Table Tennis Club competes in local tournament

The Portland State Table Tennis Club earned mixed results from the Bill Mason Memorial tournament held at the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation on Saturday.

The club fielded a seven-member squad for the two-star round-robin tournament, but no PSU players succeeded in getting past the second round. Team member Vyong Nguyen enjoyed some victory, however, winning five of his eight matches across the two rounds.

Team captain and club vice president Shubham Chopra, along with players Suha Ardahan and Brian Yoder, trailed Nguyen with four wins each from their eight matches.

The Bill Mason Memorial featured 75 competitors in total. The round-robin event featured preliminary groups of five players, based on USA Table Tennis ratings, followed by a second preliminary round determined by the results of the first.

First-round winners then played in four round-robin matches, again determined by rankings. The top two players from each round robin competed in a single-elimination bracket to determine first through eighth places.

Chopra said that, because of how the event was set up, his best players faced higher-ranked opponents and that factored into the team’s results, but he remains optimistic.

 “The results could have been better if we had practiced more,” he said. “I think we can work on our tournament preparedness and service.”

Rookie team member Kunal Patil won two matches, and was frank in summing up how he felt he did.

“I think my performance was dismal,” Patil said. “I think I need to improve on my serve and my topspin. Since this was my first tournament, I am not aware of my USATT ranking yet.”

Earlier this season, the club finished last among five teams in the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association regional tournament. In 2008, the club tied for first place in the NCTTA regional, and finished third in a tiebreaker. Past Portland State teams, featuring players Renjith Retnamma, Brian Yoder, Roger Castles and Sehwan Kim have taken the team to the national championships.

The table tennis club practices every Wednesday and Friday from 7–11 p.m. in the Academic and Student Rec Center.

PSU’s Bill Mason Memorial roster:
Suha Ardahan
Shubham Chopra
Huizi Lian
Vyong Nguyen
Kunal Patil
Vikas Singh Rana
Brian Yoder