The Portland State Table Tennis club will field a seven-member squad for the Bill Mason Memorial table tennis tournament to be held at the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District on Saturday.
In its third year, the Bill Mason Memorial will feature 75 players in total and starts with a preliminary round, with groups of five players (determined by USA Table Tennis ratings) playing against each other. Results from the first round will then decide the alignment of a second round of five-player groups.
Winners from the first round will then play in four round-robin style matches determined by rankings. The top two players from each round robin will compete in a single-elimination bracket to determine the first- through eighth-place finishers.
Rookie team member and graduate student Kunal Patil said he has been training for the Bill Mason Memorial for some time.
“I am concentrating on keeping fit and avoiding any injury,” Patil said. “During the practice sessions, I am currently working on my game plan and strategy. The goal is to be fit physically and mentally, with a game-plan ready at hand in order to win in this tournament.”
After a disappointing show in the two legs of the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association’s regional tournament earlier this year, where the Portland State club finished last among the five competing colleges, veteran team member Suha Ardhavan believes the team can fight back.
“Even though this is a new team, luckily we have some average and strong players. Usually a decent college team has four players in their team and an average rating of around 1500—our average is about 1200,” Ardhavan said. “In this tournament, I am expecting some of our players to get to the 1400–1500 level.”
When asked if the team would have any tricks up its sleeve, team captain and club president Shubham Chopra said, “We have been working on our forehand top-spin, so I guess that would be the best part of our game.”
On the other hand, team member Huizi Lian chooses to stay humble and downplay her chances.
“I don’t think I will have a great chance to win, but I will definitely do my best,” she said. “The most important thing is to enjoy the game and have fun.”
Portland State’s table tennis club practices every Wednesday and Friday from 7–11 p.m. at the Academic and Student Rec Center.