Ping-pong tryouts off and running

Palau South Pacific Mini Games bronze medalists Chen Lin Ying and Su Yong Dong dominated the first round of qualifiers for the CNMI National Table Tennis Team for the 6th Micronesian Games.

Chen, who owns Fu Ye Construction, and Su, who is the head chef of Iron Chef Restaurant in Garapan, are both undefeated after playing four games Tuesday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium multi-purpose room in Oleai.

The two faced the same opponents in the first round and defeated fellow medalist Budhi Gurung, and Marianas Amateur Table Tennis Association mainstays Mario Espeleta, Peter De Leon, and Con Pobre.

The tie between Chen and Su is expected to be broken tonight when the two face off against each other in the conclusion of the two-day qualifying round for Saipan players.

Gurung and Espeleta are both at 2-2. Gurung beat Espeleta and De Leon and lost to Chen and Su. He will play Pobre tonight to wrap up his qualifying round assignment. Espeleta, for his part, was the winner in his match-up with Pobre and De Leon while falling to powerhouses Chen and Gurung. He will play Chen tonight.

De Leon (0-4) and Pobre (0-3) are so far winless in the qualifying round. De Leon lost to Gurung, Chen, Su, and Espeleta and will play Pobre tonight, while Pobre fell to Su, Chen, and Espeleta but has two chances to barge into the win column with matches scheduled tonight against Gurung and De Leon.

Interim CNMI National Table Tennis team coach Steve Lim is expected to pick six men players and four women players to wear the CNMI’s colors in the 6th Micronesian Games set here on Saipan from June 23 to July 2.

The second leg of the tryouts for the national ping-pong team will continue on April 1 and 2, Saturday and Sunday, on Tinian.

MATTA said the Tinian edition of the tryouts would coincide with MATTA’s biannual goodwill tournament with the table tennis club of Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino.

Like swimming, triathlon, baseball, and softball, table tennis is one of the sports the CNMI is expected to do well and medal in the Games.

In the 2005 South Pacific Mini Games in Palau, the team of with Chen, Su, and Gurung—under the guidance of Lim—won a bronze medal in the team competition for table tennis.

The CNMI actually finished fourth behind powerhouses New Caledonia (Gold), Guam (Silver), Fiji (Bronze), but since the South Pacific Games Council awards two bronze medals—one for the third place team and a second to the fourth place teams—the CNMI was able to salvage bronze.

The team’s brightest moment during the Mini Games came against Solomon Islands, whose players were swept by the NMI representatives, 9-0.

The CNMI Men’s National Table Tennis Team rebounded admirably from a 9-0 shutout suffered in the hands of Guam earlier in the competition.

Aside from their shellacking of the Solomon Islands, Gurung and company also swept Marshalls, 9-0, and took two of the nine games against New Caledonia in their opening bout and took Fiji to the limit before falling, 5-4.