MATTA holds farewell dinner for Pobre, De Leon

Marianas Amateur Table Tennis Association hosted a farewell dinner for members Con Pobre and Peter De Leon Tuesday night at the Guangzuo Restaurant in Garapan.

De Leon, an architect with E.F. Camacho Engineers and Architects, would be relocating to Seoul, South Korea, for his next job.

Meanwhile, Pobre, who is the bank manager of PNB Remittance Saipan, would be leaving for his next overseas assignment in the U.S mainland.

De Leon and Pobre, along with MATTA president Steve Lim and vice president Budhi Gurung as well as other members Luzette Pasana and Jean Shi and her two sons, spent the evening reminiscing how they became involved with the group and talked about fun memories playing the sport in the CNMI.

They also talked about the declining membership of the group as well as the current situation on Saipan.

“It’s really hard to go especially for me. I remember winning in my first tournament,” said De Leon, who has been on Saipan since 1991. He started joining MATTA activities in 1999.

Lim said De Leon and Pobre helped a lot as committee officials during the Micronesian Games that Saipan hosted in 2006.

Pobre joined MATTA in 2006. He has been involved in the sport since his college days as a varsity player for the University of Santo Tomas. Then, he played with several clubs in Manila including the Harrison Plaza Table Tennis Club and the PNB Table Tennis Club.

Lim, who has been the president since his first election in 2001, said there are currently just four active players because many have left Saipan already.

MATTA, which is a member of the International Table Tennis Federation, is virtually composed of guest workers and Lim is encouraging locals to join them.

The ping-pong association had been in existence since 1988 with Americans, Indians, and Chinese comprising the group, at one time or another.

Then in the 1990s, a Chamorro, Joe Santos, was at the helm and the group continued to draw players with good numbers until lately when many players from the Philippines went home for good.

Unlike other SPG countries that are well funded by the national government, MATTA is not in a position to host regional tournaments because of its lack of funds and membership.

Such regional tournaments should have been an excellent venue to test their mettle and in the process gain more experience against the best in the region.

The group, however, has been holding smaller tournaments twice a year with better players from the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino based on neighboring Tinian. It also recently started luring Guam players to play in the CNMI and will host a number of Japanese players next month during its Big Ball competition.