The Otago men's table tennis team is back in from the wilderness.
The three-man team of Ben Duffy, Mirek Janca and Jesper Villadsen will compete in the men's A grade at the New Zealand championships in Christchurch on Wednesday - the first time an Otago side has graced the top grade since 1994.
Duffy, a mainstay in Otago teams in recent years, has been joined by Villadsen, of Denmark, and Mirek Janca, who arrived from the Czech Republic a month ago and hopes to make Dunedin his home.
Janca, whom Duffy describes as a strong backhand player, played division one table tennis in his home country, and showed few signs of rustiness at the South Island championships recently after five months away from the game.
''He rocked up to the South Island champs in Christchurch, and lost narrowly to the New Zealand No 1, Phillip Xiao,'' Duffy said.
The men's A side has set the target of making the semifinals from its pool of four teams. Its rivals in the pool are Canterbury 1, Auckland 2 and North Harbour.
''We've got some formidable opponents, with [2005 New Zealand champion] Brad Chen for North Harbour, and Canterbury is a rock-solid steady team with no top world-beaters, but a high level of skill,'' he said.
The format features three singles matches, a doubles match in the middle of the tie, followed by three reverse singles matches.
Duffy, Janca and Villadsen will stay on for the individual championships the following day.
National championships: Otago teams
Men's A: Ben Duffy, Mirek Janca, Jesper Villadsen.
Men's B: Bryan Foster, John Fogarty, Dyna Seng.
Women's: Yvonne Fogarty, Debra King, Emma Paton, Ruth Foster.
