$16,000 Meiklejohn North American Seniors Open

  by Tim Boggan

You don’t expect those so essential to running a 242-entry, 33-event, $16,000 prestigious Open to be out there playing, and so I begin by paying homage to those who courted the players and thus insured the success of this 17^th annual June 1-4, 2006 tournament. I think particularly of Bill Meiklejohn, our North American Senior’s longtime benefactor; of National Seniors Table Tennis Tournament Association (NSTTTA) Chair, Olga Kahan, that revered Laguna Woods Marchioness, who always looks and acts the part of having been Manchurian-born to “fine-gold” royalty; of software-whiz Craig Krum, ever-ready to spot and stop a conflict; and those he depends on to computer coordinate with—the affable Mas Hashimoto and Draw-provider extraordinaire Marilyn Miller.

I think also of Laguna Woods TTC President Alma Beckerman, and Past Presidents Art Wirtschafter and the ageless Harry Bloom. And I give a thankful nod to sponsors Nittaku and Paddle Palace; and to former USATT President Terry Timmons who MC’d the Players Party, and who, along with CATT Hall of Fame President Y.C. Lee, Olga, Azmy Ibrahim, and Tom Miller, helped make this year’s Induction Banquet honoring Dennis Davis, John Miller, and Khoa Nguyen so enjoyable.

            And while I just said you don’t expect burdened officials to be doing on-court battle, a quick check shows many of them sure were. Tournament Director Ray Kunze, whacking in balls left and right, knocked me out of the 75’s; NSTTTA Secretary and Chess enthusiast Stan Kahan paired with Don Bourassan to win the Under 2300 Doubles; Eric Aki did conscientious Draw postings and dreamed of judo trials, while his dad Shonie survived a marathon 11, 8, -5, -16, 12 match in the U-1800’s before losing in 5 to finalist Ben Wong; NSTTA Treasurer Walt Wehrli reached the finals of the 75 Doubles; the Honorable Julius Margolis advanced out of his Over 85 round robin to be a 5-game finalist to Leo Egel; Lenny Hauer went out in the 8^th’s of the 60’s to Frank Lin in a 5-game blaze of glory; and while I didn’t see Herb Gilbert, Jack Lopez, or Tournament Referee Tom Miller play, I feel sure they were all out there wielding a deft racket.

Thursday Matches

            The tournament opened with a near 20 entries in the U-1100 event, which was won by Whitter’s Kuniko Jessup over New York writer Jim Bergman. Kuniko also came runner-up in the Women’s Over 60’s to Wen Jun Liu who’d advanced out of her round robin with a fine win over Vancouver’s 81-year-old Sonia Fynn, an exuberant Brit turned Canadian, who after a long absence from the Game had begun playing again maybe 15 years ago. So how was this Sonia doing? Pretty good. She shared 3^rd in the 60’s with Judy Pelletier, who in the 1100’s had an upset win over Judy Semenza, and took the 70’s from Harriet Brin—with Yuki Mancebo and Thelma Batten sharing 3^rd. But, more importantly, Sonia had recently returned from the World Veterans Championships at Bremen, Germany (something like 3,600 entrants) where she’d WON the WORLD OVER 80 CHAMPIONSHIP, and came 2^nd in the Women’s Over 80 Doubles. Want to see her medals? I did, and she brought them to me, the gold in one sock, the silver in another. “They’re pretty nice to have,” she said in what had to be the understatement of the weekend.

Frank Buchanan was awarded the Over 90 prize after losing in the 85’s to both Julius Margolis and Harry Ehrmantraut (who shared 3^rd Place in that 85 event with Michael Jacques). San Diego Club Treasurer Neil Smyth reports that his home-away-from-home Club has a net worth of $65,000 and that, with the full support of his wife Jan who’s recovering good-humoredly from a hip operation, he seems to be there every day checking the books or, hey, maybe playing just a little Pong? Neil, proud wearer of a jacket befitting his Senior Olympic status, won the Over 80’s from Cuong Chi Lam, who’d upset Si Wasserman. Fritz Baresei and Wiley Butler shared 3^rd.

Neil also won the 75 Doubles with Byng Forsberg over Dick Peregrine/Walt Wehrli who’d eased out Kahan/Boggan in 5. Everybody knows that Byng, who’s always pressured himself in various sports, and who’d suffered the loss of his dear wife Bobbi Jean in January, is tough-minded. Still, he’d startled everyone by having just come from the hospital where the evening before he’d gone to the ER and been told he had a spot on his lung and pneumonia! But so what. Once, when a doctor told Byng he might have to have a testicle removed, and Byng began telling him about his Senior Games participation in Track, Discus, Javelin, Shot Put, Skiing, etc., etc., the doc changed his mind—said Byng was half nuts already.

   Other Thursday winners: In the Under 2300’s, Kahan/Bourassa had fun shutting out Bob Johnson/Dana Cheng, 11-0 in the 5^th in the semi’s, then 7, 10, 11 (from down 4-10) defeated Ming Chen/Minh Lu who’d sneakered their way by Jessup/Ron Buxton. Tom Nguyen/Tuan Duc Pham outlasted Antonio Ching/Asadur Chilingirian in the 2800 Doubles. And in the 38-entry 1450’s, Samy Tran stopped Lee Swander, 5-game advancer over Suresh Kanekar.

Friday Matches

Just turned 40, and making a very impressive debut in his first Meiklejohn, Justin Bookey, seeded last in the pre-lim 11 round robins, not only won the U-1200’s over Doug Wolfgram (who’d rallied from two down to beat Walt Blehm), but, after defeating Bourassa and Concord’s Ron Buxton in 5, almost took the U-1300’s from Derrick Stockhausen. Derrick was able to claim the title with wins over #1 seed Bill Cooper, Rob Little, and H. B.“Blackie” Barlow who said he unconsciously began “feeding balls” to Derrick as if he were playing his Crestline senior students, then too late (“What are you doing, Blackie?”) came to his senses. In the 75’s, runner-up Leo Egel, who’s used to playing in an SOS gym (Sportsmen of Stanislaus County), sent out a call to self for help and survived Ray Kunze after being behind 2-1 and 6-10 quadruple match-point down in the 4^th. Winner Dick Peregrine, behind 2-0, rallied to prevail 11-9 in the 5^th over Cuong Chi Lam and his disconcerting turn-of-the-wrist sidespin antispin. George “The Chief” Brathwaite comfortably took the 70’s over Sammy Liang, no longer using his mysterious Z1 pips, and also paired with Neil Smyth to oust top seeds Jack Howard/Boggan in 5 before succumbing in the final to Jack Pham/Bob Johnson. Women’s Over 50 went to Bella Livshin who with 2, 4, and 3 wins seemingly had an easy time in the final, but look again and you’ll see she had to go 5 with defender Min Ming Zhu. Much as Bella likes to play, she loves even more to coach. She started coaching at 18 in Yalta on the south coast of the Crimea, came to the U.S. in ’93, and looks to her Russian/English dictionary to express her precise delight when a student tells her, “I played tennis for 20 years and couldn’t lose weight. Now when I play table tennis I feel the pounds slipping off.”

In the Women’s Over 40, Lily Yip advanced over a missing Donna Sakai. (Cause for alarm? For when was the last time she and Dave entered a tournament and failed to show even when Business might have beckoned?) But then, after Livshin and Marina Cravens settled for 3^rd and an easy $50 check, Lily was beaten in the final (shhh, 1, 6, 9) by Diane Chen, who years ago in China played professionally for the Heilongjiang Province team. Perhaps because Lily had defeated Diane in the U.S. Team Trials in December, she underestimated her here—missed 3 serves the 1^st game, played too much to her lefty forehand, and couldn’t quite give herself a chance to recover. In the Hardbat, though—which saw Norm Bass upset Jun Fernando Valencia, as if painlessly stroking away in an aquatics-therapy session—Lily stopped Diane in 5, then won out over colorful, blue-bandana-capped Rudy Miranda. 

Best in the 60’s? Che-Him Leung who, after finishing the arthritic Bass in an 18-16 game, proved too strong with his angled-off, two-sided attack in the final for Banjerd Ukapatayasakul (a.k.a. “Bill U”). In the semi’s, Bill had upset “The Chief,” 11-9 in the 5^th. George, who’d led 9-5 that last game, praised Bill for his steady, smart play, said that Bill’s loosely-held, inverted/pips racket often worked a very flat effect on the well-placed ball and he was picking it up too late. George, however, partnered by Loc Ngo, did take the U-4500 Doubles over John Thach Tran/Duglass Younan.

            Loc continues to coach a Laguna Woods group of 25-30 players, but his family (he has a sister and 9 brothers) would like him to seriously come into their import/export business (perhaps encouragingly he’s already providing his senior students concerned with their cholesterol count or high blood pressure all the Green Tea they can drink?). Loc says that, after returning to the U.S., he was still bothered by jetlag. He’d been in China for 4 weeks, in Vietnam for 2 more. Now 42 and a U.S. citizen, Loc came to this country 24 years ago, and this recent visit was his first return to Vietnam (at Ho Chi Minh City there were bigger buildings, more people, but, he says, Americans are welcome). Duglass, who coaches at Malek’s Power Pong Academy, contracted polio, affecting his left leg and hip, when he was1-year-old. A Class 9 disabled player, he was a member of the U.S. Team at last year’s Pan-Am Games in Argentina, where he won a Bronze and a Silver.

            In the Senior Elites, all 8 seeds came through to the quarter’s. One of these was Parviz Mojaverian who, though the Draw sheets I have don’t indicate it, must have played Ajayi Ohore in pre-lims in this event, for, along with quite a few others, I saw the match. It was, in fact, a howl, from the moment Parviz showed up in pink (“Your wife’s shirt and bag?” someone said to him). Both players carried on psychological warfare—combative talk with each other and the audience. After Ohore, down 9-10 in the 3^rd, serves into the net, Mojaverian goes up 2-1. But then he doesn’t hold an 8-6 lead in the 4^th. In the 5^th, Parviz is up 5-0, 8-1. But now A-J begins a rally, repeating the magic mantra, “One at a time!” Unbelievably (“One at a time!”) he wins (“One at a time!”) 8 straight (“One at a time!”) to lead 9-8. Then serves into the net! The spell is broken—Parviz goes up 10-9, and, as is his habit, talks to himself and the audience, says, “I need one more and I’m gonna get it right now.” And he does, for Ohore swings and whiffs. “One more time!” says Parviz triumphantly, shaking his fist at A-J. Of course there’s no umpire—which, considering their illegal serves and fun, in-your-face attitude, is just as well.

The best no-nonsense matches are Lily Yip’s 11-7 in the 5^th win over Attila Malek, and Loc Ngo’s –5, 3, 14, 9 win over New York City Coach Hui Yuan Liu. Loc told me the standard of play in Vietnam was higher than in the U.S. but that he’d managed to beat the #3 player there, so though he’d returned just 5 days ago he must have acclimated faster than he thought to down the 2436-rated Liu. Lily’s jab-thrusts and quick off-the-bounce forehands had both Malek and Musa, whom she lost to 8 in the 5^th, stretching this way and that. David Zhuang continued to cruise home the winner when Atanda, having hurt his back in extending himself against Lily, decided not to play the final.         

Saturday Matches

            In the popular (YOU might be paired with a Champion!) 36-entry Draw Doubles, among the money winners were “Blackie” Barlow (1242), Leo Egel (1168), Lee Swander (1441), Ramon Giron (1441), Tom Lambert (1269), and Hiroshi Koshimoto (1393). Of course all were lucky to have strong partners. Chance paired John Thach Tran (2342) with Allen Tran (1313), and, despite both of them being lefties, they took the title from Musa/Barlow in the semi’s and Tuan Le (2299)/Ken Sandberg (1406) in the final. I asked if the Trans were related, and got my answer from Tom Miller: “Am I related to John Miller?”

The Over 50’s saw one big upset: Rodel Valdoria over Brathwaite. George was not too happy about this loss or about some aspects of the tournament he deemed unprofessional. After dropping games to 1963 U.S. Junior Champion Alex Salcido, to former Iranian Team member Alireza Hejazi, and to Mojaverian, currently Senior Director of Pharmacology at a Kansas City, MO company, Malek reached the final. There he met Coach Liu who’d advanced over Lim Ming Chui, after Ming had gotten by Bill U in 5. “Bill doesn’t look dangerous,” said 58-year-old Ming (who’s just married Mei-ling (“Sylvia”) and ought to be on the alert for opportunities to prove himself). “But he takes a long time to serve, and then, when I relax, the ball comes.” Malek was challenged only in the 12-10 2^nd game where, when the umpire had first warned Liu then taken an end-game point from him for not throwing the ball up high enough on his serve, Attila said, “Do I have to take this point?” and when the umpire said, “Yes,” Attila deliberately mis-served to balance the score.

Malek took time out to have a long talk with me about the possibilities of his Power Pong Academy approach. Interested schoolchildren 5-12 years of age, in cooperation with their Phys. Ed. teacher, receive attractively-presented folders with detailed information how they might earn Bronze, Silver, and Gold certificates in developing table tennis skills. Parents, note that children pursuing such goals not only have aerobic-activity fun, but “improve concentration and focus,” and “develop confidence and discipline” that will point them on their way to becoming high achievers and winners of college scholarships.

Attila’s concern is not just with students and parents but with the Academy coaches who must make a very good living. Get enough students, show you care that they’re excited over the Sport, and franchised academies are very possible. Attila has big dreams—1,000,000 students, 5,000 schools, 50-state Training Directors. I was very impressed with his proven program and urge like-minded others to contact him by phone (714-549-0925) or at his (powerpong@msn.com) web-site.   

            The 38-entry U-2400’s yielded John Thach Tran another win—in 4 over Tri Huu Dinh in the quarter’s, by default in the semi’s over Tuan Le who’d beaten Ramin Samari 11-9 in the 4^th, and in 5 in the final over Rudy Miranda, after Rudy had taken out Qifan Li in the pre-lims, and Lily Yip in 5 in the semi’s. Rudy plays only once a week, but he runs 3-5 miles four times a week and that, he says, keeps his game at a 2200 level. Rudy said that 90% of his play against Lily, whom, fearful of her forehands he tried to keep blocking, was carried on with his powerful backhand. In the final, though, Rudy made the mistake of predictably going to John’s backhand, which would send the ball back to Rudy’s far forehand; instead, he should have gone first to John’s forehand. Under 3600 Doubles winners were (still another win for him) John Thach Tran/Si Nguyen over Ferdinand Trinidad/Lee Swander 11-9 in the 5^th, then over LilyYip and her apt N.J. pupil Dan Kramer, reportedly in five 11-9 games.

Both the 1800’s and 1600’s went to nearby Irvine’s Xuan Liu. In the 1800’s, Xuan was pressed the most, not by finalist Ben Wong who’d had 5-game wins over Aki, Alex Hernani, and Danny Nasi (2-game-down advancer over Sammy Liang), but by Odo Wang. After going 5 with Tim Nguyen and John Harrington (2-game down winner over Hui Xianyu), Wang had forced Xuan into the 5^th in the semi’s. A righty penholder with long pips on the backhand, Odo had been sent overseas on business in 1990 and only a couple of years ago was able to get back to playing. In the 1600’s, Allen Tran upset #1 seed Boggan, Dan Cravens scored a 12-10 in the 5^th win over Hernani, and Martin Ventura won a 5-gamer over Hieu Pham—but winner Liu didn’t drop a game. Runner-up was Moses Lan who’d struggled at the precipice with Ed Cohen, Tong Yu, and Tin Nguyen, after Tin had prevailed 12-10 in the 5^th over Brian Bui.

Sunday Matches

            Under 4200 Doubles saw a couple of entertaining early matches: Joe Tran/Hung Quoc Nguyen (from down 2-0) won out over Ajayi Ohore/Mark Berg; and De Tran/John McFadden persevered to a 6, -4, -5, 10, 12 squeaker over Coach Liu and his pupil Gail Kendall. Gail speaks highly of Coach Liu whom she calls “William”—says he has a “gift for “pointing out one thing that corrects five others.” He and his son, “Andy,” a good player in his own right who helps run their N.Y.C Club and will soon be going to China to train, are both U.S. citizens now. Winners were Musa/Howard Vu over Tran/McFadden in the semi’s, and Tri Dinh/Ky Nguyen in the final.

Under 1900’s saw righty-penholder Xuan Liu continue his excellent play (with wins over Allen McDermott and Danny Nisi) until stopped by LeRoy Kondo who’d almost been beaten early by Tony Rodriguez. LeRoy (who along with Ray Minc and Alex Salcido turn up in my History books playing in California tournaments 35 or more years ago) finished runner-up to Al Kong, harder than a Walnut walnut to crack. Under 4800 Doubles was won by Malek/Tung Phan who’d been stretched to the limit by both Samari/Brathwaite and John Thach Tran/Tuan Le. In the final they beat Musa/Ohore who’d been extended to 5 by Loc Ngo and I presume Tri Huu Dinh (though their ratings don’t add up to the 4508 listed on the Draw sheet).

Early 5-game matches in the 2050’s had, in the one half, Maung Tin Htut downing Ralph Agajanian, and Hung Quoc Nguyen defeating Htut; and, in the other, Hilton Siman ousting Hiep Hoa Cung. Brent Swanson was the winner, having first gotten by Minc in 5 (after Ray had outlasted Joobian Ataian), and then in the final Salcido.

Among the best early round matches in the Under 2300’s were Ataian over Lim Ming Chui; Michael Henry over chopper/pick hitter Yutaka Takahashi; Diane Chen over Tuan Le (11-9 in the 4^th when Tuan mis-served); Minc over Salcido; James Therriault (always fun to watch him, match after match, lofting up balls and knocking down barriers) over Minc; Macao-to-West Hills Joey Kuok over Alireza Hejazi; and Ohore over Zoltan Boldy.

In the one semi’s, Kuok advanced to the final via a 13-11 in the 5^th win over Miranda who’d knocked out the non-stop, always-in-a-hurry-to-play Qifan Li in 5 in the quarter’s. Parviz Mojaverian, meanwhile, came from down 2-0 to escape Hank McCoullum, followed with a 4-game win over Tung Phan, then, in his semi’s, with encouragement from Hejazi and Samari, came from behind 2-0 again to 9, 10, 9 do in Diane Chen. How’d he fare against Kuok in the final? Well, first he asked to see proof of age. Joey looked so young—was he really 40, a Senior? Then, tired, he offered to split half the prize money. But, as Joey had beaten 57-year-old Parviz in straight games earlier in the 2400’s, he of course wanted to play. Believe it or not, Parviz came from down 2-0 still again to 11, 9, 6 climax a great $400 win.

The audience enjoyed the early 5-game matches in the Over 40’s: Hejazi over David Rubin; Joobian over Dinh Nguyen; Tung Phan over Chui (said Ming, “I was up 7-4 in the 5^th…then hit a few crazy balls”), and especially Musa over Diane Chen when, after winning the 4^th 12-10, Diane was at 5-all in the 5^th—with $1,000 or $0 in the offing. Last year, Diane was a penholder pips attacker; this year she’d switched to shakehands with one side smooth, one side pips. Maybe, like Lily, Atanda hadn’t taken her seriously enough? Did he know World Champion Kong Linghui’s father had been her coach? Anyway, it may be that Atanda listened to his coach, Ajayi Ohore, who was pleading with him to serve underspin not topspin balls to her. Anyway, Musa played the last critical points fearlessly and deserved to win. 

Two of the most interesting late-round matches were Malek 13-11 in the 5^th over Henry, then despite leading 1-0 and 10-6 against Yip who looked about-to-break, it was Malek who tired, said his legs gave, and he lost in 4. Dr. De Tran who, having finished his round of patients for the day in order to catch a 6 p.m. flight from New York, felt his Sunday play was worth the trip when, natty in red shirt/red sneakers, he 11-9 in the 5^th managed to reach the semi’s over Coach Liu. Neither Musa (over Lily) nor Defending Champion David Zhuang (over Tran) were in semi’s danger. So, while final matches were finishing up in other events, chairs were brought in for spectators gathered round the now singularly focused-on table for the best 4 out of 7, $1500 1^st-prize final.

Zhuang is introduced by umpire Stan Kahan as a 15-time U.S. National Champion; Musa as the 10-time Continent of Africa Champion. David chooses to serve, and when Atanda, looping in balls, goes up 7-2, the crowd hears, “That’s the one! I needed that!” followed by a little laughter. It’s Mojaverian on his way to winning the 2300’s. David has no problem concentrating—he ties it up at 7-all. “YO!” That’s Miranda on his way to losing the 2300’s. Strong backhand loops bring Atanda to 9-7. But David mounts a forehand attack, and Musa fails to return serve—9-all…10-all. Atanda stretches for a mild forehand counter that seems to go through Zhuang’s racket, then backhands in the 12-10 clincher. David quickly retaliates—wins the 2^nd 11-3 by banging in Musa’s serve.

In the 3^rd, Atanda jumps to a 4-1 lead, but after telling himself, “Don’t be in a hurry” is quickly caught: 5-all…7-all. Then David goes 8-7 up, YELLS!…9-7 up, YELLS!…10-7 up, YELLS! But Musa is not paralyzed—brings the score to 9-10 as his cornerman Ohore sounds encouragement. Then 11-9, and David YELLS! Ajayi, calling “Time!” runs off. A minute passes, A-J’s not back, the crowd buzzes. Musa’s imperturbable, is up 4-1 when Ohore returns with a bottled drink for his Mansa man. Again it’s mid-game tied, and they’ve played some great counter points—David up at the table, leaning into the ball, and Atanda, back, crouching, top-hopping the ball from either wing. Up 7-5 David makes two errors. Then, at 7-all, serves an edge. Both players smile—such good fellowship, eh? Then David serves into the net. Musa, looping well, moves to 10-8, then goes soft, 10-9. At which point David again serves into the net!

“It’s a ballet game,” someone says—“2-2.” The 5^th is close all the way up—with Ohore repeatedly speaking to Musa from the sidelines in his native Nigerian until Kahan yellow-cards him. After it twice appears that David will score on vicious forehands, Musa twice reaches out and each time sensationally topspins back to eventually win the 8-9 point. He spreads his hands, as if taking a little bow, and the crowd applauds. More acrobatics from Musa who wins the game12-10—with Zhuang calling for a Let, a call denied. In the 6^th, with a ringing cell phone disturbing play for the moment, David builds up an insurmountable 10-2 lead and finishes with an edge.

During the 1-minute break, while Ohore talks to Musa, David, as if he’s stepped into something, squeak, squeak, squeaks his shoes on the court floor. The players are nervous? David serves off—way off; and Musa badly mishits. Despite Atanda’s great shoestring get, Zhuang goes up 4-2, roars, “YEAH!” When he’s immediately asked by Kahan to cool it, David says, “I’m sorry.” He then returns Musa’s serve into the net, which draws some claps from the crowd. Down 4-5, Musa misses a high ball, turns a winner into a loser. Up 7-4, David says, “C’mon!” Exhales. Up 8-4, “C’mon!” Exhales. But Atanda rallies to 8-9, whereupon Ohore calls “Time!” Musa returns, gets exuberant applause when David hits into the net, and it’s 9-all. Now, with $500 in the balance, Musa misses his would-be forehand point-getter, and Zhuang doesn’t. Arms upraised, David jumps up onto the spectator balcony, and is again in the pantheon of those who yearly admire his will to win.