The Association is sad to announce that Molly Hawkins passed away peacefully early on Friday 6th January 2012 at the age of 93.

Molly was a stalwart of the Gloucester League for a number of years with clubs such as Strollers, and Wotton, which she ran with the invaluable help of her late husband John.

Although perhaps starting the sport later than some of her friends Molly proved that by hard work and constant training she could reach the very highest standard of play. She represented her country a number of times and had a large collection of cups and trophies. Molly was still entering, and winning, European tournaments when she was in her early 80’s.

Unfortunately Molly had not been in good health for a number of months and suffered a severe stroke just before Christmas, from which she was not able to recover.

Her funeral will take place on Tuesday, 24th January at 11:30am at Gloucester Crematorium.

The fixtures and handicaps for the quarter finals of the handicap knockout competition, and the results from the second round, are now available ...

A message from Graham Slack, Chairman of the Gloucestershire Table Tennis Association:

“Hi everyone,

As 2011 comes to a close I imagine you will all have had good and bad results in your matches, tournaments, etc but that is what keeps us all enthusiastic about our fantastic sport. Without you all our leagues would not be able to continue so you are the vital to the survival and development of our sport. 2012 will be a fantastic year for us all as the Olympics will inspire many youngsters and older people to take up table tennis and we must be prepared for a large influx of new players. We can manage this with your help.

Table tennis players fall into several categories:-

Players who have served on committees in the past and have "done their bit" for table tennis. We all owe these players a big thank you.

Players who currently serve on committees. These are the people who keep our leagues going and we also owe these a big thank you.

Players who moan whenever they can and never help. We would like these players to use their energy in a positive way and consider joining their local committee.

Players who play and have never considered helping. These players are vital to our leagues but have so much to offer in other ways. Please consider helping you local committee.

Junior players who need help from us all to put Gloucestershire back to the top of table tennis in England.

I imagine you will all know which category you fall in and whether you are able to offer Gloucestershire TTA your ideas, etc. We always need more help and would appreciate any offers from you. Please let me know if you are able to offer any help.

I wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and look forward to seeing many of you in 2012.

Regards,

Graham”

Due to the renovation of the gym, the coaching/practice sessions at The Crypt School on Saturdays are suspended until the end of January.

The second round of the County Junior League took place on Saturday, 12th November in Gloucester ...