2nd Romanian International Table Tennis Open (RITTO)
for People with Physical Disabilities
11- 16 June 2008
www.ritto.ro
REPORT
Thirty two countries with 176 participants attended the 2nd Romanian International Table Tennis Open from the 11-16 June 2008. We were assured of the highest level of players as this event was the penultimate competition before the Paralympics in Beijing and also established the seedings of the players in China. [There are ten classes in the World Ranking List (WRL) ranging from the very disabled (1-5 in wheelchairs) and 6-10 (standing players) and with every match win, players are awarded World Ranking Points (WRP) ensuring a place in the World Ranking List of the International Table Tennis Federation, Para Table Tennis (ITTF-PTT).] The countries represented this year were Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine, while the umpires came from Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia, the Classifiers from Germany and Austria, the Referee from France while the Technical Delegate was from Slovakia.
We used 6 hotels; the Opera Plaza hotel and the Hotel Best Western Topaz for wheelchair players, Hotel Athos for the Chinese Delegation and the Egypt team, Hotel Rimini for the Israel team both of which also housed wheelchair players, Hotel Cristal for the umpires and Hotel Sport for all standing International players. The Hotel Stadion housed the Romanian team. The hotels were accepted by all the players but there were problems at the Hotel Opera Plaza because some of the rooms were not suitable for wheelchair players. Though we had explained which rooms were best for us when it came to the arrival date, they said these rooms were not available. In addition the prices at the Opera Plaza are extortionate, double the price of all the other hotels and basically we cannot afford it. Also we had real problems at the Hotel Rimini, where the management has changed and the paperwork for a group booking was never ending.
The Local Organizing Committee comprised Katie Rizvi and her team from the Little People Association; Aileen & Susan, two British friends of mine who organized the competitors’ arrival bags, sorted out all the arrival problems with accommodation and generally helped wherever they could; Anca Chereches was Technical Venue Director at the Sports Hall; Ileana Aciu, Elisabeta Serbanescu and Paul Fairlamb made up the computer team; Allegra Roccato from Venice was the Results Secretary; Elisabeta Vuscan, was the accommodation liaison officer. Serghei Pinzaru was in charge of the transport and did outstanding work almost single-handed. Katie, Vice-President from the Little People Association was in charge of the 300 volunteers from eight schools in Cluj, and with her volunteer team had the following responsibilities; to provide ball boys/girls for every wheelchair match, to make sure that there was water in every drinking fountain, to help with the distribution of the lunches and the clearing of tables in the food tent and the making up of the lunch bags; making sure the toilets were clean and had soap and toilet paper at all times; serving coffee and biscuits to all umpires and IPTTC staff and ascertaining that all international visitors were taken care of at the Sports Hall. In addition Katie was the Media Officer, keeping the press up to date with all the latest information, organizing interviews with the players, placing the banners from the sponsors etc. Some of the volunteers from last year had now taken on senior positions as team leaders this year and this was an excellent idea ascertaining the best possible volunteer organization possible. Everyone in the LOC knew their specific role; everyone worked together as a team and if now and again there were some collisions it did not matter: the main objective was achieved - to make sure that everyone was happy and enjoyed their stay in Cluj.
The competition started on Thursday 12th June at 9.00 am and finished on Sunday 15th June at 16.00. The Opening Ceremony took place at 12.00 on the 12th June and was attended by the British Ambassador, Robin Barnett, the Cultural Attache of the Chinese Embassy, Bucharest, Otilia Badescu, Monica Marasescu of the British Council, Romania. It was a marvellous gesture by the British Ambassador to make a special trip to Cluj just for this event and he spent a lot of time talking to the British team and others. It was much appreciated by everyone at RITTO that he did give us his valuable time and attracted a great deal of publicity.
The volunteers were again truly amazing and this is due to Katie Rizvi’s training and Sam’s and Miki’s guidance. The IPTTC officials, every umpire, the players themselves were unfailing in their praise for their capability, their attitude to the necessary work, their language ability and their overall willingness to make sure the competition was a success. The volunteers really showed Romania in its best light and its young generation was admired time and time again throughout these days by everyone present!
Problems
Office equipment
Last year one of the problems was the production and display of the results, an essential role in any sports competition but this year Allegra was in charge and did an excellent job using one of the volunteers as a trainee. The notice boards have to be larger though and there has to be twice the amount next year. The office equipment for the results has to be doubled assuring a printer for every computer and two large office photocopiers especially as the attendance will continue to grow and we shall require two offices for the technical team.
Cluj Airport
The most vociferous complaint was about Cluj airport. Though the airport has been modernized and a new arrivals terminal has been built, airport management have neglected the most basic need for the disabled/elderly passenger, namely the boarding and getting off the plane. In almost all airports in the world, aisle seats are usedwhich allows the easy transfer from the plane seat and the carrying of the passenger down the steps. In Cluj the passenger was carried out by two or three men in a very undignified and unsecure manner. The aisle seat straps the disabled/elderly into a chair and the men carry the chair offering secure and easy transportation. I have recommended to the airport now to make sure that aisle seats will be purchased and also hope that maybe in the future an ambulift can also be considered in order to make Cluj airport a fully international airport.
Hire of buses from RATUC
Last year we had the two special buses from RATUC and from a local Association for the Disabled and one large city transport bus and two minibuses, one without seats. This year we added a further three minibuses without seats and 3 large city transport buses and received two minibuses as sponsorship. There were no major problems with the transport - naturally there were times we had too much and other times when we had too little but these are usual problems in the organizing of such an event. However the real shock was when RATUC threw us a bill for 3500 euros for the four large buses for four days. We are trying to solve this by negotiation but maybe we shall not be able to. Next year we must consider that transport for the competition could cost us around 6000 euros.
Sponsorship
Last year RITTO received sponsorship provided by the Romanian Sports Federation for People with Disabilities (FRSPH) through a combined project with the Romanian Government. This year because all money was required for the Olympics in China, this support was not forthcoming and the Little People Association headed by Shajjad Rizvi, Serghei Pinzaru and Miki Inoue undertook the mammoth task of raising the required amount of 50,000 euros. Though they started in January seeking sponsors and worked exceptionally hard, until EON GAS stepped in as the principal partner and the County and Local Councils as major sponsors, we were having great trouble finding sponsors and in the end only 35,000 euros was raised. Rotary club SAMVS, Cluj was a great help in finding sponsors and also sponsoring from their own club as well as another Rotary club in Cluj. However, a further 6000 euros was given in goods which helped considerably in the lunch bags, gala dinner etc. Unfortunately the old mentality still presides in Romania, that anything to do with disability is not worthy of sponsoring and to quote Shajjad “ I would start my opening speech with prospective sponsors and everything was fine until I mentioned that it concerned disability and then everything went quiet and positive responses would end”. Hopefully the success of RITTO 2008 will encourage prospective sponsors to review this annual competition as an event worth their consideration and to assist us in raising the profile of Cluj and Romania as a truly European town.
The Romanian team did win some WRP’s and two of their players won bronze medals. The results are below with the WRP’s awarded.
Results
Gabriela Constanta (Bucharest) 10 WRP
Petru Ifrosa (CCSH Lamont) 30 WRP
Dacian Makszin (CCSH Lamont) 90 WRP
Mihail Sargu (CCSH Lamont) 60 WRP
Bobi Simion (CCSH Lamont) 50 WRP Bronze Medal at the Team event
Dan Nasui (CCSH Lamont) 30 WRP Bronze Medal at the Team event
RITTO has become an annual highlight in Cluj, raising awareness for sport for the disabled, dispelling the myth that this type of sport is inferior in any way to those without disability, promoting Cluj as an international city capable of organizing a high level European event.
The joint efforts and team work of the Little People Association and the Lamont Centre achieved this wonderful success and I hope this excellent collaboration will continue for years to come.
The International Table Tennis Federation - Para Table Tennis Committee (ITTF-PTT) have also recognized our efforts and from 2009 onwards have given us an increased factor to 40, which means that we are one of the only five 40 factor competitions in the world!
Thank you everyone – sponsors, helpers, supporters, staff and players!
Sally Wood-Lamont, 25 June 2008
