2005 STIGA Cary Cup Championships

Cary, North Carolina ∙ March 18-20, 2005

By Mike Babuin

(Note - an abridged version of this article will appear in the July/August USATT Magazine.)

Men's Singles Champion Thomas Keinath points out to umpire Dick Evans that something's fishy about that racket ... black on both sides?

This year, Cary Cup set a new record with more participants, and more top-end talent than ever before with 160 athletes participating in the giant round robin on Saturday March 19^th and over 200 for the entire tournament.  What do you get when you have 42 participants rated over 2000 with approximately 20 rated over 2300? Answer is: a lot of premium quality matches.   As in previous years, the Cary Cup was held at the Bond Park Community Center complex in the heart of Cary, North Carolina, a small suburb of 110,000 people that surrounds North Carolina’s capital (Raleigh) and surrounding Research Triangle Park (RTP). This facility offers has two gymnasiums and three break-out rooms that were set-up for play with 32 STIGA tables. In an effort to accommodate another 32 players, the adjacent Cary Senior Center grand ballroom was appropriated as well with another 8 tables to handle the E-Class (players rated under ~1050) bringing the total tables used to a new, all time high of 40 tables.

Unlike most every other 4-star, the Cary Cup takes pride in offering an alternative format that attracts loads of top-end players. As we all know, most 4-star tournaments are “rating class event” tournaments -- while Cary Cup, is a giant round robin.  What that equates to is a lot of matches during the day against tough competition – regardless of which group you ultimately end up in.

This format (giant round robin) invokes the following side note commentary based on a recent (and interesting) article published in the previous edition of the national magazine that discussed how top elite level athletes do not function well in giant round robins because they use up all of their stamina and energy when they play -- and in essence, round robin becomes too “exhausting” for them to manage--unlike the rest of the field of “lower rated players” that do not expend as much energy, and thus, do not tire as quickly…(does anyone truly believe that?!?).

C’mon now…our top elite players are prime examples of physical fitness, endurance, stamina, and bodily conditioning – unlike the rest of us… many of which are middle-aged, overweight, physically limited, and in some instances, incessant smokers! It seems clearly evident that if a middle aged, overweight player can enjoy playing 8 or more matches in one day and work-up a healthy sweat being out of shape as many are, then our top elite (young) athletes who are in prime physical condition, have no room to whine about it and can clearly “manage” and keep-up with the rest of us old geezers...(nuff said…).

Back to the coverage…this year’s tournament provided three doubles rating events and multiple hardbat events offered on Friday night. Additionally Cary TTA staff employed the full-time services of a professional photographer and a professional 6-person team of professional videographers from New York City to compile documentary footage on the Cary Cup.

Awards this year were also way over the top. In addition to the $6,000 plus in prize money awarded (courtesy of our wonderful sponsors listed below), Cary TTA went above and beyond in obtaining “gynormous” four foot tall silver, championship cups for the top finalists in the A-Class.  The event winner Thomas Keinath from Germany (World #73) who captured the $2,000 first place award and one of the four championship cups commented that “he has never seen better more beautiful trophies at any world class event, anywhere in the world”.  That coming from a full-time ITTF Pro-Tour player says quite a lot. Extremely large trophies were also enjoyed by winners in all of the other classes as well. 

HARDBAT

This year, the interest in the hardbat events (all played with 38mm balls in a 2 out of 3 game format to 21 points) was outstanding in that 16 players signed-up for the Open Hardbat event including some noteworthy and distinguished players including 2004 National Hardbat Champion Courtney Roberts, former National Hardbat Champion Ty Hoff – (playing for the first time since his recent shoulder surgery), and former National Champion Eric Owens.  Why the interest in hardbat? Perhaps it was the allure of the hardbat competition itself, or possibly the $500 prize money, or perhaps simply, the presence of one of the best hardbat players of all time in the audience – Marty Reisman who was on hand to discuss his new racquets, upcoming new book, sign autographs, and discuss other tantalizing events and activities that he is involved with.   

U-2000 Hardbat

The U-2000 Hardbat had great participation with 12 participants paired in three groups of four in the preliminary round.  One of the best matches of this event saw Matt Chando a (~2000) flat hitting/smash sponge player originally from Cameron, pitted against Dean Johnson from Virginia Beach. Dean is a crafty and experienced table tennis vetran who played profusely in the early 1960’s in New York City (and Jersey) metro area with many of the great classic hardbat players of the time. Dean himself achieved a high national ranking in his younger days, and is both an experienced and able competitor with a hardbat.  This match between Dean and Matt while close in scoring, went two straight -- to Dean, “the chopping machine” Johnson (18, 18). The finals of the U-2000 harbat saw Dean Johnson, John Funk, and Richard Sanders battling it out for final placement.  In the end it was Richard Sanders (1^st Place), John Funk 2^nd, and Dean Johnson 3^rd.   

Open Hardbat

While many great hardbat matches were played in this event, a couple truly stand out and are worth mentioning. The first involved ~1800 Victor Kan upsetting higher seed Simon Brain, an experienced pips and hardbat player in a cliff hanger, three game duel ending 17, -15, and 23!  If that wasn’t enough, Victor, somehow was able to take two straight games (2 out of 3 – “old school” style) against World #154 Stefan Feth!  Stefan while clearly a brilliant, sponge power looper and world class player, was a novice to hardbat and made this his “debut” match!  However…Stefan startled the crowd with his hardbat later in the tournament during the “cigarette trick” exhibition challenge against Marty Reisman (more on that later…).

When asked after the match, what he thought of the wins, Victor wasn’t sure which of the win he savored more – Stefan’s or Simon’s!  Tournament Director Mike Babuin who sat out of this year’s hardbat competition was quick to point out that Victor’s ability to loop a ball with a hardbat verges on the unearthly and supernatural…“As talented as Victor is with an inverted sponge racquet, I would rather play him (with sponge) anyday compared to him using a hardbat – how he consistently generates a heavy topspin loop with a hardbat is beyond me”. 

In the end, however, Open Hardbat kudos must go to the eventual winner David Rosenzweig (2364) from New Jersey.  David played some brilliant hardbat and only dropped one game (to Dinko Kranjac from Texas Weslyan) throughout the entire event on his way to sweeping the Open Hardbat class.  Nice job David!

DOUBLES

The doubles events which ran simultaneously (staggered) on Friday night included eight teams entered in the Open Doubles, 16 teams in the U-4000 doubles and five teams in the U-3000 doubles. 

U-3000 Doubles

The first event U-3000 doubles had some excellent table tennis by a variety of playing styles. No one team dominated this event, but rather, each and every match was a hard fought battle for all.  Going into the U-3000 the top team to beat was Otto Jespersen and Sidney Cutbill (2824). Otto, an experienced and capable chopper was teamed with Sidney an offensive counter-driver/smasher. This presented a lot of problems for the group, but two teams overcame the odds and beat this duo: Dean Johnson and Peter Markus (both experienced hardbat players), and the new team of Stanley Wallen and previously unrated player Laura Wexler from western North Carolina.  In the end, the second-seeded team of Dean Johnson and Peter Markus prevailed despite the extremely hard fought nature of each match.  Results: Johnson/Markus 1^st, Wexler/Wallen 2^nd and Jespersen/Cutbill 3^rd.

U-4000 Doubles

This group was loaded with talented teams – 16 in all. After the preliminary round was complete, four teams surfaced in the final round robin. Team one consisted of the “smash and chop” combo of Matt Chando/Martin Vazquez, team two consisted of previously unpaired Mike Dorman and Guillermo Rosales who of recent times has elevated his game back to stellar proportions; team three was the loop duo of Sryia Chari and Gregg Robertshaw, and team four was the vetran team of Al Herr and left-hand looper Oscar Galavis. In this final group there were no cake walks. Two teams ended up with a 1-2 record and two received a 2-1 record. Probably the best game of the final round was the match up between Chari/Robertshaw versus Chando/Vazquez.  That match decided the difference between 1^st and 2^nd place for these two teams and was down to the fifth game, but in the end, somehow the wheels came loose for Chari and Robertshaw in the 5^th and deciding game and Chando/Vazquez smashed and chopped their way to victory 5, 7, -9, -4, and 2 (2…ouch!!).

Open Doubles

Open Doubles also saw some extremely interesting play in that two groups of four teams battled it out for the placement in the final round.  In the preliminary round, Open Doubles Group #1 was dominated by two teams: the New Jersey team of David Rosenzweig/Chris Lehman and John Mar/Michael Levene both from Atlanta.  These two teams battled it out in the preliminary round and resulted in a slight upset from the Atlanta team unearthing the higher seeded team of Chris and David in a 3-1 win (6, 11, -6, 9).    

Open Doubles Group #2 while also having all teams with much talent, was “somewhat” lopsided as outlined below. The second seeded team in this group consisting of Jim McQueen and Gregg Robertshaw (3992) gave up almost 1000 rating points to the top seed team consisting of defending 2004 Cary Cup singles champion Di Di Desouza from Atlanta teamed with ITTF Pro Tour player and world #154 Stefan Feth from Germany (combined ratings of 5080!). despite this amazing difference in rating spread, McQueen and Robertshaw actually earned the respect of the top team by winning the first game at 4, and narrowly loosing the second game at 10, before they were beaten in the other two games 8, and 8.  All things considered, that is quite respectable in anyone’s book.    

Thus the two teams that advanced to the finals of open doubles were John Mar/Michael Levene (Atlanta) and Di Di Desouza and Stefan Feth.  As expected the top seeds of Desouza and Feth “power looped” their way to a 3-1 victory (6, 7,-3, 7).  

WOMEN’S OPEN

Women Singles Champion Biba Golic. Photo by Roger May.

This years Women’s Open Giant round robin featured (sadly) only 10 participants competing for over $1,500 in prize money.  Among the top seeds were last year’s winner Biba Golic (2361) and first-time Cary Cup participant Petra Sestakova (2305). Other featured returning participants included were Mirella and Marisol Delzo from South Florida, and Beata Wronska (2058) also residing in South Florida but originally a seasoned athlete from Poland who played in many of the top European leagues. Representing Cary were Sryia Chari (1843) former top State level looper from India and and Brenda Hye-Sook Mun (2070) penhold smash, block, and counter drive expert. 

Group 1 round robin had Sestakova, Mun, Delzo (Mirella), Jeong, and U-3000 doubles champ Laura Wexler competing against each other.  Because the rating gap between players was so pronounced (300 points per player on average), the results in this group went according to ratings with Sestakova, Mun and Delzo rounding out the top three respectively. Although, the match between Brenda and Petra (while still 3-0 to Petra) was much closer than one might imagine…8, 9, 9!

Group 2 round robin also had some excitement although in the end things also went according to the seedings.  Top seed Biba Golic had no problem winning all of her matches in this group but did have to exert some extra energy to overcome third seed Beata Wronska in a relatively close series of games (8, 9, 7).  Likewise, Beata and Syria both experienced, heavy topspin loopers had a five game “slugfest” against each other but in the end it was Beata over Sryia -9, 5, 8, -11, 6! 

Following the preliminary group matches the cross-over’s pitted the finalists from each group against each other.

The pairing to determine 7^th and 8^th place went to Sryia Chari in straight games over Kim Jeong.  In contrast, the 5^th and 6^th place cross-over between Beata Wronska and Mirella Delzo was very close.  Mirella’s solid all-around game proved a worthy test for Beata who had to employ all of her skills to overcome Mirella in a hard-fought five game battle -8, 11, 11, -8, 11 ! 

Likewise, the match to determine 3^rd and 4^th place Between Brenda Mun and Marisol Delzo was also equally exciting. Last year, these two played against each other and ended with Brenda overpowering and out maneuvered Marisol.  This year would yield a different story.  Marisol who has apparently has been working more on the backhand this past year, showed much quicker and cleaner strokes that landed more consistently.  While the match went back and forth, in the end it was Marisol -9, 11, 4, -3, 6 to capture 3^rd place.

The much anticipated match-up between Biba and Petra was enjoyed by all. Two competitors, both highly ranked, extremely skilled, and both seasoned veterans of European league play, and yet, two different styles of play with different strategies.   

The first game saw both players testing the waters with each other to some extent. Amazingly, while both Petra and Biba currently live in Illinois they actually have not had extensive experience playing each other so it was most curious to see both players a bit reserved in game #1.  It did not take long however before Biba started to open up with forehand loops to both wings.  Likewise, Petra who enjoys a fast counter-driving exchange intermixed with key loops, took advantage of every opportunity that availed itself.  The problem was, there were not that many opportunities to take advantage of! Biba, a skilled vetran in setting-up and controlling the ball was able to out maneuver Petra slightly to give her the edge in each game, and ultimately the match: Winner Biba 8, 9, 8!   

GIANT ROUND ROBIN (Mixed Gender main event)

E-CLASS

This year’s giant round robin had 160 participants dispersed throughout five groups.  The lowest rated group (E-Class) consisting of 32 players (beginners and rated players below 1050).  This group was split off into a separate round robin consisting of four groups of eight players.  The top player in each group competed in one final round robin to determine 1^st through 4^th place.  Winners from the four groups were Brandon Warren, Phil Parry, Stuart Allen, and Jude Worthy.  These four battled it out for first through fourth place with Worthy earning 1^st, Allen 2^nd, Warren 3^rd and Parry 4^th.

D-CLASS

The D-Class this year like all of the other brackets was no cake walk.  As with the other groups, the D-Class had 32 competitors ranging between approximately 1100 through 1700!  Because of the wide range of ratings, this was probably one of the most grueling and difficult groups of the tournament. Despite this, four eventual group finalists emerged: The first was Virginia resident Kim Jeong originally from Korea displayed some brilliant penhold forehand counter-driving attacks which earned her the top berth in her group.  

The second group was won by Cary TTA member J.T. Rao who’s ballistic-like forehand smash was enough to dispel all other athletes in his group. JT’s philosophy is very simple – hit it high and it gets smashed back – (at around 100mph…). That strategy must have worked -- because he won the group 7-0!

The third Group was won by young Chance Friend from New Hampshire. If the tournament would have awarded a most improved player award Chance probably would have won it. A few weeks before the tourney he was rated at around 1200 and coming into the tournament jumped several hundred rating points which means…he is doing something right! Furthermore, to win the group at Cary Cup is above and beyond the norm due to the high level of competition and plethora of skilled players.

The fourth and final D-class group was won by Cary TTA’s Monther Aldwairi who looped his way to beat smasher Bryan McKenzie and Mike Dorman to win the group. The final round of four to determine final placement in the D-Group went fairly straight-forward with the exception that group #2 winner J.T. Rao was a no show for the final round, and as such, second place group winner Mirsad Cehajic moved-up to the final round in his place!  In the end it was Chance Friend 1^st, Monther Aldwairi 2^nd, Mirsad Cehajic 3^rd and Kim Jeong 4^th   

C-CLASS

The final round of the C-Class was also no cake walk!  The four finalists were: Mike Stowell (1754), Dean Kapsalakis (1771), Tommie Dailey (1910), and Andre Scott (1766) from Texas Weslyan’s team. In this group top seed Tommie Dailey won all three matches but they were all hard fought.  Both Mike Stowell and Dean Kapsalakis managed to take games from Tommie but in the end he was too much and prevailed! (Note: you know that the competition is tough when you have 1900 level players in the C- group!)  Mike Stowell going against all odds decided before the tournament to try and play with his hardbat.  Normally, Mike is a solid 1700-1800 level sponge player but as he describes it, he started playing hardbat for the fun of it at his home club and amazingly started beating players that he could not beat with his normal racquet so he decided to switch! As a result his move landed him in the finals of the group! Unfortunately, despite some game wins he had to settle for 4^th on this day. Final results: Dailey 1^st , Kapsalakis 2^nd , Scott 3^rd and Stowell 4^th.

B-CLASS

The final round of the B-Class saw four athletes pitted against one another each with varying styles and skills – all with very solid games.  The four finalists were: Chris Lehman (2024), Justen Yao (2028), Rodrigo Merida (2034) and Jim McQueen (1977). In this group things did not go according to the numbers. In fact, there were no routs…everyone dropped a match to someone!

Top seed Justen Yao beat third seed  Rodrigo Merida (who eventually won the group) in five tough games. Unfortunately, Justen struggled with the “old school” chiseling, chopping and push skills of both Chris Lehman and Jim McQueen.  In the end both Rodrigo and Chris had a 2-1 record but since Rodrigo edged out Chris in a grueling five game match, he took 1^st place, Chris 2^nd, Jim 3^rd and Justen 4^th.   

A-CLASS

Getting to compete in the afternoon (second round) “A-Class” at Cary Cup is probably the primary goal (or perhaps, dream) for all players in the competition , although only 32-players ultimately make it to that level based upon their outcome in the preliminary round.  For the most part 29 of the 32 group A-seeds won all of their preliminary round matches and advanced.  However, as is always the case there were a few key upsets. As an example, group #30 top seed Rodrigo Merida was upset in four games by Alex Yadgarov -10, 5, 5, 14.  Also, Group #31 top seed Justen Yao lost a cliff hanger to Cary TTA’s Al Herr in a five game slugfest 9, -6, 6, 9, 9. Young Justen truly played brilliantly but Al, the crafty vetran and solid 2050+ player, was able to pull a few “rabbits” out of the hat when it counted, and, when it was needed most.  

In the second round of the A-Class 32 players were split by “snake seed” into four divisions of four groups of eight players.  Each group had players with ratings ranging from roughly 2025 upwards through 2600.  The top winner from each of the four groups played a third and final round robin (i.e., the “cross-over round”).  Before we examine who made the final cut of four players, lets take a brief look at play in the second round of each of the four groups of 8: 

Group #A1 had Thomas Keinath (2735/World #74), De Tran (2447), David Rosenzweig (2399), Petra Sestakova (2305), John Wetzler (2287), Gregg Robertshaw (2130), Steve Zheng (2123), and Guillermo Rosales (2024).  Both Robertshaw and Zheng from host club Cary TTA are precision offensive players that are not afraid to attack the ball. In this distinguished group however, they both had their hands full.  While Robertshaw finished in 8^th place in the group, he had some amazing matches against the second highest seed (~2400) De Tran in a close five game match -9, 8, 8,-8,-5. Likewise Steve Zheng seeded 7^th finished 5^th in the group aided by a 3-0 win over (~2400) Petra Sestakova.  Cary Cup vetran and long-pips wizard John Wetzler (2287) who was seeded 5^th in this group had a excellent day and “went to school” against the #2, 3,and 4 seeds above him (Tran, Rosenzweig, and Sestakova!) and summarily took them all out resulting in a 6-1 record to capture second place in the group, losing only to Keinath.  As expected however, World #74 Thomas Keinath was not to be denied this day… he won the group in straight games against all opponents except for dropping a solitary game to (second seed) De Tran.

Group #A2 had Stefan Feth (2685/World #154) Olympian Sean O’Neill (2449), 2004 Cary Cup defending champion Didi Desouza (2395),  Kevin Schultz (1898), Edward Ko (2243), Marcus Jackson (2097), and Al Herr (2013) competing (Note: one additional player not listed defaulted).  Results found a three way tie for third place in the group between Sean O’Neill, Edward Ko, and Marcus Jackson. Mention must be said about the excellent play of Marcus Jackson.  He was on fire that afternoon and ended-up with a key win over higher seed Sean O’Neill (5, 5, -7, 10) but lost a cliffhanger to Edward Ko in five games. Didi Desouza also played very well ousting all of the other players with the exception of Feth, so as a result, Didi ended-up in second place in the group, while Feth won all matches without dropping a game!   (Yaaaah!)

Group #A3 saw penhold block/smash expert W.C Chau (1808) advancing due to the default of a top seed who had to cancel at the 11^th hour due to an unforeseen illness/flu (or possibly German measles…?).  Additionally this group had top seed Ludovic Gombos (2503), Dinko Kranjac (2392), Pan Lin (2311), Yang Liu (2242), Michael Levene (2135), Adam Brown (1962), and Alex Yadgarov (1994)competing against each other. As expected, top seed Ludovic Gombos advanced to the third round! 

Group A #4 saw top American seed Eric Owens (2588) against Shao Yu (2505) from NYC, Joey Drolet (1865), NC #1 Nigel Christopher (2320), John Mar (2220), Abdul Khan (2179), Marisol Delzo (2058), and Pedro Perez (2053). Matches in this group went fairly according to ratings with the exception of the top two seeds. In a surprise rout, Shao Yu defeated Eric Owens 3-0 advancing Shao to the final round of four players!  

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

Thus, after the grueling second round play four were left standing. Thomas Keinath (2735), Stefan Feth (2685), Ludovic Gombos (2503), and Shao Yu (2505). These top finalists then commenced play in a final round robin group of four.

As will be outlined below, the championship round was not free of controversy. Before the final round even began, controversy brewed regarding the playing order targeted for the final group. Specifically, one of the four finalists petitioned the Tournament Director to change the match play order whereas he did not like the playing order planned/utilized for the final round robin group of four, citing variances in how ITTF establishes the order (which specifically would have altered the order of play for the two German players). The player apparently did not like the idea of the two of the other finalists (the two German players) having to play each other in the order established (below).

To boil it down to a simple answer, the Tournament Director opted to use the playing order originally proposed and decided not to change anything, which at the time, and looking in hindsight, was the correct decision.  The actual playing order utilized in the championship round constitutes the order defined as an “alternate” playing order on page 7-15 of the USATT Tournament Guide (i.e., A-C, B-D, A-D, B-C, A-B, and C-D).  The other listed “group of four” playing order outlined in the Tourney guide is very similar: (A-D, B-C, A-C, D-B, A-B and C-D). In either case, the order of the top two seeds (A and B players) would have remained the same!

For those unfamiliar with this, the playing order outlined in the tournament guide is a suggested guideline playing order (not something mandatorily “nailed in stone” either here in the USA or elsewhere at ITTF…) the main point to remember is that in a four person round robin, if one person advances, the last match should be A-B.  To clarify this, the intent is for A-B match to be played in the last round, not necessarily the absolute last match (see match scheduling on page 7-6 of the tourney guide). Since two matches were played in the championship round simultaneously (one of which was A-B) this goal was accomplished.

Resuming discussion of the results, the first match between Ludovic Gombos and Thomas Keinath was full of incredible shot making, precision loops, and fast-paced play. Amazingly, it was also filled with some amazing controversy as well.

Specifically, a controversy ensued due to an alleged “let” during play in game one. The score was 2-3 in favor of Gombos. Keinath served the ball and Gombos thought it was illegal because the ball was (in his opinion) hidden in some way. Despite this, Gombos returned the ball softly while simultaneously holding-up his hand/finger to request a let. Seeing this, Keinath honored the raised hand and stopped play by catching the ball in mid air, unfortunately the umpire did not see Gombos raise his hand/finger, thus the ball was considered “still in play” because Gombos returned it with a clean return following the serve (despite the fact that he raised his other hand at the same time). Subsequently, the umpire awarded the point to Keinath making it 3-3, although this is an arguable call in that Keinath should not have caught the ball to start with without the umpire calling a let/stopping play.

As a result, Gombos felt this was an incorrect call and requested the presence of Referee Chris Lehman for final clarification/ruling. Once the Referee was brought-in and the situation was explained, he ruled that because Keinath had caught the ball while it was still in play (without any call by the umpire) that the point should be scored for Gombos making it 4-2. Keinath was clearly not happy with this in that he believed he was doing the polite and honorable thing in recognizing Ludovic’s raised hand (let), so at that point he felt inclined to point-out something else that no one else in the gym had apparently noticed -- which is that Ludovic was using a racquet that was black on both sides -- which clearly constitutes an illegal racquet by any standard!

The referee informed Gombos that he had to change racquets and immediately resume play. Gombos then asked if he could attach a red covering to his current racquet but such a delay was not allowed. Gombos then said he had no other spare racquet…so he then “borrowed” one from someone in the audience, and continued the match!  

Normally, a player is not permitted to change racquets during a match unless accidental damage occurs making it illegal. However, it is somewhat of a discretionary call and the referee allowed the racquet switch in this instance, especially since the black on black escaped under the radar of everyone up to that point! Technically by USATT rules, a player can get disqualified for such a blatantly obvious maneuver/error. 

Despite the controversy, the match continued and ultimately evolved into a grueling five game loopfest with Gombos up two games to one until Keinath turned it up a notch to capture the next two games at four and five! In the end it was Keinath coming out on top 10, -7, -5, 4, 5.  Keinath also had his world class game going against Shao Yu where he swept the match in three straight 3,6,4. 

Shao Yu would redeem himself however against Ludovic Gombos in yet another grueling five game battle.  In this match Shao prevailed 9, -9, -10, 3 and 5 to capture third place for the Championship. 

The second seed Stefan Feth had little trouble routing both Gombos and Yu in three straight games each.  Stefan’s power is unparalleled and when he gets going and his forehand loop, once connected, rarely comes back.

With these matches completed it cleared the way for the final match-up between top seeds Keinath and Feth. The first game was a demonstration of pure, raw power in watching these two looping experts duel it out.  Clearly in game one Feth had all of the right things going and demonstrated some brilliant power looping that rarely is seen.  Game one appeared to be somewhat of an adjustment and strategizing experiment for Keinath where he was looking for the right openings and trying to look for any possible “weak links in the armour” of Feth. While he eventually found a few, it was not in game one – first game to Feth.   Games two three and four found Thomas more particular about his serves and ball placement. He appeared very aware of what not to do and did those things necessary to set the ball up to accommodate his offense, as a result more rally’s and loops but the tide was turned and Keinath was able to play his game and control Stefan to some degree. 

Match and Championship to Thomas Keinath, runner-up/second place Stefan Feth, third place Shao Yu, fourth place to Ludovic Gombos!    

All in all it was an amazing demonstration by these four players of some incredible table tennis.  The crowd and media present were treated to brilliant display and all of us hope that these four athletes will return next year once again.

JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Our 2005 winner of the Cary Cup Junior Achievement Award (of $200) which was awarded to the top junior who advanced to the highest level in the Saturday giant round robin was Marcus Jackson! Not only did he get into the A-Class but he finished 4^th in his second round group with a 4-3 2^nd round group match record. Marcus’ prowess on the day of the tourney not only yielded him $200 cash, but also, a nice bounty of rating points following the tourney! Nice job Marcus! 

EXHIBITION MATCH

This year immediately after the finals of the Saturday RR, the crowd of several hundred spectators was privy to a special treat by the legendary Marty Reisman.  Marty demonstrated his renowned table tennis prowess and accuracy through a demonstration of his now famous “cigarette trick”. Here’s how it works…a cigarette is placed in the vertical position (standing-up), in the extreme forehand corner (upper left corner) of the table on your opponent’s side.   Marty stands at the side of the table, tosses the ball up, lets it bounce one time, then, hammers it into the corner -- not only knocking the cigarette off  the table, but more impressively cracking it into pieces.  Of course, for Marty, to simply show people how its done is not enough, he then issued a challenge to anyone in the audience that thinks that they can do this.  After a brief lull where no takers come forward (this is for the brave of heart only…), Marty challenges Stefan Feth (World #145), and semi-finalist in the Open (behind fellow countryman Thomas Keinath who edged him out that day). The original challenge was for both of them to get ten attempts at cracking the cigarette. The person with the most hits wins. Stefan having never tried this before, was at first a bit hesitant, but soon rose to the occasion and agreed to give it a try.

First-up was Marty…following a “practice swing”, he carefully positioned himself, tossed the ball up, let it bounce, then unloaded a blistering high speed smash with his hardbat cracking the cigarette in two. The crowd enthusiastically showed their approval and utter amazement at this amazing display of skill.  Next up was Stefan.  Unlike Marty who used pips-out rubber with no sponge, Stefan opted to use his sponge rubber racquet instead.  On the first try, he tossed the ball up and on its vertical descent (before it hit the table), Stefan unloaded a full power forehand loop-kill.  Amazingly, it not only hit the cigarette but literally destroyed it into a million pieces with airborne tobacco being sprayed everywhere!  The crowd truly was in awe and went wild.  The scene was both stunning and startling and it seemed that even Stefan was a bit surprised (yet most pleased) with his outcome.  However, cognizant that “lightning rarely strikes in the same spot twice” Stefan decided to leave the crowd with that display of power fresh in their minds, so he opted to not try subsequent attempts!  By default, the “winner” is Marty! Still, credit is due for Stefan to be able to pull off that display the first time out.  Wow!

Of course, after the tournament several members of the local club decided to try their hand at the trick on Monday night practice sessions, lunchtime practice sessions, and other such occasions that availed themselves. However, instead of using a cigarette, a coke can was substituted in the corner in place of a cigarette (i.e., bigger target).  Despite this, most of the takers could never hit the can even after 100 tries…so the lesson learned is that there is no substitute for skill, talent, and control in pulling off a display of accuracy and speed such as this.  We tip our hat to Marty who has mastered this unique skill on thousands of occasions throughout his career. 

WHAT’S UP FOR NEXT YEAR?

Increased Prize Money

Well…the tournament organizing committee is busy trying to procure sponsorship monies for the 2006 event at this time.  It is the hope of the committee to double the prize money and especially go deeper into the field with the cash awards (top 8 instead of top four).  Target is around $12,000 for 2006 but ultimately will depend on sponsorship received.

Also, the format and sequencing of events may get changed to include more events (or the finals of certain events) on Sunday the last day of the tournament. The best way to find out about any news of the event is to get on the ‘Cary Cup’ mailing list.  Just send an email with your full first and last name to the Tournament Director and event organizer at the following address: Mike.Babuin@townofcary.org  

More World Class Players

As far as world class competitors, it is anticipated that we will attract more international players to continue to provide our U.S. Elite athletes the opportunity to compete against top world class players as necessary for them to gain much needed experience in a venue that is uniquely different than most major competitions.  Our marketing efforts (below) are also exploring all opportunities to fund travel for some of these players from non-traditional sources.

Event Marketing

Cary TTA has become a corporate member of the Carolina’s Chapter of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce and is also networking with the German-American Chamber of Commerce in hopes of attracting and identifying a major corporate sponsor for 2006 that will fund travel expenses for some world class athletes in Sweden and/or Germany to attend next years event in March 2006. Interested corporate representatives who may be interested in learning how they can sponsor a visiting athlete, can contact Tourney Organizer Mike Babuin (at the email address listed above) for more info on this unique opportunity and info on how sponsorship can benefit your corporation in several ways.

Women’s Open?

While spectators enjoy the speed of the rallies in the women’s open, it is uncertain at this time whether it will be offered again for 2006.  With only 10 participants and yet more prize money awarded (for women) than awarded at the U.S. Open for all women’s events combined (exclusive of ITTF Pro-Tour events), it just doesn’t seem worth the effort to offer the event if the vast majority of our female athletes simply do not have an interest in competing.  The organizing committee therefore will take a hard close look at the Women’s event for 2006 to see if it merits continuance. 

National Level Hardbat Competition?

On a brighter note…the organizing committee is taking a serious look at offering a stand alone hardbat only tournament “piggy-backed” with Cary Cup.  This might develop into a national level hardbat competition that offers “sufficient” prize money (several thousand dollars) and has events that are age based, skill based, and equipment based (i.e., not all pips-out “spongeless” rubber  is the same…. Examples… an “open” class for any type of pips out rubber, a Leland class for British Leland rubber only, another for pips-out with certain pip densities, pip diameters, etc…who knows what it will bring…!  Lots to consider and hopefully the organizing committee can get some feedback from the USATT hardbat committee, hardbat enthusiasts, and vetran hardbat players to offer a unique and equitable competition for all based on what YOU the players want to see.

Thanks to our 2005 Sponsors and Officials

A final word must go out to our existing sponsors who made it all happen this year –Airport Courtyard by Marriott, Stantec Corporation, North Carolina Amateur Sports, Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, and, the Town of Cary Parks and Recreation Department who provided Cary TTA use of their wonderful facility. Additionally several key individuals such as Gregg Robertshaw, Peter Marcus, Amanda Babuin, and Chris O’Brian also contributed time, effort, financial resources, and talent to help make this event the best one yet. Finally, special thanks and gratitude go out to our officials: International Level Referee Chris Lehman and USATT Hall of Fame inductee and International Level Umpire Dick Evans. 

Is it possible to top the 2005 event?  Plan for the March 17-20, 2006 and find out…

Open Singles (Class A) – Final RR: 1^st Thomas Keinath, 3-0 (d. Feth, 3-1; d. Gombos, 10,-7,-5,4,5; d. Shao, 3,6,4; 2^nd Stefan Feth, 2-1 (d. Gombos, 3-0; d. Shao, 3-0); 3^rd Shao Yu, 1-2 (d. Gombos, 9,-9,-10,3,5); 4^th Ludovic Gombos, 0-3.

Women: 1^st Biba Golic; 2^nd Petra Sestakova; 3^rd Marisol Delzo; 4^th Brenda Mun; 5^th Beata Wronska; 6^th Mirella Delzo; 7^th Sryia Chari; 8^th Kim Jeong.

Class B: 1^st Rodrigo Merida; 2^nd Chris Lehman; 3^rd Jim McQueen; 4^th Justen Yao.

Class C: 1^st Tommie Daily; 2^nd Dean Kapsalakis; 3^rd Andre Scott; 4^th Mike Stowell.

Class D: 1^st Chance Friend; 2^nd Monther Aldwairi; 3^rd Mirsad Cehajic; 4^th Kim Jeong.

Class E: 1^st Jude Worthy; 2^nd Stuart Allen; 3^rd Brandon Warren; 4^th Phil Parry.

Hardbat: 1^st David Rosenzweig; 2^nd Eric Owens; 3^rd Ty Hoff; 4^th Dinko Kranjac.

U2000 Hardbat: 1^st Richard Sanders; 2^nd John Funk; 3^rd Dean Johnson.

U4000 Doubles: 1^st Matt Chando/Martin Vazquez; 2^nd Sryia Chari/Gregg Robertshaw.

U3000 Doubles: 1^st Dean Johnson/Peter Marcus; 2^nd Larua Wexler/Stan Wallen.

Junior Award: Marcus Jackson.