Home Nations International 2021
Preview, Schedule, Participants
by Mark Lundberg

The weekend brings some of the best players from across the Home Countries to Largs for the Home Nations International. There is certainly a feeling of excitement with the Inverclyde Sports Centre holding such a top- class event for the first time since its recent upgrade. Having top class accommodation and food right next door to the venue without the usual headaches of logistics will hopefully bring the best out of those taking part over the weekend. The tireless work from the organising committee of Richard Yule, Terry McLernon MBE, Stewart McGowan and Cynthia Robinson must be commended as without them there would be no event.

This year sees the players of England, Ireland, Wales, Jersey and of course Scotland compete in Senior Men & Women, Junior Boys & Girls and Cadet Boys & Girls. Unfortunately, due to Covid restrictions, players from the Isle of Man and Guernsey are unable to travel to our event. 

We also have the exciting prospect of allowing for more players to compete in the Junior Girls and Cadet Girls for players from Jersey teaming up with a player from Scotland and Wales. Not sure yet how yet we name this team with initial ideas that Jerland or Walesery could be options, however maybe best we go back to the drawing board on this one.

The team event kicks off proceedings on Friday afternoon and don’t worry Table Tennis Scotland will be there to keep you up to date with all the results and action with updates across Instagram, Facebook and more in- depth coverage on Twitter. We also have the exciting prospect of bringing you live streaming (technology permitting) from the key matches and we will update you over the weekend on how you can follow this action.

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The schedule for the event is as follows:

Senior Men, Junior Boys, Cadet Boys, Cadet Girls will follow the schedule below and for the purpose of the draw the hybrid team from Jersey & Wales in the cadet girls will be referred to as Jersey.

Session 1 – Friday 1.30pm

Jersey v Ireland                     Wales v Scotland
England No Match

Session 2 – Friday 3.30pm

England v Jersey                      Ireland v Wales
Scotland No Match

Session 3 Saturday 9am

Scotland v England                    Jersey v Wales
Ireland No Match

Session 4 Saturday 11am

Ireland v Scotland                          Wales v England
Jersey No Match

Session 5 Saturday 2pm

Scotland v Jersey                     England v Ireland
Wales No Match

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For the Senior Women and Junior Girls the following schedule will be followed.

Session 1 Friday 1.30pm

Senior Women – England v Wales             Ireland v Scotland
Junior Girls – England v Jersey                Ireland v Scotland

Session 2 Friday 3.30pm

Senior Women -Scotland v England          Wales v Ireland
Junior Girls – Ireland v England                 Scotland v Jersey

Session 3 Saturday 10am

Senior Women – England v Ireland           Scotland v Wales
Junior Girls – England v Scotland              Jersey v Ireland

There are certainty some tasty matches in prospect across all the events and it would be unfair to single any out in particular. However, that would of course be very boring. I hope the supporters of Scotland are ready for the 9am start on Saturday morning where the battle of the Auld Enemy begins across five of the six events.

I’m sure our Welsh counterparts would say the same when session four begins on Saturday. Let`s not forget the fighting Irish who I’m sure will have something to say about how things unfold. Finally, everyone loves an underdog but the players from Jersey provide some top talent to this year’s event. I’m sure they will have their say on who will be crowned champions.

When you look through the list of participants then this year’s event is certainly about the emergent talent which the British Isles has to offer. I’m sure the nerds amongst you will be researching the players involved. Social media has a library of action of what to expect of those taking part this weekend. When you look at the huge experience of the non- playing captains, I am certain they will bring a positive influence to their players over the weekend.

This year the Home Nations International team events follow a different format compared to previous years. Every match will count. If a team wins a match 4-0 this gains them four points for their events league table likewise a 2-2 draw means each team win two points. However, if you still don’t follow don’t worry as the social media coverage will keep you up to date as each event unfolds over the weekend.

The action doesn`t stop there with the doubles event kicking off on Saturday afternoon after the team event has concluded. Each team faces off in an individual knockout draw where there will certainly be some interesting matches to conclude Saturday play.

Sunday brings you the individual events where the players will be hoping they were in top form during the team event as this decides the seedings for the event. Regardless if a players` ranking is higher in their home country, if their partner performed better during Friday and Saturday this will see them being seeded higher and potentially receiving a smoother path to the later knockout rounds. This ensures that every match does count at every turn, as you never know what a defeat or a great win will get you in the draw.

As stated in previous recent reports regarding this season, it is fantastic to see competitive table tennis back after the Covid 19 enforced break. Hosting this event in Scotland in the fantastic facilities Largs has to offer brings excitement to the Scottish table tennis community. I hope this same excitement spreads to our friends throughout the Home Countries. Let the games begin as they say.

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List of Participants

SCOTLAND                                

Senior Men – Colin Dalgleish, Chris Main               
NPC David Fairholm

Senior Woman – Rebecca Plaistow, Lucy Elliott   
NPC Iain Rhind

Junior Boys – Martin Johnson   Danny Bajwa       
NPC Andrew MacPherson

Junior Girls – Faye Leggett   Paula Callaghan     
NPC Jordan McGinlay

Cadet Boys – Borui Chen    Kieran Walker            
NPC Gordon Muir

Cadet Girls – Shannon Brown   Maja Wojcicka     
NPC Krzysztof Borkowicz

ENGLAND                     
Senior Men – Benjamin Piggott   Connor Green      
Senior Woman –  Mari Baldwin   Amy Marriott
Junior Boys – Jakub Piwowar   Larry Trumpuskas 
Junior Girls  –  Bethany Ellis   Connie Dumelow
Cadet Boys – Kacper Piwowar   Abraham Sellado  
Cadet Girls –  Sienna Jetha   Eva Eccles
NPCs  – Evie Collier, Kelly Sibley, Craig Bryant

IRELAND                          
Senior Men –   Ryan Farrell    Alexander Gillen       
Senior Woman –  Sabina Devereux   Erin Thompson   Claire Heller
Junior Boys –  Dillon Byrne   Tom Colvin  James Skelton
Junior Girls –  Silke Heine  Nicole Scott      
Cadet Boys –  Isaac Ellison   Matthew Mooney  Senan Sheridan   
Cadet Girls –  Anjali Singh   Grace Looney  Niamh Mason
NPCs  – Gavin Maguire, Tara Fusco, Richard Butler, Jing Yi Graham, Conor Mullall, Lucy Craig

WALES    
Senior Men –  Joshua Stacey  Marc Castro 
Senior Woman –  Lara Whitton  Beth Richards
Junior Boys – Louie Evans  Harri Docherty 
Cadet Boys – Elis O’Connor  Alex Fernandes
Cadet Girls –  Ruby Elliot  Lowri Hurd
NPCs  – Stephen Jenkins, Joshua Morgan, Matt Porter, Cerys Evans                                

JERSEY                           
Senior Men – Jordan Wykes   Luc Miller      
Junior Boys –  Leon Pierre   Alfie Sutherland
Junior Girls –  Kathryn Silcock  Holly McNamara (Scotland)
Cadet Boys –   John Le Fondre   Kevin Moriera
Cadet Girls – Hannah Silcock   Dacey Taylor  (Wales)
NPCs  – Miguel De Freitas, Martin Tupper, Paul Routier

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Officials

Referee
Stewart McGowan

Control Table Staff
Alison Woods, Ken Cadogan, Lorraine Johnston, Linda Higgins

Umpires
Scotland – Roy Claxton, Charlie Brown, Barry Johnston
Wales – Peter Higgins, Krasimiri Krasteva, Neil O’Connell, Lesley O’Connell
England – Oliver Ingram, Tom Konarski
Jersey –  David Hole
Ireland – Con O’Ceadaigh, Jay McAlistair