MATTA: Increased training was the difference

Marianas Amateur Table Tennis Association president Steven Lim credited the Saipan delegation’s 19-17 win over Tinian during last weekend’s 7th CNMI Goodwill Table Tennis Tournament to his players’ renewed dedication to training.

“Certainly, it [increase training] is something that the Saipan players are crediting the success to, the fact that they have increased their training time from just two sessions of two- to three-hour workouts a week, to three sessions a week. We eventually plan to increase the variety of training that the players are doing, at least on Saipan,” he said.

Although, he praised his players for the improvement in their skills, Lim stopped short of saying that Saipan has finally caught up with their counterparts across the channel as witnessed by the outcome of two-day tournament held at Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino’s spacious ballroom.

“I wouldn’t say that the tide has turned completely on Saipan’s favor. It was a closely fought tournament, which could have gone once again in Tinian’s favor should Lady Luck have chosen to side with them,” he said.

Lim said the tournament results would’ve gone either way and had Saipan No. 3 Budhi Gurung lost to Bright Liu in the 36th and final match, the tournament would have ended in an 18-18 tie.

The MATTA president also thanked TDHC for once again playing perfect hosts to the Saipan delegation, which further underscored the true friendly nature of the tournament.

“The TDHC staff, especially our opposite numbers, were as always, gracious hosts, who truly make the competition one of goodwill,” Lim said.

As for future plans to include the other two inhabited islands of the Marianas Chain—Rota and Guam—Lim remains hopeful of one day organizing such a tournament for table tennis.

“Instead of focusing on just the ongoing training from the two neighboring islands, I would like to hear that there would also be a group of enthusiasts who would be dedicated or even devoted to playing and training in the sport on Rota, where we have not heard much activity from. A three-way tournament or even four-way with Guam would truly be fun,” he said.

After finishing on the shorter end of the stick the previous six goodwill tournaments, Saipan finally defeated Tinian over the weekend.

Saipan’s Su Yong Dong also became the first player from the island to top the singles competition after the Seaman’s Restaurant owner went undefeated in six games. Gurung finished fourth overall with a 4-2 record, followed by Chen Lin Ying (3-3), Mario Espeleta (3-3), Con Pobre (3-3), and Lim (0-6).

Luke Lu was Tinian’s performer and lost only to Su to wound up with a 5-1 record. Charlie Cheng was third overall after going 4-2, while Liang Wei Bin (3-3), Robin Lu (2-4), Liu (2-4), and Alfred Yue (1-5) make up the rest of the Tinian squad.