Official’s Column

By Azmy Ibrahim

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate and thank all who have contributed to the success of the U.S. Open / Pro Tour Championships. Special thanks go to the volunteers, players, the staff at the USATT Headquarters, the umpires, the officials, the directors and managers, our guests from overseas, ITTF representatives, the workers, the vendors, and all those who have served in one capacity or another. I guess by now many people have realized that tournaments take three months of correspondence, six months of preparations, and ten days of sleeplessness. It was a successful tournament and we hope to have many returns. Hardwork, dedication, commitment, and teamwork are the cornerstones for a great tournament.

As officials, we were fortunate to have Colin Clemett, Chairman of the ITTF Rules Committee, present the Umpires Seminar. Those who attended enjoyed a very enlightening experience. The following are some of the main points of the discussion.

With immediate effect, no further authorization will be granted to racket coverings with pimples having a height/diameter ratio of more than 1.1, and the authorization of any that currently exceed this limit will lapse on June 30, 1999. In addition, after the 2000 Olympics, all covering must comply with the specified pimple geometry within a tolerance of 0.2 mm, and the authorization of any that do not meet this requirement will lapse. The Equipment Committee, in consultation with manufactureres, is compiling a list of the racket coverings these decisions will affect.

But why all this fuss over long pips? Other coverings create different effects on the ball as the long pips do. There are those with speed, super speed, spin, super spin, anti-spin, anti-speed, super anti, etc. Then, whey are they only singling out the long pips?

The ITTF committees, such as the Technical Committee and Equipment Committee, usually conduct research on the different types of coverings to test their performance. They found that the response of the long pips to the ball is not steady nor uniform, which means that every time the ball hits the long pips, the outcome is different. Thus, in a single rally the reaction of the long pips may vary from one hit to another. Of course, this creates a great disadvantage to the opponent, who can not adjust to each hit without knowing its path. With other forms of covering, the response of the rubber is the same in every hit. Players will continue to play with long pips until the year 2000. A process will start between the ITTF and the manufacturers to eliminate the production of the long pips coverings.

I hope that I somewhat succeeded in explaining the reason behind the phasing out of the long pips.

The seminar included several other issues. Finding the means of displaying to spectators that warnings have been given or penalty points have been awarded is the focus of current study. Colored markers may be used on the score indicators.

Properly ventilated area for the attachment of racket coverings to rackets should be available and liquid adhesives shall not be used elsewhere in the playing venue.

The asking for "Time-out" will be submitted for use next year. At the Pro Tour, each player was allowed one minute of time out during the match. The time out has to be taken when the ball is out of play and will not affect other intervals.

Lastly, there was a proposal to ban advice after practice, which usually takes place before the beginning of the match.

For the next issue, I will be reporting about new experimentations which are taking place in other countries. During the U.S. Open, the JTTA presented us with a new discovery which may be the solution to many of the problems we are facing in table tennis today.