Grundy Park Table Tennis Club

01/06/2022

To celebrate that amazing night at Wembley , I’m going to give away a signed glove and two tickets to the Froch Groves dinner tour.

Like , share and tag who’d you take with you to enter.

I’ll announce the lucky winner this Sunday 😎

GOOD LUCK 🥊

04/01/2022

19/10/2017

A quick update on grundy park 3, following on from there opening day win in the league they again played Pramastars 2 this time in the cup.
Team captain Jason Flaum came into the team following the departure of Rocco Cuffaro to university. A healthy win of 7-2 was a good start to the defence of the cup they won last season.
The next week was a much tougher test away to Hrc2 and a tough debut for newcomer Ben Flaum in his debut for the team. He played an excellent match and actually had two match points before losing 14-12 in the deciding fifth set. The team lost 9-1 on the night and will look to improve when they meet again later this season.
Monday night saw us play Allenburys 3 and the match swung both ways before we lost the doubles resulting on a 5-5 draw which was probably a fair result. Of note was Ben Flaum winning his first match in the Hertford league and if he continues to improve it certainly won't be his last.
Overall very enjoyable for the five players involved so far and looking forward to the next round of matches.

17/10/2017

Grundy Park 3 vs Pramastars 2

The first match of the 2017-2018 season took place on monday night with the holders Grundy Park 3's taking on Pramastars 2's. A shuffle in teams for the new season saw Rocco 'Skip' Cuffaro captaining the side for his first and last match this season as he heads off to university this week with Jason Flaum taking the armband over for the remainder of the season. Two newbies John Guest and Jerry Donger who joined the club over the summer made their debut appearances for the 3's.

Cuffaro took on Wayne Boddy in the first match of the night and after a slow start, managed to see of his opponent with a 3-1 victory to put Grundy 1-0 up. John Guest then took on Anusha and won his first match comfortably 3-0. Jerry Donger then played Sue Gillet who joined Pramastars this season after Hoddesdon unfortunately folded at the end of last season. Donger managed to beat Gillet 3-1 to give Grundy a 3-0 advantage.

Guest then took on Boddy who proved to be too strong for him with Boddy winning in straight sets to put Pramastars on the board. Cuffaro then saw off Gillet with ease only dropping 11 points in the match putting Grundy Park 4-1 up. Donger then took Anusha and managed to win 3-1 to guarantee at least a draw for Grundy.

Pramastars were resilient however with Gillet beating Guest 3-1 and Boddy winning in 5 sets against Donger to make it 5-3 and restored some hope of getting a result. However Cuffaro was in good form and beat Anusha 3-0 to secure the first victory of the season for his side. Cuffaro and Donger won the doubles at the end too winning 7-3 overall.

A solid start for grundy park 3's and they will be looking to continue their unbeaten run since october of last year in all fixtures in the cup next monday.

17/09/2017

Tomorrow is the start of a new season in the Hertford and District League. We welcome a new captain for our 3rd team (Jason Flaum) as Rocco moves on to start university. Our 3rd team also welcomes 3 new players to the league. We wish them the best of luck in their 1st match against Pramastars 2.

23/08/2017

If there is somebody you would like to nominate please do so and help support the local awards

02/08/2017

Wow what a season, congratulations to all our teams and their captains for such fantastic play and spirit. Here's an update on our performance as a club.

Hertford and District League

We had three teams entered into the Hertford and District League, two in the Premier Division and one in the 1st Division who were promoted last year.

We are delighted that our first team (Martin (Captain), Roy, Mark, Jess and Dennis )playing in the Premier Division regained the premiership by finishing top of the table with 85 points, 5 clear of second place. Our second team (Richard (Captain), Malcolm, Graham, Luke and Alex) had a more difficult time in what was a very strong division but continued to put in some great performances especially towards the end of the season and finished a respectful sixth with 34 points. Our first team also came runners up in the Divisional Cup and the Handicap Cup.

Our third team (Rocco (Captain), Ollie, Sam and Jason) newly promoted after winning their division last year had an unexpected battle for the top of the table. After a slow and difficult start to the season they went on to be unbeaten in all their matches from December, securing them top spot in Division 1 by four points. To add to their success they also won the Divisional Cup and knocked out fellow team mates (Grundy park 1) in the premier division to come home with the Handicap Cup. Three very well deserved trophies for the team.

Cheshunt League

We had two teams representing Grundy Park in the Cheshunt League this year, one team in Division One and the other in Division Two. Our newly formed Division One Team (Dave (Captain) and father and daughter Mark and Jess) comfortably finished top of the table by 11 points. They managed to put in outstanding performances each week loosing only one match. The team fielded some of their additional players (Richard, Rocco & Sam) who won the Handicap Trophy . Our Division two team (Irina (Captain), Deborah, Peter, Mick and Tony) finished in last place but have progressed from last season winning more matches and will continue to play again next season where we know they will once again perform well.

We also had individual success with our youngest member of the club, who at only 13 at the time played a crucial part in the third teams’ success this year and helped getting them promotion last season too. Sam competed in the leagues’ summer tournament and finished first in the Division 1 Singles adding to the singles tournament he won in Division 2 last year. Sam was also runner up in the drawn doubles competition.

12/05/2017

Handicap Cup Final

The final of the handicap cup took place at Allenbury's on monday night with Grundy Park 3's taking on Grundy Park 1's. This was always going to be a fantastic game and it proved to be just this with both teams challenging for the title in their respective divisions.

Rocco Cuffaro and Samuel Flaum were up first in the doubles against Mark Jarvis and Jess Jarvis. Cuffaro struggled with the serves from both players throughout the match and couldn't find any form early on. S Flaum also struggled in the first set and despite a 9-0 head start, the 3's pair lost the first set 21-16. However, Cuffaro and Flaum's form grew into the match and with a bit of luck on their side, they defeated the Jarvis' 21-16 21-17 in the next two sets, putting the 3's in front. Jason Flaum took on Roy Jager and J Flaum produced some of his best table tennis of the season to demolish Jager 21-12 21-10.

Cuffaro then took on Jess Jarvis and struggled with the serves like he did in the doubles match and lost the first set 21-15. He came back in the second set but Jarvis was too good and won 21-18 making it 2-1 on the night. In the next singles match S Flaum played Mark Jarvis which turned out to be a fantastic game. S Flaum found himself 15-5 up in the 1st set, but after losing 10 points in a row, Jarvis stole the first set 21-19. The second set produced some excellent rallies with some superb forehands from both players, however due to another poor patch in the middle of the set, S Flaum lost 21-19 again making it all square on the night.

The fifth game proved to be crucial and Cuffaro and J Flaum were up against J Jarvis and Jager. The first set was tight but Cuffaro and Flaum managed to win 21-18. They then dominated the second set with Cuffaro punishing Jager's serves with some fierce backhands to win 21-8 and put the 3's back in the lead. With the score at 3-2, J Flaum had to play M Jarvis. Thanks to a 15-0 head start due to the handicap system, Jarvis would have had to have produced a miracle to beat Flaum and despite a great effort the scoreline proved too much mentally and J Flaum won in straight sets 21-15 21-17. The 3's were now 1 game away from winning the cup and S Flaum had the chance to seal the win for his team against J Jarvis. Flaum played fantastically well in the first set winning 21-14 and continued to play in the same way to win 21-16 and win the cup for Grundy Park 3's. Man of the match has to go to Jason Flaum for winning all of his games and easing the pressure for his teammates in the other matches.

A truly wonderful cup run saw Grundy Park 3's see off Allenburys 1 in the quarter final, Grundy Park 2's in the semi final and then Grundy Park 1's in the final. They claimed their 2nd cup of the season after winning the divisional trophy before Christmas and continued their unbeaten run in all competitions. They now turn their focus onto the league where HRC 2's slipped up in the last fee weeks giving Grundy Park 3's the opportunity to win the title. There are 4 games still to be played and if Grundy park can get 33 points out of a possible of 40 points then they will be crowned winners of the title. However it is still a tough ask with the likes of HRC 3 and Hoddesdon 3 to play, but if the players can carry on the way they have all season there is every chance they can win the treble!

23/04/2017

Grundy Park 3 vs HRC 2

It was the crucial game of the season at Grundy Park the other Monday with HRC 2 taking on Grundy Park 3's. The gap between the two teams was 12 points before the match so the home team needed to not only win but win comprehensively to keep any hopes of the title up.

Rocco Cuffaro took on Rai Liiv in the first match of the season and Cuffaro got off to a flying start winning the first two sets with Liiv making a few unforced errors. Cuffaro lost his focus in the third set losing 11-4 but quickly found his form in the fourth again winning 11-7 to clinch his first ever win against Liiv. Jason Flaum then took on Jenny Pomfrett and J Flaum never really got going in the match and lost 3-0 to Pomfrett. Samuel Flaum took on Rai Liiv and won emphatically in straight sets, winning 11-1 in the second with some brilliant strokes. With the late arrival of Sunil Trukru, S Flaum took him on immediately and continued his form as he did against Liiv, winning in straight sets again. Cuffaro then played Pomfrett and saw his opponent off with relative ease winning 11-7, 11-1, 11-5.

At the halfway mark on the night, Grundy Park found themselves 4-1 up and a similar score in the second half of the match would be a fantastic result for the side. However HRC weren't done yet as Trukru beat J Flaum with a convincing performance, only dropping 13 points in the whole game. S Flaum quickly put his side back in control winning in straight sets against Pomfrett. J Flaum lost his final match of the night against Liiv in 3 sets so it was down to the captain to ensure a win for his side in the final singles match against Trukru. After winning the first set 11-8, Cuffaro carried on his great form despite some fightback from Trukru and won the next 2 sets 12-10 and 13-11 to secure the victory for Grundy Park. However the doubles still had to be won to limit the gap at the top of the table. S Flaum and Cuffaro who were both unbeaten on the night took on Liiv and Trukru and thanks to some great backhands from Cuffaro in the first two sets and dazzling forehand winners by S Flaum in the third set, the Grundy pair won 3-0 to make the final result 7-3 in favour of Grundy Park.

Since the match against HRC 2 in the early part of the season where Grundy Park lost 7-3, they have been unbeaten in all league and cup fixtures and recorded their 9th consecutive victory in the league. It has been quite a turn around since the start of the season where it seemed that they wouldn't be anywhere near challenging for the title with the likes of HRC 2 and Allenburys 2 in the same division. However, the players have been excellent, particularly Samuel Flaum who has improved drastically since the beginning of the season and is now the complete player and with help from captain Cuffaro, Jason Flaum and Olly Britton the side have managed to both outplay teams and grind out victories when need be. The gap at the top is 8 points now and Grundy Park will have to continue their form by winning all their remaining fixtures well and hope that HRC slip up at some point in the last few games of the season.

09/04/2017

Semi Finals: Grundy Park 3's v Grundy Park 2's

In the semi final of the hertford league handicap, it was the battle between the second team and third team. The 3's were looking to continue their unbeaten run since October and started with Rocco Cuffaro and Jason Flaum against Malcolm Norris and Alex Weller in the first doubles match. With a 4-0 handicap in favour of Cuffaro and Flaum the pair played some solid table tennis to win 21-16 in both sets and put the 3's in front. Sam Flaum took on Graham Smith in the first singles match and despite a minor blip in the first set losing 21-15 to Smith, S Flaum won 2-1 winning the next two sets 21-15 and 21-14 doubling the lead for his team. J Flaum then played Norris and won very comfortably in straight sets to put the 3's 3-0 up on the night.

The 2's were in trouble and needed some inspiration to get them back in the match. Weller gave this to them after beating Cuffaro 2-1 in a game which saw some long and outstanding rallies and ended with Weller taking the last set 21-19. The second doubles match then took place with the Flaums against Norris and Smith. Again some great rallies and shots from S Flaum in particular resulted in a 2-0 win extending the lead to 4-1 with the 3's only needing one more victory to seal their place in the final of the handicap cup.

Cuffaro took on Smith in the next match and the main aim for Cuffaro was to combat the dangerous serves from Smith loaded with all types of spin. He did this effectively and in open play managed to dictate the rallies in favour of himself and won in straight sets to put Grundy Park 3's in the final. The last three games were played and saw a great game between Weller and J Flaum ending with Weller taking the third set 21-19. S Flaum then beat Norris despite Norris finding some late form which was needed much earlier in the match for his side. S Flaum and Cuffaro then finished the night with a 2-1 win in the doubles against Weller and Smith to make the final result 7-2 on the night.

It was a fantastic victory for the 3's who continue their 100% record in all league and cup fixtures since October. The most pleasing thing out of all this was that none of the players played particularly great in any of the matches, however they managed to grind out victories by slowing down the rallies and making less unforced errors and a comprehensive win like this one when they aren't playing at their best shows a champion's mentality.

Monday they will take on HRC 2's in the league and will be needing all three players to play out of their skin to not only win on the night but win well to keep any hopes up of winning the division.

24/03/2017

Match Report - Monday 13th March

Grundy Park 3's vs Pramastars 1

Grundy Park 3's were looking to continue their sublime form against Pramastars 1's last monday. Luckily for the home side, pramastars only had 2 players available and Grundy Park were already 3-0 up as a result of this. As usual Rocco Cuffaro opened the proceedings and faced Colin Fell. Despite some silly shots throughout the match, Cuffaro beat Fell 3-1 to put his side 4-0 up. Samuel Flaum then faced Colin Bullworthy and beat him comfortably to already make it 5-0. Jason Flaum then played Fell and won in 5 sets to secure the overall victory for Grundy Park. Cuffaro then played Bullworthy and despite going 2-0 up, lost the next two games. However he saw Bullworthy off in the 5th set and made it 7-0. S Flaum then beat Fell in straight sets to make it 8-0. Bullworthy thrashed J Flaum in the last set to put pramastars on the scoreboard but S Flaum and Cuffaro beat the two Colin's in the doubles to make it 9-1 on the night. Another great performance from Grundy Park 3's, making it their 8th consecutive victory in the league. The key match against HRC 2's is yet to be played, but they'll be looking to win the rest of their games very well in order to minimise the gap on HRC. They have also been drawn Grundy Park 2's in the semi final of the handicap cup which will be played on Monday 20th March and will be a very intriguing match.