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Goodwill ping-pong tourney set for Mat 23
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Posted on May 15 2009
Paddlers from Saipan and Tinian will again take on each other in the 11th Goodwill Table Tennis Tournament set for May 23 at the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino.
However, unlike the previous stagings of the goodwill tournament, next week’s competition will include a team category to supplement the regular singles and doubles divisions.
“Each team can enter their three best players and whichever team wins five games will be declared as the winner though we have to play a total of nine games. Each player will have to play three games. After that we will play our doubles and singles, which will be played on a knockout basis for first, second, and third place,” said tournament coordinator Budhi Gurung of the Marianas Amateur Table Tennis Association.
The powerhouse Tinian team has become even stronger with the addition of Saipan stalwart Su Yong Dong, who recently relocated to the island. He will be joined by defending singles champion Mark Ma and old reliables Charlie Cheng, Robin Lu, Bright Liu, Alfred Yue, and Liang Wei Bin.
The Saipan team, meanwhile, will be reinforced by Guam’s Hisamitsu Hamamoto and will include MATTA mainstays Jean Shi, Budhi Gurung, Steve Lim, and three players from the Korean Ping-Pong Association.
Gurung said games on May 23 will start at exactly at 9am at the Tinian Dynasty’s ballroom and will be an all-day affair.
In March last year, Tinian’s table tennis players reasserted their dominance in the sport, beating teams from neighboring Guam and Saipan to win the 10th Goodwill Table Tennis Tournament held at the Tinian Dynasty.
Ma and brothers Luke and Robin Lu—collectively known as Tinian A—lost only four games in 40 head-to-head matches against two teams from Saipan, Guam, and their sister team, Tinian B, en route to winning the team competition of the tournament.
In the singles, Ma won the championship followed by Saipan’s Shi and Su.
In the doubles, Ma and Liang teamed up to defeat Shi and Su. The Lu brothers settled for third place.
For more information about the upcoming 11th Goodwill Table Tennis Tournament, call Gurung at 234-1234.
