The University of Toronto’s ping-pong enthusiasts congregated on Nov. 14 in the Upper Gym of the Athletic Centre, to take part in the U of T Table Tennis Club annual fall tournament. Along with 14 other players, I played in the morning’s recreational event, while 33 played in the competitive bracket in the afternoon.
Each bracket featured three games of round robin play, after which players with winning records advanced to one playoff bracket while those with losing records played a separate one. All in all, four divisions awarded medals to the top three finishers.
Taking the first division (the winners of the competitive tournament’s round robin) was Frederick Chiu, who beat Mahdi Hajiaghayi in the final. Ted Liu won the match for third place after losing in the semi-finals. All three players are provincially ranked and play tournaments regularly. In the competitive division’s consolation bracket (the second division), Sunny Zhou triumphed over Bo Chen in the final, while Shengqing Gu finished third.
In the recreational tournament, Wilbur Li beat Chris Cheung for the third division title, and Ataa Elahi notched third place. Jose Enrique beat me in the final of the fourth division, and Tony Chu won the third place medal.
UTTTC has hosted tournaments twice a year, once in the fall semester and once in the winter, since around 2002, according to tournament director Oscar Del Rio. All students and faculty are welcome to play.
In addition to the tournaments, UTTTC also holds ping-pong practice sessions three times a week during the school year in the Athletic Centre. Any member of the U of T community can register for these sessions. The club also hosts the men’s and women’s table tennis teams, the former having finished sixth in North America last year and the latter, second.
Both teams are preparing for the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association’s eastern division tournament this coming Saturday, which will determine which team represents Canada at the North American championship in April.
The next UTTTC tournament is scheduled for March 20, 2010.
