College Profile: University of Southern Mississippi

By Tiger Ramakrishnan

The University of Southern Miss Table Tennis Club was established in 2003, and since then the club has had success at intercollegiate tournaments. Under the leadership of Club Director Dr. Adel Ali, Southern Miss has established a scholarship program in Table Tennis which is beginning to grow. The Team also trains under the eyes of Coach Herb Bennett.

The team features former Korean Junior National Team Member Bong Geun Kim, Team Captain Arjun Chandramouli, and upcoming player Makato Kinomo. These three players have also received scholarships for excelling in table tennis. Bong plans to graduate in Nursing and Athletic training, and Makoto Kinomo is a Business Major. This year Southern Miss will be missing the services of Arjun, who plans to come back for Fall 2006 to pursue an MBA. Southern Miss is trying to recruit top players from across the country and the globe and to provide scholarships to talented athletes. In the 2005-06 season Southern Miss will also feature a women’s team at NCTTA meets. The Southern Miss table tennis club is pro active in promoting the sport in Mississippi. The club has also hosted six USATT tournaments over the past two years. The club has ten tables and two robots available for training purposes. It has 30 members, and runs a USATT league.

For more information regarding the club or regarding this article please contact Tiger Ramakrishnan at 601-467-4398 or E-mail simhan99@hotmail.com.