in Fiji.

National Veteran Player of the Year 

Malcolm Darroch

Malcolm has been very involved in the table tennis scene this year. Malcolm has had some commendable results throughout the season in both veteran and open events and is  great role model for younger players coming through the ranks.

National Most Improved Junior of the Year

Victor Pollett

Victor has had a great year in 2012, winning the Under 15 Boys event at the NZ Junior Open in July and recently competing and winning the Under 15 Boys event at the NZ Secondary Schools Championships.

National Volunteer of the Year

George Tseung & the HITT Programme volunteers

George has co-ordinated a dedicated group of volunteers to run the Hosting Inclusive Table Tennis (HITT) programme for 80 special needs students from 10 schools in the Auckland region to receive one on one table tennis coaching weekly throughout the school year.

National Coach of the Year

John Tuki

John has been enthusiastic in his role as National Para coach, taking a team to New Caledonia, and making other trips to the South Pacific.  He has also added a new aspect to training camps he has attended with his focus on physical preparation and nutrition.  He is also responsible for a great resurgence in enthusiasm in the Bay of Plenty with his constant one-on-one assistance to players at all levels.

National Official of the Year

Joachim Kusche

Joachim's specialty is the thoughtful reports that he compiles at the end of tournaments, providing valuable feedback for the improvement of other tournaments.

Special Commendation

TTNZ would also like to acknowledge the enthusiastic efforts of Sarah Her-Lee and Matthew Hetherington in heavily promoting table tennis through their online blogs.  Sarah has added a 'style' factor while also inspiring followers with her stories and pictures from a year largely spent pursuing table tennis overseas.  Matt has been a true journalist interviewing starts, previewing tournaments, and giving prompt tableside views of big matches.

Arthur Meachen Memorial Cup

Auckland

Awarded to the Association whose players achieved the most successes in the finals of the Senior Individuals Events at the NZ Championships.