On Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 October Jan-Jaap Troost was referee at the Dutch Championships 2021 (NK2021). In a previous message you can find links to YouTube videos of these matches. In these videos you can also see the referees.
On the NK2021 some things are a bit different than on a regular competition match.
Jan-Jaap has described in a report what the referee has to pay attention to. A few of those things have been copied here.
Refereeing is done in teams, with a referee and an assistant. The referee is always an official referee of the table tennis association (NTTB).
The players must report to the call area 20 minutes before the match. Here their bat and their match attire are checked for correctness. They can also indicate their preference for the match ball. If the bat is checked and found to be in order, it goes in an A4 envelope with the name of the player, time and table number. However if it is rejected because it does not meet the requirements for rubber (s) and thickness of it, the head referee is called, who decides whether the player may play with it or not. When the bat is disapproved, the player must play with a different bat. In case he wins, that bat is inspected and when that is also disapproved (also by the head referee) he is disqualified.
Referees usually arrive at the call area 10 minutes before the start of the match to receive the approved equipment and go to the match table 5 minutes before the start. The assistant checks the table, net height and tension and makes sure there is no rubbish in the centre court and that the fences are in order.
After the match the winner, the assistant referee and the referee sign the form and the referee fills in the match form like time out yellow/red cards and the final score. When everything is filled in, the form goes to the head referee who sits at the side of the sports hall together with his/her assistants.
At the NK, best of 5 for the doubles and best of 7 for the singles were played. During the NK, there were also the championships of company table tennis. The final was best of 3 and Jan-Jaap was the assistant in this match. In total Jan-Jaap refereed about ten matches during these two days and also assisted in a number of matches.
The Superstars booklet for the youth already covers a lot of rules and the (youth) trainers can answer most questions about that. But Jan-Jaap Troost (see the contact page for his email address) will be happy to answer all other questions.
