Table tennis opens camp at MHS Gym

Half of the CNMI Men’s National Table Tennis Team broke camp at the Marianas High School Gymnasium Saturday to familiarize themselves to the venue, which would be utilized for the ping-pong event of the 6th Micronesian Games set here on Saipan from June 23 to July 2.

Coach Steven Lim said they will be using the high school gym during the remaining Saturdays and Sunday leading up to the Games.

“Su Yong Dong, Chen Lin Ying, Budhi Gurung, me, and the candidates for the women’s team will be going there weekend afternoons between now up until the start of the Games. This allows us to familiarize with the venue conditions, aside from the regular training,” he said.

Lim said the practice venue during weekdays will remain at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium multi-purpose room; and that in all four training days are now available to the players, which is twice the amount of time the team had in the past.

He added that the MHS Gym gives his players a more suitable venue to train in terms of space, flooring, and lighting.

“The space is large enough for the number of tournament tables that will be used (four). The playing area for one table is actually almost 24 times the size of the table, but the gym is large enough to accommodate the four tournament playing areas. The floor is of modern rubberized sports flooring. The basketball court markings are non-factors; the flooring is almost perfect for table tennis. The lighting is also pretty good. All the light fixtures in the gym are working,” he said.

Lim said the MHS Gym is complete as far as general facilities are concerned, but a few sport-specific equipment that are not readily present will be put in by the Marianas Amateur Table Tennis Association and ready to use when the Games begin.

“Many thanks must go to Mr. Jim Feger, gym manager for the MHS Gym, for kindly allowing us to use the facility during weekend afternoons. MATTA officer Mario Espeleta also did a lot of the legwork while I was not on island, and he’s as much to thank for the availability of the practice venue,” he said.

Lim said the national team has not encountered any hitches in their training so far and that Su, Chen, and Gurung are excited to represent the CNMI in the Games after a bronze-winning performance in last year’s Palau South Pacific Mini Games.

“The team is in good spirits. Thankfully, no serious medical conditions are present. The added sessions are going to be good not just for technical training, but also for the physical conditioning of the players,” he said.

Lim, meanwhile, hopes to evaluate the three other members of the team—Luke Lu, Charlie Cheng, and Liang Wei Bin—when he visits Tinian in the next few days.

“Budhi has been in touch with Charlie on Tinian. I may go to Tinian over the weekend to check up on them, to see how they are doing, unless they come over for the training during weekends. I expect them to continue their own training there, and occasionally come over to Saipan to familiarize themselves with their teammates,” he said.