DFWTT Progress of Activities for 2008

(By Daniel Rutenberg – USATT Certified Coach)
 

As DFWTT continues its mission to provide quality table tennis to its members in the DFW area, 2008 has started with a very strong support, lots of play and new activities.  We would like to thank all of our members and volunteers for your continued support, without you we couldn’t accomplish many of the goals and activities we have developed to promote the sport of table tennis in North Texas.  If you have any comments, suggestions or feedback in general, please let us know as we would like to hear from you.  Remember that DFWTT is here for you!

Here is a summary of DFWTT’s activities and community involvement so far for this year…·        

Coppell High School Table Tennis Exhibition – On October 17 DFWTT did a table tennis exhibition for the newest Coppell HS table tennis club.  With more than 75 students, the Coppell HS table tennis club shows its true colors, enthusiasm and good talent for the sport. DFWTT was welcomed by a friendly group of ping-pong enthusiast who couldn’t wait to get involved in the activities.  Daniel and Donna demonstrated how table tennis is played, showed some of the fundamentals and got the students involved.
We want to thank Jen Roe the club sponsor and Davy Mares President of CHS table tennis club.  Congratulations on the creation of your club and we at DFWTT look forward to continue working with you and your program.
If your school has a ping-pong club or if you are interested in starting a club please let us know, we will be delighted to assist you. 

Table Tennis Exhibition at Collin Creek Mall in Plano Texas – On September 13 DFWTT said YES with a special clinic and exhibition to youth in the Plano area! DFWTT participated along side many other Olympic sports at the 2nd annual Youth Explore Sports at Collin Creek Mall.  Donna Chen and Daniel Rutenberg introduced the Olympic sport of table tennis to the residents of Plano and Collin County with an exhibition in which members of the community got involved.  It was fascinating to see how many people really enjoy playing ping-pong but perhaps didn’t realize that table tennis was that organized in particular in our own community, said Coach Rutenberg.  DFWTT wants to thank Vic, Gregg and all volunteers from YES that helped us to make another successful event!
         Daniel & Donna in action at the Sport Expo for kids in Plano Texas     

2008 Double Ten Tournament – With more than 72 players and 14 tables last September 27th, at Cimarron Rec Center in Irving, DFWTT celebrated the Taiwanese festivities with its traditional annual “Double Ten” tournament.  This year’s tournament hosted a few events by age and gender ranging from as young as under 8 years of age all the way through over 70 years old.  This year’s Double Ten champion was Russ Hamilton who defeated Alex Wang in an spectacular match.  In addition, once again the doubles competition was very popular among the participants.  This year’s double kings supreme were Sara Fu and double partner Eddie James Yang by defeating in a delightful classic match against Russ Hamilton & Kevin Tsai.  There were 15 different events played.  Congratulations to all inners and all those who participated in this tournament.  Also, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our volunteers and sponsors who helped us to make this non-sanctioned tournament a classic in the DFW area.  We hope to see you next year!  For complete results, please visit: http://www.dfwtt.com/Results_File/Results_2008.htm#2008DoubleTen   

        
Double Ten Tournament @ Cimarron Rec Center    

Warning on the use of illegal long pips rubbers- According to the USATT (the governing body of table tennis) we have been reminded that a number of rubbers have been banned by the ITTF effective the first of July 2008. For the ITTF list of Approved TT Equipment please click on the following URL: http://www.ittf.com/ittf_equipment/pdf/Racket_list_no_29B.pdf

Please be aware of these changes as they may affect your game. If we could be of any further assistance please let us know.

DFWTT 2008 Spring Tournament - Gumbos Ludovic wins the DFWTT 2008 Spring Tournament. 

Our classical Spring Tournament took place on May 31^st at the JCC in Dallas.  First of all we want to thank all of the athletes that participated in the tournament. Also, a special thank you to our organizers and volunteers whom have made this tournament a complete success!  In particular, we want to acknowledge and recognize the significant and growing number of young players that entered the tournament. 

Over 100 players entered the tournament plus a significant number of spectators enjoyed the tournament, with competition on 17 Butterfly tables in a qualifier giant Round Robin format.  The same format was applied in both the sanctioned and non-sanctioned tournament.  This tournament attracted players from our DFWTT Clubs, other local clubs from the Metroplex, players from the State of Texas, including representatives from Houston and Austin.  In addition, we had players from Oklahoma and Louisiana, who participated in this one-star tournament.

In the sanctioned tournament, Ludovic Gombos and Timothy Wang (from Houston) met in the final under the Open Category Class A.  Gombos defeated Timmy in the 5^th game after a classic match between these two very strong and skillful players.  Definitely, Gombos experience and level of coolness gave him the advantage when he needed the most to dominate the match.  Both players exhibited their high quality skills of table tennis and we observed very powerful and offensive strokes during the length of the match.  This duel was a classic showcase of speed, spin and placement. However, once again loops and counter-loops dominated each rally.

In Class B, Sinhsay Tongkhuya finished 1^st, followed by Chenda (Sam) Liu.  In Class C – Junjie Yang ended in 1^st place while Connie Chen finished in 2^nd.  In Class D – Arnon Ponchai in 1^st and Andrew Khor in 2^nd.  In Class E – Brandon Garner in 1^st, and Max Bu in 2^nd. And, in Class F – Eric Lee ended in 1^st and Willian Huang in 2^nd.

Doubles –

Congratulations to all winners, second and runner ups, but especially to all athletes who entered the tournament.  Thanks for your continued support and we look forward to providing you with quality tournaments in the future.  For complete results and information about DFWTT please go to http://www.dfwtt.com/Results_File/Results_2008.htm#2008SpringOpen.

We look forward to seeing you in our upcoming tournament on September 27, 2008 our Chinese Double Ten Celebration.  Please check out website for complete details and entry form.

·         Special thanks to our volunteers – All of us at DFWTT wanted to acknowledge and recognize their continued and unconditional support of the Khor Family and Tom Jurcak.  In particular we wanted to thank them for all their hard work in helping us painting our barriers with our DFWTT logo.  I hope you agree but they have done an amazing job and the barriers looked great!  THANK YOU Allysa, Carl, Andrew, Aston and Tom!

 

·         What do players and spectators have to say about DFWTT and our Tournaments – During the Spring Tournament some of the players, parents and spectators either reached us or we reached at them for their feedback and comments about our efforts. We’re very thankful for your views and comments, which we’ll take on board and will implement some of your ideas in future events.  Also, we wanted to share with you some of the feedback from a few interviews we did during the tournament…

 

Addy Winfred (Oklahoma – Rating 2191) – Addy reports to us that he has been playing table tennis pretty much all of his 35 years of age.  When we asked why he plays table tennis, he said in a very humble fashion “to have his butt kicked,” also he adds because it is a fun sport and it is his excuse to away from home to meet his table tennis friends.  He told us that he currently practices 4 days a week.  What he likes the most about table tennis is the feisty and good attitude of all involved in the sport and also a good opportunity to exercise.

 

DFWTT Note – Addy keep playing and have fun as you go alone!

 

Christa Moore (Euless TX – non-rated) – Christa is a German national and a very caring person.  It is a treat having the opportunity to talk to her about table tennis and actually everything else.  She is a true inspiration!  Christa was telling that she hasn’t played in 32 years, but decided to come back to the sport about a year and a half ago, when her husband took her to watch a tournament, she got hooked again to the sport.  She is telling us that because she hasn’t played in a long time she gets a lot of satisfaction watching different styles and nationalities.  She also likes the new techniques and the new ball size (DFWTT’s note that the current ball is 40 mm while in the past we used to play with a 38 mm ball).  When I asked Christa about her views on seeing so many kids in our tournaments, she got so excited and told us that even though most of the young players she sees are mostly Asians, she is delighted to see kids from other ethnicities as well.  When asking her about her opinions on playing young players either at tournaments or just for fun, she said that she observes her opponents regardless if they are young or old and she looks for some of the following aspects – which hand is my opponent holding the paddle?  What is his/her style?  She always try to use her strategy and remains focus regardless of her opponents and always tries to stay calm on the play.  When we asked her for her comments on what to tell new players, especially young players trying to get into table tennis, she said that she would say that even though table tennis perhaps is not as a popular sport in the U.S., it is an indoor sport that provides too many options. It is a mind game that makes you think. She indicated that what you get in is what you get out – basically she said that the harder you practice the better you get.  Christa plays 3 times a week about 2 to 3 hours per time.  She plays table tennis because it is fun and helps her to unleash the stress and it is also a great cardio exercise.

 

DFWTT Note – Christa what an inspiration for our players and all of us involved in table tennis, keep it up!

 

Bill Gans & John Gans (Arlington TX – non-rated) – We had the pleasure of meeting Bill the father of John (13) who came out for his first tournament ever.  From Bill’s perspective he was telling us that this is an amazing experience for them. Also that it is fun for his son playing in the tournament as they usually play at home. They both enjoy playing at home but are glad the found our tournament and came to participate.  Bill was telling us that our tournament was very well organized; all the people are very friendly and make him to want to play in the next tournament.  He usually plays for fun with the family.

 

John has been playing for fun for about 2 years now. Mostly he plays at home against his father.  He said that he is getting better than his father, although most of the times all games are normally close.  John told us that ping pong is fun!  Using his own words, he said table tennis is “addicting’ – he said that he and his dad play over 20 matches every Saturday.  What he has liked the most from the tournament has been the number of players and so many different levels and skills, also the good sportsmanship shown by all players, especially after people loses they still shake hands and are friendly.  He was also impressed to see how many kids entered the tournament as he enjoys playing other kids.  Table tennis is entertaining!

 

DFWTT Note – Bill and John, we are glad that you guys came to the tournament and that you had fun.  We hope to see you around and make sure you keep playing…perhaps you want to challenge other players on Saturdays or come out to our clubs!  We look forward to seeing you in our next tournament if not sooner.

 

Harry McKeever (Dallas TX – 1377) – Harry has been a strong supporter and member of DFWTT for a good number of years.  We’ve enjoyed seeing the improvements and milestones that he has reached in his table tennis career, where he reached his highest rating of 1592 in 2003.  Harry was telling us that he started playing table tennis seriously in 1993 after retirement of his professional career.  He was introduced to the sport of table tennis during World War II in Japan.  He went to college and pursued his professional career.  When he retired he got interested in table tennis. He met Donna Chen and others the rest is history.  He has played many tournaments.  When asking him why he plays table tennis in a very humbling manner he also told us that is not a matter of winning or loosing but to have fun – and you had to see his smile!  It is more a physical activity that has evolved to become a mental game according to his views and how he plays the game today – he said that his game has changed dramatically.  When asked him about his views in playing young players at tournaments, he told us that he likes playing all players,, and he enjoys playing younger players …However, he mentioned that he has always played at the Senior Games and perhaps he had played more Seniors than any other players. He also indicated that he likes the Giant Round Robin format as it will give him an option to play better and higher rated players.  In some other tournaments and formats that’s very difficult, so it is harder for us to have a good match against the best players of the tournament.

Harry ha splayed at Senior Games nationwide and has indicated to us that there are about 350 senior players in his age group.  DFWTT Note: Harry is shy of 80 years of age!

Harry’s advise to younger players and beginners trying to get into table tennis include among others the fact that table tennis is a great individual sport and very complete sport.  You find great people in here and many will become friends for life.  He singles out with a lot of pride in the selection of his words that “table tennis might not be much of a team effort but whatever you get out is your own accomplishments.”  Table tennis offers you the opportunity to play very high caliber players, while you should love the game and have fun while you are playing.

He likes to see more and more kids and he hopes that this trend continues. Harry indicated that he has seen over the years how DFWTT attracts more and more youngsters.  He told us that when he plays against kids, he likes to slow the pace of the game; this is something that he has learned based on his experience as a veteran player.  He also told us that he enjoys playing doubles a lot, where he has been perhaps more successful.  Lastly, he was telling us that comparing table tennis perhaps to other sports he’s always impressed with the sportsmanship and how people shake hands regardless of who wins or loses a match!  However, he singles out that kids need to learn more about accepting defeat and respect plus recognize their opponent’s efforts especially when they win.  In other words, kids need to learn more ethics about the sport and not necessarily to accept victory.

 

DFWTT Note – Harry we commend you for your story and your skills … what an inspiration to all of us.  Keep playing and many successes in the senior tour and we look forward to seeing you at the club and in future tourneys!

In particular, we wish to thank Allen Hung, Mrs. Heider and Mrs. Moore for their help in making this exhibition a complete success!  We'll continue working with JJ Pearce Table Tennis club to make sure they achieve their goals!  We also wish them good luck during their finals and a great summer!

If your school has a ping-pong club or if you are interested in starting a club please let us know, we will be delighted to assist you. 

·         Volunteers needed! – On the weekend of May 17-18 DFWTT will be painting its barriers. If you are available and interested in giving us a hand, please contact Donna and let her know that you want to participate.  Come help us change the image of our club barriers!

·         1^st High School Invitational Table Tennis Championship – It was nothing but Jesuit Rangers!  Stephen Shropshire (Jesuit) defeated Allen Hung (JJ Pearce) 3-0 in the Class A finals to win our first High School Invitational Table Tennis Championship!  Alex Kaufman (JCC Akiba) defeated Brandon Ciskowski (Jesuit) to end first in the Class B category.  This event is our first attempt to set the foundations for an annual high school tournament in the Dallas area.  This experimental event brought together 17 players representing 4 different area high schools.  The event was held at the JCC in Dallas on May 4^th, 2008.

DFWTT would like to thank everyone who participated in this event, but especially we want to extend our gratitude to JJ Pearce for the enthusiasm in getting this tournament off the ground!  JJ Pearce sponsored the trophies while DFWTT provided the medals for the runner ups and consolations brackets.  We also want to thank the JCC for their generosity and continued support!  This tournament was also a preparatory event for the upcoming JCC Maccabi Games, where Team Dallas participated as well.

We’re very pleased with the turnout and sportsmanship we had for this tournament.  We believe this could be the start of a bigger annual area high school event. 

As we continue to promote table tennis in North Texas for the schools and our youth, if you or your school – Middle school or high school – are interested in participating at future school events, please let us know.  For complete Results please click here.

·         14 new Butterfly tables! – On Sunday, May 4^th DFWTT received 14 new tables. All the brand new Match Rollway tables were assembled and are ready for use!  These sanctioned tables will be used in our upcoming Spring Tournament on May 31^st at the JCC.  Come and play in our brand new tables!  Needless to say, we want to thank our team of volunteers who came and helped with the assembly of the tables. A special THANK YOU to Vic, Teres, Tom, Larry, Carl, Allysa, Andrew and Aston! 

 

          

Are you going to help or just take pictures?               Allysa is learning from Teres!

 

 

            The team in action!                                   Larry where is the missing part?     Hey, want to play a match?

 

·         Table Tennis for the 1^st time in McKinney Texas – On Friday, May 2^nd DFWTT was present at Reuben Johnson Elementary School in McKinney, Texas.  Over 350 students at this exemplary school saw first hand how the Olympic Sport of table tennis is played.  The students were split by grades, we started with the 5^th graders, followed by the 4^th graders and ended with the 3^rd graders!  Kids were able to learn about the history of table tennis, when the sport became an Olympic sport and watched a clinic run by Donna Chen and Daniel Rutenberg.  Then, the kids were able to get hands on and play with us and also had an opportunity to play against Newgy’s Robo-pong 2040!

 

DFWTT wants to thank Lisa Stout and TEAM of PE Teachers at Reuben Johnson Elementary and also we want to thank the School for allowing us to bring for the first time ever the sport of table tennis to the city of McKinney!  Also, we want to commend the initiative taken by the School in trying to showcase to thee kids the different Olympic sports to be seeing in the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. We’re delighted that the school included table tennis.

 

In addition, we want to recognize and thank our Allan Chong for his help at this event as one of the coaches.

 

It was encouraging to see so many kids ages 6 to 11 fascinating with the activity.  Kids were eager to cheer and get involved in the different activities we did with them.  We noticed a lot of talent within the School…who knows, maybe one of our future Olympians for table tennis may come from McKinney TX!

 

Some of the teachers told us that they didn’t realize how much exercise you do when you play ping-pong and it could be an excellent alternative for our School, especially when kids nowadays struggle to exercise … they spend to much time playing video games!  We’re glad that Reuben Johnson will consider table tennis as part if their PE efforts.

 

If you are interested in DFWTT running an exhibition at your school or need help setting up a program at your school, please contact Donna or Daniel at DFWTT.  We’ll be glad to help you.

 

A day of fun and lots of table tennis at Reuben Johnson Elementary School

 

·      DFWTT Spring 2008 Tournament – Please be reminded of our upcoming Spring Tournament at the JCC on May 31^st, 2008.  Up to $950 in Prizes up for grabs!  By popular demand, this fun Giant Round Robin format is back and it will be offered in both Sanctioned and non-Sanctioned competition.  Don’t delay, enter now!  Just remember the first 72 entries on each of the events will be accepted!  See the tournament Entry Form for complete details, format and prizes.

 

Remember, for each participant at DFWTT tournaments, DFWTT will be making a $2 donation to a non-profit children’s educational organization.  Thank you for playing and for helping in making a difference!

 

If there are any special formats or events that you would like to see in future tournaments, please drop us an email or tell us next time you see us.

 

·        Charity Program - For each participant at DFWTT tournaments, DFWTT is making a $2 donation to a non-profit children’s educational organization.  So far since the inception of this program, DFWTT has contributed $735!  Thank you for helping us to make a difference in the future of children’s education.

 

·      Coming Soon! High School Tournament – In addition to one of our own initiatives to provide a healthy and competitive environment to Juniors, we’ll be conducting our first invitational High School tournament on May 4^th at the JCC location.

 

If you are in Middle School or High School, you like playing table tennis and would like to learn more about how your school could get involved in future table tennis activities, please contact Coach Daniel Rutenberg.

 

·     Table Tennis Exhibition at Reuben Johnson Elementary– As part of our efforts to promote table tennis in our community, DFWTT will be present on May 2^nd in the morning hours at Reuben Johnson Elementary School in McKinney Texas demonstrating to over 300 students how to play table tennis.  This activity is done in an effort to promote the sport of table tennis in the McKinney School community in anticipation of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China later this year in August.

 

·      NEW – After School Program in Plano, Texas – In our continued efforts to promote table tennis for the youth, DFWTT has done it again!  With the unconditional support and help of Coach Gregg Hatt at Jessie Marie Riddle Elementary School in Plano on Tuesday, April 22^nd, 2008 we started our newest after school program.

 

Over 20 kids between ages 6 through 11 were so excited to learn all about the fascinating sport of table tennis.  Parents got also involved in some of the initial drills and had an opportunity to share with their kids.  Some of the parents told us that “they are glad that we started an after school ping pong class in Plano once again,” another one said that “it is so good to see so many kids and all from the same school engaged in such a dynamic and fun sport.”

 

Our sincere THANKS to the school’s Principal Rachel Taylor, Assistant Principal Jina Eksaengsri and especially to Coach Hatt head of PE Department for their support and opportunity.  We at DFWTT look forward to providing added value to the continued educational efforts done at this outstanding elementary school in Plano!

 

Our after school table tennis program at Riddle offers children a fun, stimulating, educational and safe environment that provides a wide variety and high quality of supervised table tennis activities.

 

DFWTT has designed a fun learning environment that provides children with a great and wonderful time – Our after school program is for children 6 to 12 years old and runs every Tuesdays evening at Riddle Elementary School in Plano.

 

This new after school program is a combined effort between DFWTT and Riddle Elementary School.

 

Students at the New After School Program with Coaches Gregg and Daniel

 

·      JJ Pearce High School Table Tennis Club – We wanted to congratulate JJ Pearce High School in Richardson for the recent creation of a dream come true, their table tennis club.  With the support, advice and expertise of DFWTT, JJ Pearce has managed to get 5 tables and 72 registered club members for the current academic year.  A special thanks to Allen Hung, Mrs. Kim Heider and Mrs. Marilynn Moore for their continued support and also for their efforts in making that their school table tennis club became a reality.  Congratulations!!!! 

 

DFWTT has been instrumental in providing support by allowing Open Play at DFWTT clubs and also by providing some group lessons.  A table tennis exhibition will be scheduled for later on in May 2008.  We invite other schools to start their own table tennis clubs.  If your school has a table tennis club or if your school is interested in opening a ping-pong club and need help, please let us know, we’ll be more than happy to help you.

 

·      Youth Development Programs (on-going activity) – Our Junior program continues to grow strong.  Our group lessons for Juniors on Friday night at our Cimarron location is getting very popular with our students.  Week after week we enjoy watching the progress being made by the athletes as they get more proficient with their fundamentals and techniques.  This effort allows us to provide quality training and excellent service to our participants. 

 

In addition, our involvements at the JCC with the Maccabi program, plus the Tzu Chi Chinese School and Merit Chinese School programs allow us to promote the sport of table tennis in different spectrums in the DFW area. 

 

Later on this year, we’ll have a new after school program in the Plano area.  In addition, we’re working very hard to prototype some High School tournaments in the area. For more information about our Junior Programs please contact Coach Donna or Coach Daniel.

 

Coach Daniel Rutenberg at Tzu Chi Academy

 

·     Newgy Industries – Improve your game by training with a new Newgy Robot.  Great complement to your home ping-pong table, an excellent idea for families trying to add more quality time when playing together, excellent for kids and adults. Also, advance and competitive players could benefit from the different options the Newgy product offer.  Now order your Newgy Robot or any of the Newgy accessories online through our website.  DFWTT is a Newgy dealer in the DFW area.

 

Newgy Robo-Pong 2040 & Pong Master

 

·      Maccabi Games 2008 – Last February over 30 athletes participated in table tennis tryouts to secure 4 spots for Team Dallas, whom will be representing JCC Dallas in the Maccabi Games 2008 in San Diego, California later this summer.  Practices are underway twice a week under the coordination of Team Dallas Head Coach Daniel Rutenberg.

 

·     DFW Table Tennis (DFWTT) 2008 Texas Winter Games – Frisco, Texas – January 12, 2008

(By Daniel Rutenberg )

 

For the second year in a row, DFW Table Tennis (DFWTT) was delighted to host the 2008 Texas Winter Games Table Tennis Tournament at the new Athletic Center in Frisco, Texas on January 12, 2008.  With over 70 table tennis athletes from Austin, Houston, Minneapolis, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Dallas & Ft. Worth, this tournament was a complete success.

 

 Gumbos Ludovic wins the 2008 DFWTT Texas Winter Games Tournament

The second Texas Winter Games took place on January 12, 2008 at the new Frisco Athletic Center in Frisco, Texas.  Sponsors, players, spectators, organizers and volunteers, together with Tournament Director Donna Chen, Tournament Referee Scott Ryan and head coach Daniel Rutenberg, made the event possible and successful. 

We want to thank our sponsor Newgy Industries who donated a brand new Robo-Pong 2040, which was raffled among players and spectators.  The robot was the sensation of the tournament!  Both players and spectators, especially children of all ages, genders and sizes played with the robot for the duration of the tournament.  Towards the end of the day, the robot went home with the happy winner, our Junior Player Sam Lu.

Also, we want to thank our other sponsor Zeropong for providing some equipment, which was on display and for sale at the tournament site.

In addition, we want to thank the 2008 Texas Winter Games organizing committee and Texas Amateur Athletic Federation (TAAF) and its sponsors for their continued support and help in making this tournament a reality.

Since our Fall Open tournament, DFWTT has started a new initiative to help other organizations devoted to children’s education.  Since our Fall Open Tournament, for each entered player, DFWTT is making a $2 donation to the non-profit children’s educational organization – Rainbow Days.  Thank you to Rainbow Days for being also a benefactor of this tournament!

Over 70 players and about 150 spectators enjoyed the Texas Winter Games, with competition on 14 Butterfly tables in 22 different events, which were included in the sanctioned and non-sanctioned tournament.  Besides local players and athletes from the State of Texas, including Austin, Houston and the Dallas & Fort Worth area, we had players from Oklahoma, Arkansas and Minnesota, who participated in the two-star tournament.

In the Open Singles Class A, Ludovic Gumbos and Courtney Roberts met in the final.  Players and spectators once again were delighted with the display of high quality table tennis from these two lefty powerful and offensive players, where loops and counter-loops dominated each rally.  Gumbos defeated Roberts after a great match.  Joel Roberts from Minnesota finished in 3^rd place.  In Class B – Chenda (Sam) Lu finished in 1^st, followed by Charles Wang in 2^nd and Zizhen Hu in 3^rd.  In Class C – Andrew Khor ended in 1^st, James Eddie Yang in 2^nd and Leonard Daniel Adams in 3^rd.  In Class D – Tom Jurcak ended in 1^st, Bruce Bailey in 2^nd and Robert Payne in 3^rd.  In Class E – Jack Chen finished in 1^st, Grady Thompson in 2^nd and Kristen Thorn & Ricky Tang in 3^rd.

We also want to thank Bill Garrard and Vic Maryoung for their help manning the Newgy and Zeropong stands and for raising funds to the raffle for the Robo Pong 2040 donated by Newgy!  Also, we want to recognize and acknowledge Allysa Khor for her help with lunch during the tournament and for her continued and unconditional support to our activities.   

Congratulations to all the winners, second and third places and especially to those that entered this special tournament, including those Frisco and Plano residents who came and played in both rated and unrated events!  Many thanks to all the spectators who came, watched and helped us in running this successful tournament.  Of particular importance, we here at DFWTT want to acknowledge and recognize all the cadet and junior players that came and participated in the Texas Winter Games.  DFWTT is committed to providing high quality table tennis to our youth in the Metroplex … until next year!  For complete results and information about DFWTT, please go to http://www.dfwtt.com/Results_File/Results_2008.htm#2008WinterGames.

 

DFW Table Tennis (DFWTT) is one of the leading table tennis membership organizations in the nation that promotes, develops and implements programs for the sport of table tennis regardless of the player’s experience, through family values, excellence and quality in sportsmanship environment in the Dallas & Fort Worth area.  DFWTT is affiliated with USATT and it was established in 1996. 

The 2008 Texas Winter Games Table Tennis competition was at the new Frisco Athletic Center.  This new two-story facility sits on 19 acres in Frisco Texas and spans over 100,000 square feet, including incredible facilities including aquatic, state of the art cardio facilities and many other sports and classes options. The Winter Games of Texas is the ultimate amateur athletic sports festival for Texas’ many amateur athletes.  Established in 1986 as the Summer Games, the Games are patterned after the Olympic Games and U.S. Olympic Festivals.  The games provide a forum for training and competition among Texas’ own Olympic hopefuls as well as both youth and adult recreational athletes, with participant’s ages ranging from 6 to 70.  The inaugural Winter Games of Texas was held in 2006 in Frisco, Texas.

Views of the 2008 Winter Games at the new Frisco Athletic Center

Ludovic Gumbos vs. Corntney Roberts warming up! 

 Some players and spectators having a good time!