The 2022 Australian Veterans Championships are right around the corner and TTV’s 72 strong Vets team is ready to take on the competition at the Northern Territory Netball Stadium in Darwin next week from October 8-15.

Team Manager and O/70 Women’s ‘A’ Team captain Daisy O’Bryan is eager to finally get back to the Veterans Nationals for the first time since 2019, and enjoy some of the Darwin sun of course.

“I am mainly looking forward to Darwin heat to warm me up and the competition in a new fully air-conditioned netball stadium. More importantly, I am looking forward to renewing the friendships and rivalries with compatriots from all over Australia after a three-year hiatus caused by the pandemic.” Daisy said.

The Team Vic side that will be heading to Darwin will consist of 72 players across 19 teams in eight different age categories.

The five days of Teams competition will start on Saturday October 8 and continue through to the finals on Wednesday October 12. The singles round robin events will then kick off on the Thursday before the doubles and singles wrap up on Friday and Saturday night.

Whilst the Victorian squad is missing some familiar faces, the team is hopeful for some great results.

“It is very hard to predict outcomes this year. Several stars and mainstream stalwarts are absent, and our teams comprise of some new and untested combinations of players. But our opposition teams are similarly affected. Let the games begin,” Daisy said.

“We are optimistic about our strong O/30 teams with youngsters Shibaji Datta and Cheryl Huang to lead the way, both ranked number 1 in their age-groups. In the middle, keep an eye on the O/50 ‘A’ Men’s team with two new hotshot players, Shnier and Griffiths from Coburg. At the other end of the age-scale, we are anticipating a great performance from Igor Klaf, who is ranked number 1 in the O75/O80 division,”

“Preparation with individual high-performance training and some great teamwork training has players at the peak of their game.”

After all that has happened with COVID, the team feels resilient and are determined to make the trip worthwhile. They are excited to challenge the 2022 best veterans on the national stage.” She added.

TTV would like to wish all our Veterans players heading to Darwin to represent the blue and teal next week the best of luck, we’ll be cheering you on from home and can’t wait to see the medal haul.

To view the Table Tennis Australia event prospectus for more information including the Nationals schedule and draws please click HERE.