CHAPTER SIXTEEN
1977-78: Post-Caesars Through Feb. Tournaments.
The Paddle Palace held four tournaments after the Caesars Closed…two during the Dec. holidays, one in Jan., and the most important one in Feb.—the Oregon Closed. Lou Bochenski tells us (TTT, Mar,-Apr., 1978, 20) that at this Closed—it “dates back 39 years to 1939”—Ron Carver regained his Championship Singles after losses to Bryan Wright in 1976 and Dean Doyle in 1977. Carver had split with Sears at their last two meetings, but in the Thai’s absence at this tournament Ron advanced to the final with ease, downing in straight games both Wright in the quarter’s and ’71 and ’72 State Champion Judy Bochenski in the semi’s. Runner-up Dean Doyle struggled successively with Rick Livermore, Mike Bochenski, and Jay Crystal who’d beaten him in the Dec. 24th Holiday Open, then lost to Carver, 3-1, winning a deuce game but otherwise getting 11, 7, 8 squashed. In Open Doubles, Doyle was without his usual winning partner Quang Bui, so had to win with someone else, namely Crystal—over Carver/Keun Chung. Dean and Jay also won the Alternate Ball Doubles (which differs how from the Open Doubles?) over Mike and Judy Bochenski.
Other Results: AA’s: Cheung had won this event at the Jan. 21-22 Winter Open over Rick Livermore; now he won it again over Joe Romanowsky who’d lost AA finals to Ed Ng in both the Dec. tournaments. A’s: Bobby Rinde over Jim Scott. (Bobby had also won the A’s in Jan. over Ron Vincent.) Modified A Doubles: Doyle/Tom Modica over Don Nash/Vo Qui Han. B’s: Alan Kirkland over Nash. C’s: Jen Hsun Huang over Tim Sayre. (At the Dec.-ending tournament, Jeff Frahler had won both the B’s and C’s.) D’s: Dan Kemper over John Jennings who’d advanced over Grant Hoskins, 26-24 in the 3rd. Back in that last Dec. tournament, getting a start on celebrating New Year’s Eve, Jennings had won the D’s, E’s, and F’s (the D’s and F’s over Mark Burdon; the E’s over Warren Palin). E’s: Leon Ransom over Jennings. F’s: Brad Darlow over Clay Miller. G’s: J.P. Lanson (gee, another previous winner) over Kareem Hawash, deuce in the 3rd. Hard Rubber: Carl Cole over Crystal. Junior’s: Rinde over Doyle, 25-23 in the 3rd, then over Romanowsky. Junior U-1200: Jennings over Miller who outlasted Burdon, 24-22 in the 3rd.
Other winners along the four-tournament way I haven’t mentioned: A’s: Gerry Hamer over Bob Ho. B’s: Dan Riley over Tore Fredrickson. C’s: Lee Olsen; also Chan Poovaviranon over Esfrandria Sangsari. D’s: Keith Fiebe over Harold Fredrickson. F’s: Sue Wakefield over Richard Hosack. Rating: Young Jo Kim. Hard Rubber: Bruce Carlson. Junior’s U-1200: Benji Klevit.
The Open Singles /Class A winner at the Feb. 11-12 San Francisco Winter Open was Topics’ Mar.-Apr., 1978 “Junior of the Month ”Erwin Hom, both times over Masaaki Tajima. No hard feelings, though, for Masaaki has nothing but good things to say about 16-year-old Erwin, currently the 7th-ranked Junior in the country. “He holds exhibitions, coaching clinics, and promotes table tennis at high schools. He deserves recognition not only for his success in table tennis, but for his honest and helpful character which is rare in today’s youth.” Best late-round Open match: Mike Greene over Ken Lee (from down 2-1 and 21-all in the 4th).
Other winners: Women’s: Anuncion Manuta over Tina Smilkstein. B’s: Shun Chan over Tim McCann in 5. A/B Doubles: Hom/David Lee over Tajima/LeRoy Kondo, 19 in the 3rd. C’s: Kevin Broomfield over Mohammad Aghili who’d squeaked by Lee, deuce in the 3rd. D’s: Charles Sojot over William Yang, 19 in the 3rd, then over Bill Poy, 16 in the 5th. C/D Doubles: Self/Aghili over Bob Eckert/Harry Nelson. E’s: David Nordahl over Smilkstein in 5. Novice: Brian Swartz over Leonard Kaiser. Senior’s: Azmy Ibrahim over Bob Glenn. U-17: Hom over Broomfield (from down 2-0).
At Ray Guillen’s Jan. 28-29 New Year’s Open, Ray Guillen easily defeated straight A student and standout baseball player Jim Lane who’d rallied from 2-0 down to oust Bernie Bukiet. Open Doubles: Guillen/Tito LeFranc over Bukiet/Lane. AA’s: Jeff Stewart over Ricky Guillen. A’s: Ruben Guillen over Tony Koyama. B’s: Amin Jaffer over Jim Lynum. C’s: Romeo Irinco over Arnold Lloyd. B/C Doubles: M. Chao/Y.C. Lee over Irinco/Lloyd. D’s: Rich Livingston and his nothing-ball serves over Jim Etherton. D Doubles: Livingston/Wiig over Steve Krell/Randy Mullins. E’s: Krell over Gary Kerr. F’s: S.K. Pheng over Julian Ong. Novice: Dale Francis over Aziz Ali. Senior’s: Bukiet over Dan Banach. Junior’s: Oswald Chan over Dan Wiig.
Tony Martin (TTT, May-June, 1978, 15) covers the Arizona Open (102 entries), held Feb. 18-19 at Arizona State University in Tempe. U.S. Hard Rubber Champion Franz Josef Huermann, now a Phoenix resident, took the Open Singles, winning three successive late-round, 4-game matches. In the quarter’s “The Fronz” beat the energetic Ricky Guillen, last year’s runner-up, whose powerful loop attack allowed him to take the first game. But then Franz, “with his Austrian-made racket consisting of slow wood and fast rubber, became gradually more aggressive. Ricky drove him back 20 feet with a series of all-out loop drives, then dropped what appeared to be an unreachable shot to the backhand—unreachable except by Franz. Moving fluidly, he covered the 20 feet in time to flick a winning backhand in. It seemed a turning point. Ricky looked exhausted and went down in the final three games, 14, 11, 16.”
Against 15-year-old Jimmy Lane in the semi’s, Franz “was not chopping so much. He was attacking off Lane’s serve and often unexpectedly flicking in his forehand. That flick is not an overpowering shot, but it is deceptive. At the last possible moment he catches his opponents off balance by flicking his forehand into the corners or middle. Lane appeared surprised. Neither attacking nor slowing down the game seemed to help him. He did win the 3rd game at 19, but lost the 4th at 4.
Franz’s last opponent was Al Everett, at 2249 the “highest-ranked player ever from Arizona.” Al had advanced to the final with a 4-game win over 21-year-old Mark DaVee who kept getting better as the tournament progressed. After a two-year retirement—he’d been a highly-ranked Junior—Mark came back to win the Arizona Closed title in 1976 and ’77. But in the last year he hadn’t been playing much. Still, by Sunday he was “hitting and looping in his low-driving angled shots from both sides,” and had reached Everett with a 19, -19, 16, 21 win over Paul Groenig.
As the final was ready to get underway, one fellow commented, “Al will just be too tough for Franz. He’ll stay on the attack, hitting and looping from both sides. Franz plays defense—what can he do to win points against Al?” Since returning to Phoenix (though even when he’d been living in California he’d come back long enough to win the Open Singles here the last two years), Everett had “been giving lessons but playing little competitively.” However, he seemed “up” for this match. And, sure enough, as predicted, Al right away took control. “He did not back up, stayed at the table, hitting and looping. Franz was on the defense. As usual he was mixing up his returns by changing the amount of wrist action and follow-thru from shot to shot. There were the typical heavy, low-bouncing, deep-driving chops to contend with, as well as the nothing balls. Al was not to be denied—he won the 1st at 16.”
Everett was too good? But now Huermann’s timing and footwork rose a level. “A small crowd, fascinated by the movement of a defensive specialist, saw Franz win three straight games for the title. ‘Aren’t hitters supposed to beat choppers/’ someone asked. Not on this day. In addition to being skillful and graceful, Franz is a class person. He always has himself under control and is friendly off and on the table. This modest, soft-spoken player from Germany willingly practices with the weakest player or gives pointers to stronger players.”
Other Results: Open Doubles: Lane and Dennis Gresham with his devastating backhand loop over DaVee and Seemiller-style player Randy Nedrow, 19 in the 5th. Women’s: Pat Hodgins in a 23-21-in-the-5th thriller over Liz Gresham. Mixed Doubles: Lane/Hodgins over Huermann/Tybie Sommer. A’s: DaVee over John Harrington, 19 in the 5th. B’s: Keith Chan over Dieter Huber in 5. A-B Doubles: Harrington/Bill Guerin over DaVee/John Merkel. C’s: George Majors over Peter Kwang. D’s: Liz Gresham over Bernie Mandel. C-D Doubles: Chuck Davis/Burke over Baker/Baker. Esquire’s: Richard Badger over Sy Kenig, deuce in the 4th. “Badger’s penholder style and tricky wood return was too much for Arizona’s human backboard.” Senior’s: Winner: Don Higgins or Dieter Huber in 5? U-17: Lane over Kenig’s pupil Merkel. U-15: Merkel over Bobby Ryberg in 5. U-13: Toni Gresham, “barely 10-year-old blonde charmer,” over Dan Dang.
Presents for Bohdan and Kasia, winners at the Denver Christmas Open: Championship Singles: Bohdan Dawidowicz over Kasia Dawidowicz. Championship Doubles: Double dose of Dawidowicz over Dana Jeffries/Jones. AA’s: Al Martz over Bob Leatherwood. A’s: George Weissberg over John Dawson. A/B Doubles: Smith/Burke over Norm Silver/Jones. Senior’s: Dawidowicz over T. Smith. U-17: Kasia over Keith Kalny.
Results of the Feb. 4-5 Albuquerque Round Robin: Championship Singles: 1-2: Swaminathan Bhaskar over Dean Galardi. 3-4: Kasia over Bohdan Dawidowicz. Championship Doubles: Dennis Gresham/Johnson over Burke/Williams. A’s: Mac Horn over L. Ho. A Doubles: Tom Wintrich/Les Enslin over Dave DeWald/Dennis Gresham. B’s: Wintrich over Bill Roady. B Doubles: Robert Compton/Mac Horn over Terry Ziegler/Roland Schilhab. C’s: H. Chan over Vic Smith. C Doubles: Roady/Ho over Chan/Smith. D’s: John Dawson over Tom Robinson. D Doubles: Sargent/Pat Fromme over Robinson/Wilheling. E’s: Dave Alvarez over J. McCanna. E Doubles: John Corcoran/Bruce Crozier over Warren/Alvarez.
Results of the Irving Round Robin: Championship (A) Singles: 1-2: Swaminathan Bhaskar over Bruce Smith. 3-4: Perry Schwartzberg over Larry Kesler. Championship Doubles: Bhaskar/Smith over Rich Doza/Eric Seiler. B’s: 1-2: Andy Bloxom over Doug Schewe. 3-4: Hugh Lax over Roger Persaud. B Doubles: Lax/Dennis Fritchie over Steve Arnold/Irl Copley. C’s: 1-2: Cliff Smith over Fritchie. 3-4: Joe Ogilvie over Larry Bartley. C Doubles: Bloxom/Duke Stogner over Smith/Kirk Golbach. D’s: 1-2: Paul Hadfield over Gerry Harris. 3-4: Billy Joe Varner over Vernon Boze. D Doubles: Pritchard/Varner over Sargent/Fromme. E’s: 1-2: Kathy Thompson over Bill Russell. 3-4: Marilyn Johnston over Karin Thompson. E Doubles: Ogilvie/Barbara Johnston over Schroeder/Light.
Wisconsin Closed Winners: Championship Singles: 1. Ted Stomma, 2-1 (5-2). 2. Geoff Graham, 2-1 (5-3). 3. Roy Hyden, 2-1 (4-3). 4. Tom Breunig, 0-3. Breunig lost all three, 0-2. Stomma lost to Graham, 1-2, but beat Hyden 2-0. Hyden had to go 3 in defeating Graham. Championship Doubles: Hyden/Breunig over Tony Poulos/Jack Carlson. Women’s: Cheryl Dadian over Sue Chen. Mixed Doubles: Hyden/Dadian over Mayer/Mayer. A’s: Terry Lonergan in 5 over Mike Hoffland who’d contributed photos of European stars to Tim Boggan’s Winning Table Tennis. A Doubles: Stomma/Schlicht over Pakroo/Poulos. B’s: Craig Madsen over Carlson. B Doubles: Dadian/Madsen over Pakroo/Lusk who’d eliminated Buehler/Jim Running, -20, 20, 20. C’s: Lonergan (years later, Terry’s son, Sean, will be a member of the U.S. World Team) over Gary Schweinert. D’s: Ed Kraemer over David Medley. Novice: John Lowe over Don David.
Senior’s: Stomma over Breunig. Parent: Buzz Johnson over Paul Dadian. Parent-Child Doubles: Ted/Peter Stomma over Dadian/Dadian. Boys U-17: Gary Schweinert over Reiner Kerntka, 20, 20. Girls U-17: Dadian over Carolyn Schweinert. U-17 Doubles: Prudhom/David over Kinder/Schopp. Boys U-15: Marino Marcich over Ted Peterson. Girls U-15: Schweinert over Gwen Paulis. Boys U-13: Peter Schweinert over Dave Dalland. Girls U-13: Kathleen Hitz over Ingrid Schweinert, deuce in the 3rd.
Winners at Chicago’s Jan. 21 Great Lakes Open: Men’s: Paul Pashuku over Joe Yoon who’d stopped Jim Schnorf (from down 2-0), deuce in the 5th, then Jim Davey (from down 2-1 and at 20-all in the 4th). A’s: Yoon over Mike Kenny. B’s: Sufi “Joe” Ahmad over Bernie Braun. C’s: Peter Braun over S. Henderson. D’s: Chip Peterson over Bruce McGee. Handicap: Davey over Kenny. Handicap Doubles: Peterson/McGee over Neil Ackerman/B. Irvin. Senior’s: Irvin over McGee.
Tom McEvoy (TTT, Mar.-Apr., 1978, 24) calls the Jan. 14 Michigan Open the “best Grand Rapids tournament we’ve had in a long time.” Tom says “an article appeared in the local paper about our tournament, which very seldom happens,” and that prompted an ABC TV crew to come down, film some of the action, and interview Tournament Chair John Missad. Sixty-six players entered, including some locals drawn in by the newspaper article and some out-of-towners like Toledo’s Brooke and Stu Kaplan and the Helmuth brothers from Nappannee, Indiana. “Dick Butler and his two sons, Scott and Jim, along with Howard Lambert, drove all the way from Iowa City, Iowa for this tournament, and Dick and son Scott were featured on the 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. sportcasts. A close-up of Dick’s shirt was shown on the program with the following inscription on the back, ‘Scott Butler’s Dad’”—which was good for some laughs.” With the volume of entries and 12 different events, “the final match didn’t get over until 1:30 a.m.” (four hours later than normal). “But there were very few complaints.”
In the round robin semi’s of the Open Singles, Michigan Junior Champ Steve Claflin lost 3-0 to Dell Sweeris and Larry Wood, but beat Mike Baber, -22, 10, 16, 18. Mike kept his fighting spirit, though, and against Sweeris, he “made some incredible shots, countering slams with Dell, and at deuce in the 5th blocking back one of Dell’s kill shots to win the point and then the match. That brought undefeated Wood up against Sweeris. To emerge as Champion Larry had to beat Dell or at least win two games from him. But this he couldn’t do—he lost in four. With the result that Dell came 1st, Larry 2nd, and Mike 3rd, “out of the money for the first time in several years.”
Other Results: Open Doubles: Sweeris/John Huizinga over Baber/Gunther Pawlowski. A’s: Mike Budi over Jim Doney. B’s: Torsten Pawlowski over his dad Gunther, -21, 21, 21. C’s: Scott Butler over John Farmer, 20, 19. C Doubles: Bill Hornyak/Bruce McGee over Tom McEvoy/Lee Bahlman. D’s: McGee over Chip Peterson, -19, 19, 19. Novice: Milton Johns over George Brewer. Beginner’s: Bill Carter over John Eckhardt. Handicap: T. Pawlowski over Wood. Senior’s: Hornyak over Ward Wood. U-17: Budi over Claflin, 19 in the 3rd.
Winners at the Feb. 11 Winter Wonderland Open in Grand Rapids: Open: Sweeris over Larry Wood, 18, 20, 21. Defending State Champion Mike Baber not only lost a straight-game match to Sweeris, but was again upset (20, -16, -18, -20) by Wood. Open Doubles: Mike Moriarty/Mark Holowchak over Wood/Torsten Pawlowski. A’s: Jim Downey over McEvoy. B’s: Downey over Larry Su. C’s: Larry Ryel over Missad. C Doubles: Stewart Ansteth/ Holowchak over Max Salisbury/Billy Reid. D’s: C.J. Williams over Ned Leuchtner. Tom McEvoy said that C.J. told him “he was going to mount his trophy on the hood of his car and toot his horn all the way back to Frostburg, MD. Chuckles are in order, ‘cause he just might do it. Novice: John Helmuth over Rob Stewart. Handicap: Dave Dalland over Salisbury. Senior’s: Ward Wood over Salisbury. U-17: Downey over Pawlowski. McEvoy tells us that Bill Hornyak, who won last month’s Senior’s here, “couldn’t make this tournament because he’s had heart surgery. Had to have a valve repaired to prevent a possible heart attack at some future time.” But he’s doing very well and is back home now recuperating.
This year’s Michigan State Champions were decided in Detroit, Feb. 18-19. The titleholders: Men’s Open: Mike Baber over Jim Doney, 17 in the 5th, then over Mike Veillette who, Bob Beatty tells us, had beaten Baber the day before in the Regional Intercollegiate’s in Cincinnati. Biggest surprise in the Open, in the tournament really, was Jim (The Phantom Strikes Again) Tarkowski’s upset of Dell Sweeris. Perhaps Veillette, feeling he had to play cautiously, carefully against Tarkowki’s Phantom, got by him, 17, 18, -24, 19 in the semi’s, but then couldn’t revert to playing his normal game against Baber. Open Doubles: Baber/Veillette over Bill Lesner/Jeff Smart, 19 in the 4th. Women’s: Genevieve Hayes over Debbie Payotelis. Mixed Doubles: Danny Robbins/M. Dong over Veillette/Michele McKinstry.
A’s: Chuck Burns over Steve Claflin, 19 in the 5th. (Three weeks earlier, in the blizzard-struck Detroit Open, Claflin had been the Open Singles winner over Robbins, then Burns, 19 in the 4th.) A Doubles: Claflin/Aaron Smith over Mike Moriarty/Mike Budi. B’s: Mark Holowchak over Jim Doney in 5, then over Smith. Twenty years later, Mark will be “coaching power lifters at the University of Pittsburgh and co-authoring Winning Table Tennis with Dan Seemiller. B Doubles: Bob Quinn/B. Tunnell over Smith/Stewart Ansteth. C’s: Ed Jerome over Torsten Pawlowski who’d squeaked by Chuck Glinz in 5. C Doubles: B. Nunnery/Glinz over Ansteth/Mark Hrivnak. D’s: Hayes over Bob Cloutier who escaped Payotelis, 19, 22, 20. D Doubles: Ansteth/Cloutier over D. Finn/G. Naugle, 18 in the 5th. E’s: Carl Bedford over John Salmon, then over Lou Budi, both in 5. E Doubles: Arnold Anderson/R. Glanda over Ross Sanders/C. Wibbelman. Novice: Kai Fai Lum over Bob Coleman. Beginner’s: John Parmann over Bob Hamet. Beginner’s Doubles: Lum/B. Bartes over J. Gorno/K. Budi. Esquire’s: Burns over Laurie Ault. Senior’s: Tom Waters over Pete Kelly, then over Ed Brennan, both in 5. Senior Doubles: Quinn/Burns over Bill Rapp/ Kelly, 19 in the 3rd. U-17: Steve Claflin over Torsten Pawlowski who’d advanced over Mike Budi, deuce in the 5th. Junior Doubles: Claflin/Budi over Payotelis/K. Budi. U-15: Claflin over Doney.
Dave Strang is proud to announce (TTT, May-June, 1978, 18) that, with the help of “three major Akron newspapers, including columns, feature stories and even cartoons, our first major tournament, the Rubber City Open, drew over 150 contestants.” This is by far the biggest Ohio tourney in recent years. “Special thanks go to Jake Wademan of ‘The World of Sports’ for his help in providing awards in the Junior and Senior events. Thanks also to Mike Stascak of Chapel Hill Mall for his assistance in setting up exhibitions there the week before the tournament, and to the many staff people at the Akron Beacon Journal for their excellent tournament coverage.”
Results: Open Singles (25 entries; AVERAGE rating: 1927!): 1. Rick Seemiller, 3-0, 2. Randy Seemiller, 2-1. 3. Mark Wampler, 1-2 (with a 5-game quarter’s win over Bobby Powell and then a semi’s win over Butler from down 1-0 and at deuce in the 2nd). 4. Charles Butler, 0-3. Women’s: Kimmer Shimko over Marilyn Pitts. Open Doubles: Seemillers over Wampler/Greg Collins. A’s: Don Story over Sam Steiner, 23-21 in the 4th. A Doubles: Nick Minsiveris/Tom Shirley over Gary Martin/Stu Caplin. B’s: Joe Trausch over Van Hien Nguyen. C’s: Mike Walk over Mark Allen. D’s: Tran Ngo over Eddie Runyon in 5. Novice: Larry Knicely over Tom Burik. Consolation: Al Shears over John Temple, 19, -19, 19. Hard Rubber: Art Holloway over Story, deuce in the 5th. Esquire’s: Vern Weingart over Shirley in 5. Senior’s: John Spencer over Ngoc Thuat Tran. Young Adults: Collins over Jeff Williams, 19 in the 5th, then over Powell in 5. U-17: Williams over Joe Passov U-15: Williams over Walk. U-13: Dan Walk over Shimko. Girls U-13: Tran. 2. Holly Ferstman.
Winners at the Feb. 25 Central Indiana Closed: Men’s: Dick Hicks over Jim Yates in 5, then over Harry Deschamps. Men’s Doubles: Hicks/Hicks over Yates/Yates, 19 in the 4th. Women’s: Cindy Marcum over Peggy Scheiman. Mixed Doubles: Hicks/Hicks over Yates/Yates. A’s: John Allen over Jerry Glass. B’s: Dwight Mitrchell over Don Roberts. C’s: Allen over Mitchell in 5. Consolation’s: Steve Betts over Chip Peterson. 0Senior’s: Deschamps over Jack Pangburn. U-17: Ricky Hicks over Allen, -18, 20, 20, 13. U-15: Jeff Pangburn over Jeff Button.
Nancy Hill (TTT, Mar.-Apr., 1978, 25) covered the $300 Arkansas Round Robin Tournament played Feb. 25-26 at The Burns Park Tennis Center in North Little Rock. The 72-player format with initially six groups of 12 is modeled after one that had been explained earlier in an Irving, TX write-up. Following initial seeded play, the 12 1st-Place finishers form two A groups of six (A-1, A-2), followed by B-1, B-2 through F-1, F-2. Coming out of this round robin of two groups are the two top players in each to form a final round robin of four (with carryovers if applicable).
“The tournament is popular, especially with less than top-rated players, for several reasons. It is easily run and kept on schedule without noisy loudspeaker interruptions, default difficulties, and the need to constantly move from table to table to play. It gives lower-rated players the opportunity to play a lot of matches, to compete both against better players in the initial round and players on their own level in the second round.” Nancy was encouraged by the fact that, though this was an open tournament, “20% of the 72 entries were women.” Sammanuth (or Swaminathan) Bhaskar, though he was upset in a second-round match two straight by Missouri penholder Eric Seiler, went on to win the $100 Championship R.R. over “an ailing” Bruce Smith, Perry Schwartzberg, and Larry Thoman. Oddly, Bhaskar got confused about the date of the tournament, and so came from Houston a week early, and before going back “had to pay $30 to get his car towed out of an icy ditch.”
Upset winners: A’s: Rich Doza in straight games over Schwartzberg and Thoman. B’s: #6 seed Leslie Harris over #1 seed Sammy Peters. C’s: Joe Ogilvie over Dennis Fritchie to finish 3rd. D’s: 992-rated Dee Pollan over 1437-rated William Prince. E’s: 923-rated Barby Jones over 1504-rated Larry Lyon. The May-June issue of Topics gave these Event winners: A’s: 1. Bhaskar. 2. Smith. 3. Schwartzberg. 4. Kesler. (What happened to Doza? Bad losses kept him out of the last four?) B’s: 1. Bloxom. 2. Schewe. 3. Lax. 4. Persaud. (Harris didn’t advance to the last four either.) C’s: 1. C. Smith. 2. Fritchie. 3. Ogilvie. 4. Bartley. (Ogilvie beat Fritchie but finished behind him.) D’s: 1. Hadfield. 2. Harris. 3. M. Varner. 4. Vernon Boze. E’s: Kathy Thompson. 2. Russell. F’s: Hess. 2. Light.
The Sportsmanship Award went to 18-year-old Leslie Harris from Memphis. “Leslie has given a lot of time and emotional and physical energy to the sport of table tennis. She has one of the best looking playing styles of any woman in the country, making her a very exciting player to watch.” Also, “her refreshing personality makes her an enjoyable person to be around. Hopefully she will continue to delight players and spectators at tournaments for years to come.”
Winners in the Jan. 21 Atlanta Winter Open: Championship Singles: Ron Rigo over Larry Thoman in 5, then over Jim McQueen. Women’s: Melba Martin over Tracy Beckham. Championship Doubles: Thoman/George Cooper over John Elliott/Pete May, -20, 19, -19, 14, 21. A’s: Bobby Marcus over Jimmy Flynn, 16 in the 5th. B’s: Mark Gibson over Jim Wiggins. C’s: Buddy Hutson over Keith Armes. Novice: Randy Kendle over Greg Kendle. Senior’s: Cyril Lederman over Ed Bacon. U-17: Walter Wintermute over Bowie Martin, Jr.
Results of the Feb. 21-23 Atlanta Closed: Men’s: George Cooper over Thomas Nunes, deuce in the 5th, then over Bill Farrar in 5. Men’s Doubles: Cooper/Nunes over Larry Buell/Ron Jones, 19 in the 4th. Semi’s: Cooper/Nunes over Carl Golden/James Altenbach, 19, 15, 27; Buell/Jones over Wendell Dillon/Farrar, 28-26 in the 5th. Women’s: Sarah Hillsman over Felicia Jackson. Mixed Doubles: Golden/Hillsman over Nunes/Connie Gibbs. Consolation: Don Holden over Gus Armes. Senior’s: Lederman over Dillon. U-21: Jones over Kendle. U-17 Boys: Cecil Brooks over Jason Wardley. U-17 Doubles: Price/Clay over Reddy/Reddy, 24-22 in the 4th. U-17 Girls: Jackson over Deborah Smith. U-15 Boys: Prabaher Reddy over Phan Bach. U-13 Boys: Lamar Tanner over Derrick Searey. U-13 Girls: Nettie Anthony over Sharon Dwight. U-11 Boys: Andra Bentley over Jerry Brook.
Steve Carlson covers the Florida Closed, held Feb. 25-26 in Orlando. For the third straight year Defending Champion Greg Gingold and ’76 Champion Jerry Thrasher met for the State Championship. As Steve put it, the contest would be between “the quickness of Gingold and his “happy feet” vs. the spin arsenal of Thrasher.” As it turned out, “Jerry’s awesome backhand loop, widely acclaimed to be the best in the country,” was just erratic enough to allow Greg to win their first two games at deuce. The remaining two games were also (both 21-19) close. “Some last-chance spectacular shots saved the third game for Jerry,” but in the fourth Thrasher’s late rally fell just short.
Thrasher wasn’t tested in the semifinal round robin by Ron Rigo or Wayne Daunt, but Gingold had 18-in-the-4th trouble with brash young Ronnie, A winner over Randy Hess. Indeed, Gingold got 21-8 killed the first game when Rigo played superbly, “exchanging backhands with precision and killing forehands like a wild man.” In the second game, Greg was still tight. Ronnie got an edge ball and yelled his approval. But as the ball was technically still in play he was called for making a “loud and sudden” noise and lost the point, his cool, and the game. [If Greg had no chance to get the ball, I would have lost my cool too, for the noise would have had no effect on the play.] So that “was the break Greg needed,” right? Wrong. Rigo rallied to go 2-1 up…and then up double match point in the 4th. At which point Ronnie failed to return serve. Whereupon Greg “served and followed with the biggest loop of the match to deuce it—and then win the game.” The fifth was “a counter-driving, counter-psyche game” that Greg won at 18.
Other Results: Ladies Singles: Olga Soltesz over Nancy Newgarden. Championship Doubles: Steve and Ron Rigo over Scott Preiss/Larry Gold. B’s: Alan Averill over N. Cole. B Doubles: Preiss/Gold over Cole/Lenny Chew. C’s: Clinton Steffan over Chew, 25-23 in the 3rd, then over Hess, -22, 24, 20, 20. D’s: Ashok Nirody over Ed Bacon, 24-22 in the 3rd, then over Buddy Hutson. E’s: Luis Arrondo over S. Beauregard. Senior’s: Marv Leff over Gerard Maglio. Junior’s: R. Rigo over Beauregard.
Jairie Resek says she and Errol (they’re back together again? just needed to get away for a while?) went to the Dominican Republic for a couple of weeks in Feb. Much improvement in the play there—thanks primarily to Hanns Hieronimus, editor and publisher of U.L.T.M—a very informative magazine from the Union Latinoamericana de Tenis de Mesa. Jairie lauds Hanns as “a player, sponsor, officer in the Dominican Association, and number one fan.” Errol wasn’t permitted to play in their National’s last year, but this year they allowed him to play in a winter tournament, and he was beaten decisively by Juan Vila, while the Santo Domingo players boycotted play because Errol, who didn’t live in their country, was entered. Later, at the very time we’d be having our Oklahoma City U.S. Open, the Dominicans were having a tournament of their own. Again they allowed Errol to play, and he finished 3rd. Jairie says Raymond Fermin succeeded Vila as the 1978 Dominican National Champion. I think by this time Fuarnado Roberts is also out of the country—he’ll be in Peru for a few years.
Greg Cox tells that the first Wilson Open, played Feb. 25-26 at the Butterfly Center drew 107 entries, and that because of a power failure in that area of the city play was delayed, forcing the last of the matches to go on into Monday morning. Results: Open Singles: Fred King over Danny Hill in 5, then over Frank Studley, 24-22 in the 4th. Women’s: Jean Poston over Linda Sauls. Men’s Doubles: Studley/Sol Lewis over Hill/Jim McQueen. A’s: George Cooper over Pat O’Neill. B’s: Cooper over Wilson Bryan. C’s: James Gatling over Bowie Martin, Jr. D’s: Johnny McCorkle over Martin, Jr. Senior’s: Studley over Lewis. U-17 Boys: Walter Wintermute over Sean O’Neill. U-15 Boys: O’Neill over Martin. U-13 Boys: O’Neill over Marius Vincent. U-17 Girls: Esperanza Vincent over Linda Sauls, 19, 21. Girls U-15: Vincent over Pam Millinder. U-13 Girls: Vincent over Tina Leslie. U-11: O’Neill over E. Vincent.
Steve Sampson in commenting on the Ben Franklin Open, held Jan. 7-8 at the Philadelphia TT Club, says almost 100 spectators a day watched the 125 entrants compete for $450 in prize money. But, he says, it’s “awfully difficult to write about a tournament”—it’s not the same thing as being there. “You miss the atmosphere.” For instance, “Ron Luth sssllowly bending down to pick up a ball”; or the “rain drops falling through the ceiling”; or the “glorious cuisine (hot dogs with Philly mustard).” Well, anyway, we do have the Results: Open Singles: Mike Bush over Eric Boggan who had to go 5 to beat both Stan Smolanowicz and Errol Resek, mainstay of the Jules Apatini-led Hungarian Team in the Greater N.Y. T.T. League. Steve writes that Mike Bush’s “spectacular play and professional appearance and conduct very much impressed the many off-the-street spectators.” (“Off the street”? He’s not kidding, is he? Isn’t the Club four floors up?) An early fun match for those watching was Smolanowicz’s “Slam Bam” 8th’s match against defender Sam Balamoun.
A’s: Jeff Steif over Ralph Bockoven. B’s: Luth over Sampson who got by Marv Plevinsky in 5. C’s? D’s: Herb Vichnin over Ray Wu. E’s: Larry Hodges over Bruce Hvasta. F’s: M. Davis over V. McCoy. N’s: Barney Reed over Jeff Pedicini. (That’s Barney, pere; Barney, fils, will one day play internationally for the U.S.) X’s: J. Vittori over Richard Spear. Y’s: T. Hsu over M. Ness. Handicap: Alex Mlavsky over Todd Ingram. Handicap Doubles: Harry Hawk/Mellinger over M. Schnorr/Caravella. Senior’s: Wu over Al Gill. U-17: J. Markson over Phil Shaw. U-15: Dave Mlavsky over brother Alex.
George Brathwaite’s friend Kanchan Gilfillian in reporting on the Feb. 11-12 Westfield Open devotes the first half of her article to praising George:
“‘Pound for Pound,’ George (The Chief) Brathwaite is, without a doubt, the best Table Tennis player in the United States today and most certainly someone to whom our young players can look up to and respect—the more so because of his sportsmanship and knowledge of the game. He may be regarded as a phenomenon, having successfully participated in several sports throughout his career” [cricket, soccer, track and field]….
…Because of his athletic ability, application, dedication, and an exceptionally strong pair of legs [he] improved so rapidly that within a relatively short time was selected to represent the U.S. at the [1971 World’s].”
Gilfillian points out a number of George’s impressive victories, and notes that George has just won the U.S. Senior Championship (he also won in ’76), “and yet no significant mention of it was made in Topics. Instead there were a number of photographs of people who did not achieve this stature and did absolutely nothing in Las Vegas other than participate. [Of the 17 U.S. Closed-related photos published in Topics immediately after the tournament, the Editor, if asked, would say all 17 were relevant.] Pictures of players and others should not be published in Topics simply because they are at the disposal of the Editor or because someone sends them in.”
We learn from Kanchan that ‘The Chief played marvelously and superbly” to win this tournament, beating in the final “Mike Bush, U.S. #3, who within the past year has become a much improved and mature player.” After falling behind 17-10 in the first, “The Chief, who is a very good analyst of one’s game, decided to prepare himself for the other games by changing his strategy.” Kanchan, apparently having interviewed George, or he her, details George’s various game adjustments throughout the 5-game match. “Point after point these two gladiators of the green table rallied back and forth, spin against spin, until the severe pounding took its toil and Mike became weaker and weaker with his returns.” From 19-all, George wins 19 in the 5th.
Other Results: Women’s: Dana Gvildys over Gloria Amoury. Open Doubles: Bush/Rutledge Barry over Eric Boggan/Roger Sverdlik (Roger defeated Eric in 5 in the Open). A’s: Steve Berger over Benfield Munroe. A Doubles: Ali Oveissi/Munroe over Al Schwartz/Doon Wong, 19, -19, 19. B’s: Stu Kroll over Alex Sze. C’s: Julian Millan over Mike Kuklakis. D’s: Ray Wu over John Sisti. D Doubles: Millan/Tony Gegelys over C. Claude Jumet/T Smith. E’s: Manny Moskowitz over Mark Kane. F’s: T. Chung over G. Forde. G’s: S. Huang over Barney Reed. Novice: Chung over Vescosi. Esquire’s: Marcy Monasterial over John Kilpatrick. Senior’s: Elmer Wengert over Mort Zakarin, U-17: J. Markson over Millan. U-15: Millan over Jeff Pedicini. U-13: Richard Spear over David Branch.
Howard Blum, in his “Ping-Pong Concert” article (N.Y. Times, Dec. 30, 1977; reprinted in TTT, Jan.-Feb., 1978, 21) says, “Table Tennis is a game of sounds.” Yes, of course, you might say that, everyone knows that, none better than the hard rubber player. But then Blum goes on to fill us in on what we don’t know:
“…Between the fortissimo cacophony of sharp pings and dull pongs, there are elements, believes a composer, George Costinesco, of something grander and more euphonious. Of music.
And, in celebration of these hidden symphonies, Mr. Costinesco has taken the sport out of the basement and into the concert hall, sort of.
On Saturday, Dec. 31, at noon, perhaps the first piece of music ever commissioned by New York City will be performed at Reisman’s Table Tennis Center, 262 West 96th St.—George Costinesco’s “The Tournament Overture for Flute, Cello, Synthesizer, and Two Ping-Pong Players.” Admission’s free.
The City’s Department of Parks and Recreation along with the White Rock Soda Company, which is currently sponsoring a table tennis tournament for “younger and older boys and girls” at Reisman’s, decided to give the athletic competition a touch of New York grandeur and Upper West Side pretension—an original piece of music.
So the sponsors sought out Mr. Costinesco, a 43-year-old Rumanian composer who has had two previous original compositions performed at Lincoln Center, and who has been pinging and ponging since his youth.
Matthew Paris, a recreation director with the Parks Department, a novelist and also one of the two table tennis performers in Mr. Costinesco’s composition, has discovered that a visionary range of sounds can be produced in the spirited struggle to pound a tiny plastic sphere with a paddle.
‘I actually heard a major third as I squashed the ball down,’ Mr. Paris said in a telephone interview.
Art, though, is not created without certain sacrifices. The professional ping-pong player and novice musician Marty Reisman complained: ‘Rehearsing for this music is spoiling my game. The composer’s asking me to keep the ball in play—not win!’”
Readers of these History volumes will certainly remember Max Marinko as a winner. This great Yugoslav world-class player of the 1930’s and ‘40’s, on immigrating to Canada, became their 8-time National Champion (1955-1963). He died of stomach cancer in 1975. This First Annual Memorial Tournament to him, held Jan. 8 in Toronto, with about 125 entries, was successfully organized by George Jovanov. George, President of the Ontario Central Region Association, is a man of considerable energy and deep feeling. He did everything possible, even putting out a special little Program, to make this day a warmly commemorative one.
Naturally, Jenny Marinko, Max’s widow, who in the last year has suffered the loss of her mother, then sold her house and moved alone into a strange little apartment, was the guest of honor. She displayed some of Max’s international trophies and medals, and his famous oversized racket, and played in the tournament.
Those now retired who, along with Jenny and Max, played hundreds of matches in Canadian tournaments over the years were back on hand to play in his memory. Jovanov must have personally called 50 people who, being out of practice, would otherwise not have played, particularly on such a snowy afternoon and evening. Among them were Modris Zulps and Laimon Eichwald (both of whom still keep fit by playing volleyball and a weekly match or two in a local table tennis league); Algis Saunoris, former 6-time Russian Champion who’s been in Toronto for a number of years; Peter Gonda, a member of the Canadian Team to the 1975 Calcutta World’s; and perennial Canadian Women’s Singles Champion Violetta Nesukaitis now married and no longer playing competitively
Violetta, looking decidedly heavier and happier, smiling and shaking her head at an occasional horrendous shot, seemed to be really enjoying herself in an unpracticed way. In the absence of Canadian Team members Mariann Domonkos, Birute Plucas, and Christine Forgo (all of whom were at the English Open), she won still another tournament by defeating 16-year-old Colleen Johnson who nonetheless showed fine form in the final. Violetta also won both the Women’s Doubles, with sister Flora who was her usual serious-looking, seemingly disinterested self, and the Mixed Doubles, with Errol Caetano who was, well, flippant.
Caetano, of course, won the Men’s, and the Men’s Doubles with Derek Wall—they’ve not lost a match in Canada all season. But there were several upsets—the more understandable perhaps because, given the unusually large turnout, all matches, even the Men’s, were cut to 2 out of 3.
Twenty-year-old Cameron Scott beat #2 seed Bill Cheng to get to the final. And well deserved his win was too, for Cameron’s a real student. Oh sure, he attends a university, but more importantly he plays table tennis 7 days a week, and in the last month or so, since returning from the USOTC’s, has shown dramatic improvement. Doubtless this is due not just to playing with his friend Mike Jovanov (#3 in Toronto even when in the 6th grade…in chess), but to practicing regularly with Caetano and Wall.
Derek, who in his 30-year career has played in maybe 90 countries, was making a point to me apropos of Cameron over the weekend—a weekend I don’t mind telling you I spent as Derek and Rose’s house guest. (Had a great time, too, except when suddenly alone experiencing my first sauna, I thought: Derek couldn’t accidentally have locked the door, could he?) Wall was emphasizing how important it was for Cameron or any aspiring young player nowadays to be where the action is—where the new technological changes in rubber are evident, where new initial and responsive play is constantly being encouraged. So many people still don’t realize that today’s young player, if he is to be any good at all, must develop in this ambience. In the old days of the hard rubber bat this wasn’t so. Then—New York, Tokyo, Budapest, Stockholm, Peking, Saskatoon—racket-surface differences weren’t so great. But today it’s necessary for Cameron and others to practice against Wall’s black Feint (just as it was necessary for Wall to earlier have abandoned anti-spin if he wanted, regardless of age, to continually improve his now quite modern game). Indeed, few active players in the world have made the necessary successful transitions to sponge that Wall, once a strong hard bat player, has over the years.
Another upset was registered by Bill Cheng who has the reputation of often being too nervous to play well in tournaments, but who many times is tremendous in practice, especially a few years ago when he was Wall’s warm-up partner. Bill, hitting in one backhand after another, beat me, then swept through Alan Heap of the Canadian National Team. Week after week, Alan more or less has intense not to say tragic moments teaching, as he says, “the language of Racine”—French—to mini-teens in suburban Scarborough.
Upset, too, was Pierre Normandin who recently almost won the Quebec Championship. Winner Guy Germain was given an all-expenses-paid trip to the English Open. Maybe he’ll play doubles there with D-J Lee who I heard was also entered. Pierre lost to Serge Provencher, one of the 10 or 12 young players Adham Sharara brought from Montreal whose way was paid by their Provincial Government. Serge in turn lost to Steve Feldman. Steve, on being questioned by some well-meaning fellow as to why his head was always in a book, seemed, as a math/physics major, to be put even more on the defensive than in his losing semi’s match with Caetano.
The most interesting match to me—certainly the longest—was the expedited deuce-in-the-3rd one I lost (after rallying from 14-6, 20-18 down) to Algis Saunoris in the Senior’s. The only other time I’d played him (in the early ‘70’s at the CNE) I also lost to him in expedite. But then he was playing better, for a decade earlier he and his partner had been European Doubles finalists. Since his play in the CNE he’d broken a leg in an accident and on recovering had been content to play local league matches only. Still effective were his shrewd, sticky little pushes and quick pick-hits. After finishing with me, he went on to beat Fuarnado Roberts, also in expedite.
Lured here for this memorial to Max, “Algie” almost walked out before playing me and never did stay to play his $50 Senior’s final with Wall because play was taking so unexpectedly long. (I myself played only one match during the first 6 hours of the tournament.)
I wish I could have some meritorious excuse for losing—but the only thing I can think of is how unusually bloated I was from the huge 10-course Ukranian Christmas dinner I’d had the night before at the Jovanovs and the booze I kept washing down that special fermented cabbage with. Finally, I thought myself sated. But then I was plied to eat, drink, and talk some more because George’s son Mike kept sneaking down to us these old 1930’s, ‘40’s, ‘50’s scrapbooks former Canadian star Joan Jessop had compiled. These of course held my interest, for along with pages and pages of the great champion Marinko, there occasionally I was, my name once or twice in headlines, and once or twice even my clean-cut photo…now totally unrecognizable by all.
Which made me think—was it that way, just a little, toward the end with cancer-ravaged Max? Could one in some way mistake him for another? Was such a transformation possible? Well I remember this image I have of Max three months before he died. After almost 50 years of play, amazing, he was winning still another (U.S. Esquire) Open…and this time with 2/3 of his stomach gone.
No, I decided—unlike so many others who over the years have given themselves to our long-suffering but enduring little sport—Max will be forever recognizable.