Robo-Pong St. Joe Valley Open

by Dan Seemiller The 43rd Robo-Pong St. Joseph Valley Open was held in South Bend, Indiana on spring break weekend March 17 and 18. This year’s event was bumped up from a three-star to a four-star tournament as the prize money was increased from $4,000 to $10,000. Robo-Pong and NEWGY Corporation were the title sponsor and through their support our tournament is back on the national stage. The 222 competitors, including 16 Canadians, began play on the 36 table set-up at the Indiana University at South Bend’s Student Activities Center. This facility is only five years old and has wood flooring, good lighting, and a balcony to watch from. (photo by Jason Denman ©2007)

In the youth events: Stephen Clyde won the 14 and under event defeating Nathan Hsu. The under 18 event featured U.S. Team Member Joe Cochran and John Leach and also Canadian Team members Lin Kun Yang and Bryan Michaud. In the semifinals, Cochran defeated Michaud 3-1 and Leach took out Yang 3-2. In the all U.S. final from 8-all in the fifth, John Leach pulled it out over Joe Cochran.

Rating Events: A total of $2,700 in prize money was awarded in the rated events. In the U-2550 it was Canadian National Team Member Homayoun Kamkar-Parsi winning the $300 first prize over Open finalist Ludovic Gomobs in the semi-final and Sasa Drinic by default in the final. The 2400 event saw John Leach win the $250 first prize defeating Canadians Rieutord and Michaud in the semifinals and final. Mike Walk from Pittsburgh was the other semifinalist.
In the U-2250 it was Mark Artman taking the $225 prize in straight games over Mike Walk. Canadian Mitch Rothfleisch and Nathaniel Curran were the third and fourth place finishers. The 2125s saw Nancy Paulin over Leon Li 3-1 to take the $200 first prize. Joseph Yoon and Slawomir Waclawik were the third and fourth finishers. In the U-2000 event John Bian was victorious over Rejandra Hemanth 3-2. Nancy Paulin and Gary Pentecost finished 3 and 4. In the U-1875 event Scott Dalton was the winner over Greg Thompson. Brad Kammerer and Jim Dawson finished in the 3-4 positions.
In other divisions: The U1750s was won by Burak Cevik over Shawn Fitzgerald 3-0. The U1625s saw Ron Forks over Nancy Chen 3-1. In the U1500s it was Kevin Spencer coming back from down 0-2 to defeat Todd Carter in the final. The U1350s saw 10-year-old C.J. Brewer winning over Paul Wandrei 3-1. Tom McGivern defeated Lina Shehadeh 3-1 to capture the U1200 event. In the U1000s Jeff Schulte defeated Marvin McBride 3-0 in the final. Kevin Schrock defeated Pierce Scott 3-0 to capture the U800 event.
Age Events: In the Over 40 and Over 50 events Dan Seemiller won both - defeating Mike Walk and Chip Coulter in the 40s and Larry Thoman by default in the Over 50 final. Sam Steiner and Tadao Inui finished third and fourth. Chip Coulter defeated 2250 champion Mark Artman in the Over 40 semifinals.
Open Singles: In the Open event the prize money distributed was $5500. The first upset occurred in the round of 16 when number two seed Yin Wang, rated 2599, lost 4-3 to up and coming Canadian junior Ling Kun Yang.
In the quarterfinals Homayoun Kamkar-Parsi has first seed Mark Hazinski down three games to one. Hazinski, a notorious slow starter, comes storming back to win games five, six, and seven at the amazing scores of 5,1 and 4. What a turnaround for the four-time defending champ. Sasa Drinic easily defeats Xavier Therien 4-0 to move into the semifinals. Ludovic Gombos upset Pierre Luc-Hinse 4-3 and Dan Seemiller defeated Ling Kun Yang easily 4-0.
Semifinals: Mark Hazinski always seemed to have Sasa’s number as he wins 4-1. The key game was the third when Sasa led 9-3 but lost 13-11 to go down 0-3.
In the second semifinal two veterans squared off; Gombos vs. Seemiller. In the first game Seemiller led 10-9 but Gombos won a pivotal game 12-10. Seemiller won games two and three to lead 2-1 and won game five to lead 3-2. Gombos wins game six, 11-7, to even the match 3-3. Gombos controled the early part of game seven to lead 6-2 when Seemiller called time out. Dan recovered to 9-all but Ludovic had the serve and he won it 11-9, four games to three.
In the final Hazinski looked for a fifth straight title and he cruised along 3-1 in games and a big lead in game five. Ludovic recovers to win in deuce. Hazinski lead 3-2 in games and again 6-3 in game six when he sprained a tendon in his foot. After a five minute injury time-out, Mark was going to try to win game six even though it is obvious he can’t put any weight on his right foot. If Gombos can come back in this game there will be no game seven as Hazinski will surely have to default. Ludovic missed Mark’s serve and he is down 3-7. Gombos closed the gap to 6-9 and 7-10 but it’s not enough. Hazinski won 4-2 and the $1,500 first prize. Ludovic, the runner-up, had to settle for second prize. Mark Hazinski, from South Bend, won his fifth consecutive Robo-Pong St. Joe Valley title.
Thanks go to our title sponsor, ROBO-PONG and NEWGY Industries for elevating our tournament to a four-star national event with $10,000 in prize money. Also thanks to Joe Newgarden and Larry Thoman for supporting the South Bend Junior Program.