Club Championships Youth
What a fantastic day for the TTV Stiphout youth! The club championships were held on January 17, 2026, and with a whopping 13 participants, turnout was a bit better – an increase of 30% compared to last year. It was especially great to see that many young members, who had only recently joined, immediately took up the challenge and participated.
For the past three years, Ryan Sanders was the undisputed champion, but this time he wasn't there. That automatically meant a new club champion! All age groups played together in a single system, which made for some fantastic and sometimes challenging matches – it was often David versus Goliath at the table.
The semifinals offered plenty of spectacle. Liang versus Robin was a match in which Robin was particularly surprising; he played in absolute top form. On the other side, Loek and Geert faced off, with Geert playing his last club championship as a youth player. Ultimately, this all culminated in a thrilling final between buddies Liang and Loek. It was clear they know each other inside and out, resulting in exciting points and high-quality table tennis.
Throughout the tournament, there were some fantastic rallies – the kind of points that would have easily racked up likes on YouTube if we had filmed them.
Thanks to Wilma for the excellent service behind the bar and to Jo for all the preparations. Thanks to you—and of course, thanks to the enthusiastic young people—it was a day to look back on with great fondness.
Senior Club Championships: huge turnout, so we finished a bit later...
Last Sunday was the TTV Stiphout club championships, and with a whopping 39 participants, the hall was better filled than the recent Olieboltoernooi. The weather conditions were also somewhat better this time. The predicted final time of 6:00 PM turned out to be—how to put it politely—optimistic due to the high number of participants. The final time was ultimately 6:30 PM, but that gave everyone plenty of time to take an extra sip of water, sports drink, or painkiller.
Everyone played at least 7, and sometimes even 10, matches, which felt like a sporting challenge for some and like a multi-day stage in the Tour de France for others. With participants ranging in age from 16 to 81, it was a wonderful demonstration that table tennis is a sport for young, old, and everyone in between… although it was a bit more challenging for some than for others.
The number and skill level of the women's players was much higher this year than in recent years. However, the women's final featured a slightly surprising match: Carolien versus Jacqueline. Carolien proved slightly sharper in four games. Jacqueline, however, was mostly satisfied with the day, not least because she played 10 games and returned home injury-free – perhaps her biggest victory of the day.
The men's semifinals were between Jörgen and Mick, and Ben and Tomislav. Ultimately, Jörgen and Ben were allowed to compete in the final. Ben put up a brave fight, but Jörgen left no doubt who was in the best shape (and likely the freshest legs) that day.
Finally, a big thank you to everyone behind the scenes:
- Walter on duty at the bar until 2pm
- Ivo for the last (but certainly not unimportant) hour
- Jo for the preparations
- Han for the strict tournament management, which made sure we were “only” half an hour behind.
All in all: a successful, sporty and especially long day that will be talked about for a long time... probably with sore muscles.
