The Arnold Table Tennis Challenge The Arnold Table Tennis Challenge
Killerspin Arnold Challenge by Ed Hogshead In 2006, table tennis conquered Chicago. In keeping with the history theme on the second stop, Columbus discovered table tennis! Yes, Columbus, Ohio learned first hand all about our beloved sport— and the city could not get enough. |
Photos by Brian Rinnert, Killerspin 2007 |
Many other table tennis events were held during the three day weekend. Forty experienced competitors vied in the Senior Olympics on Friday, co-sponsored by the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. Also on Friday, fifty recreational players competed for medals and gift certificates. These determined participants discovered the sport of table tennis, rather than the leisure activity of ping pong. USATT sanctioned events were played on Saturday and Sunday— see the results list. Collegiate three-person team championships were won by The Ohio State University on Sunday for the second year in a row. They were awarded a Killerspin RAD table for first prize. |
For the fifth year in a row, Killerspin was honored to present table tennis at the world famous Arnold Classic on March 2-4, 2007 in Columbus, Ohio. During the three-day festival over 150,000 athletes and on-lookers competed in and observed 38 different sports. Imagine 5,000 cheerleaders competing and 400 junior archers shooting arrows— Pretty wild. For more details on this extravaganza, check out The support of table tennis by the Arnold staff and Arnold Schwartzeneggar himself was unbelievable. Arnold stayed at the premier court 30 minutes (we were later told his schedule only allowed 7 minutes and the rest of his day ran behind) and watched the battle of the sexes with Biba Golic defeating Aleksandar Karakasevic four games to three with a seventh game score of 18-16. It was quite a show with Karakasevic spotting Biba a six point lead in each game, and trying to keep her from taking the $1,500 winner take all prize. Columbus discovered women can play table tennis. The Arnold Table Tennis Challenge, held on Saturday in an arena built by many local volunteers, was the highlight of the event with ten world-class athletes competing for over $40,000 in prize money. As in many tournaments, obstacles appear and must be overcome. Mother Nature flexed her might from the U.S. to Europe preventing Wilson Zhang from Canada from competing, forcing Kalinikos Kreanga’s and Chuan Chih-Yuan to travel for over 25 hours each, and keeping one of the tournament directors on the ground at Chicago’s O’Hare airport for nearly 24 hours— with the draws. One of the first Columbus discoveries was the power of table tennis, an irony of the Arnold Classic event which featured weight lifting competitions, body building exhibitions, and the World’s Strongest Man Competition. Last year, Andrei Filimon of Romania broke a ball in half with a forehand smash. This year the 100th world ranked player out-muscled four higher-ranked Olympians to win the 2007 Killerspin Arnold Challenge. In the first quarterfinals, Filimon outlasted Sasa Drinic three games to one game. Sasa filled in for Zhang and tried valiantly to slow down Filimon. The second quarters had Kalinikos Kreanga of Greece getting by five-time Olympian and top U.S. player Ilija Lupulesku 8, 8, -8, and 10. During the trip from the airport, Kreanga revealed that he does not like to play against Lupulesku because it takes way too much effort; the rallies are too long and tricky. World No. 13 Chuan Chih-Yuan of Taiwan easily handled Germany’s Thomas Keinath; 3, 7, and 6 in the third quarters. Keinath said afterward that he must have ten-plus hours of sleep prior to a match to compete and he arrived late the night before. Observers of the match commented that Chuan had all the answers and quickness to handle Keinath; that he seemed to know what shot was going where before Keinath did. In the last quarterfinal match Princeton University student Adam Hugh discovered why Karakasevic is ranked number 32 in the world— his touch and power— as Karakasevic won 5, 5, and 7.
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In semi-final number one, the strength of Filimon overcame World No. 15 Kreanga 7, 7, -6, and 3. Kreanga recently won the 2006 SPINvitational last December in Chicago with strong shots from both Although Kreanga plays for Greece, he and Filimon were born in neighboring cities in Romania and know each other’s games well. Filimon displayed a no-fear demeanor and confidently batted the ball back harder and harder until he won 7, 7, -8, and 3. There were times he strutted after winning great points— kind of like watching NFL players prancing after making great plays. It was fun to watch and sure kept the crowd pumped. The grudge match, of sorts, was the second semi-final between Chuan and Karakasevic. They have played each other twice during the prior five years with Chuan easily dispatching Karakasevic both times. Chuan’s footwork is spectacular— many table tennis experts say he has the fastest feet in the sport. It did not help in this match as Karakasevic, who can be the best table tennis player in the world for one or two games, discovered a way to win the third game as well. The scores were 7, 10, and 12 with Karakasevic finishing the points and games before Chuan could get started. It was exciting, knowing that if Chuan could get game number three, the winner of game four would take the match. One could feel the crowd pulling for Chuan, but to no avail. Filimon seemed set on winning the 2007 Killerspin Arnold Challenge from the get-go. This may be one of the best tournaments he has ever played. Ludovic Gombos (not competing here), also of Romania, said that when Filimon was
growing up and training, his coaches knew he could be one of the best. He would train every day from sun up to sundown and dominate everyone in his age groups. He did, however, enjoy a bit too much playfulness at times and this eventually caught up with him. He likes to have fun— perhaps to the detriment of being the best in the world. Maybe at this tournament he could figure out how to do both, win and enjoy. In the final match of the Challenge, Karakasevic played very well in two games, as well as in three-quarters of the third game; but needed to perform well for the complete duration of all three games. Filimon stayed in the match by returning shots both hard and soft until Karakasevic had no more steam. Filimon won just enough points to win the third game. For the fourth and fifth games, Filimon was in full control. Filimon discovered how to control both his opponent and his own playfulness to ensure victory. He had fun winning the final match -8, -11, 10, 3, and 6. In one of the most competitive matches of the Challenge, Kreanga defeated Chuan 6, -3, -9, 6, and 9 to take third place. Chuan appeared to be off his game for brief periods during this match and later admitted that he had an upset stomach, probably from not getting enough rest. Biba took the Women’s Challenge over Chris Xu of Canada three games to zero. Biba’s topspin and forehand kills overcame Chris’ long pips and inverted bat-flipping defensive style. Earlier in the day, in preparation for this match, Biba had warmed up by playing against the chopping of Lupulesku.
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Columbus was not the only discoverer during this festival; Killerspin discovered the generosity of Jim Lorimer (the CEO of this event). Jim graciously gave table tennis an additional 12,000 square feet of first floor space for USATT sanctioned events (only the upstairs ballrooms were used in the past). This resulted in a 300 percent increase in players and a wonderful aspect nobody foresaw. What was it? Spectators. 2007 KILLERSPIN ARNOLD CHALLENGE FINALISTS: THIRD PLACE: WOMEN’S CHALLENGE CHAMPION Open Singles: Lupulesku def. Filimon (–5, 8, 9, 9)
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