CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
1976: Jan./Feb./Mar. Tournaments.
Canadian Coach Chandra Madosingh, in reporting on British Columbia’s Feb. 14-15 Festival of Sports Tournament, says players came from Washington and Oregon for the matches at the Britannia Ice Rink. The Men’s went to Brittania’s 16-year-old Peter Joe, “mixing smashes with drop shots,” over B.C. “LeTTers” Editor Eric Calveley. Eric had pulled the upset of the weekend when he stopped Eddy Lo in straight games. “The off-form Lo had difficulty coping with the varying spins of Calveley, who uses an away-from-the-table style of play and mixed his spins to cause Lo to miss his drives on key points.”
Other Results: Women’s: Leslee Ward over Nimi Athwal. Men’s Doubles: Joe/Lo over Calveley/Phil Cheng, 20, 19. A’s: Fred Henry* over Greg Eng, 18 in the 3rd. A Doubles: Joseph Lam/Winfred Lin over Harry Kulak/Ken Eng. B’s: Don Marquardt over John Eaton, -11, 20, 18. C’s: Winnipeg’s Frank Lee over Eaton. Consolation: Gerry Hamer over Danny Ho. Senior’s: Art Ngai over Frank Karika. (Both Ho and Ngai will be playing in a major U.S. tournament more than 30 years later.) Boys U-17’s: Joe over Lo, 22, 19. Girls U-17: Nimi over her sister Simi Athwal.
There was action aplenty this winter at the Paddle Palace. Lou Bochenski (TTT, Mar.-Apr., 1976, 23) gives us Mar. 13-14 highlights—Men’s events only—from, first, Saturday’s Oregon Open, then the following day’s Oregon Closed. Men’s Open winner (41 entries) turned out to be Carl Cole over Jay Crystal in the semi’s and Ed Ng in the final. Carl, eligible now to play in the Over 40’s at this year’s U.S. Open or Closed, hadn’t won a tournament “since the Paddle Palace opened over two years ago.” Runner-up Ng, opting to play penholder, had survived a -18, 19, 19, -13, 21 semi’s with Alan Bajkov who’d knocked out 7th-seed Bryan Wright and 1st-seed Ron Carver, both in 5. “One day Ed plays penhold, the next he plays shakehands equally well. Sometimes he switches in the middle of the tournament or even in the middle of a match.” In other competition of note, Gerry Hamer was beaten in the 5th by the “erratic 13-year-old” Bobby Rinde; Charlie McLarty was eliminated “by crafty, hard rubber, old timer Jim Tisler”; and Dean Doyle who, in the Palace’s Feb. Open sponsored by Chico’s Pizza, had won his first Men’s Championship, fell to Crystal.
The new Men’s Closed Champion was 17-year-old Bryan Wright. He defeated in succession: Vo Qui Han; then “14-time State Champion Carl Cole (1954 through 1967)”; then Dean Doyle (after Dean was up 2-0); then Charlie McLarty who’d been runner-up to Doyle at that earlier Pizza Open. “Charley’s defensive game couldn’t withstand Bryan’s power.” No mention was made of Dave Davallou at this Open/Closed weekend, but at the Washington Square Paddle Palace Invitational he “pulled off three consecutive upsets to capture first place”—his victims being Doyle, 11, -17, 18; McLarty, 20, 11; and Cole, -14, 21, 14. “The fifteen matches of this Washington Square tournament were played one at a time over a period of two days, attracting a lively crowd of spectators and three television stations.”
Results of the Jan. 17-18 L.A. Open: Men’s: Dennis Barish, 20, 16, 20, over Dean Galardi, who’d gotten by Paul Raphel, -14, 21, -16, 21, 16. In the semi’s, Barish had downed Ray Guillen, winner at the upcoming Feb. Southern California Open over Raphel. Men’s Doubles: Galardi/Guillen over Barish/Al Everett. In that Feb. tournament at the Hollywood Club, Al would -15, -8, 18, 24, -20 almost come back in a Men’s quarter’s match against Bill U. Women’s: Pat Crowley over Heather Angelinetta. Esquire’s: Julius Paal over Gene Wilson, who’d been 19, 20, 19 challenged by Russ Thompson. Senior’s: Paal over Danny Banach, 21, -18, 21, -17, 18. Senior A’s: Henry Swain over Bob Reising, 22, 22, then over Watkins. U-17’s: Galardi over Barish. U-15’s: Jimmy Lane over Mike Terrell. U-13’s: Lee Lawson over Tony Gonzales.
A’s: Ricky Guillen over Mike Joelson, deuce-in-the-3rd advancer over Gary Whidden who in the Men’s had forced Guillen into the 5th. A Doubles: Thompson/Whiddon over Tom Hall/Joelson. B’s: Lane over Hall. B Doubles: Lane/Keith Ogata over Jerry LaLande and Long Beach Club founder Richard Badger. C’s: Mike Dempsey over Bob Green. C Doubles: Mark Corbett/Greg Plakos over LaLande/Watkins. D’s: Tony Koyama over D. Jewell, 19 in the 3rd, then over Ian Davis, 18 in the 3rd. D Doubles: Corbett/Guy Seaman over Jewell/Ruben Guillen, deuce in the 3rd. Novice: Koyama over Esler. Novice Doubles: Gonzales/Davis.
In Feb. a number of Californians went over to the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Phoenix to play in the Arizona Open (118 entries from eight states). One resurrected player, 29-year-old Tony Martin, who started playing competitively in Phoenix about 1960, reminisced about going to the California National’s in 1964 and ’69. Such energy and enthusiasm he’d had as a junior practicing daily with his pimpled rubber paddle. And such memories:
“…ordering 36 back issues of Topics, memorizing the names of the nationally ranked players, winning a trophy in my first Open tournament, and wondering if I’d ever be as good as a Stuffy Singer or Dennis Hickerson. My first National’s in Inglewood was like a dream. Imagine a somewhat shy kid from Phoenix staying at the same hotel as Bernie Bukiet and actually talking with Him! I remember looking around the gym and seeing such legends I’d read of, moving about like real people. There was Childs, Doss, Fields, and Sweeris! And there was Erwin Klein, with his graceful and effortless style!”
There followed “college days...the draft…playing with bands, teaching and later counseling.” But now he’s come back to the Sport he’s always loved. He notes “changes in serves, spins, and the number of people trying to break the ball on kill shots. But the language, peculiar mannerisms, and lack of women players still seem to be a part of the Sport.” He’s been playing for five months at the Phoenix and Arizona State University clubs, running the gamut of emotions, but enjoying himself and doing well locally with Bill Kenig as his doubles partner.
It’s not Tony, though, who’s reporting on the Arizona Open but Phoenix Club President Forrest Barr, and he rightly centers his attention on matches involving 1st-seed Dean Galardi. In the semi’s of the Junior final, against transplanted Chicagoan Harold Klinger, now, though only 15, the Phoenix City Champion, Deano was no doubt taken aback to lose the opening game. But all returned to normal when he won the 2nd and led in the deciding 3rd, 6-0. Except—how did it happen?—he lost that game and the match!
Did this unexpected loss unnerve him? Against Al Everett in the Open Singles final, with games tied at 1-1, Galardi led 15-6…then was down 19-17! But he pulled out that game after all, and, safely ahead 18-11 in the 4th, could anyone doubt he’d righted himself? Righted himself, yes—but was the match over, had he won? He appeared to be playing with confidence—until, as Barr says, Dean over and over again “mainly on Everett’s serve, moving quickly, unnecessarily and unsuccessfully, [went] for the big winner.” But—who knows why?—suddenly “the accuracy wasn’t there,” and Everett eventually won, 21-19, “on a service ace.” Going into the 5th, says Barr, “Galardi “was shaken and disconsolate”—and not surprisingly lost that game at 15.
Other Results: Open Doubles: Everett/Ricky Guillen over Galardi/Russ Thompson. Women’s Singles: Faan Yeen Liu over Pat Crowley who’d eliminated 1948 World Mixed Doubles Champion Tybie Sommer. Mixed Doubles: Final: Dennis/Liz Gresham over John Harrington/T. Sommer. Semi’s: Harrington/Sommer, 16, -18, 20, 19, over Lane/Crowley; Greshams over Jim DeMet/Marilyn Sommer. Three decades later, mother Tybie and daughter Marilyn would be winning Doubles medals together. A’s: Lane over Gary Whiddon, 19 in the 4th. A Doubles: Craig Burton/Whiddon over Mui/Ed Stein. B’s: Randy Nedrow over Bob Weich. B Doubles: Burton/Whiddon over Greshams. C’s: Tony Koyama over Kevin Erickson. D’s: D. Jewell over J. Wilhelmy. Esquire’s: Stein over Bob Green. Senior’s: Thompson over Helmuth Vorherr, 21-19 in the 5th (from 20-16 down). U-15’s: Faan Hoan Liu over Lane. U-13’s: Lee Lawson over B. Moore.
Grady Gordon did the Topics write-up for the Annual Southwest Open, held Mar. 13-14 at the Jefferson Moore High School Gym in Waco, Texas. “By land and air” the 81 entries came. Tournament Director Billie Watkins and husband R.C. (both are licensed pilots) flew in “from Big D”—that’s Dallas—and Larry Kesler drove his motor home (“a converted passenger bus”) over from Oklahoma City. He “parked it beside the gym door and, with two boarders, camped in it” during the two-day tournament.
The playing site was spacious—room for 16 Detroiter A tables. “The tartan floor slightly affected the bounce of the ball, light was deficient in certain areas, and streams of air from the blower ducts mildly affected the ball trajectory.” But there was “enough bleacher space for good table viewing” and the High School club that ran the concession “did a fine job of providing quality food.”
Results: Championship Singles: Final R.R.: 1. Houston’s 16-year-old Perry Schwartzberg, 3-0 (over Fagan, 17 in the 5th, after being down 10-1; over Rao, 24-22 in the 4th; over Butler, n.s.). 2. Hanumanth Rao, 2-1 (over Butler and Fagan, 3-0). 3. Charles Butler, 1-2 (over Fagan, 17 in the 4th). 4. Gary Fagan, 0-3. Quarter’s: Rao over Richard James, 15, 17, -21, 19; Butler over Tommy Vaello, -13, 16, 18, -23, 17; Schwartzberg over Joe Cummings, 21, -23, 17, 20; Fagan over Scott Ryan, 14, 15, 10. Men’s Doubles: Cummings/Vaello, -20, 12, 19, 24, over Schwartzberg/Don Weems who’d downed John Tomlinson/Ryan, -19, 15, 19, 18. Women’s R.R. 1. Michelle Haddix, 2-1 (over Weems, 15, 19; over Lynn, -20, 15, 18.) 2. Anna Lynn, 2-1 (over Weems, 16, 10; over Sargent, 22, -16, 14). 3. Sue Sargent, 2-1 (over Haddix, 13, -10, 20; over Weems, 8, 20). 4. Kathy Weems, 0-3. Mixed Doubles: 1. Doug Hibbs/Lynn. 2. Gary Garner/Haddix. 3. Steve Arnold/Sargent.
A’s: Weems over Leh-Jan Shen in 5. Don, replaced as Great Plains Regional Tournament Director by Sue Sargent, is being publicly criticized in the Mar.-Apr. Topics by National Tournament Chair/Ratings Chair Neal Fox for not getting in the results of his Jan. Houston tournament (not received by Topics either). Fox says if he doesn’t get these results soon, Don will be charged a double sanction fee; if he doesn’t turn them in at all, he won’t be allowed to hold any more sanctioned tournaments. A Doubles: Kesler/Tomlinson over Shen/Swaminathan Bhaskar, -18, 12, 20, 16. B’s: Bhaskar over Shen who stopped Terry Ziegler, deuce in the 5th. C’s: J. Kwok over Arnold in 5. D’s: K. Boyce over M. Lee. Esquire’s: Rich Puls over Arthur “Buster” Chase, after Buster had downed Watkins in 5. Senior’s: Gordon over Puls, 13, -19, 18, -27, 12., then over Chase. Senior Doubles: Buddy Melamed/J.C. Tenay over Gordon/Jeff Wise who won out over Watkins/Puls, 23-21 in the 4th. U-17’s: Schwartzberg over G. Melamed who escaped Mike Roddy, deuce in the 5th. U-15’s: E. Rapp over G. Melamed. Junior Doubles: Schwartzberg/Roddy over Melamed/Rapp, 19, -22, 19, 17.
R.C. Watkins speaks (TTT, May-June, 1976, 20) of “an unusual tournament,” the Irving Round Robin, held Feb. 14-15 in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex. There are six Classes—Championship through E—and “every player plays 10 singles matches and 10 doubles matches,” except for the six singles finalists who play an extra match to see who’s the Class winner and runner-up. Of the 72 entrants, 36 received trophies. [How all this works isn’t clear to me. But, though everyone is asked to be a good sport and not default matches, I suspect, come Sunday afternoon, there’ll be some who don’t want to set personal endurance records. Anyway, there was only one Sportsmanship Trophy. That went to John Russell “for the outstanding work that he’s done during the past year—before, during, and after the tournament.”]
Results: Championship Singles: Schwartzberg over Fagan, 17, -9, 24, 18. A’s: Paul LeBlanc over Weems. B’s: Davis Ragnell over David Harville, 19 in the 4th. C’s: Roddy over George Woods. D’s: Meredith Elston over Jose Marin. E’s: Ray Johnson over Salvador Ruiz. Championship Doubles: Richard James/Charles Butler over Schwartzberg/Weems. A’s: James Rautis/C. David over David Babcock/Woods. B’s: Rich/Larry Puls over D. Rodriguez/Sid Minyard. C’s: Paul Green/B. Cornett over D. Whitewood/Gene Sargent. D’s: Mark Stoolz/Johnny Cortez over Ruiz/Marin. E’s: C. Lee/C. Naus over G. Eisenhour/Doug Copley.
Denver KOA-TV (NBC) filmed 14-year-old Kasia Dawidowicz and 12-year-old Keith Kalny, along with a fun guest appearance by Kasia’s dad, Bob, in a Jan. 14th exhibition at the local European Club. This was aired two weeks later on “Scope,” a regular Sunday night program in the area. On Feb. 21, the Club held its State Ranking Tournament (allowing entries from Cheyenne, Wyoming and Albuquerque, New Mexico as well). Results: Championship Singles: 1. Bob Dawidowicz. 2. Bob Leatherwood. 3. Jim Wherry. 4. Steve Walker. Championship Doubles: 1. Bob and Kasia Dawidowicz. 2. Leatherwood/Kalny. A’s: 1. Randy Woods. 2. Vic Smith. 3. Ron Byers. B’s: 1. Byers. 2. Larry Coons. 3. Tim Walsh. C’s: Lou Melendez. 2. Rainer Rohling. 3. Jarek Dawidowicz. Over 40: 1. Smith. 2. Clint Brown. 3. Cecil Woodworth, who 25 years earlier had been in the finals of the U.S. Open (Over 35) Senior Doubles. Under 17: 1. Dawidowicz. 2. Kurt Evans. 3. Kalny. U-15: 1. Dawidowicz. 2. Kalny. 3. Ray Ozols.
LeRoy Petersen (TTT, May-June, 1976, 1; 23) tells us that his Mar. 19-21 Wisner Open drew 103 entries. It opened with a Danny Seemiller/Dave Sakai clinic and proceeded smoothly through 19 events played on 11 tables. Helped by the presence of the three strong Thai players, Wuvanich, Chan, and Sears, LeRoy said, “We built up more interest in table tennis in this area with this tournament than anyone thought possible [Wisner’s population: 1,320].” By the time the 4 p.m. Men’s Singles final started, the tournament was clearly quite a success:
“…We had a very good crowd on hand with $126 collected from spectators plus a lot of free passes for newspapermen, people who worked for us, and the ones who bought a $10 ticket for a color TV and 2 AM/FM radios. We sold an even 100 of these tickets, which gave us a profit of $550, so our tournament made good money. Also the wives sold a lot of food and drinks. On Saturday night we had over 100 people at our banquet.”
In the Men’s, Danny Seemiller (with confidence acquired from his play abroad?) rallied to defeat Chuchai Chan, -17, -18, 12, 11, 10 in the semi’s, and then Charlie Wuvanich, 17, 18, 14, in the final. In a Dec. 8, ’75 letter to Editor Boggan, Charlie asked that the photo of him you see here—with the “Magoo’s” and “Air Siam” logo—be used prominently in Topics. Why? Because the three Thais’ tickets back to Bangkok had been discounted 75% provided they returned within 10 months, but now they wanted to stay for a while in the U.S. and hoped that, if they could show they were trying to promote Air Siam, the airline would agree to extend the 10-month discount period. In the Men’s Doubles semi’s, Seemiller and Sakai downed John Soderberg and Apichart Sears (who’d lost to Wuvanich in 4 in the Men’s semi’s). But then against Charlie and Chan, Danny and Dave won the final by default—LeRoy didn’t cover the matches, so I don’t know why the default.
Other Results: Mixed Doubles: Bob/Kasia Dawidowicz over Seemiller/Debbie Johnson. A’s: Pete Tellegen over Steve Craly. B’s: Mark Kennedy over Herman Mao. 3rd: Lionel Harris over Gus Kennedy, 19 in the 3rd. B Doubles: M. Kennedy/M. Walsh over H. Ma/A. King. C’s: Sheila O’Dougherty over Keith Kalny, 18, 20. D’s: Brian Westphal, 19, -22, 16 over Joe Wittigen. Novice: Jeff Moeller over Westphal, 24, 20, then over Kalny, -29, 14, 15. Senior’s: Harris over Don Taylor, deuce in the 3rd, then over Tom Walsh. U-16’s: Todd Petersen over M. Kennedy. U-15’s: Petersen over K. Dawidowicz. U-13’s: Kalny over Brandon Olson, -22, 9, 18, then over Roland Rittmaster, -19, 23, 14. U-11’s: Olson over Daylin Risch. Girls U-17: Diana Myers over Dawidowicz. U-17 Novice: S. Rittmaster over B. Hunt. U-17 Novice Girls: D. Heermann over D. Deitloff. U-17 Doubles: Petersen/Dawidowicz over M. Kennedy/Myers. U-15 Doubles: Petersen/K. White over Olson/J. Hoffman.
The 1976 Wisconsin Closed was held Feb. 7-8 in Waukesia. Results: Men’s: 1. Karl Will, 2-1 (5-2). 2. Geoff Graham, 2-1 (4-2). 3. Roy Hyden, 2-1 (4-3). 4. Ted Stomma, 0-3. Women’s: 1. Cheryl Dadian. 2. Jill Larmore. Men’s Doubles: Will/Laszlo Keves, 4-1. 2. Graham/Martz, 4-1. 3. Hyden/Stomma, 4-1. Mixed Doubles: Dadian/Hyden over Will/Chan. A’s: Keves over John Pfalz. A Doubles: Martz/Keves over Pfalz/Falkenstein. B Doubles: Burlew/Russ Sorensen over Castillo/Lo. C’s: Meyer over Crawford, -19, 19, 15. D’s: Crawford over Lonergan. Novice: LeSage over Lonergan, -19, 17, 21. Senior’s: Keves over Pfalz. Parents: Dadian over Wisconsin Affliate contact-man Bruce Pike. Boys U-17: Ben Kunin over Kolb. Boys U-15: Schweiner over Stein. Boys U-13: Sackett over J. Paley. Girls U-17: Chan over B. Smith. Girls U-15: Dadian over Beckman. Girls U-13: Dadian over Schweinert.
In Feb. two Ontario tournaments were held. At Toronto’s West End YMCA, Modris Zulps, the 1967 Canadian Closed Champion, took the Men’s from Randy Airst and the Senior’s from John Nesukaitis. Later, at the Scarborough Open, Airst would win the Men’s B’s (over Bill Soros) and, as he did in Toronto, the U-17’s. Paul Klevinas was the Scarborough Men’s Singles (and with Alan Heap) Doubles winner. Cameron Scott finished second to Paul in the Singles, and at Toronto with Airst came runner-up in the Doubles to Zulps/Varden. In the Women’s, Violetta Nesukaitis and Rupa Banerjee split matches. At Scarborough, Suzanna Kavalleriou won the Women’s Doubles with Banerjee, and with Heap came second in the Mixed to Klevinas and Girls U-17 star Birute Plucas. Other repeat winners were Mike Jovanov and best in Girls U-15 Gloria Nesukaitis.
Results of the Jan. 17th Michigan Open at Woodland: Men’s: Mike Baber over Larry Wood. Open Doubles: Faan Hoan Liu/Dave Shenk over Baber/Tom McEvoy. A’s: Wood over Liu. B’s: Peters over McEvoy. B Doubles: McEvoy/Shenk over Bill Hornyak/Bruce McGee. C’s: Erickson over Moriarty. D’s: Omer Miller over John Missad. D Doubles: Thabit/Gilbert over Haan/Moriarty. E’s: Steve Wasik over Farmer. Novice: Buist over Payotelis. Beginners: Allen over Payotelis. Handicap: Allen over Georgacakes. Senior’s: Hornyak over W. Wood who’d gotten by Larry Ryel, 18 in the 3rd. U-17’s: F.H. Liu over Moriarty.
Winners at the Feb. 7 Ohio Open in Cleveland (no D-J, no Insook): Open Singles; 1. Lou Radzeli. 2. Stan Wolf. 3. Glenn Marhefka. 4. Dave Strang. Open Doubles: Bobby Powell/Ron Schull over Kurz/Mike Joelson. A’s: Wolf over Schull, 24-22 in the 5th. A Doubles: Richling/Walt Bubley over Weingart/Vargo who’d eliminated Bianco/Arcaro, 19 in the 3rd. B’s: Phil Panno over cartonist Dean Norman, 19 in the 3rd, then over Samiac. C’s: Panno over Ho. Consolation’s: Powell over Schull, 18 in the 5th (from down 2-0). Esquire’s: Radzeli over Bubley. Senior’s: Radzeli over Kurz. Young Adults: Strang over Papp. U-17: Panno over Weingart. U-15: Panno over Trausch. U-13: Arcaro over Gillinov.
Dick Winters gives us a lengthy report (TTT, May-June, 1976, 1; 25-26) on the Feb. 20-22 3-star $1,600 Mid-West Open—it’s no longer held in Columbus, is now being played in Lyle Thiem’s Club in Dayton, Ohio. Thanks to Lyle’s “resourcefulness and determination,” a new location for the Club was found, and conditions are first-rate: “no center posts; has high ceilings; an ample runback area for long range defenders; and excellent lighting. It also has a large viewing section for spectators and nine individually barriered-off playing courts with an additional two for practice.”
Just as Lawrence’s and Reisman’s N.Y. Clubs had their tournament “characters,” so too did one pop up here at Lyle’s. His name was Sheldon Narvy, from Cleveland, and, says Winters, here’s what made him “different”:
…[His] “impetuous on and off court antics…[were] surpassed only by the sideline management of an astonishing array of uncountable accoutrements and sundry paraphernalia.
Unfortunately he was unable to keep at all times this huge inventory of things intact, as he was continually in search for some particular bat inside of some misplaced bag or suitcase.
Possessing an unlimited supply of rackets, all of the hard variety, and an equally generous store of hats, coats, shirts, shorts, and shoes, and even coin and stamp collections, he appeared more like a representative from the Goodwill industry rather than an aspiring tournament entrant.” [Preoccupied as he was, it’s hardly surprising he didn’t make the Results list.]
Results: In the Men’s (this was the only event Dick covered), there were two very exciting 8th matches. Last month Insook Bhushan had reached the final of the Dayton 2-star Open before losing to Danny Seemiller, but here she was in great danger of being eliminated early by Roger Sverdlik who’d taken a leave of absence from college and was apparently getting his head together with a 23-21, 21-13 lead. However, says Winters, Roger became impatient, didn’t judiciously loop, and, while he “missed several kill shot attempts,” Insook “became grooved and seldom missed a chop return.” In the 4th and 5th games, either player could have won either game, but Insook ($85), “with her sneaky backhand pick shot” always a threat, took them both, 20 and 19. Tannehill also came through, winning the key 3rd and 5th games at 19 from Jim Dixon.
In quarter’s play leading to a round robin semi’s, Ricky, who’d lost 3-zip to Insook here earlier in the season before he went abroad with brother Danny, scored an easy 9, -9, 11, 12 win over her this time. He “seemed to spin each succeeding ball with even greater spin than the last.” Chuchai Chan took down Tannehill ($62.50), 9, 20, 19, but, had John capitalized on his 20-18 lead in the 2nd, the match might have turned out differently. Winters obviously thinks very highly of fellow Ohioan Tannehill. He says John “would have won had it not been for his prolonged periods of inactivity. John’s finesse and all around natural talent for the game” helps him to be “a master technician.” “He shows more style and quality than any other player in the country”—but how “bring this talent to its full potential”?
D-J Lee wasn’t challenged by Sakai ($75), though Dave had advanced via a straight-set upset win over Sears. Danny, “displaying dynamic ability and sheer physical stamina,” also drew exceptional praise from Winters. Danny’s “anti-topspin backside was used to great advantage as he repeatedly placed balls around the court with micrometer accuracy.” Seemiller’s quarter’s opponent, Fuarnado Roberts ($75), “one of the elite defenders of the sport,” didn’t win a game. But he “turned in a creditable performance with his crazy, mixed-up racket (which is pips-out thick sponge on one side and Austrian anti on the other.” [Jairie Resek says that Robbie will do “a musical extravaganza” for TV with Curtis Knight (a.k.a. the well-known N.Y. t.t. player Curtis McNear), an “international rock musician and singer,” who worked with Jimi Hendrix and has written a biography of him.]
The best of the semifinal matches would be Danny vs. Chan? Given their past encounters, it would seem so. But Danny was just too good. “At no time could Chan ($150) effectively return Danny’s serves or prevent him from hitting the third ball in. Utilizing quick blocking at extreme angles and smashing overpowering drives, Danny virtually blew Chan out of the gym.” Could Ricky ($150) do better against Danny? Yes, but only one game better. And how about Ricky vs. Chan? Again Ricky could take only a game. Well, there was still D-J. But in the 1st Lee so “controlled” Ricky’s serves that the younger Seemilller couldn’t compete. However, in the 2nd, just the reverse was true—now Ricky was “hitting the ball off his powerful service.” [How come the difference?] Down 20-16 in the 3rd, Ricky had D-J at “the back barrier with a fusillade of smashing forehand kills. But Lee, just as magnificently, made a series of long looping return shots,” and Ricky finally netted the ball. In the 4th, D-J “reeled off 7 straight points,” to take the game and the match.
Against Lee, “Chan’s excellently placed serves to D-J’s extreme backhand and his angled topspin drives enabled him to capture the first game easily.” In the 2nd, Chuchai’s “smooth execution and aplomb” soon made him look like a winner. “Chan’s backhand topspin shots, unleashed to every point on the court, proved too much for Dal-Joon to handle.” Chan 2—Lee 0. [But then…the last three games Chan, -13, -15, -14 averaged only 14 points a game. How account for him suddenly being consistently outplayed?]
Lee vs. Seemiller saw Don Lyons, “local aging hero,” as umpire. “Danny won the toss and elected to serve. Without hesitating a moment, D-J cracked in a tremendous forehand kill….[Impressive, huh? But…] Danny’s angle blocking with his anti rubber and effective counter- hitting sent D-J reeling to a 21-8 setback.” In the 2nd, Lee, down 20-16, rallies to 19, but can’t deuce it—a big swing….Seemiller, though forced into the 4th, is soon up 14-6, and, “angling weird anti returns and hitting all out winners,” goes on to win convincingly. His prize: $450, D-J’s: $235.
Other Results: Open Doubles: Seemillers over Sakai/Roberts who’d eliminated Chan/Sears. Women’s (Insook didn’t enter): Sheila O’Dougherty over Mary Ann Burdick, -18, 18, -21, 17, 14. Mixed Doubles: Lee/Bhushan over D. Seemiller/Denise Horn. A’s: Mike Baber ($100) over Roger Sverdlik, 23-21 in the 4th, then over John Soderberg ($50), 28-26 in the 5th! A Doubles: Randy Eller/Ron DeMent over Mark Delmar/Fox. B’s: Delmar ($100), 16 in the 5th, over John Spencer ($50), after John had knocked out Eller, 18 in the 5th. B Doubles: John Spencer/Stan Wolf over Delmar/Fox. Consolation’s: Larry Wood over Todd Petersen. Esquire’s: Harry Deschamps over Paul Brown. Senior’s: Deschamps over Dick Winters. Boys U-17: Soderberg over Randy Seemiller. U-17A’s: Jeff Williams over Steve Lowry. Boys U-15: Williams over Mark Wilder who’d gotten by Petersen. Boys U-13: Steve Claflin over Williams. Girls U-17/U-15: Horn over Kim Kondash. U-11: Jeff Millen over Dave Claflin. U-17 Doubles: 1. Lowry/R. Seemiller, 2-1 (5-3). 2. Williams/Kurt Lloyd, 2-1 (4-3).
Winners in the Feb. 7-8 Rodeway Inn Invitational at St. Louis: Men’s: 1.Homer Brown, 3-0. 2. Ron Lilly, 2-1 (beat Heim in 5, Kissel, 19 in the 4th). 3. R. Kissel, 1-2. 4. D. Heim, 0-3. Quarter’s: Brown over Leonard McNeece, 16, 22, -21, 26, 17; Lilly over Hugh Lax, 18, 20, 20; Kissel over Sam Shannon, 15, -16, -15, 16, 16; Heim over Bob Flowers,18, 20, 17. Men’s Doubles: Flowers/Larry Thoman over Brown/Heim. Women’s: Leslie Harris over St. Charles Closed Champ Debbie Bingaman. Mixed Doubles: McNeece/Grace Ide over Clay Dunn/Harris, -19, 14, 24, 15.
Other Results: A’s: 1. McNeece, 3-0. 2. Mike Menzer, 2-1. 3. Flowers, 1-2. 4. Dennis Orne, 0-3 (Dennis is the St. Charles Closed runner-up to Jim Wachter.) A Doubles: Akerman/Irvin over Kissel/Ken Kasten. B’s: 1. Rich Doza, 2-1 (4-2). 2. Denis Fritchie, 2-1 (4-3—beat Doza). 3. Dunn, 1-2 (3-4—beat Lax). Lax, 1-2 (2-4—beat Fritchie. C’s: Anynwm over Akerman. Novice: Jordan over Butts. Senior’s: Lax over Shannon, 21, 19, 19, then over Kasten. U-17’s: John Stillions over Joe Tobias, 19 in the 3rd, then over Evans, -19, 17, 24. U-15’s: Stillions over Galli who’d escaped Steehn, 19, -19, 24.
At the Feb. 28 Washington D.C. Area Closed, Alan Evanson won the Men’s from Lem Kuusk and Bob Kaminsky, but lost the Boys U-17, 19 in the 3rd, to Curt Kronlage, also the Boys U-15, U-13 winner. The Women’s went, quite predictably, to Barbara Kaminsky over Kay Young. A’s: Ken Silverstein over Eldon Linn. B’s: Mark Geier over Jeff Maurer. C’s: Tim Ang over John Weaver. D’s: Chris Francis over Boys U-15 runner-up Phil Shaw. Novice: Warren Moon over Jackie Heyman who took the Girls U-17 from Nida Backaitus. Handicap: Ron Snyder over Ray Chen, 48. Consolation’s: Glen Dong over Shaw. Senior’s: Kaminsky over Chen.
George Hellerman in covering (TTT, May-June, 1976, 27) two Westfield winter Opens went through a very lengthy role call of thanks to officials and players who continue to make the tournaments there a success. Men’s winner at the Feb. 14 Open was Dave Sakai who in the quarter’s 11, 19, -18, -19, 16 weakened against, but survived, Mike Stern, then blanked George “The Chief” Brathwaite and Fuarnado Roberts, after Robbie had to come from behind to beat Mike Bush in 5. Women’s went to Dana Gvildys over E. Nitchie who’d 18. -24, 19, eked out her semi’s against Gloria Amoury. A’s: P. Lam in 5 over Jimmy LaFemina, after Jimmy had downed Doon Wong, deuce in the 3rd. B’s: LaFemina, 20, 20, over Eric Boggan who’d advanced over brother Scott. C’s: John Locke over Bob Renner. (John’s picture with 10 Yemen Arab Republic players rather mysteriously appeared in the Mar.-Apr. Topics.) Esquire’s: John Kilpatrick over Stan Wishniowski. Senior’s: Tim Boggan over Elmer Weingert. U-17’s: Bruce Plotnick over Stern, 24-22 in the 5th. U-15’s: Stern over S. Boggan. U-13’s: E. Boggan over Richie Spear.
In commenting on Westfield’s Mar. 13 Shamrock Open, Tournament Director Hellerman says he believes in scheduling the Open final to finish before the A and B late rounds. The spectators enjoy watching the top players who’re generally done by 9-10 o’clock, and of course those in contention appreciate an audience. In the Men’s, Sakai won again, deuce in the 4th, from Dave Shapiro who’d knocked off Roger Sverdlik in 5 and Brathwaite in 4. “Shapiro’s blocking ability is amazing,” but Sakai varied his steady topspin game, mixing his spin play for the win. The quarter’s match, in which Bush demolished Boggan 21-4 in the 3rd, produced an unpleasant altercation with the umpire. What exactly happened Hellerman didn’t say, but apparently it was a players-vs.-official controversy that prompted George to write that he wished “the Players Association would work at revising certain rules they don’t believe are correct. It sure would make life a lot easier for tournament directors, umpires, and referees.”
Other results: Women: Louise Nieves over Nitchie, 24-22 in the 3rd. A’s: Gary Wittner downed in succession Steve Berger, Al Schwartz, and finally Hellerman who, after advancing past Mike Lardon and then Bob Nochenson, 28-26 in the 3rd, defaulted to Gary, pleading “utter and complete fatigue.” B’s: Lardon over Hellerman, 21, 19, then over Doon Wong in 3. (In 8th’s play, Bob Nochenson upset #2 seed Tim Boggan, and Hellerman stopped Eliot Katz, deuce in the 3rd.) C’s: Don Garlanger, 19 in the 3rd, over L.M. Shum who’d sneakered by Renner, deuce in the 3rd. Esquire’s: Dan Dickel over Mort Zakarin, 19, 20. Senior’s: Bill Sharpe over Boggan. U-17’s: Lardon over Stern, then Plotnick. U-15’s: Stern over Scott Boggan. U-13’s: Eric Boggan over Spear.
If table tennis is to climb to new heights, the Canadians think they’ve got to bring good players to various parts of the provinces. So up we go for another match between Quebec and Ontario—this one played Feb. 7 in Rimouski (above Quebec City on the St. Lawrence River). We’d seen that Ontario had won 5-3 in Rouyn-Noranda, but now it was Quebec’s 5-3 turn—an historic win, for it marked the first time in 17 years that Quebec had beaten Ontario in an Inter-Provincial match. Here’s how they did it: Rod Young (Q) over Derek Wall; Alex Polisois (Q) over Alan Heap; Guy Germain (Q) in a big upset over Errol Caetano, -16, 19, 21; Wall over Polisois, -16, 18, 20; Caetano over Young; Germain (Q) over Heap, 18 in the 3rd to go up 4-2; Caetano over Polisois; Germain (Q) over Wall, -18, 19, 17.
Adham Sharara (CTTA News, Mar., 1976, 9) said, “The matches were professionally staged with 250 paying spectators. They were well covered by television and the press, players received presents in addition to $210 for the winning team and $25 per individual win, and all expenses were paid.”
Now down to Montreal for the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 Open at the Marymont High School. Results (these of course will affect the March Quebec Province Rankings I’ll show in parentheses): Men’s A’s: Polisois (#2) over Caetano, -20, 14, -13, 27, 20! Men’s Doubles: Caetano/Young (#4) over Germain (#3)/Polisois), -12, 21, 7. Women’s A’s: Violetta Nesukaitis over Rupa Banerjee. Women’s Doubles: Violetta and Gloria Nesukaitis over Birute Plucas/Suzanna Kavallierou. Mixed Doubles: Frank Watson/V. Nesukaitis over Caetano/Birute Plucas. Men’s B’s: Paul Marsham over John Nesukaitis. Women’s B’s: Susan Tomkins over Francine Theoret (#3), deuce in the 3rd. Men’s C’s: John Reichert over Eric Rothfleisch (#21). C Doubles: Michel/Jean Labreche over Michel Goyette/Tse. Senior’s: John Nesukaitis over E. Rothfleisch. Girls U-17: Plucas over G. Nesukaitis. Girls U-15: G. Nesukaitis over Colleen Johnson (#4). Girls U-13: Julia Johnson (#9) over Sylvie Leveille. Girls U-11: Nathalie Simard over Valerie Kerbrat. Boys U-17: Pierre Normandin (#6) over Marc LeSeige (#7). Boys U-15: Charles Masson over Jean Labreche. Boys U-13: Masson over Mitch Rothfleisch, 19, 19. Boys U-11: Daniel Aucoin over Denis Morel.
I don’t know why Mariann Domonkos didn’t play in these Quebec tournaments, but I do know she learned quite a bit from participating (with Caetano and Polisois) in the Nov. Hungarian, Yugoslavian, and Scandinavian Opens. In her “European Tour” article (from Le Pongiste, April, ’76, reprinted in TTT, July-Aug., ’76), she says, “Not many of us have an extremely strong loop, therefore it may be a disadvantage to use it too often.” For today’s fast, close-to-the-table game, “it is too long a stroke, and if it is of average strength, it is relatively easy to handle”—that is, it will be attacked by “a fast counterhit or kill” from either wing. It won’t do you any good to open with a loop unless you have a good follow-up. “You should have at least one serve the return of which the odds are you can kill.” It’s “easier to win a point with a kill than with a loop”—and today you “have to make your points,” can’t think your opponent will make mistakes.
Mariann says Canada faces what we in the U.S. do. “The level of competition in Canada doesn’t necessitate the perfection of necessary skills, and even though we may work on them by ourselves, world calibre competition is the last missing link which prevents us from attaining a very high standard.”
The Feb. 28-29 Ocean State Classic in Providence brought a write-up by Assistant Topics Editor Carl Danner, and an article “Deluged in the Ocean State” by the first-time Tournament Director Bob Glass (TTT, Mar.-Apr., 1976, 32; 28). First, Carl’s contribution. Men’s: Danny Seemiller ($150) didn’t lose a game—finished by blitzing in succession Fuarnado Roberts, George Brathwaite, and Roger Sverdlik. “Robbie, who every time I see him,” says Carl, “asks me to join his Players Association, made some marvelous returns and pick-hits, but got kind of three-straight crushed.” The Chief reached the semi’s by rallying to beat Dave Philip, deuce in the 5th, after losing the first two games. Jairie Resek said Dave “hadn’t been playing table tennis for months because he’d stretched a muscle in his right hand that had healed very slowly.”
Roger, who won the AA’s over Hamid Hayatghaib, then over Ray Mack by default, was originally scheduled to play Dave Sakai in, says Carl, a “first-round” 2-out-of-3 Men’s match. First round? How was that possible? What kind of draw was that? Actually, one Dave liked, for he had Lim Ming Chui coming up, and Ming, having taken a job in Vermont and in danger of atrophying somewhere in those non-t.t.-playing wintry wastes, would likely be a stiff. Still, playing the odds, Sakai with his steady game, argued for 3-out-of-5 play throughout, and the Tournament Committee agreed. Only Dave couldn’t beat Roger, and neither could Chui in “a three-straight deuce, deuce, and deuce match,” and neither could Bush, “fresh from Bob Barnsville,” in a 5-game quarter’s. I’ll return to Carl’s write-up of this what he thought “enjoyable” tournament, but, first, the other event Results:
Tournament Director Glass says he has a dilemma with the women. “If I offer good prize money for the women, will the best players come to my tournament?...How do I know I wouldn’t be wasting my money if I increased the prize money for women?” “Wasting” his money? Does it take a Women’s Libber to answer that? Women’s: Dana Gvildys ($25) over H. Dunn. Open Doubles: Sakai/Roberts over Seemiller/Hayatghaib, 17 in the 3rd. A’s: Benfield Munroe over Claude Peltz. B’s: Peltz over Bruce Abrams. C’s: Mike Emery over William Ma. D’s: Stu Caplin over 18-year-old University of Rhode Island freshman Rick Ferri whom Jairie Resek says is “an antique dealer, in mostly clocks.” E’s: Marko over Bruce Peeso. F’s: Sondeman over Lam. Novice: Ralph Bockoven over Lines, -10, -14, 20, 17, 17. Novice A: Woerner over Luchini. Matched Doubles: Ferri/Markow over Peeso/Horowitz. Esquire’s: Irv Levine over Manny Moskowitz. Senior’s: Tim Boggan over Haig Raky, 19 in the 4th. U-17’s: Jeff Steif over 11-year-old sensation Charlie Hung (rated 1763). U-17A’s: Bockoven over Salemme in 5. U-15’s: Scott Boggan over Dana Gvildys. U-13’s: Hung over Mlavsky.
Back now to action in the Men’s. The Bush-Sverdlik match, Carl says, “started just as the Mayor of Providence was getting some publicity over in the corner with Danny. His photographer was shooting flashes like a strobe, much to Mike’s anger. (My mind flashes back to Minneapolis, where Paul Raphel nearly went berserk at a cameraman who had shined a TV light in his eyes during a close match.) Match resumed, Sverdlik’s incredible consistency and superior tactics prevailed over Bush’s power and all-out physical effort.”
That brought Sverdlik to the remaining semi’s—to Errol Resek who back in an early round had struggled into the 5th with Dave Shapiro before, regaining confidence, he’d flattened Dave 21-4. Next test for Errol: Hamid Hayatghaib who’d told Carl and anyone else who’d listen how angry he was “at the sheer amateur way that the collegiate regional [he’d just played in] was conducted.” Reportedly Hamid was a former three-time Iranian National University Champion, and he thought it terrible that such an important collegiate tournament would have “an incompetent man to run it.” Here’s the kind of thing Hamid (and Boggan elsewhere in describing ACU-I tournaments) had complained about:
“…There were four people [at this Eastern regional] who could play, the rest, you know, all 1500 players. So the man who was running it had a random draw, with me playing Benfield Munroe in the first round and Eliot Katz in the second. Benfield, you know how he is, gets upset and they change it, put Gary Wittner with me instead. Gary was so upset over this he didn’t come back the second day.”
Here in Providence Gary had something else to be disturbed about. In the AA’s, he lost to Ed Raky, “a local player of medium rating.” Ed’s a “sticky chopper with the smarts.” After missing “one last loop at 19-20 in the third,” Gary later mused: “I’m at school now, and I know that this is going to happen more often, but I still don’t like it.”
After advancing over Hamid, Resek reached the quarter’s where he met Carl Danner who’d ousted Alex Shiroky. Danner, like Sverdlik and Bush, had raised his game, but now, after receiving Scholarships, had been accepted at Stanford, and so would be curtailing his competitive play. After his match with Alex, Carl was feeling sickly, and so offered little resistance against Errol. Thus Resek joined Sverdlik in the semi’s. There, though, Errol “seemed to play half a game and then rest half a game. He would, for no apparent reason, win and then lose fearsome strings of points, mostly lose.” Sverdlik won in four—and of course became Danny’s final straight-game victim.
Since this tournament drew an unexpected large entry, and Director Bob Glass was overly accommodating (“You want a practice table? O.K. Don’t put any matches on three for a while”), Danny, though a winner, was not a happy one. “Every time I come to a small tournament it seems I end up playing at some hour of the morning. This has got to stop.” Naturally by the time Seemiller got the Mayor’s trophy, the Mayor had left. But did Danny care, or did it matter that the trophy with his name on it would be on display in the Providence city hall?
Bob says, “Frankly, I did one helluva job with this tournament”—and he’s willing to run another one. But in this, his first, he experienced such hassles that I’m going to let him tell you about them in his own words. Before he’s finished, it occurs to him, and to Joe Lee too, that maybe there ought to be a Tournament Directors Association. Anyway, I think you’ll agree that sometimes, as we’ve seen before, some players are their own worst enemy—and maybe Tournament Directors are too:
“…The first thing I’ll do next year [says Bob] is wire the control desk. The second a player starts shuffling the draw sheets on the desk he’ll receive an electric shock he’s never likely to forget. Didn’t the players see I had duplicate copies of every draw sheet on the wall?
One thing that bothered me was the players’ total disregard for the entry deadline which was 10 days before the start of the tournament. The early deadline, which I never meant to strictly adhere to, was to allow me time to mail the entries to Neal Fox, who was then to computerize all the draws. He would thus have all the latest ratings, people from the same area would not have to play each other in the early rounds, and the exact starting times of everyone’s matches would be known. In addition, everyone’s matches would be spaced to give players ample rest between matches.
But by the actual entry deadline, I had only 50 responses. 90 responses actually came in Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before the tournament and even at the tournament! These late entries were mostly phone calls which I still feel ambivalent about. Phone entries give players the luxury of having their names placed in the draw with the possibility that they’ll default all their matches without paying a cent. This causes the draw sheet to resemble London after a WW II air raid.
What made me even angrier was that those same players with their last minute, unpaid-for-ahead-of-time entries would complain about the draw. “Hey, we play each other all the time. Could you change us? [Change them? I don’t think so.] Since this was my first tournament I didn’t feel like telling anybody to go to hell. Thus I was rather obliging and made several changes on many of the draw sheets. If everyone had mailed in their entries, it would have been unlikely that players from the same club would have had to play one another. Some players actually came up to the control desk and insisted they had called in their entries for certain events when they had done no such thing. But the schlemiel that I am, I gave them all the benefit of the doubt. The draw sheets were loaded with additions and changes. [Think young Chuck Zakarin enjoyed posting draws? These would have kept him busy.]
This led to an incident with a player I’ll call Player X that I’m trying hard to put out of my system. As a result of all the additions and changes Player X played an opponent that he was not originally scheduled to play who beat him. After his defeat, Player X came to the desk in a rage. ‘I’d like to make a complaint,’ he practically yelled. I asked what it was. ‘I had to play my opponent after a change was made on the draw sheet.’ I informed him that his complaint was too late because the match was already played. And with that I turned my attention back to setting up matches. But Player X would not leave me alone. ‘I know the rules,’ he said, ‘and once a draw sheet is made and posted, that’s it.’
Meanwhile there were 5 empty tables as this was going on, because Player X was occupying all my attention. Ignore him, I thought, and maybe he’ll go away. But no such luck! I felt like telling him to go drown himself. But my better judgment prevailed. I told him to file a complaint with the USTTA. ‘So this is your final decision?’ he said. I replied affirmatively. He walked away.
Five minutes later he was back. ‘O.K., I’ll accept your decision,’ he said, ‘under one condition—that you record my loss as a default.’ I told him I wouldn’t do that for a match that had already been played. I reiterated that he should have made the complaint before he played the match. Would he have complained if he had defeated his opponent? He kept repeating himself over and over again until finally I was telling him to get the hell away from me. But he wouldn’t. This made me realize that murder is one of the easiest crimes to commit.
Later on, after coming back from a rest away from the control desk, I saw ‘def.’ in red ink written under the name of Player X’s victorious opponent on the draw sheet. Soon Player X came to me and said the ‘def.’ had been authorized by my partner. I was quite confused. I decided if Chuck Helie, my partner, had given his O.K. to the default ‘maybe’ I would accept it. Player X said, ‘Make sure you report this as a default.’ I replied that I would, knowing full well that when I sent the results to Fox I would not report that match as a default. I merely wanted to get Player X off my back, and if lying was the only way to do it, then I would lie.
I later saw Chuck and asked him if he’d given his authorized signature to the default in question. He didn’t even know what I was talking about….I soon realized that not only was Player X a pain in the ass he was a deceitful pain in the ass….
Still later on, someone said to me, ‘Who’s that guy that just ripped a draw sheet off your wall?’ The wall draw sheets were the ones with the scores on them. I looked up and saw player X ripping a draw sheet into tiny pieces. I realized that not only was he a deceitful pain in the ass, he was also out of his mind. I ran up to him and asked him for my draw sheet back. He handed me these shreds of paper and said, ‘I wanted to save this for evidence.’ I just nodded. I didn’t want to argue with him any longer. He said, ‘Be sure to report the match as a default.’ ‘Sure I will,’ was my sarcastic reply. As it turned out, he’d ripped the wrong draw sheet. So much, then, for Player X.
Another player, whom I’ll call Y, before he left said, ‘Can I have a box of balls for practice?’ I told him he could for $1.50. ‘How about a dollar?’ he said. I again told him $1.50. Good players can take all the towels they want from the Holiday Inn, but when I have to give them balls, it’s coming out of my pocket. As it happened, he stole the box of balls before he left. I used to have great respect for him.
…I drove Z to and from the Syracuse Open last April. I had to keep lending him money. Later I was congratulated by many for donating to the Player Z fund. 600 miles of ‘Who do you think has the best body in table tennis?” was really more than I could stand. But if I didn’t reply that his was, I knew I’d have to quickly change my mind in self-defense. In Syracuse I was greeted with, ‘Bob, I need $10 very badly. You know I always pay back my debts.’ All the way to Syracuse I’d kept hearing how bad starches and alcohol were for you. Z left the tournament with the $10 I’d given him and bought a couple of cases of beer. He offered some to everyone in sight, including me. In Syracuse I arranged for him to sleep at someone’s house to save him (and me) money. (He did, in all fairness, pay me back—nine months later.) I was pretty damn nice to him.
Before the Ocean State Classic I received about 15 phone calls from Player Z. These calls were really pains. ‘Bob, I don’t think I can play in your tournament. I switched rubber and I’m playing like shit.’ I informed him of the AA event, which he was eligible for, and I heard, ‘Please deposit another dime. Your minute is up’—and then nothing, we’re disconnected. I was getting carbon copy calls like this for a week. He was indecisive about whether or not he would play after each call—which was always ended by an operator’s voice. The day before the tournament he called me four times. Losing my patience, I told him to make up his goddamned mind or he wouldn’t be in the draw. He said to put him in the Open and the AA.
He was at the tournament all Saturday. Despite three practice tables that were available to him, he told me that he needed to familiarize himself with the conditions of the tournament. As a special favor to him, I let him practice for 10 minutes of valuable tournament time on a tournament table. The next day after his continued absence, I had to default him (of course he hadn’t paid for his entry). Later, I saw him in the hall. ‘Bob, I’ve got a bad hangover. The best thing for a couple of hangovers is a couple of beers so I’ll be alright later. Right now I’m tired.’ I left him in disgust. He is forever barred from playing in any future tournament I might hold. I might change my mind later but that’s how I feel now. I was never quite sure why Player Z had been barred from playing in another club in this area. Now I wonder why every club hasn’t barred him. He’s constantly talking about his principles yet he never displays any.
As you can see, in telling it like it is, I’m very disillusioned by the behavior of many of table tennis’s top players. One such player began to get on my nerves when he said, ‘Announce my match. All those people have come to see me.’ What annoys me is that the players want a Players Association yet they behave in an incredibly unprofessional manner.”
Tournament Director Glass said his expenses for this Ocean Classic “amounted to $1,500, so we barely broke even.” He’d like to offer more prize money, but can’t without getting sponsorship, and he doesn’t know how to do that. Bob has “the ambition to make Rhode Island a major table tennis area.” He says he “increased the membership of his club from 20 to 50 members,” and saved the B League from dissolving, built it up to “about 35 active players.” But, he says, none of the longtime A League players in his club “care about the development of other players and placing Rhode Island table tennis on the map….More B Leaguers entered the Ocean State Classic than A Leaguers. The bulwarks of the RITTA were the least enthusiastic supporters. Even trying to get some of them to attend the tournament was like trying to get blood out of a stone.”
So in closing this chapter I might say—echoing what Mort Zakarin trying to promote his Pro Tour had said—that such club habitués are unhelpful to the development of the Sport. In this regard there’s not much difference between them and the eccentric, even the occasionally deranged, player Bob allowed himself to suffer painfully at his tournament. Deluged Bob was—floundering in the serio-comic waves that batter U.S. Table Tennis.
SELECTED NOTES.
*I’d wondered if the Fred Henry entered in this 1976 British Columbia tournament could possibly be the Fred Henry who, playing out of Columbus, Ohio, won the 1965 U.S. Open U-15 Doubles with Tom Williams. And then I got this Sept. 6, 2004 e-mail from Dick Evans:
“…Anne Shook and her husband, Al, were very large supporters of the Columbus [Ohio] T.T. Courts during our decade in that city (before we sold the club to D. J. [Lee] and I left for Berkeley). But our biggest financial supporter was Ted Henry, Freddie Henry’s father, who was the Director of Employee Relations at Nationwide Insurance. Nationwide not only had multi teams in our leagues but Ted almost single-handedly organized those leagues for us. He retired to the Carolinas and died several years ago. His son, Fred, is a theoretical mathematician in Vancouver, B.C., the last contact I had with him 20 years ago….”