Senior Corner

March/April 2009
By Olga & Stan Kahan,

Co-Chairs, USATT Senior Committee

949-830-6699 (ph) • 949-240-7167 (fax)

natashafeingold@gmail.com

“HOW I WAS SEDUCED INTO PLAYING TABLE TENNIS”
Avid table tennis enthusiast and Senior Game National Champion Arthur “Buster” Chase, became 92 years old on July 28, he has been playing the game since 1957. It is true that Arthur Chase did not attend the twentith anniversary of the Meiklejohn Seniors last June, but in 2008 he won gold medals in three age groups: 80 - 84, 85 - 89 and over 90. Moreover, on July 20, the San Antonian was given an honorary achievement and lifetime membership award and was nominated to the Texas Senior Games Hall of Fame.
Loren Williams, Secretary of the San Antonio Table Tennis Table Club, affectionately praised Buster for his dedication and fatal attraction to this wonderful sport. Chase has been playing table tennis regularly for more than 50 years, and he has been a competitor in the senior games for the last 18 years. This amazing looper participated in a total of 43 Senior Games in various parts of the country: the local (San Antonio) nineteen times, State (Texas) eighteen times, and national (various cities) six times.
Chase openly shares with our readers his great experience of winning “a sack full of medals, mostly gold,” and says that he plans to continue to compete in the Senior Games as long as he can. “Table tennis is my love story spanning nearly six decades, and like my dear friend, late Grady Gordon who absolutely never gave up, and won’t mind as long as I am winning.”
San Antonio Table Tennis Club President Herb Uecker, also acknowledges the great achievements of this amazing non-agenarian who scored stunning victories in World Table Tennis events in Baltimore, Ireland, and Australia. We all wish him a wonderful healthy lifestyle and further success through the sport of table tennis.

PADDLE YOUR WAY TO ... CHINA
To promote the development of table tennis of both China and the USA, as well as enhance the sports and communications between both countries, the Dandong Table Tennis Association has sent to the USATT an official Letter of Invitation to those who are going to participate in the International Table Tennis Tournament, which will be held during the 2009 China Dandong Yalu River International Tourism Festival in Dandong. It will be held on September 27-29. During our players stay in Dandong (the biggest border city in China) the Dandong Table Tennis Association will be responsible for the cost of the sightseeing, receptions, accommodations, transportation, tourist guides, sports center, equipment, umpires, staff and trophies, and the travel expenses after arriving in Shenyang or Dalian to Dandong. Please contact the Liaison Officer Miao Shitang Li Chen by email, or phone if you have some questions about this senior event. (DD3456035163.com or wangmei0110@hotmail.com. Fax: 0086-415-3456040. Tel: 0086-415-3456035 The Dandong Table Tennis Association.)
In addition to this exciting invitation from China, do not forget to paddle your way back to St. George, Utah, where your friends and competitors are waiting for participation in the Huntsman World Senior Games (October 5 -17). The principal sponsor of this magnificent senior sports event, the former Governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman-- who is the US Ambassador to China-- is currently communicating skillfully with his Chinese colleagues in Beijing. Let’s hope it’s a smashing success!