Greetings table tennis players !

Below are the results of the $2200 2010 Missouri Winter Games Open which was held at Baptist Bible College in Springfield Missouri. A grand total of 43 players registered and 34 played in rated events. A total of 152 matches were played on 12 tables in eight events. Gratitude and thanks go out to Baptist Bible College for providing the venue site and to www.ButterflyOnline.com for providing the game balls.

The day’s premier event, the Open Round Robin, witnessed ITTF world ranked at # 588, Alfred Najem of Emporia, Kansas vs. Dinu Varghese from Overland Park, Kansas clash in a stellar match for the $600 1st place prize. Who doesn’t root for the underdog - to do otherwise is patently un-American. To that end, Dinu perhaps benefitted from this, since he may not have been seen as The Equalizer. Yet, that proved not to be the case as he possesses GPS range finding eyes. He keyed in at will and found just the right spot for our celluloid friend to land. Dinu and Alfred exchanged blistering hits, strokes which struck a responsive chord with an appreciative crowd. Each had two-winged attacks that left most spectators with open jaws and dilated pupils. Both make the optical sense of viewing table tennis a ‘carnival event’. All that was lacking were the dancing bears, bearded lady and popcorn. The crowd watched artists in motion as they painted a kaleidoscopic sky – images, comparatively, that would make even Rembrandt suppose he was nothing but a finger painter. You simply sat back and watched artistry meld nothing into something, rallies, which kept the viewer glued to their seat. There are two types of top-flight players presently transcending table tennis – that rare breed who brings back any shot, South Korea’s Joo Se-Hyuk comes to mind, and those who loop and kill at will – like Dinu and Alfred. Though Dinu lost his match at 3 games to 1, perhaps a more interesting scenario may have played out in a best of 7, as several spectators mused. Overland Park’s twin giants, Parviz Mojaverian and Vladimir Altman, fought a pitched warfare as they skirmished one another in the quest for third. Each showed gritty determination but with Vladi up - 2 games to 0 - Mojo turned on his F-4 Phantom afterburners and in full overdrive rip-roared back piecing together 3 straight backside wins. Mojo must have seen that extra hundred $$ looming in the back of his retinas and decided to go all out for the $200 versus $100 that was for 4th. Fifth place belonged to yet another Overland Park player, Sam Akula, as he coasted by Carl Miller, from Hutchinson, Kansas in 4 games. Sam demonstrated that Kansas City’s arsenal is action packed and has plenty of imposing players up and down the line.

Open Singles matched Alfred Najem and Parviz Mojaverian in a championship duel. Najem is some 275 ratings points ahead and it was apparently an order that was just too tall to digest. Mojo can score points, for sure, but being outscored 33 to 15 points in three games was not sufficient for a win. Vladimir Altman and Ilya Rozenblat, another Overland Park player, batted it around for third, with Vladi winning handily - 3 games to 1. To his credit, Ilya won his first game; 11 to 9, but sank a bit further as the astute challenger went down in successive games: 9, 7 and 7.

The Under 2100 had Ilya Rozenblat vs. Richard Martin, from Kansas City joust in the top tiered 1st place contest. Ilya won in straight games, 13-11, 11-4 and 11-9. Carl Miller, from Hutchinson Kansas vs. Sam Akula for the 3rd place medal, with Sam coming out on top winning his last 3 games while only losing the first. Sam is new to Springfield. Sam’s game mirrors a lot of others around the nation at this particular juncture, as players attempt to slow down the high speed offensive game with better defensive rubber and using blades in a ‘chop till you drop’ tempo. It would be nice to see how Sam squares up with a few other like-minded 2000 raters.

The Under 1900 saw Sam Akula again against Carl Miller, this time for 1st place in the Marquee event. Sam is quite crafty and an intelligent play maker. And, not to be outmatched, Sam complied 3 straight wins: 11-5, 11-5 and 11-5. Brad Wommack from Bolivar and Ankit Agarwal, from Lawrence, Kansas heated up the plies of their wood but it was Brad, in the end, who had the hotter hand and won his match: 3 games to 1.

The Under 1700 was comprised of one round robin with 6 players and another round robin with 5 players. The six man round robin winner was Jerry Schuster from St. Charles, who played against the 4 match round robin winner, Bill Lewis, from Brookline Station, MO. Both players would meet for the event’s top prize. Each seemingly brought back identical balls with heavy underspin. Schuster’s game has undergone a unique transformation, though not quite akin to a caterpillar’s metamorphosis, he has still evolved and since our last viewing had quite a few hard forehand hits rack up – much to his credit. It seemed to this writer that Schuster had been more of a looper. In any event, he came out top dog in this match at 3 games to 2; winning 11 to 8 in the 5th. There was no 3rd place game.

The Under 1500 was completed with three full round robins. Rounding out the top in one round robin was newcomer, Basil Doan, from El Dorado Springs, MO, in another Ray Presnell from Ozark, MO, and from still another, David Capps, who coincidentally also hails from El Dorado Springs. Since Presnell was the top Group 1 winner he received an automatic bye. Basil first blasted Capps in a 4 game semi-final struggle with Basil eking out a match win at 3 games to 1. Basil then received the customary 5 minute rest before playing Presnell. For being relatively new to the game Basil brought back some pretty nice hits and almost upended the much more experienced Presnell. Yet, in the end, it was Presnell who would go home with a 1st place medal around his neck though just barely, winning in 5 games: 11 to 7 in the deciding bout.

Open Doubles. While matches in several events reflected “4th of July” fireworks, Open Doubles witnessed some fine fiery send ups itself as 7 teams and 14 players jockeyed throughout the spectrum for 1st through 4th place. The two highest rated teams - 4324 rated Najem and Miller against 4029 rated Varghese and Martin - produced multiple hits and just as strong counter hits. The final match went the way Najem and Miller wished at 3 games to 1. The 3rd place game between locals, Dale Boswell & Ray Presnell against Kevin Lazaro and Micah Gibbons, both from Springfield, had it come down to the deciding last game. With each team tied at 10-10 in the 5th game, the combo of Boz & Ray was just a tad bit steadier on their combined four feet and their strokes prevailed, winning 13 to 11.

Ping Pong Singles had a complement of 11 players in competitive contention. J.R. Terral IV, from Springfield, drew the top seeded bye. J.R would subsequently go on to post 4 consecutive wins against zero losses. Joe Shurts from Kimberling City, MO, would receive 2nd place and had 4 match wins against 1 loss while Micah Gibbons from Springfield would receive 3rd place and had 2 match wins against 2 losses.

Sportsmanship Award. Really – to Everyone. I will say that Dinu Varghese, Ilya Rozenblat, Vladimir Altman and Daniel McIntosh from Muskogee, Oklahoma, each showed that you can be nice and be a champion. They are to be commended for their spirited play and humble attitude. Also to Sonjay and Sonya Henry from St. Louis as well as Jimmy and Sam Guo from Chesterfield are to be congratulated for exemplary friendliness. It’s refreshing when players are this courteous and sportsmanlike. I tip my hat to every player because each showed a competitive drive while maintaining strength of character.

Below are the winners by event.