2005 TMS International Semester Smash League
Mid-Season Report
www.californiatabletennis.com

By Shashin Shodhan

Khoa Nguyen. Photo by Kingston Gee ©2005.

The inaugural 2005 TMS International Semester Smash season has gone very well with great matches and lots of excitement in some of the matches.  The season began in July and now one month remains before the close of the regular season.  Sunnyvale Chevrolet Team Mountain View were the pre-season league favorites but surprise, surprise, they are not in first place.  "Mountain View is too strong!  Mountain View is too strong!  It's not fair for the rest of the league."  Those were the words said at the start of the season.  This league is shaping up to be a very interesting 3-team race between Sunnyvale Chevrolet Team Mountain View led by Khoa Nguyen, Go Table Tennis Team Oakland led by Michael Hyatt, and Realtor Voltaire Benedicto Team Palo Alto led by Barney Reed.  If Alpha Pong Team Concord led by Freddie Gabriel had its strongest players in each match, this league could have been a 4-team race for the finals.

Barney J. Reed. Photo by Kingston Gee ©2005.

About 25 different media sources have ran features on this league.  From a perspective of number of media sources, this is likely the most media coverage a table-tennis event in the US has received outside of the Atlanta Olympics.  We are pleased to have received positive reaction from the media on how their features of the league have turned out.  Our local NBC sports anchor, local Fox sports anchor, the local Chinese news station anchor and others were pleased with how their features on our league have turned out.  Because of the media coverage our league has received and because of we have many Olympians or Olympic hopefuls, we will be seeking major sponsorships for our league next year. 

Kevin Au. Photo by Kingston Gee ©2005.

We had our all-star game on September 10 featuring the top players from the North Bay against the top players from the South Bay.  The North Bay Team had 2-time Olympian Michael Hyatt, former senior national men's singles champion Avishy Schmidt, former junior national team member Peter Zajac, top local player Kock Loe, and top local player Joey Hu (as a replacement for injured Misha Kazantsev).  The South Bay Team had 2-time Olympian Khoa Nguyen, 2000 US Olympic Team Alternate Shashin Shodhan, 2-time World Team Member Jackie Lee, top local player Kevin Au, and top local player Tuan Anh Nguyen.  The South Bay was heavily favored but the North Bay pulled off the big upset, winning 5-4. 

Steve Nguyen. Photo by Kingston Gee ©2005.

This all-star game featured a new format that has never been tried before in table-tennis.  We had "future" matches which intended to produce counter-looping and fishing points only.  Mats were placed on the ground on both sides of the table three feet behind the table and two feet to the sides of the table.  Players could step on them but could not go past them.  By doing this, the players would only be playing points away from the table.  If this league is to become a big, nationwide league that appeals to the mainstream public, something must be done to encourage away from the table play.  The average American "Joe" does not understand the spins, serves, returns, and short game but loves to talk about how those guys stand so far from the table and play.  That was the goal of this new rule.  Some players like Michael Hyatt naturally play well away from the table but others must be forced to play away from the table.  The reactions about the "future" rules from the spectators and players were not positive but the players served with underspin or sidespin serves and the rallies started off very timidly which destroyed the intention of the rule change.  Perhaps a change in the service rule where a badminton type underhand serve served fast from further away from the table is what is needed to make the matches truly spectacular.  In the "future" matches, Michael Hyatt defeated Khoa Nguyen 3-0, Avishy Schmidt defeated Shashin Shodhan 3-2, and Tuan Anh Nguyen defeated Peter Zajac 3-2.  Of his match with Michael Hyatt, Khoa said "those rules fit Michael's game perfectly."

Tuan Ahn Nguyen. Photo by Kingston Gee ©2005.

However, Michael has upset Khoa both times they have played in regular league play as well to give Khoa his only two losses of the league season.  The matches between Khoa's Sunnyvale Chevrolet Team Mountain View and Michael's Go Table Tennis Team Oakland have been the most exciting matches in league play.  The Oakland home crowd of about fifty spectators was loud and alive in their match against Mountain View in what was described as a "very, very intense match."  Michael won all three of his matches, including a 3-1 upset of Khoa Nguyen.  Avishy Schmidt defeated Tuan Anh Nguyen and the eldest player in the league, 50-year old Kock Loe, pulled off the big upset of the night, defeating Steve Nguyen 3-0.  Steve has wins over Han Xiao, Brian Pace, Shashin Shodhan, and Misha Kazantsev in competition so Kock recorded a big win under his belt.  The next time these same two teams played in Mountain View, Steve was pulled out of the lineup and Kevin Au was placed instead.  However, Kevin went winless in his two matches against Avishy Schmidt and Michael Hyatt.  Michael won his three matches all 3-0, including a win over Khoa.  Avishy won his matches against Kevin and Tuan Anh but lost to Khoa.  Oakland ended up defeating the preseason league favorites Sunnyvale Chevrolet Team Mountain View both times this league season.

Realtor Voltaire Benedicto Team Palo Alto has World Team Members Barney Reed and Jackie Lee and former junior national team member Auria Malek as the top three on their team.  Barney has a flawless 10-0 record but his big tests against Khoa Nguyen and Michael Hyatt are still to come.  Barney did not play in the first match against Khoa's Mountain View team and Michael did not play in Barney's match against Oakland.  Palo Alto faces both Oakland and Mountain View at home before the close of the regular season.  Oakland, Mountain View, and Palo Alto all have two losses.  Alpha Pong Team Concord and Aigoprotect Insurance Team Milpitas are in fourth and fifth place with two wins each and Burlingame Saab led by Misha Kazantsev is still looking for their first win.

Michael Hyatt. Photo by Kingston Gee ©2005.

Our league has gone very well and nearly everyone is very pleased with how it has turned out.  We will expand to all divisions next year so anyone of any level in our area can play in the leagues.  We will also aim to start leagues next year in Maryland, New Jersey/New York, Florida, Texas, and Southern California.  Anywhere where strong players are present will be eligible for an elite league.  I will be making a presentation to the USATT Board about the league and we will aim to have much more prize money next year, aim to have the matches count for USATT rating, and try to be more professional.  We are about to send our sponsorship presentations for this league to tens of corporations before the end of 2005.  With the amount of media coverage we received, we feel sponsors will get a return on investment as we will have all players wear the league shirts during all media requests with the major sponsors' logos on the front of the shirts.  We will aim to have every player in the top league paid and will issue fines for players not arriving a certain amount of time before the match.  We will aim to have the umpires in the league paid as well as our photographer guru Kingston Gee.  We will also aim to have at least one newspaper provide regular coverage for each team.  This league intends to make the sport bigger and more professional in this country and we will take the necessary steps to reach that goal. 

We will have our end of the year banquet at Hobee's Restaurant in Palo Alto on Sunday night, November 20 and the food will be provided courtesy Hobee's restaurant.  The league finals will take place on the first two weekends of December.  Do not hesitate to contact me at shashin1@yahoo.com if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions.  Feel free to visit our league website at www.californiatabletennis.com!