Table tennis showdown

The Portland State Table Tennis Club could not repeat last year’s first-place finish, and instead came in fifth for the 2009 National Collegiate Table Tennis Association Open, held in the Stott Center.

The Vikings’ A-team lost all four matches against other teams from the Pacific Northwest, while the B-team made a surprising clean sweep of all four opponents.

“We were outmatched today,” said Jeremy Dubow, A-team member. “We played hard in a friendly against Lewis & Clark yesterday, so we felt a little tired today.”

Brian Yoder, who won the mixed doubles title in the Pacific Rim Open on Nov. 7, attributes the team’s performance to a transitional phase.

“[We have] a lot of new players coming in, so we couldn’t perform as well as we did in the past,” he said. “But we have trained hard and it’s been a lot of fun. I played the best table tennis I ever had, but I was unlucky. I came up against some really good opponents.”

Yoder and Shubham Chopra were the only two players on the A-team who were able to win a match each in the tournament. Yoder won his match against Oregon opponent Xie Tan (11-7, 11-9, 11-9), while Chopra came up trumps in his duel against British Columbian paddler Ilam Keshet, (11-9, 15-13, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9).
Portland State’s B-team, on the other hand, was unstoppable and won all four of their matches. Players Leonidis Thape and Chris Conrad each won all four of their games.

“I had no problems today and all went well,” Thape said. “This is one of the largest tournaments in the season, and lots of talented players with good skills turn up. So, I am proud to have done well today.”

The NCTTA tournament was held at Portland State with the help of the Portland Table Tennis Club, who provided the tables required to conduct such a large competition.

“The tournament is a good place for college players to get some experience,” said Darell Potter, club president. “Since Portland State is centrally located, it’s a great venue to hold this event and lots of teams have turned up for it.”

Washington finished in first place, followed by the University of British Columbia and Oregon State. After defeating Portland State in their last game, Oregon ended up fourth, relegating the Vikings to a fifth-place finish.

The Portland State Table Tennis Club practices every Wednesday and Friday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Stott Center.