OOAK Table Tennis Forum

So, who's going to the team championship this weekend in Rockford? This will be my third time (out of four years) playing in it. I have two of the same guys on my team as last year, when we took second in our division, and a new fourth player. We are all rated between 1845 and 1911, so we are a well balanced squad. The funny thing is, last year I was the lowest rated guy and this year I am the highest rated. I love playing in these team events, and am really looking forward to testing how my game has developed lately. It will be a fun weekend, to be sure. Hope to see some of you guys there!

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Looks like the preliminary rounds will be HUGE for our team's destiny at this tournament.

There are 35 teams, which are initially divided into four groups (one group of 8 and three groups of 9). In the initial seeding, we are the top team in Group C. Great for trying to win money, but not so great for trying to gain rating points.

In the preliminary round, we will play the lowest rated team of the tournament and the lowest rated team from Group B. Assuming we beat the lowest rated team in the tournament, whether we end up at the bottom of Group B or one of the top in Group C will depend on whether or not we win or lose that match.

On the one hand, it's fun to win a lot of matches and especially to win money. I've been on teams that won second place in our division both years I've played in this event and the money is nice. However, I'd much prefer if we pulled off the slight upset and got into the bottom of Group B. That way I'd be playing players who are almost all rated higher than me. Otherwise, I think I will be one of the highest rated players in Group C, meaning I need to really dominate to not lose rating points. As my main goal is to reach a rating of 2000 right now, getting into Group B would be huge.

It will be a classic matchup of a balanced team vs. an unbalanced one. The top guy on that team is rated over 2100, the #2 guy is around 1880 and the third guy is rated around 1720. A big key will be whether or not the 1720 guy is underrated. We will need to win all 3 of our matches against him, and if he's underrated and pulls off an upset or two it will be tough to win without a huge upset of our own against the 2100 guy. I've heard that both he and the 1880 guy might be underrated, but they're both from Alaska and we only have the word of one person about their level. Plus, style matchups mean a lot and who knows how they will match up against us.

In either case, it will be a fun challenge, either to try to run the table, hold our place and win the title, or to pull some upsets, be the spoiler and gain rating points.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Mike Meier, my KFTTC dude and Int. Umpire friend will be going with a team of ringers.

I hope my friend Johnny Yoon shows up with his handmade Hinoki 1-Ply blade to clean up on the field.

I will be there in spirit...

_________________
Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

It's a fun event, I'm really looking forward to it. I love the team events, having guys there to pick you up if you get down is great.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

I bet you won't like this Monday coming Doug (unless you arranged a day off of course )

In our neck of the woods we also have a tourney on tomorrow (Sunday), which may be the biggest Vets event for the year here I think. I've never played in it before, so will be something different perhaps. We had a thread about it here....somewhere

Anyway, enjoy the TT coma!

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Good news is, Monday is Memorial Day, which is a national holiday, so I've got the whole day to relax and recover!!! I'm up insanely early for a Saturday (5 am), but I slept well and am having a "normal" morning, which should put me in a good place to start out strong.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Lucky you! Hope I do so well tonight and feel so well when I get up tomorrow lol.

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Sleep, nutrition, and hydration situation greatly affects physical and mental readiness, so that is a good sign for our forum member.

_________________
Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Wasn't so good for me today. I went down to Arlene as mental zombiness kicked in during our match before I had put her away. I lead 2-0 and then my game fell apart and I made her day as she came back to beat me 3-2!

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

What a lot of fun this weekend was. I played 18 matches in a humid venue over the past two days and am pretty wiped out. If a few breaks had gone my way, I could have had a big rating gain. However, in most cases, the breaks went against me.

Luckily, in the preliminary round we pulled off the upset and moved into Group B. Our first match was against the lowest rated team and I won two easy matches. Then we beat a team from Group B 5-4! That put us at the bottom of the group and ensured we'd be playing players 1800 and above the entire time, exactly what we wanted. In that match I lost to a player rated around 1880 due to him getting 2 net balls in the first game and 2 net and 1 edge ball in the second. Both games I lost 11-9. He beat me 3-1. I was hoping it wasn't an indication of things to come, but alas, it was.

My next match I played a 1999 rated short pips player (on his forehand) and I was playing very well. First game he beat me 11-9 on two net balls and did the same to me in the second! I crushed him in the third game and lost a close fourth. So, for the second straight match, I was robbed of a win by bad luck.

Against the next team, I won two matches against a guy in the low 1800s and a guy in the high 1800s. Then in our final team match of the day came a real heartbreaker. I was playing a lefty penholder rated 2012 and was playing very well. Had a grueling match against him, using my pips quite effectively. After a very long, tough match, I lost 16-14 in the fifth game. That would have been a very good win for me. It ended my day on a disappointing note, and left me with three matches that I felt had been very winnable for me, two of which I felt I was robbed by bad luck.

Today was a real mental struggle. First match I lose 3-0, but it was 13-11, 11-8, 12-10, to a 1900 level pips player. Second match was against an almost 2100 player who beat me up a bit in two of the games, and lost another deuce game. Next team match, I played horribly in my first match and got killed by a guy I've beaten in the past, losing another game at deuce in the process. That was five straight losses in games that went to deuce. Then came two more heartbreakers. Lost 3-2 to a college aged kid who would go really hot and really cold. He won the first two games hitting everything then lost the next two missing everything. In the fifth, he went on a tear and hit everything again. Oh, and one of the first two games was another deuce game loss. Six in a row. Final match of that group was against a high school aged kid who was quite underrated in the 1830s. Fought really hard to stay in the match with him. Lost another deuce game early (7 in a row lost), got it back to 2-2, and then, you guessed it, lost at deuce in the fifth game. Second straight five game loss, eight straight deuce game loss, now 0-5 on the day. At this point, I exploded, cursing up a storm and giving my racquet a good fling against a barrier. I was extremely frustrated at this point, I was losing every close game, and playing very inconsistently. Had my game been more "on" I would have been winning all of these.

So, finally, one more match to go. At this point I am calmed down a bit and really desperate for a win. First game against a guy rated in the mid 1800s, and it goes to deuce. But I win!!! That really turned things around for me. I won that match 3-0 and felt good again. My pips really bothered him, and I went to a more controlled looping game based more on placement and spin, since my hard loops and hits were all missing. Cutting down on the errors with a more controlled stroke would continue to pay off. Next up was a guy in the low 1800s who had pulled off a number of upsets on the weekend already. My pips really bothered him too, but I missed a number of attack shots and lost. Second game went to deuce, and I won again! Things were really turning around now. Games 3 and 4 were tight but I won those too, winning my second straight! After the match, his first words to me were that "next time I will beat you". He thinks he's unlocked some exciting secret to beating me in that match. Whatever, dude. So, my final match was against a very good two winged looper/hitter rated 1988. First game I got off to an 8-1 lead. He charged back, cutting my lead to 9-7, but I held on to win 11-7. He says to his teammates that he's going to have "no problem" against me because he's figured me out. Next game, I beat him 11-5. I enjoyed that. Games 3 and 4 he got on fire and was less tentative and beat me. So, here I go again, 18th match of the day, going to a fifth game. Although I'm tired, I start really getting aggressive with stepping around anything weak and hitting a controlled loop. We have some great 6, 8, 10 shot forehand rallies and I'm getting the better of a lot of them! He gets up 10-9 on me and I get it to deuce. Deuce in the fifth again! I get the ad and he evens it up. I'm breathing quite hard now from fatigue. I get the ad again...and win the match! I'm so excited, I let out a few big yells. Another deuce win, a fifth game win, giving our team another point in the match (we won 5-3) and finally a win against a player higher than me in a close match. It was so satisfying on many levels, the last three matches, and the way I was able to turn around a tough situation, really made my weekend. Then this guy also tells me he intends to beat me next time we play. Talk is cheap.

So, that was my weekend, frustrating, maddening, thrilling in the end. We went 3-5 as the bottom seeds, beating the third, fourth and sixth seeds. And most importantly, it was a LOT of fun.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Team events here in Korea are simply Mania.

Johnny Yoon emailed me and said he went to watch the teams play and saw Mike Meier Intl Umpire there.

_________________
Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Did the "Newgy International" team (or whatever they were called) end up losing any matches at all? (If anyone knows).
I was there on Saturday and it looked like they were just playing around (and still winning, of course) in all their matches.

Are the tournament results up or posted anywhere?

Don't know the results of any other matches. Ed will typically post copies of the results on their club website, www.rockfordttc.com. They are not yet up, but I would imagine maybe later today or this week sometime, I think that's how it was last year.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Just saw on the Rockford club website that full results are supposed to be posted later today, I can't wait to see where we ended up placing after starting out in the 9th spot.

http://www.rockfordttc.com

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5