Dawson - 8 players.

1 first time out player - Martin Ndengang

Larry Buell, Thomas Her, Bob Kyker, Nestor Prato, Seth Sherrif, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

 

Bixby - 14 players.

Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Yee Yang, Manan Azhar, Hamid Ezzat, Michael Childers, Jared Childers, Jacob Childers, Darren Delaune, Rocki, Tariq,  Nestor Prator, Martin Ndengang, John Moore.

 

Tulsa Table Tennis T-shirts will be available soon for $20 to $25 each.

Stephen Ackart is designing a T-shirt for the club.

He has the rough draft with him now.

As soon as he finishes the rough design, he will give it to a graphic artist (that Stephen knows) who will then create a finished look and who will then give it to the T-shirt manufacturer.

The initial order with the T-shirt manufacturer is 20 shirts minimum.

The club will purchase 20 shirts and anyone wishing to purchase a shirt can contact Stephen for the size.

Anyone wishing to submit a competing design can do so or get with Stephen to give him additional ideas for the design he is working on now.

If there are 2 designs that everyone likes, the club may purchase 20 shirts of each design.

 

 

Dawson - 8 players.

Stephen Ackart, Larry Buell, Leonard Williams, Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Nestor Prato, Hamid Ezzat.

The City of Tulsa just emailed me that the door was not locked (or locked and the door was not closed tight) last Thursday - 7-15 and someone opened the door after our club left and set off the alarm.

I don't know who closed up last Thursday, but someone needs to find out who closed up and let them know what happened.

The City also told this has happened several times over the last year.

There is no issue more important for our club than this.

Our club could lose our keys to Dawson if this happens again.

Please let me know so I can provide feedback to the City of Tulsa about this.

Bixby - 12 players.

3 first time out players - Ty Lankford (his daughter does gymnastics on Tuesday nights), Martin Ndengang (he played in Camaroon?), Ray Pestridge

9 regulars - Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Melvin Norton, Jared Childers, Michael Childers, Darren Delaune, John Moore, Matts Johansson, Kay Benyarko.

Dawson - 11 players.

Stephen Ackart, Larry Buell, Yee Yang, Manan Azhar, Leonard Williams, Alex Tupas, Nestor Prato, Thomas Her, Ray Pestridge, Betty Bermudez, Anthony Nguyen. (names from Stephen Ackart).

Bixby - 17 players.

6 first time out players - 5 from the Centrilift Company - Jacob Herriman and Matt Wisnewski (both have been out to Dawson before) and they brought 3 Chinese employees ( ie Hu, He, Lu) who will be in Tulsa for 1-2 months. Also John Karamarczyk (goes to Kays church).

11 regulars - Jim French, Kelly Boyce, Melvin Norton, Alex Tupas, Darren Delaune, Kay Benyarko, Judah Narh, Micheal Childers, Jacob Childers, John Moore, Zack Eldridge.

 

Dawson - 13 players.

1 first time out player - Thomas Her (knows Yee Yang).

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Robert McKinney, Nestor Prato, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 13 players.

1 - first time out player - Nestor Prato (making his once a year trip to Tulsa from Venzuela)

Stephen Ackart, Manan Azhar, Betty Bermudez, Larry Buell, Mike Hamby, Bob Kyker, Yu Ohshima, Anthony Nguyen, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Don Beckstrom from Wichita sent this email to Tulsa on 7-2-10:

From: "donbeckstrom@cox.net"
Subject: Challenge

Looking to start a regional team challenge of some type.

Wichita vs tulsa vs okc vs hutchinson vs salina/abilene.

Any ideas or interest. 

Sanctioned or non-sanctioned.

We would travel there or meet in okc or what ever works.

Just putting out feelers for ideas? 

Thanks. Don Beckstrom. 

A team type tourney of some time (a & b teams if needed)
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Bixby - 17 players.

5 first time out players - Corey Wilson (the dad), Ethan Wilson, Jared Wilson. Judah Narh (knows Kay from his church). Jerry Nabb from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

2 haven't been out in a long time players - Nestor (from Venzuela) and Tariq (from Pakistan).

11 regulars - Darren Delaune, Alex Tupas, Melvin Norton, Kelly Boyce, John Moore, Michael Childers, Jacob Childers, Jim French, Kay Benyarko, Rocki.

 

Dawson - 9 players.

Hamid Ezzat, Mike Hamby, Mats Johansson, Yu Ohshima, Ray Pestridge, Khaled Shehada, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 6 players.

Melvin Norton, Kelly Boyce, John Moore, Jim French, Darren Delaune, Kay Benyarko

Dawson - 12 players.

2 first time out players - Reuben Agimudie (Nick's son - just watched only). Yu Ohshima (from OSU).

10 regulars - Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Don Beckstrom, Kyle Beckstrom, Bob Kyker, Reed Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams.

Larry's Buell's article on the Sooner State Games this weekend:

2010 Summer Sooner State Games
June 26
Larry Buell

The days of summer are sizzling, and so was the play at the Summer Sooner Games this year!

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First to heat up and catch on fire was our own Steve Ackart.

Steve has always had the tools to succeed, now he has paired those with a more insightful game strategy to begin climbing the ladder of Table Tennis success!

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Steve played exceedingly well in both the U-1700s and U-1850s.

I was not there to observe the U-1700s, but the results speak for themselves – Steve won this event!

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Equally impressive, though, was his victory in winning the U-1850s.

He battled out wins over 2nd place finisher John Noori (1611) and Warren Lemma (1617).

John had been playing well, with a powerful forehand drive/smash and exceedingly tricky side-top corkscrew serves.

Warren, who plays with LP BH, combined excellent control and occasional flip kills on his BH with powerful drive kills on anything up from his FH.

Steve used his excellent service returns, daunting FH kills, and well-placed BH loop/drives to down each of these capable opponents.

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Now I’ll inject a small (lol like that’s gonna happen) recap of my day:

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Started off with a gut-wrenching loss to Chris Reid (1894) in the U-2000s losing 11-7 in the 5th (have gone up 2-0 in the match).

Chris, a powerful loop/kill FH lefty, opened up trying to drive/kill my serves.

This got him in early trouble, as I was able to vary the spin and keep him guessing (most often incorrectly).

But in the 3rd game on, he did what every great player should be able to do, change a losing game plan to a winning one.

He began to return my serves with soft, short flips to both sides of the table instead of going for winners, thus waiting for me to make the first move (read, error).

I do so hate playing against a good slow-paced control game!

His consistency out did my occasionally successful attack bursts, and he earned a well-deserved W.

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I was so mentally fatigued by this, my next match in the U-2000s (against previously mentioned Warren Lemma), was a quick 3-0 loss, as I could not muster the patience and varied shot selection to overcome his consistent BH and rally killing FH.

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I got some good coaching from Britt Salter after this (thanks Britt!) who pointed out to me I needed to play the patience game better with these type control players.

So I applied this in good stead with my next U-2000 opponent, the aforementioned John Noori, for a 3-1 victory.

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My first match in the Open singles was against eventual winner Jonathan Dorn (1998).

He used an interesting combination of hard-bat BH, with a great spinny loop/kill FH.

I managed to win the first game, using my serves/variety to good effect, but like the experienced player he is Jon adapted thru the rest of the match and straight-gamed me for a 3-1 win.

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I next played David Hash (1632) in the Opens.

David has a good wing game, but I was able to keep him a bit off balance with my serves and change of pace play, and managed a 3-0 win.

Since the top two made it into the playoff round, I advanced to the semi-finals.

.

There, I met my nemesis Chris Reid again, and again we played to 5 games (I was up 2-1 at one point).

However, he again returned to his previously successful style of soft top-spin placements in the 4th game until he could get an opening for his devastating kill drives from either wing, and he basically mopped me up in the last two games.

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I proceeded to the consolation round for 3rd/4th, to play against Ankur Tangirala (rating not on USATT website).

He was a very capable rally player, but had much difficulty reading my serves and this helped me to a 3-1 victory for 3rd place.

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In the O-50s, I first played Steve Marks (1183), who’s game is improving in consistency and was able to read my serves better than prior engagements.

I held on to win 3-0.

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Next I faced Dale Goodman (1678), who has given me much trouble in the past with his corner-to-corner block-punch hits.

However, Dale, like all of us, has his on/off days, and this day I was fortunate to come up the winner (my serves, patience, and wing loop/kills were effective this match).

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Finally, I faced Warren Lemma again in what was effectively the finals.

This time I was able to play with more patience, but Warren’s BH soft-touch consistency, great ability to return my serves, and snap-kill FH shots wide overcame me to win in 5.

I was happy this late in the day to place 2nd!

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The last event was a surprise entry for me, the U-3400 doubles.

I say surprise because I had expected to play in it with Chris Agimudie (in fact, we had been practicing for 3 weeks for this event).

Sadly, Chris was called into work Saturday and was unable to make the tournament.

.

During the tournament, Steve came to me and asked if I wanted to play in the doubles.

I had not wanted to play with a complete stranger, because doubles is very much a team event, with coordination and compatibility key to success.

However, Steve and I have played the occasional doubles at Dawson, and I was very receptive to this pairing.

.

We started off with what I believe was our toughest match (we were still feeling out positioning and expectations), against Khoa Bui (1655) and Tiffany Tran (1240).

They played remarkably well together, and Tiffany’s rally savers and Khoa’s rally enders almost put an end to our doubles hopes.

But Steve picked his kills carefully, using control to get us back into points, and my serves against Tiffany picked up enough winners that we were able to eke out a 3-2 win.

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Our next match was against Dale Goodman and his daughter Aaranya (774).

Aaranya played doubles much better than her rating would indicate, making many key returns and even winners against us!

This is no doubt due to good coaching from her Dad!

With more seasoning and patient progression, she is sure to blossom in the not-to-distant future!

Dale’s punch blocks and wide wing hits were very effective at keeping them in points and often winning them outright, so Steve and I felt fortunate to emerge with a 3-1 win to get into the Finals.

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Our last match of the (long but productive!) day was against Britt Salter (1684) and John Noori.

By this time Steve and I felt very comfortable moving in tandem with each other.

The combination of Steve’s awesome kill shots (a lot of oohs and ahs from the spectators on these!) and my serves (and even service returns) causing difficulty overcame the good serves of John and canny ball placement of Britt to give Steve and me the doubles championship 3-1.

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Another in a long line of well-run, fun tournaments hosted by our sister club in OKC!

Kudos to John Potochnik, who was tournament director, and the friendly and effective members of the OKC club, presided over by Britt, David Hash, and Larry Kesler .

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The perfect ending to this day was a pleasant dinner with my son and his girlfriend in Norman, followed by a quiet, beautiful drive home along a turnpike turned rose by the setting sun. God is good!

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Larry Buell

Results for the Sooner State Games that Stephen Ackart and Larry Buell attended are:

2010 SUMMER SOONER STATE GAMES RESULTS   
Table Tennis (USATT Rated Events) 

(info courtesy of Stephen Ackart)

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                                   GOLD                    SILVER                  BRONZE

Under 1250 Singles:    Jay Gustafson         Tiffany Tran               Ryan Bao
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Under 1500 Singles:    Tiffany Tran            Soe Myat Swe          Ryan Bao
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Under 1700 Singles:    Stephen Ackart      Warren Lemma         Joe B. Williams
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Under 1850 Singles:    Stephen Ackart      John Noori               Warren Lemma
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Under 2000 Singles:    Jonathan Dorn        Chris Reid                Warren Lemma
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Open Singles:              Jonathan Dorn        Chris Reid                 Larry Buell

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Over 50 Singles:         Warren Lemma    Larry Buell             Dale Goodman

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Under 3400 Doubles: Larry Buell & Stephen Ackart Britt Salter &   John Noori Khoa Bui & Tiffany Tran
 .  
Ping-Pong (Non-Rated Events)   
Singles: Ronny Young John Gillette Kyle Williams

 

   

There are several players in this tournament some of the players from the Tulsa club has probably never heard of.

 

Below are comments about them from Stephen Ackart:

 

John Potochnik was the tourney director!

He was on top of everyone starting matches and finishing up round robins like he usually is.
 
Jonathan Dorn (1998) - he was from Texas and frequents the Wesleyan Tourneys. He lives in Austin and played in the US Open last year. Very strong player and I think he was under rated at 1880, more like a 2000+ player
 
Warren Lemma (1617) was another Texas player that had a coach with him from Wesleyan. I was one of his only 2 or 3 losses (I believe).
 
Si-Dung Lam (1653) is an OKC player that I see a lot at tourneys and has beat me everytime in the past. It was nice to play him and beat him both times! :)
 
Unkar (1700) is a Kansas player from the middle east. He was a strong player when he was on. The first match he beat me in 4 and then the 2nd one I beat him in a deuce 5th.
 
Chris Reid (1893)  is a Kansas player I have seen frequently as well. Next tourney he wants to play doubles with me if we can qualify without being over the rating limit. Our styles really click and he's a lefty. We hung out and talked frequently throughout the tourney. He is also the same exact height as me, our name would be the twin towers (We were joking about it all tourney if we played doubles). His wife or girlfriend was also there taking pics and she was very nice.
 
John Noori (1611) is an OKC player. He is a good, consistent looper / driver that beats a lot of players above him. one of the nicest players at the whole tournament.
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For more on Stephen's tournament (from Stephen himself):

 

Singles matches - didn't track doubles but me and Larry went undefeated
Warren Lemma (1617) -    Won - Long pips on back, inverted forehand - played like bob kyker
Si-Dung Lam (1653) -       Won - inverted both - very consistent Looper / Driver
Joe b Williams (1648) -     Won - Inverted Both - Semi aggressive looper / driver
David Hash (1632) -          Lost - Inverted both I think - Aggressive hitter / misdirection
Sow Swe (1334) -            Won - Inverted Both - Good strokes looper, has great potential
Dale Goodman (1678) -    Won - short pips on one side I believe - Misdirection / quick hitter
Warren Lemma (1617) -   Lost - Long pips on back, inverted forehand - played like bob kyker
Dalton Daugherty (1615) -Won - Inverted Both - great strokes, looper
Ryan Bao (1120) -            Won - Still figuring out his game
Si-Dung Lam (1653) -      Won - inverted both - very consistent Looper / Driver
Dalton Daugherty (1615) - Won - Inverted Both - great strokes, looper
Jonathan Dorn (1998) -     Lost - Inverted forehand, hard bat short pips backhand - Consistent looper with forehand, smashed everything backhand
Unkar (1700) -                 Lost - Inverted both - consistent looper / killer
John Noori (1611) -         Won - aggressive looper / driver
Dalton Daugherty (1615) - Lost - great strokes, looper
Chris Reid (1893) -           Lost - Aggressive looper / driver
Unkar (1700) -                 Won - Inverted both - consistent looper / killer

 

TOTAL: 11Wins - 6 Losses (May be a few more matches, started getting tired near the end and not tracking matches)

 

Note - Larry's Buell's article to follow next!

   

Dawson - 11 players.

2 first time out players - Holly Tanner, Darren Delaune

Betty Bermudez, Misty Berryhill, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Reed Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Khaled Shehada, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams.

 

Bixby - 10 players.

1 - 2nd time out player - Mohammad Malik. Played in a club in Pakistan.

Alex Tupas, Allain Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Melvin Norton, Stephen Ackart, Larry Buell, Jim French, Darren Delaune, Kay Benyarko.

Other news:

Only 3 Tulsa players are going to the Okla. City tournament this weekend. Stephen Ackart, Larry Buell, Chris Agimudie.

 

Dawson - 12 players.

1 first time out player - Malek Mohammed (from McAlester)

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Betty Bermudez, Larry Buell, Mike Hamby, Bob Kyker, Reed Kyker, Anthony Nguyen, Alex Tupas.

Possible coaching clinic in Tulsa or Okla. City with Stellan Bengston?

Bob Kyker writes:

Mats has been attending some personal coaching with Stellan Bengston in San Diego, CA. and it looks like he has helped him tremendously.

Stellan's coaching skills are good for all levels, from beginners to Persson and Waldner. 

In fact, Persson is coming to San Diego this summer for another 2 week session with him. 

Tulsa would like to see if we could get him in Tulsa for a clinic.

His clinic for us would be divided into three groups to fit our levels, such as: up to 1400, 1400 to 1800, and 1800 up. 

The classes would be either two 2 and a half days  at $300, probably over a week end  or a five day one for $500.  

Stellan needs to have 14 sign up for either clinic and we can combine these with other clubs, say Okla City. 

I'm not completely sure about all the details, but Mats has been talking to him and he is interested in coming to Tulsa and/or Okla City. 

Stellan will also have one in Houston this fall.

It would be good to have ours close to their time. for his travel expenses.

I plan to go if we get him. 

Those interested at Dawson so far are Nicky, Chris, Reed, Mats, me and couple others. 

He tailors his sessions individually with each player to help them improve with their style, not necessarily his. 

I think he can make the path that we all want for maximum improvement in the shortest possible time.

Let's find out who is interested at this time and see if we can get enough from Okla (and Kansas?) to get him here. 

To learn more about Stellan, his website is stellangie.com. 

Let me (Bob) and Mats know for more information.

 

Below is a news story about the Okla. City club by the OK Gazette dated 12-16-09:

Table tennis finds permanent home in metro as migrating enthusiasts settle near downtown

Wednesday, December 16, 2009
By Charles Martin

Table tennis is a sport indiscriminate of age, gender or background.

Take a recent example seen at the Oklahoma City Table Tennis Club’s new facility at 1604 N.E. Eighth: An aged man breathlessly hobbled to one side of a table, paddle in hand, and looked across to his opponent, a lithe and athletic young man. The kid darted back and forth, jumping for shots and smacking them back at the old man with added style for emphasis.

The old man’s game was more efficient, much slower and lacking much of any style, yet he matched the younger player’s boundless energy by steadily edging him out of position before finally smacking a perfect kill shot.

Britt Salter, club president, and David Hash, vice president, both smirked as they watched the battle.

"There are so many levels of table tennis, you can be a garage-style player all the way to a professional,” Hash said. "A 5-year-old to a 90-year-old man — anybody can do it, and the nice thing about competing at Ping-Pong, you can have an inexperienced 15-year-old in a tournament play older people at the same level. A 12-year-old can play a 44-year-old, as long as they are rated at the same level.”

 

Salter said the club has been around since the 1950s, but has bounced around from facility to facility until finally landing a permanent home. It took the club years of fund-raising to secure the new space, purchase 10 tables (at around $1,600 apiece) and three table-tennis robots, and fix up the building so it was fit for players.

"We renovated the building when we got it,” Salter said. "It was really dark and dingy, so we put in some lights, painted the walls, cleaned up and painted the floor. We put in air conditioning and some bathrooms.”

He hopes the club will help stir up more local interest in the game, which, according to the Web site of the Olympic movement, has more participants worldwide than any other sport. That diversity can be seen as players from all nationalities converge on the club.

Salter said champions from all over the globe — including former Olympian from Ghana, Winfred Addy — belong to the club. That kind of skilled membership draws enthusiasts from across the region to get lessons and pit their game against the best.

One migrating player is a quiet teenager who shuffled into the club with a headband, track shorts and a gym bag full of equipment. Salter said the kid has driven from Weatherford regularly for the past year, and his game has improved dramatically.

The key to becoming a good player is to diversify one’s skills, Salter said. To help get new players up to speed, the club holds tournaments for beginners on Monday nights. Entry into a tournament will initially be the entry into the club, which is $5 for adults and $3 for full-time students and those under 18. Playing in tournaments is beneficial, because it forces players to face unfamiliar opponents.

"A lot of people will come up here with a buddy and stand six feet away from the table and loop back and forth,” he said. "Problem is, when they go to a tournament, they will have problems when they run up a guy who won’t give them a ball to loop, and they can’t make them because they don’t know how to do that.”

That’s why older players who may have lost a few steps physically might still be able to top young guns with loads of energy. A seasoned vet can recognize and exploit one gaping hole in their game.

"There are a lot of techniques and clever ploys a player will use,” Salter said. "Table tennis is a strength-versus-weakness game. If player A is playing player B and beats him every time, and then player B plays player C and beats him every time, that does not mean that player A will beat player C. It’s not algebraic, because there might be one thing that player C does that does not bother player B, but just tears up player A.”

And just as the young man hopped around the table, lunging in desperation to save shots as he got worked over by the older man, Salter recalled his own introduction to the club years ago via an 80-year-old man named Wally.

"Wally had rubber (on his paddle) that looked like Moses played with his paddle while parting the Red Seas. It was that old,” he said. "So I walked up to the table, thinking I was getting really good. Wally beat me like a drum about 40 or 50 times. And when I finally figured out how to beat him, it was a proud moment for me.” —Charles Martin

Bixby - 4 players.

1 - hasn't been out in years player - Kay

3 regulars - Melvin Norton, Stephen Ackart, Kelly Boyce

Other news:

Players going to the Okla. City tournament on 6-26 - Stephen Ackart, Chris Agimudie (maybe), Larry Buell (maybe).

 

Dawson - 15 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Reed Kyker, Anthony Nguyen, Ray Pestridge, Khoi Tran, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 14 players.

Stephen Ackart, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, William Broyles, Larry Buell, Zack Eldridge, Hamid Ezzat, Mike Hamby, Bob Kyker, Reed Kyker, Khaled Shehada, Greg Widdowson, Leonard Williams.

Shawn Ford, Darren Delaune, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Hamid Ezzat, Jim French, Michael Childers, Jared Childers, Jacob Childers, Betty Bermudez.

Other news:

The Childers will be moving permanetly to the Phillipines around Dec.

Jacob and Jared Childers got very nice paddles from Paddle Palace. They sold their X-Box to pay for the paddles! Paddles are fast and responsive.

Michael Childers got his paddle from Coles TT - one of the "Dawei Premade Buster" blades.

Shawn Ford got a new paddle from Amazon.com.

Hamid will not be going to the Okla. City tournament at the end of this month. He is enjoying his long pips rubber and giving most players fits with it.

Shawn Ford travels alot and never knows when he will play.

 

Dawson - 17 players.

1 first time out player - William Broyles - friend of Zack Eldridge.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Zack Eldridge, Shawn Ford, Mike Hamby (joined the club tonight), Bob Kyker, Reed Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Greg Widdowson, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Other news:

Mike Hamby joined the club tonight!

Leonard Williams joined the club tonight (he has been an honorary member since the beginning)

Chris Agimudie might go to the Okla. City tournament this month.

 

Dawson - 15 players.

2 first time out players - Josh Ford from Lubbock and Anthony Nguyen who just moved to Tulsa from Seattle, current rating - 1749.

13 regular players - Stephen Ackart, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Thomas Berryhill, Hamid Ezzat, Mike Hamby, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Reed Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Khaled Shehada.

Other news:

Players going to the Okla. city tournament on May 29 - Stephen Ackart only. Maybe Chris, maybe Bob.

Bixby - 9 players.

1 first time out player - Anthony Nguyen. Played in the Seattle, Washington club and in the Paddle Palace tournaments. Current rating - 1749. His last tournament was 4/2008. He moved to Tulsa 2 weeks ago. However, he has not decided if he will live in Tulsa or Okla. City.

3 just joined the club for 6 months players - Michael Childers, Jared Childers, Jacob Childers.

5 other regular players - Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Melvin Norton, John Moore, Corey Flaugher.

Other news:

The new barriers (4) looked great and dressed up the playing area. Also kept lets to a minimum. (Should have done this years ago).

Dawson - Players - please be sure to pay your $1.00 per night.

According to Bob Kyker's Excel sheet, there have been 78 players since we started the $1.00 per night and so far Bob has collected $53.

This is a new program for Dawson and so it will take a short time to get everyone going on this.

Bob, can you start tracking the money and players beginning next week to see how the payments go for the next month.

Dawson - 9 players.

Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Larry Buell, Taylor Carmona, Bob Kyker, Reed Kyker, Seth Sherrif, Leonard Williams.

Other news:

4 barriers were taken from the Dawson center to be used at the Bixby. 3 of the long barriers - Donic (2) and the Newgy (the worst looking one). Also one Stiga was taken. This leaves 5 new barriers at Dawson and 4 Jim French barriers.

Dawson - all 9 barriers are now set up.

The Bixby club needs 3 or 4 of these barriers and the Dawson club needs to decide which 3 or 4 barriers to give to the Bixby club. Please email Kelly your decision and he will pick them up this Friday.

Also, if someone wants to write a short critic about the barriers we can post that info so that if we want to buy more in the future we will know which brand to buy.

Also, the plastic wall we recently bought to place against the ends of the stored tables (in order to keep kids from playing inside the tables and breaking the tables) was not installed tonight and was just hanging on the volley balls posts.

Please make sure that wall is installed to keep the kids out of the tables.

Also, place a Jim French barrier on the end of the last table to discourage kids from climbing under the end table (and getting inside the table, again to keep the kids from playing inside the tables).

 

Bixby - 11 players.

3 first time out players - Michael Childers, Jered Childers (he is 20 months older than Jacob), Jacob Childers. They drive up from Tahlequah!

Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Darren Delaune (he joined the club tonight!), John Moore, Yee Yang, Betty Bermudez, Rocky, Corey Flaugher

Other news:

Betty had an epiphany last Tuesday. Ask her and she will tell you about it.

Corey Flaugher has now (after 6 years) developed his own winning style of play. Very effective strategy.

Darren Delaune joined the club tonight!

Dawson - 11 players.

1 - first time out player - David Smith. Visiting from Washington state.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Bob Kyker, Manan Azhar, Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, Khaled Shehada, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams.

Other news:

The Stiga and Tibhar barriers from Paddle Palace came in and will be at the club on Thursday.

Dawson - 11 players.

Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Yee Yang, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Mike Hamby, Michael Childers, Jered Childers, Jacob Childers, Seth Sherrif, Hamid Ezzat.

Other news:

Larry Buell started the new rotation system of play. Details of this new play system are as follows:

For more info on the rotation system:

 

Update on the barriers/surrounds for the club:

The following have been purchased in these quantities:

Donic - 3 ,  Stiga - 2,  Newgy - 1,  Tibhar - 1,  Joola - 2.

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The price of the above:

Donic -  $34 each - delivered from Paddle Palace (27" x 91") (not full cover) (Germany company)

Stiga -   $25 each - delivered from Paddle Palace  (27" x 78") (not full cover) (Sweden)

Newgy - $37 each - delivered from Newgy           (27" x 91") (full cover type) (Gallatin, Ten.)

Tibhar -  $35 each - delivered from Paddle Palace (27" x 91") (full cover type) (Slovenia)

Joola -    $30 each - delivered from Megaspin.net  (29" x 79") (not full cover) (5.5 lbs) (Germany)

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The Butterfly barriers were too expensive - $60 each so we did not buy any of these.

(these purchases made available in part by Mats Johansson)

 

Bixby - 8 players.

Melvin Norton, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Jim French, Rocky (from Pakistan), Greg McCann, Betty Bermudez.

Other news:

Betty has not been out for a while because she was in a motorcycle accident with her boyfriend Ryan.

Leonard Willams was once the 7th best hurdler in the USA (when he lived in Kansas) (we all knew, over the past many years, that Leonard was in better shape then the rest of us but we didn't know why).

Leonard has also lost his "special members privileges" and should now be considered a regular player. Please do not consider Leonard "special" anymore.

Jim French played remarkable well tonight surprising most players ( and mostly himself).

Greg McCann is going for his Masters Degree (in Science and Business?) and so he may not be out much for the next 18 months. Greg has been out of college for 25 years(who knew, he certainly doesn't look it).

Leonard is no longer coaching hurdling (and no longer has that strange and mysterious physical problem) and so he says he wants to start going to tournaments.

Alex will not be going to the Nienhuis Park tournament on May 29 but Betty might.

Nienhuis phone# 259-6550 - at 55th and Lynn Lane in Broken Arrow.

Dawson - 11 players.

3 first time out players - Michael Childers (father) and his 2 sons - Jacob Childers and Jered Childers.

8 regulars - Larry Buell, Alex Tupas, Hamid Ezzat, Khaled Shehada, Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Thomas Berryhill.

Other news:

Larry said the new barriers looked and worked great.

Larry also said "Jacob and Jered showed remarkable poise and ability for their first
time!"

The club has bought some Stiga and Tibhar barriers from Paddle Palace and will have them at Dawson next week.

Nienhuis Park is having another tournament on May 29. The last tournament they had 15 players, many from the Tulsa club.

Dawson - 10 players.

Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Yee Yang, Larry Buell, Leonard Williams, Alex Tupas, Mike Hamby, Jacob Herriman, Matt Wisnewski, Manan Azhar.

Other news;
The barriers from Newgy and Paddle Palace came in and will be assembled and in place Monday.

Bixby - 7 players.

Darren Delaune, Jim French, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, John Moore, Melvin Norton.

Dawson - 8 players.

Yee Yang, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Mike Hamby, Leonard Williams.

Due to the tornando like storms all players went home early.

Dawson - 9 players.

1 - 2nd time out player - Mike Hamby.

1 - 1st time out player - John Issis

7 regular players - Stephen Ackart, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Leonard Williams.

Other news:

Mats Johansson fixed the broken table tonight!!! (with the help from other members) Bob Kyker said the table is as good as new now.

Kelly Boyce will be buying full cover barriers (full cover barriers cover the end legs also) tonight to place between the tables to help keep the balls inside each court.

(with the money Matt saved the club we can now afford the better barriers).

Only few brands carry the full cover type barriers - Tibhar ($35 each) and Newgy ($35 each - 27" x 92" dimensions).

The brands that do not cover the end legs are Donic, Stiga, Kettler, Joola. Not sure about the Killerspin yet.

Update on the Dawson table issue and barrier issue.

The Ozarks club only has 1 table left (and you can be sure it is the table in the worst shape).

Therefore, it looks like the club will be buying a Stiga Elite Roller.

For a barrier around the tables, a trellis might work well enough to keep kids from climbing inside the tables.

We can buy a few and simply tie them together.

We will check with Home Depot, Lowes and Sutherlands for trellis's and possibly they may have other ideas on light weight fencing.

The club will also be buying some table surrounds/barriers.

We will buy one of each type at Paddle Palace to see how they perform before buying many.

On buying a table for Dawson, the search, so far, comes down to:

A Stiga Elite Roller at Paddle Palace for $1100 delivered (Dawson has one now).

Weighs 332 lbs

or a Stiga Prestige that the Ozarks table tennis club has for sale for $400, our pickup in Springfield, MO.

Weighs 304 lbs

Springfield had 6 tables and I emailed Bill Lewis for additional info.

For a picture and info on the Stiga Prestige - http://www.robbinstabletennis.com/T8283.htm 

for info about the Ozarks club:

 

Bixby - 6 players.

Darren Delaune, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Melvin Norton, Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie.

Other news:

No one is planning on going to any tournaments (even Chris).

Darren just bought a new paddle from Coles TT. He paid $30 for it and it is fast. The best $30 paddle I have ever seen. It is a Dawei Superior Wood blade with Dawei Super Power rubber. The club may buy a few of them for loaner paddles for new players.

The club may make a decision tonight about what table to buy for the Dawson club. The type of table will be posted on this blog to solicit opinions about it before actually buying it.

Dawson - 9 players.

1 first time out player - Mike Hamby

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams.

Idea for a wall around the tables at Dawson:

Bob Kyker had an idea about using plywood attached together with hinges.

To expand on his idea, how about buying 4 ' x 4' pieces of 1/4" plywood and laying them in a straight line so you have the plywood on the floor being 4' x 16' long.

Then attached each piece together with hinges.

In order to fit the width and length of the space where we store the tables we will need to cut some of the plywoods pieces down to maybe 2' wide to better fit the space.

The plywood can be painted the same color as the walls at Dawson so they do not look to noticable.

We may want to use 5' tall pieces of plywood to better cover the tables and keep kids from climbing over it.

We could drill 2 holes (about 10" apart) on each end of this portable plywood wall and thru these holes run a chain and lock and run them thru the legs of the folded tables.

We may also want to cover the tables with table covers from Paddle Palace.

To keep water from soaking into the bottom of the wall (and ruining the wall), we will need to have something to attached to the bottom of the wall to keep it off the floor. Maybe rubber feet of some kind.

We have added 4 new pages to the bottom of our home page to help gather the info Tulsa will use to decide what tables, barriers and table covers to buy. Those pages are:

(38) Barriers Tulsa might buy - click here

(39) Tables Tulsa might buy - click here

(40) Table covers Tulsa might buy - click here

As we gather info from many sources (ie Paddle Palace, EBay, Craigslist, etc) we will add that info to these pages until the club decides to purchase the equipment.

The 4th web page - "Space used by the Tulsa table tennis club" is a new web page and the link will at the bottom on the home page as (23 A).

Dawson - 6 players.

Bob Kyker, Stephen Ackart, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Dawson - since the City of Tulsa will be renting out the Dawson building, our tables are in an exposed position and subject to damage.

The club had a table destroyed recently because kids were climbing on and inside of one of the tables.

To prevent this, the club needs to buy/build some kind of portable wall to place around the tables.

A wall maybe 6' high.

If any players have any idea how to do this or where to buy something like this, please contact the club.

Bixby - 7 players.

1 - 2nd time out player - Darren Delaune. He ordered a paddle from Coles TT.

John Moore, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Taylor Carmona, Betty Bermudez - she joined the club tonight!!, Yee Yang.

Other news:

Betty said she will email a story about her attending the Nienhaus tournament on 4-24. (She said she will write it and send it to be published on this blog on Wed - 4-28).

Stephen Ackart and Kelly Boyce will research and buy a table for the Dawson club.

Before the table is bought, we will list the table and other info on this blog to see if anyone objects or has a reason not to buy that table.

The club will buy some barriers (professional type) for the Dawson and Bixby clubs to be used between the tables only (not to surround any tables). 3-4 for Bixby and 3-4 for Dawson might be enough.

 

Lucy Dolman from the Tulsa Parks dept called me today.

The parks dept. wants to charge the Tulsa Table Tennis club per quarter (every 3 months)..

I agreed to this.

The agreement starts in 1 week.

Someone at Dawson will have to start collecting $1.00 per night per person at Dawson from the players for as long as we play at Dawson.

(This will be in addition to the club's $40 per year membership).

I also asked Lucy about if there were other centers our club could move to.

She said there are now 8 City of Tulsa centers left open and will probably be down to 5 centers in the future.

The 5 that will be left, some are art centers, not recreation centers and the few recreation type centers will be difficult to find openings in and with enough storage space to store our tables.

 

Dawson - 16 players.

3 first time out players - Pamela Berryhill (mother of Thomas), Thomas Berryhill Sr. (father of Thomas), Jim Lundine (friend of Mats from Canada).

13 regular players - Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Thomas Berryhill (paid his $40 membership tonight!! ), Larry Buell, Taylor Carmona, Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Other news:

Leonard Williams will attend the Dawson Assoc. meeting tomorrow night.

Taylor Carmona is looking for a ride to the Springfield, Missouri tournament on May, 29.

As an incentive to lure the Dawson players to Nienhuis Park on Wed. and Friday nights, the club will propose the following.

No cardboard barriers will be used at Nienhuis.

The club will purchase 3' high professional type vinyl barriers, enough to surround each table - 15' x29' minimum.

Also, we will start charging $3 (or $4) per night to play and drop the yearly membership. The money will be collected by the center staff prior to playing.

I went by Nienhuis Park tonight and talked to Thor Rooks.

He said he thinks he can make enough storage room for 6 tables but to check with him next week.

He will have to throw some things away to make room for our 6 tables.

He said the gym is getting new light fixtures and brighter lights in May.

I told him I think our club will commit to Nienhuis park on Wed's and Friday's if most of the Dawson players will agree to start playing at Nienhuis instead of Dawson.

Will someone at Dawson take a vote next Monday and Thursday to see who will and who will not play at Nienhius.

If too many people will not play at Nienhuis then we may not move the club.

"Space used by the Tulsa table tennis club" is a new web page and the link will at the bottom on the home page as (23 A).

This page will show how much footage of playing space the club currently uses for our tables at Bixby and Dawson.

This info will be used as a spacial reference when looking for new places to play in order to get an idea how much space is needed for setting up tables.

At Dawson:

the usable area (ie the area between the cardboard barriers) is:

Usable width now is 49' (55' from wall to wall - north to south) and we set up 4 tables but it is somewhat cramped.

The recommend width for club usage, according to the USATT would be 60' minimum (15' per table) for 4 tables.

For tournament play, the width should be 100' (25' per table)

For the distance behind the tables, the usable width now (for the larger part of the room - the distance between the chair caddies and table caddies on the north end of the room)  is 29' (from wall to wall is 36' - east to west) and this distance is fine for most players except choppers.

The usable footage of the shorter part of the room behind the tables is 26' (from wall to wall is 30').

The USATT recommends 29' for a club table playing area and 39' for tournaments.

A folded table is 5' long and 28" wide and 6' 3" high.

However, by interweaving the tables together, you can get 4 tables in a space 5' x 8'.

The cardboard we use is 4' high.

Nienhuis Park:

The large meeting room is 32' x 49' (the same width as Dawson but more room behind the tables). Only 3 tables can be set up here.

The recreation room is  26' x 37' (only 2 tables can be set up). The distance behind the tables is the same as Dawson in the smaller part of the room (which means this area is too small for serious play).

More on Neinhaus park - Only nights to use 1/2 of the gym are Wed. and Friday nights. The gym is tied up on Monday nights with volleyball leagues and Zumba. On Tuesday, Wed. and Thursday nights, they are for open volleyball and basketball. Wed. nights and Friday nights are open basketball and volleyball now but they will give table tennis half the gym because Wed. and Friday are slow nights.

The 1 large meeting room is open Monday, Wed, and Fridays (Tue and Thursdays are used by Karate). However, if a group wants to rent out the meeting room, we would get bumped.

There is a general recreation room with 2 ping pong tables, foos ball table, pool table that is always available but we would have to move the equipment out of the way to set up our tables.

So, to use the gym we would have to play on Wed. and Fri nights.

Update on Neinhaus park. Is the largest community center I have ever seen.
(the entire park complex is located on an area that is 3/4 mile long).
(They call them community centers now, not recreation centers).
Brand new place.
The gym is 2 gyms in one and they have a curtain to seperate the 2 halfs from each other so they can have 2 programs at the same time in the gym.
They also have 2 large rooms we could put up to 4 tables in each one if the gym is not available the nights we choose to play.
Neinhaus is open from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM each day.
I talked yesterday - Thursday (for about 30 minutes) - to the center director - Thor Rooks (he is in his 20's and has been there for only 1 year) and he was very interested in starting up any new program for his center as long as it is open to the general public.

The center does not have alot of storage areas and storing the tables may require scattering a table or 2 in some of the rooms throughout the building.
Center phone# 259-6550

Dawson - 8 players.

Sydney Agimudie, Betty Bermudez, Larry Buell, Taylor Carmona, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 9 players.

1 first time out player - Darren Delaune

Manan Azhar, Kelly Boyce, Betty Bermudez, Alex Tupas, Taylor Carmona, Jim French, Corey Flaugher, John Moore.

Other news:

Manan had a sheet of Inspirit rubber he bought 3 months ago that turn to glass. Manan doesn't know why the one sheet is slick and hard now.

Betty Bermudez wants to commit herself to more table tennis (and wants to beat the 3 girls of Oklahoma City).

Dawson - 10 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Betty Bermudez, Larry Buell, Taylor Carmona, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Leonard Williams.

Dawson - 7 players.

1 first time out player to Dawson - Betty Bermudez

Stephen Ackart, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Taylor Carmona, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 6 players.

Melvin Norton, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Corey Flaugher, Jim French, Taylor Carmona.

Dawson - 13 player.

2 first time out players - Greg Shear and Ben Stinnett.

Also, Manan Azhar, Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Taylor Carmona, Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Funeral info on Stefan Zolarek (provided by Hamid).

There is going to be a viewing all day on Wed. April 14th from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM and the funeral services are going to be on Thursday April 15th at 2:00 PM.  Location for both is:

Mobley Dodson Funeral Service
211 E Broadway Street
Sand Springs, OK 74063

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(Note - The club has added a "Notices" web page for any wishing to add their thoughts about Stefan).

.

Also, from Hamid Ezzat:

Stefan Zolarek (08/23/1953 – 04/09/2010) Stefan was a private man and he always acted grumpy and sounded grumpy too but he was a gentle man for those who got close enough to him and got to know him.  He would not make friends very easily but he would do anything for his friends.  He loved fishing and camping and we used to fish and camp together all the time.  He was a family man and cared a lot for his daughter Christine and his granddaughter Claudia and his son in law Aaron Elmore and his sister Maria.   He was a great table tennis and soccer player and was active in both sports until 8 to 10 years ago.  Unlike some table tennis players who have to have a special paddle to play with, he could play with any paddle and sometimes he challenged people and played with his slippers or a very small paddle that he made himself (about 4 inches in diameters). Stefan was a great friend to me and I am sure going to miss him and also miss his favorite greeting phrase which was "hey buddy”… 

 

Tulsa player Stefan Zolarek passed away today due to cancer. Stefan played mostly in the 1980's and 1990's and his last tournament was in 1999. Stefan was very active with the Tulsa table tennis club during that time (rated over 2000). Stefan played in many tournaments in and around Oklahoma and those lucky enough to go to tournaments with him knew how much fun he was to go with. I, Kelly Boyce, went to many tournaments with Stefan and enjoyed going with him alot. He could be alittle short tempered and cranky but he always was fun to be around (at least with me he was). I remember he had a table set up at an apartment complex he used to work at on 21st street and many Tulsa players would meet there and play with Stefan and we all had some of the best times there playing table tennis. I played Stefan many times in tournaments and I never beat him. However, I also never had so much fun losing to someone like I did to Stefan.

The club will create a web page called "Notices" on our home page and list any info we receive about Stefan on that page. Anyone wishing to email us about Stefan, we will add to that web page.

Dawson - 6 players.

Stephen Ackart, Manan Azhar, Taylor Carmona, Bob Kyker, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Update on the Dawson situation.

Lucy Dolman from the City of Tulsa parks dept called me today and said she rec'd the liability insurance certificate and she will look it over and get back to me next week or so.

Bixby - 6 players.

Melvin Norton, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Hamid Ezzat, John Moore, Taylor Carmona.

Dawson - 11 players.

Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Taylor Carmona, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Johnny McClanahan, Hugh Pham, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Other news:

Shawn Ford left his snow board at Dawson on 3-23-10.

Dawson - info to follow later.

Dawson - 8 players.

Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Taylor Carmona, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Johnny McClanahan, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 9 players.

Betty Bermudez, Stephen Ackart, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Johnny McClanahan, Manan Azhar, Taylor Carmona, Greg McCann, Corey Flaugher.

Larry Buell's article on the Sooner Games he attended on Sat. - 3-27-10

OKC Spring Teams Report (3600 limit top two)
3/27/10
Larry Buell

Team events, especially in traditional Davis Cup format (best 3/5 matches, 2 singles/doubles/2 singles) can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. This Tournament proved to be no exception!

Chris Agimudie (1614) and I (1627) had decided to play together this year. Due to a potential scheduling conflict (Chris had to leave around 5 PM for a wedding), we asked our friends at the OKC club to find us a third member. They did, and it proved to be a propitious wedding of circumstance and opportunity!

Our third member, Ousama Moammar (1435), hails from Lawton (about 95 miles SW of OKC for those of you geographically challenged like I am). He has not had an opportunity to play much, either in club or tournament settings, but I have a feeling after his stellar performance at this event that may soon change!

The format of this tournament was to gather the 12 teams into 4 groups of 3 each in the first half of play. The teams would then be placed into 3 groups of 4 each in the second half based on first half results.

In our first match we faced quick of hand and laughter Don Beckstrom (1988) and his rapidly improving son Kyle (1555). In this match, Chris opened up against Don and Ousama against Kyle. While Chris came close to downing Don in 2 of his 3 games, he succumbed 3-0. Ousama in the meanwhile took long-pips BH Kyle to 9 in the 5th. This to me was a tremendous accomplishment, for someone who rarely sees long pips! Chris and I have been practicing doubles these past few weeks, especially in coordinating our movement since we both return serve right-handed. This practice paid off in helping us defeat Don and Kyle 3-0 in the doubles. Don and Kyle came back in the 2nd half of singles and took the tie.

Our next tie was against Tiffany Tran (1189) and Khoa Bui (1753). I played Tiffany first. She had a fine counter game both forehand and backhand, but still needs seasoning on reading serves. My serves thus served up a 3-0 win for me. Chris played Khoa next. Khoa had a fine forehand loop/kill game, and was able to smack enough winners to get by Chris 3-1. In doubles Chris and Ousama played, and though Ousama has not had much doubles experience he proved a quick learner as he and Chris managed a key win. In the second half, Chris was able to overcome Tiffany 3-0. Because he played the 5th game and finished before Khoa and I, this still counted. In my match against Khoa, Chris provided me some much needed advice, telling me to focus deep to his backhand, and not give Khoa time to run around it for his trademark forehand kill. Then, to follow this up with running around my BH for my wannabe trademark forehand putaway. This, in addition to my serves creating some confusion for Khoa, enabled me to a surprising 3-1 win, and our team won this tie. This placed us into the B division in the afternoon.

Our first match in the B’s had us facing Bob Cockerham (1778), a fine hardbat player, and Bob Gay (1419), both out of Topeka, KS. Ousama first played Bob C, and found the hard bat style as tough as we all do, losing 3-0. I played Bob G well, winning that match. Chris and Ousama then lost a tightly fought doubles match. In the second half, Ousama showed increasing confidence in his play against Bob G, and won his match. I faced Bob C, and although I took him to 8 in the 5th, had too many net balls resulting from over-reacting to his hard hits as though they had top-spin (which they of course did not). So we lost in a close 3-2 tie.

Our next matchup had us facing Mohammed Alsadah (1667) and John Savage (1774) of Texas. John is a tall, lanky hitter and Mohammed was a swift moving counter puncher. Here my notes get a bit sketchy (so sue me!). I ended up winning my match against John 3-1, my serves again serving me well. My match against Mohammed was far tougher, as he quickly figured out how to read my serves and that setup a rally game where we traded winners continuously. Again, both Ousama and Chris provided much-needed coaching and encouragement, helping me tough out a 11-9 win in the fifth with a few FH cross court loop/kills from deep on my BH side to his BH side. We won this tie to move on to our last tie.

Our final tie of the day had us facing Jerry Gustafson (1685) and Chris Reid (1789).
I played Chris first, and got a bit overconfident when my serves led me to an 11-3 win in the first game. Chris adjusted throughout the remainder of the match, pushing my serves back rather than trying to drive/kill them. This again set up a rally-type match, and Chris’ superior mobility and deadly forehand drive/kills mopped me up 3-1. Chris A managed a straightforward win against Jerry (sorry, didn’t track the score). Chris and Ousama then had what was probably the most exciting and rewarding doubles match of our day, when they came back from being down to win their doubles 3-2 at 11-9. The key shot in the 5th game came at 9-9, when Ousama slammed a terrific forehand for a clear winner, giving he and Chris both confidence and momentum. There were enthusiastic hugs all around after this hard-fought victory! I felt Ousama’s progress during the tournament outstanding, and he evinced a positive spirit and team-oriented attitude that was a real boost to our success. In the 2nd half, Chris A then faced Chris R. Chris R’s terrific and sadly reliable forehand kill shot on anything up or long was used to great advantage and won that match 3-1 for him. I played Jerry, who fortunately for me had a hard time reading my serves, and won that match 3-1, ending in a 3-2 win for us.

The results all in, we ended up in a 3-way tie for first in our B division. So it came down to counting games, and out of all the games played that afternoon (I estimated over 48 for our team alone) the tiebreaker went to the Topeka Bobs – by 1 game. Our Tulsa/Lawton team came in a solid second, and we were rewarded with a welcome $50 for our efforts (split 3 ways, pretty much paid our entry fees!).

I would like to commend our OKC club (President Britt Salter, VP David Hash, and Referee Larry Kesler, soon off to Austria for more international fun, as well as the other club members) for putting on a very well-run tournament, which finished well ahead of our expectations and saw us braving the newly dampened highways home by 5 PM.

Dawson - 8 players

Hamid Ezzat, Nick Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Mats Johansson, Ray Pestridge, Taylor Carmona and Alex Tupas

Dawson - 10 players.

2 first time out players from Claremore - Jacob Herriman and Matt Wisnewsky

8 regular players - Stephen Ackart, Zaeen Afzal, Sydney Agimudie, Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Hugh Pham, Ray Pestridge.

Other  news:

No word about the new table Bob Kyker will be buying for the Dawson club.

Only 2 Tulsa players still going to the Okla. City tournament this weekend.

Bixby - 11 players.

1 first time out player - Sean Ford. Just moved to Tulsa from Lousiana. Played alot of tennis in college. He travels alot and may not show up to play much. Very strong and fast (but undiscipled) forehand drive.

10 regular players - Jim French, Stephen Ackart, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Larry Buell, Betty Bermudez, Melvin Norton, Mats Johansson, Manan Azhar, Corey Flaugher.

Other news:

Tulsa players going to the Oklahoma City tournament this weekend - Larry Buell and Chris Agimudie only. Both playing together.

Dawson - 17 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Taylor Carmona, Samer Chaar, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, Robert McKinney, John Moore, Hugh Pham, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams.

Other news: Bob Kyker just reached a milestone. He has played in 80 sanctioned tournaments since 1994. This maybe the most tournaments of any other player in Oklahoma. Bob started playing tournaments in 1976.

No word from Bob Kyker on getting the new table.

Dawson - 7 players.

One - haven't been out in a long time player - Taylor Carmona. He has been at OU and OSU for the last 2 years (the last tournament he went to was a Hutchinson tournament with Bob Kyker, Stephen Ackart and Kelly Boyce).

Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Johanny McClanahan, Leonard Williams.

Other news:

Bob Kyker is going to buy a new table soon (could be anyday now).

 

Bixby - 7 players.

Johnny McClanahan, Kelly Boyce, Melvin Norton, Stephen Ackart, John Moore, Corey Flaugher, Jim French.

(Johnny and Corey came in at 8:00 PM !)

Other news:

Johnny just got a new paddle from Coles TT. Very nice. With Six Shooter and Inspirt rubber on a Quattro blade. Paid $47 for it.

Dawson - 6 players.

Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Antonio Lewis, Leonard Williams.

Other news:

Dawson will be getting a new table to replace the broken table. Bob Kyker is researching the new table now.

Dawson - 9 players.

Stephen Ackart, Ray Pestridge, Matts Johansson, Hugh Pham, Leonard Williams, Larry Buell, Sydney Agimudie, Seth Sherrif, Zaeen Afzal.

Other news:

Stephen Ackart will not be going to the Okla. City tournment on 3-27 due to his 1 year wedding anniversary being that weekend.

Bixby - 6 players.

2 first time out players - Billy Wallace (he used to play with the club about 7 years ago), Johnny McClanahan.

4 regular players - Kelly Boyce, Melvin Norton, John Moore, Betty Bermudez.

Other news:

Kelly Boyce and Stephen Ackart will be playing in the Okla. City team tournament on 3-27-10.

Dawson - 12 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Hugh Pham, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 10 players.

1 first time out player - Shawn Ford.

Zaeen Afzal, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Johnny McClanahan, Hugh Pham, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Leonard "crowd control" Williams.

Other news:

Leonard Williams stepped up to the plate tonight and helped control a rowdy crowd.

Bixby - 6 players.

1 first time out player - Hugh Pham

Jim French, Corey Flaugher, Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Chris Agimudie.

Other news:

Special note to the Dawson club: the next time your club plans on sending a ringer out to try to take out the Bixby players (ie Hugh), please let the Bixby club know in advance.

 

Dawson - 15 players.

1 first time out player - Johnny McClanahan

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Hugh Pham, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang, San Z.

Results from the Sooner State Winter games held 1-23-10 are now posted on the USATT.org web site.

To view:

http://www.usatt.org/history/rating/history/ 

Message from Bob Kyker:

I will not be at Dawson this Thur or next Mon.; could someone else get the player roster.

I also have a black thermal shirt, a pair of tennis shoes, an elastic knee brace, and an elastic elbow brace that people have left.

I will bring them next thur (3.4.10).

I guess I am the only one from Tulsa going to Wichita this Sat.

Bixby - 7 players.

Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Hamid Ezzat, John Moore, Melvin Norton, Betty Bermudez, Manan Azhar.

Dawson - 14 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Corey Flaugher, Bob Kyker, Hugh Pham, Ray Pestridge, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, San Z.

Other news:

No one is going to the Wichita tournament this weekend (or any tournament).

Dawson - 9 players.

Sydney Agimudie, Hamid Ezzat, Corey Flaugher, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Yee Yang, San Z., Hugh Pham (just graduated from OU and is working in Tulsa at BOK).

Bixby - 9 players.

1 - first time out player - Wes Harwell

Manan Azhar, Jim French, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, Corey Flaugher, Khaled Shehada, Melvin Norton.

Other news:

No one is planning on going to any tournaments.

Dawson - 14 players.

2 first time out players - Wes Harwell, Mami Mannell (from England)

12 regular players - Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, John Moore, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, San Z.

Dawson - 8 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Khaled Shehada, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 12 players.

Amol Mudhale, Kelly Boyce, John Moore, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Khaled Shehada, Corey Flaugher, Melvin Norton, Betty Bermudez.

Dawson -13 players.

Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Thomas Berryhill, Hamid Ezzat, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, Manan Azhar, David Bailey, Nathan Littledave (paid $40), San Z., Bob Kyker.

Other news:

Bob Kyker is going to the Wichita tournament on 2-27 with George Taplin and Rob Sharp. There total rating is 5192 and the tournament has a rating limit of 5200 for 3 people. Nicky, Chris and Sydney might go also.

Dawson - 9 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Ben Bass, Larry Buell, Yee Yang, Manan Azhar, Alex Tupas, David Bailey, Seth Sherrif, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 12 players.

1 - joined the club tonight player - San Z !

2 - haven't been out in years players - Rick Fraley, Blake Fraley. (Blake just graduated from OSU).

9 regular players - Yee Yang, Kelly Boyce, Hamid Ezzat, Alex Tupas, Betty Bermudez, Melvin Norton, Corey Flaugher, Bo Brewer, John Moore.

Other news:

Yee Yang said he has lost his tournament spirit he had from the last Sooner State Games he went to and doesn't know how to get that spirit/drive/attitude back.

No one is planning on going to any tournaments.

Betty Bermudez says she wants to be the next Oklahoma womens state table tennis champion. She saw her competition on Okla. City (3 women) and she thinks she can take them out with some more training.

Dawson - 11 players.

Stephen Ackart, Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Thomas Berryhill, Mats Johansson, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Manan Azhar, Bob Kyker.

So who is Michael Landers?

Click below to find out.

http://www.usatt.org/news1/landers_today_show.shtml 

.

For a video of Michael Landers by the NBC Today's show:

click below

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/35142696#35142696 

.

Oct. 6, 2009: Whether you call it ping pong or table tennis, this indoor sport has never been more popular. NBC's Amy Robach reports

click below

 

Dawson - 5 players.(big ice storm hit Tulsa tonight)

Bob Kyker, Stephen Ackart, Mats Johansson, Yee Yang, Hamid Ezzat.

Larry's Buell article on the Sooner State Games tournament on Saturday is below:

 

2010 Sooner Winter Games
January 23, 2010
Larry Buell

Gentlefolk,

To paraphrase a favorite movie of mine (Groundhog Day):

Ok players, rise and shine, and don’t forget your warmups ‘cause it’s cooooold in here today!

Because the heating in the club tended to create a ‘sweating’ condition on the concrete floors, the OKC club wisely chose to turn on the A/C to avoid potentially dangerous footing conditions. Most players adjusted very quickly to the cool clime, but yours truly just had to be different and take some time to get fired up.

In the  U1900 event, I was in a RR of four with Britt Salter (1754), Chris Agimudie (1610) and Yee Yang (1573) – lots of familiar faces here! For you loyal readers of these reports, you’ll recall I’ve been touting Chris and Yee as two of our brightest up and coming stars. They did not disappoint in this event! Yee sliced through the competition like a hot knife through butter, with a combination of ferocious wide kill shots and timely defensive counters that saw him win the RR. Chris, though suffering at least in his match against me from tight triceps, easily dominated yours truly with a smooth rip drive/kill attack and well positioned pushes. Britt played smart positioning, consistent rallies and took advantage of anything up. As you may have surmised by now, I went 0-3, and was feeling rather discouraged (to take nothing away from the fine play of my opponents!). I’d like to thank Chris for offering me encouragement and wisdom to get past this temporary down!

Yee made it to the semifinals of the U1900, a place he will be at again (and surpass I’m sure) in the coming years!

There’s an old adage that says “Never change a winning game plan”, the compliment to which is “Think about changing a losing game plan”. So I did some thinking before the Opens, and decided to put on my warmups to keep my extremities toasty, and this seemed to be just the right move for me!

I was seeded 3rd of 4 in the Open RR, with Britt Salter, John Raunikar (1674), and a player named (if I recall correctly) Shaolong (who’s rating I could not find). I faced a confident Britt first. But this time I was able to play with more movement, tempo and touch and managed a -6,7,5,9 upset over my staunch opponent. John Raunikar had not played a tournament in 2 years, so was (as he admitted) a bit rusty. He demonstrated fine rally strokes, but had a bit of trouble reading/returning my serves so I managed a 5,11,-6,8 win over him. Shaolong, a penholder, surprised me by having a much better backhand than forehand, so I did the reverse of what I usually do against penholders and focused 90% on his forehand, resulting in a 4,6,6 win.

Shocker of shockers, I move on! To face the indomitable Don Beckstrom (1957) in a single elimination quarterfinal, who combined beautifully low, well placed touch pushes on his anti backhand with powerful forehand kills of most everything I could dish up, to cruise to a 3-0 over me.

 

Meanwhile, Bob Kyker (1669) and I paired up in the U3600 doubles RR (12 teams, 4 RRs of 3 teams each). Bob and I have played doubles together for many years, but this year we changed strategy a bit, with me receiving serve on my FH instead of BH side. This has helped, as anything long I can loop/drive with good angle crosscourt, and I’ve been working on my FH pushes so they are more consistently low and well placed. 

Our first opponents were David Hash (1581) and new up-and-comer Linda Piatt. Linda has only been playing ‘serious’ table tennis for a few months, but she has a remarkably good sense of touch and position for that amount of time played! We managed a 3-0 win in the official play, then in practice David and Linda went on to beat us 3-2! So with a little seasoning I think they will have some great success in the future.

Our next RR pitted us against two fine players, Cheung and Huang (spelling? Hard to read Larry Kesler’s writing sometimes lol! Sorry didn’t get their ratings). This was a very close match, as they had powerful forehands and punished anything even slightly up. They were having some issues with my serves, and my drives off the serve and backhand kills were (frequently enough) going where I wanted them to. Bob was moving well, and his long pips BH chops/pushes, bruising reverse BH kills, and potent forehand loop/kills helped carry the day (-7, 10, -7, 9, 9). This 5 game match was to be a sign of things to come…..

In the doubles finals (RR of four), we were pleasantly surprised to see an all-Tulsa contingent! I won’t go through the excruciating details of each match we played, but suffice it to say we went to 5 in all 3 matches, losing a heartbreaking fifth in each case at 8 or 9 to the eventual winner’s Nick/Syd Agimudie (gratz Syd on a final match-winning smash against Chris/Alex!), 2nd placers Chris Agimudie and Alex Tupas, and 3rd place finishers Tao Wang (1615, who has spent his away from club time very profitably, fine movement to setup his devastating forehand kills!) and partner Ke Liu (couldn’t find rating, but as he won the U1900s it should be pretty good lol) who could get to anything and return it with vigor.

So although we didn’t win any of our final doubles matches, we old folk definitely made the younger crowd work hard for their success (not a bad philosophy, come to think of it).

Other event results (keep an eye out for the official OKC postings) I managed to catch:

Nick Agimudie (2157) came in 2nd in the Opens to the powerful, consistent Winfred Addy, 4-2 (played best of 7).

Kelly Boyce (1938) won the O50s, with Bob Kyker finishing a strong 2nd.

Ke Liu (from Tulsa) won the U1900s.

Yee Yang won the bronze in the U1900s.

Alex Tupas, in his first tournament, won his U1900 initial RR to make the playoffs.

All in all, an excellent representation of Table Tennis from our Tulsa compadres!

Again, a well run tournament by Britt Salter, Larry Kesler, David Hash, and the other fine members of our esteemed club in OKC! Keep up the good work, the good pizza, and the good humor!

Bixby - 9 players.

Manan Azhar, Kelly Boyce, John Moore, Ben Bass, Yee Yang, Thomas Berryhill, Bo Brewer, Dylan Brewer, Corey Flaugher.

Update on who is going to the Okla. City tournament tomorrow.

Larry Buell - going with his wife and will visit his son in Okla. City.
Ben Bass, Thomas Berryhill, Nathan Littledave are leaving Friday.
The 3 Agimudie's are going together.
Kelly Boyce will leave Saturday at 12:30 PM since his first match starts at 3:00 PM.
Stephen & Bob riding together. Leaving at 9am Saturday

YeeYang - possibly going tonight - Friday- since it's his wife's b-day
Mats Johansson - going early because he has to pick up an engine from a junk yard in OKC
Alex Tupas - wasn't there
Tao Wang and Ke Liu are driving together.

.

For a full list of the players:

 

Larry Buell

Ben Bass

Thomas Berryhill

Nathan Littledave

Nicky Agimudie

Chris Agimudie

Sydney Agimudie

Kelly Boyce

Stephen Ackart

Bob Kyker

Yee Yang

Mats Johansson 

Alex Tupas - first tournament - estimated rating - 1850

Tao Wang 

Ke Liu - first tournament - from China - estimated rating - 1900 .

 

(15 players)

 

Dawson - 10 players.

Stephen Ackart, Zaeen Afzal, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Fong Yang, Yee Yang.

Update on who and when and how Tulsa players will be going to the Okla. City tournament this Saturday.

Larry Buell - going with his wife and will visit his son in Okla. City.

Stephen Ackart and Bob Kyker are probably going together.

Ben Bass is leaving Friday.

The 3 Agimudie's are going together.

Kelly Boyce will leave Saturday at 12:30 PM since his first match starts at 3:00 PM.

Yee Yang ?

Mats Johansson ?

Alex Tupas ?

Thomas Berryhill ?

Nathan Littledave ?

Tao Wang ?

Ke Liu ?

Ray Pestridge is going but is only playing doubles.

(14 probable Tulsa players)

Bixby - 17 players.

Yee Yang, Melvin Norton, Manan Azhar, Corey Flaugher, Kelly Boyce, Betty Bermudez, Chris Agimudie, Larry Buell, Sydney Agimudie, Stephen Ackart, Eugene Quaye , John Moore, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Jody Vivion, Matts Johansson, Ben Bass.

 

Dawson - 17 players.

Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, David Bailey, Ben Bass, Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Nathan Littledave, Ke Liu (came with Tao), Ray Pestridge, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Tao Wang, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 16 players.

Stephen Ackart, Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Ben Bass, Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Robert McKinney, Khaled Shehada, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas.

Other news:

Possibly 14 players from Tulsa going to the Okla. City tournament this weekend. Full list of players will be posted after Monday's - 1-18 - play and who is driving and when they are driving.

Bixby - 18 players

1 first time out player - Fally Ologolo (pronounced "Folly"), From Africa. Has been in Tulsa since 1985 and works with Alex's wife.

Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Betty Bermudez, Melvin Norton, Matts Johansson, Kelly Boyce, Mark Chumbley, Chris Rozene, Corey Flaugher, Grant Rodgers, Bobby Lamb, Eugene Quaye, John Moore, Jim Turner, Ben Bass, Alex Tupas, Thomas Berryhill.

Other news:

Jim Turner has decided to start coming out again. Last time played was 1-4-07 (3 years ago).

Betty Bermudez has gotten a new paddle and is perfect for her game. Greg McCann recommended it to her.

No new players going to the Okla. City tournament next weekend. Looks like 12 players are going. See previous blog entry for names of the players going.

Matts will be attending a Stellan Bengston training camp in Oregon soon.

Corey Flaugher has his cast off his right hand and is playing well.

Alex Tupas has a new paddle and is the fastest paddle I have every used. Ask Alex if you can bounce a ball off his racket so you can see for yourself what a really fast paddle is (he won't mind if you ask him).

Dawson - 14 players.

2 first time out players - Todd Souvannavong, David Bailey

Stephen Ackart, Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Ben Bass, Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

12 confirmed Tulsa players going to the Okla. City tournment next Saturday:

Larry Buell and Bob Kyker (doubles)

Yee Yang and Ben Bass     (doubles)

Ray Pestridge and Mats Johansson (doubles)

Chris Agimudie and Alex Tupas (doubles)

Nick Agimudie and Sydney Agimudie (doubles)

Stephen Ackart (no doubles partner yet)

Kelly Boyce (not playing doubles)

Also, Tulsa is trying out Double Fish balls from Coles TT to see if they will become the standard ball for the Tulsa club to use (as opposed to the Nittaku balls Tulsa is using now).

Dawson - 6 players.

Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Ben Bass, Bob Kyker, Khaled Shehada, San ZZ.

Bixby - 14 players.

Alex Tupas, Corey Flaugher, Jim French, Bobby Lamb, Grant Cottrell, Bo Brewer, Mark Chumbley, Manan Azhar, Yee Yang, John Moore, Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Betty Bermudes, Ryan McDaniel.

Dawson - 13 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Ben Bass, Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Khaled Shehada, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, San ZZ.

Dawson - 3 players.(New Years Eve!)

Bob Kyker, Yee Yang, Alex Tupas

Dawson - 10 players.

Rob McKinney, Kelly Boyce, Bob Kyker, Alex Tupas, Antonio Lewis, Larry Buell, Ray Pestridge, Greg McCann, Ben Bass, Nathan Littlefield.

1 spectator - Ted Cavallin (knows Greg McCann).

Other news: Ben Bass can get a good hotel rate for Friday night (the day before the Oklahoma City tournament) from the company he works for. Contact Ben for further details.

Dawson - 10 players.

Fong Yang, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Kelly Boyce, Bob Kyker, Sydney Agimudie, Khalid Shehada, Thomas Berryhill, Ray Pestridge, Ben Bass.

Subject: robot for sale
Hey table tennis players, I'm selling my Newgy 2040 for $500. 
It's in perfect condition and has less than 20 hrs playtime. 
I just moved and don't have room for a table anymore. 
It comes with about 50 practice balls.

Dawson - 6 players.

Ben Bass, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, Robert McKinney.

Bixby - 10 players.

Jim French, Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Melvin Norton, Ben Bass, John Moore, Paul Beatty, Mark Chumbley, Corey Flaugher, Yee Yang.

Other news;
Yee Yang has found his game. Sneaky forehand sidespin and consistent backhand topspin combined with persistence and tenacity and patience.

Ben Bass has a great new strategy and rubber combo. If he gets his new game plan together, we could all be in trouble.

Dawson - 15 players.

Manan Azhar, Ben Bass, Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Taylor Kenny, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, Greg McCann, Robert McKinney, Ray Pestridge, Adam Rouse, Alex Tupas, Robert Yang, Yee Yang.

Other news:

Players going to the Okla. City tournament on 1-23 - the same 12 players listed last week.

Dawson - 7 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Manan Azhar, Ben Bass, Don Beckstrom, Bob Kyker, Adam Rouse, Yee Yang.

Players planning (or thinking about) going to the Okla. City tournament on 1-23: (12 so far).

Larry Buell
Bob Kyker
Mats Johansson
Yee Yang,
Alex Tupas with
Chris Agimudie,
Stephen Ackart,
Kelly Boyce,
John Moore,
Ben Bass,
Thomas Berryhill,
Manan Azhar

Also,

Don Beckstrom

Ray Pestridge

 

Bixby - 12 players.

Alex Tupas, Melvin Norton, Kelly Boyce, Yee Yang, John Moore, Chris Rozene, Corey Flaugher, Mark Chumbley, Jesse Andrews, Paul Beatty, Ben Bass, Manan Azhar (joined the club tonight!!).

Other news:

Tulsa players going to or are seriously thinking about going to the Oklahoma City tournament on Jan 23 are: (this info courtesy of rumors provided by Yee Yang and others):

Yee Yang, Alex Tupas with Chris Agimudie, Stephen Ackart, Kelly Boyce, John Moore, Ben Bass, Thomas Berryhill, Manan Azhar.

Manan Azhar joined the club tonight!

Dawson - 13 players.

1 first time out player - Taylor Kenny - a Spartan student.

12 regular players - Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Larry Buell, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Adam Rouse and Dylan Savage (Spartan students), Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 10 players.

Stephen Ackart, Manan Azhar, Ben Bass, Larry Buell, Mats Johannson, Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Adam Rouse, Dylan Savage, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 14 players.

4 -first time out players - Wendell Hillhouse (a fireman and plays the best game of ping pong I have seen - he beat Jack Hannah twice), Dylan Savage (a Spartan student), Adam Rouse (a Spartan student). Jesse Andrews (works with Chris and Corey)

2 - haven't been out in a while players - Jack Hannah (Jack said his shoulder was hurting when hitting high forehands and he said he would not be playing again). Ben Bass - first time since May. Softball season is over and Ben will start playing again.

3 - ex-Bixby high school players - Mark Chumbley, Chris Rozene, Bobby Lamb.

5 regular players - Corey Flaugher, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, John Moore, Manan Azhar

Dawson - 10 players.

1 first time out player - Adam Rouse - from Spartan

Nicky Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Robert McKinney, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

The Oklahoma City will be having a tournament on Jan 23 or Jan 30.

For details - http://soonerstategames.org/events.php?event_id=17 

or

http://oklahomacitytabletennis.com/upcoming_tournaments_and_dates.html 

Bixby - 15 people

2 first time out players - Tim Horton (from the TCC program) and Daniel Martinek (friend of Tim's).

3 haven't been out in a long time players (from Bixby High School at one time) - Mark Chumbley, Chris Rozene, Paul Beatty.

10 regular players - Ryan McDaniel (boyfriend of Betty), Betty Bermudez, Greg McCann, Manan Azhar, Corey Flaugher, Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Jim French, Melvin Norton, Yee Yang.

Other news:

Yee Yang has mastered the art of ball control (next step will be his speed and power).

The Oklahoma City will be having a tournament on Jan 23.

For details - http://soonerstategames.org/events.php?event_id=17 

or

http://oklahomacitytabletennis.com/upcoming_tournaments_and_dates.html 

Dawson - 8 players.

Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Bob Kyker, Robert McKinney, Ray Pestridge, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 7 players.

Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Seth Sheriff, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 10 players.

1 first time out player - Ryan McDaniel (boyfriend of Betty).

2 - 2nd time out players - Betty Bermudez, Beau Brewer

7 regular players - Jim French, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Manan Azhar, Yee Yang, Corey Flaugher, Greg McCann.

Other news:

The TCC tournament on Saturday was a success. 16 players entered. Play was from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Alex Tupas was there but did not play. Manan Azhar won the tournament. 2nd went to Keegan Sequeira. Only singles was played. The doubles will be played this coming Saturday. Singles format was all 16 players were put into one giant round robin and they played continuously  until they ran out of time.

Dawson - 12 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Larry Buell, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Robert McKinney, Seth Sheriff, Alex Tupas, Greg Widdowson, Yee Yang.

Other news:

Manan Azhar won the TCC tournament held 11-14. 2nd went to Keegan Sequeira

Dawson - 8 players.

Stephen Ackart, Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Bob Kyker, Robert McKinney, Seth Sheriff, Alex Tupas.

Bixby - 12 players.

3 first time out players - Beau Brewer and Eric Schmidtt (friends of Corey Flaugher). Betty Bermudez (a Cuban - Puerto Rico player from Florida going to TCC and playing at the TCC table tennis program).

9 regular players - Corey Flaugher, Jeff Ravenscroft, John Moore, Jim French (and playing very well - just ask Yee), Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Greg McCann, Yee Yang, Manan Azhar.

Other news:

TCC is having a tournament this weekend for TCC players only. 22 players have signed up so far. Format maybe an initial round robin followed by single elimination.

Dawson - 11 players.

Stephen Ackart, Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Robert McKinney, Ray Pestridge, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, Tim Yardy.

From Rob McKinney.  I have a Juic Kalinic blade for sale with no rubber.  It's an ALLROUND+ / 5ply blade and Juic has been making this blade since the early eighties.  This blade is about 18 years old and has seen very little play over the years.  No bad plies that I can see, handle, although dirty, is very solid and a few battle scars.  I only want maybe $10 for it. In addition, I'm looking for some old inverted rubber (red and black).  We have some mini bats that are used to play the neighbors with that need new rubber. 

Ray Pestridge called Bob Kyker. Ray is back home from his mission trip to uk.

Ray plans to come to Dawson next week.

Also, last week, someone left a racket with red friendship & black mendo rubber in a new blue juic case.

 

Dawson - 7 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Robert McKinney, Amol Mudhale, Alex Tupas.

Bixby - 6 players.

Jeff Ravenscroft, Manan Azhar, Melvin Norton, Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, John Moore.

Dawson - 11 players.

Chris Agimudie, Joel Agimudie, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Robert McKinney, Amol Mudhale, Keegan Sequeira, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, Tim Yardy.

Dawson - 10 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Manan Azhar, Larry Buell, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Greg McCann, Robert McKinney, Amol Mudhale, Keegan Sequeira, Alex Tupas.

Bixby - 8 players.

Stephen Ackart, Kelly Boyce, Matts Johansson, Alex Tupas, Jim French, Chris Agimudie, Manan Azhar, Jeff Ravenscroft.

To see Dan McIntosh, from the Muskogee club, play Ray Presnell recently in a tournament in Springfield, Missouri,

click here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56akisn73EQ 

Dawson - 12 players.

1 first time out player - Simon Brain - just visiting from North Carolina

11 regular players - Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell,  Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, Robert McKinney, Amol Mudhale, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

Other news: Dan McIntosh is on You Tube playing table tennis!

To see Dan play - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56akisn73EQ 

Dawson - 5 players.

Stephen Ackart, Larry Buell, Robert McKinney, a player from the 1970's (Stephen said Larry would know who this was), another player we forgot their name. (Larry, can you fill in the blanks?)

Bixby - 8 players.

Player A, Olga Shendrik, Igor Shendrik, John Moore, Kelly Boyce, Melvin Norton, Alex Tupas, Amol Mudhale.

Other news:

This week is Player "A"s last week with the club. He will be moving out of state to an undisclosed location working for an undisclosed company.

Alex Tupas got an new rubber for his backhand from Coles TT. It is slower (but spinny) which gives Alex more control which he likes. He paid $15 for it (which he likes also).

Dawson - 12 players.

1 - haven't been out in years player - Robert McKinney (was an 1800's player).

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ted Bennett, Hamid Ezzat, Player "A", Bob Kyker, Amol Mudhale, Seth Sherrif, Chang Yang, Yee Yang.

 

Dawson - 14 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Stephen Ackart, Don Beckstrom, Kyle Beckstrom (Don's son), Ted Bennett, Hamid Ezzat, player "A", Bob Kyker, Amol Mudhale, Seth Sherrif, Chang Yang, Robert Yang, Fong Yang, Yee Yang.

The results are in for the Oklahoma City tournament held 10-26-09 on the USATT.org web site.

 

http://www.usatt.org/history/rating/history/ 

Bixby - 12 players.

3 first time out players - Storm Fletcher, Jeff Ravenscroft (his daughter is in the gymnastics program that night), Amol Mudhale.

9 regular players - Joel Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Melvin Norton, Kelly Boyce, Jim French, Alex Tupas, Manan Azhar, John Moore, Alto Guidry.

Other news:

John Moore has developed a very offensive backhand. John said he wants to make his backhand more of a weapon.

Alto Guidry is now 90% sure he will be moving to Virginia and working for the government in 6 weeks.

Dawson - 14 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ted Bennett, Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Amol Mudhale, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Tim Yardy.

Dawson - 9 players.

2 first time out players - Isac Iracheta and Caleb Miller (both know Ted Bennett).

7 regular players - Ted Bennett, Alto Guidry, Larry Buell, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Amol Mudhale, Seth Sherrif.

Other news:

Mats and Ted renewed their memberships!

Bixby - 9 players.

1 first time out player - Noman Malik (played in tournaments and clubs in Pakistan).

8 regular players - Jim French, Igor Shendrik, Olga Shendrik, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Stephen Ackart, Alto Guidry, John Moore.

Other news:

Alto Guidry is 25% certain he will be moving to another state in 6 weeks. Alto also renewed his membership!

Dawson - 7 players.

1 - first time out player - Amol Mudhale

Sydney Agimudie, Ted Bennett, Matts Johansson, Bob Kyker, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas.

Dawson - 5 players.

Ten Bennett, Larry Buell, Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Seth Sheriff.

From an email from Christian Lillieroos dated 10-1-09

Dear TT enthusiasts
Next Saturday October 3rd we will have our third Group Lesson at the Oklahoma City Table Tennis Club.
The theme will be Serve return, push and basic footwork. 50% of all your point will starts with a serve return in a match. The charge is $35 ($30 for club members).
We will start 10 am and end 1pm.
The club continues to play until 4 pm, and you can continue to play, which is included in the prize for the clinic.
Christian Lillieroos will be Coach.
We have a limit of 10 slots and last time they went pretty fast, so hurry up and sign up.
Please feel free to spread the word and forward this email to your friends.

Bixby - 6 players.

Alex Tupas, John Moore, Kelly Boyce, Manan Azhar (from the TCC campus), Seth Sheriff, Alto Guidry.

Larry Buell's report on the Oklahoma City tournament held 9-26-09

(for those not familiar with who Larry is, Larry used to write stories for Tim Boggan).

 

2009 Fall OKC Team Tournament

9/26/09

Larry Buell

 

Gentlefolk,

 

Saturday dawned, a crisp and beautiful day. The trip from Tulsa to OKC for this tournament simply flew by! Chris Agimudie and I came representing our club, and we had an auspicious beginning by arriving at the same time (unplanned even J ). Chris was accompanied by his friend Ann, while my son met us and took my wife to Norman for the day.

 

The Team Tournament format was standard Davis Cup, with teams consisting of 2-4 members. In this Team Tournament the ratings for the top two team members could not exceed 3600. Any two can play in the two singles matches, any two can then play the doubles.

Singles are continued after the doubles as needed until one team wins 3 matches.

Of interest is that there is no set rule concerning the playing of the singles after the doubles – they can be played in order, or in parallel. The thing to find out from the local tournament official is whether the parallel play is optional or mandatory. Because although the event form lists the singles in a certain order, the first singles after the doubles that gets a team to 3 wins will conclude play.

Some of the teams did not know this and so experienced a little ‘gamesmanship’ while one of the parallel singles dragged out a match waiting to get the results of the other. It is purely optional once a tie has been decided while a singles match is still in progress if that pair wishes to finish their match (for ratings only).

 

12 teams took part in this event. So Larry Kesler (the tournament referee, who along with Britt Salter, Dale Goodman and David Hash organized another great tournament!) divided the first half of play into 4 RRs consisting of (I’ll pause here for new math pupils to compute) 3 teams each. In our first tie Chris and I, seeded 2nd in our RR behind overall 1st seeds Carl Miller (1818) and Guy Hendrickson (1727) played the 3rd seeded team of Doug Marks (1374) and Si-Dung Lam (1629).

Doug has been working with Winfred Addy, and the work has born fruit. Doug was killing with great accuracy anything slightly up, and was quick on his counters. In my match against him (lost 12-10 in the fifth) I simply could not overcome his power and consistency. I foresee a meteoric rise in this young man’s rating, helped in no small part by his victory over me J (Chris estimated his hit/counter game at well over 1800 level).

Chris won his match versus Si (played simultaneously so could not watch), then on to the doubles. Chris and I played very smoothly together, with Chris getting big shots off both forehand and backhand (especially off a long serve) and me moving the ball around trying to get our opponents out of position. We won the doubles 3-0.

Then Chris played a tough match against Doug, which he felt fortunate to win and we won our first tie 3-1.

 

We next faced the top-seeds Carl and Guy (again, played simultaneously). Carl has been tough for me to beat over the years, as his consistency, change of pace, mobility and slight of hand direction changes give me no consistent rhythm to get my game going against (I imagine this is his intention against all opponents – he reminds me of the playing strategy of John McEnroe, who also changed the pace on every shot so as to give his opponent no rhythm to fall into).

I did manage to take one game off Carl, which was a minor victory for me. Chris played Guy, whose rating has taken a what I’m sure will be a temporary tumble, very close, and was improving each game. Next time, Chris!

In the doubles we took them to 5, losing 11-9 in the 5th. I had two opportunities at 9-9 and 10-9 to put away forehand high kill shots, but by lifting my shoulder up too high hit long each time (sigh). Sorry Chris! But our good doubles play did give us a lift despite the loss.

 

In the 2nd half of play, Larry organized the teams into 3 RRs of 4 teams each. Our first tie was against a team using 3 players, Rod Cowles (1813), Jerry Gustafson (1693) and Gordon Dickey, Jr (1593, who has been getting coaching tips from none other than Sean O’Neill).

Rod played Chris first while I played Jerry. Rod had a style I hadn’t seen since the 70s – hardbat! He was a very effective chopper, with terrific court coverage and great variations of spin. Chris, who wasn’t even around in the 70s to see this, lost a tough match 0-3.

I played Jerry, who was a chopper/topper, but hadn’t played a tournament in 9 years. He had good touch/reactions, but was a bit rusty and I managed a win (3-0) by giving him easy low pushes then driving long to the corners, killing anything up. Jerry did play better each game.

We then went into the doubles, where Rod and Gordon paired up. They whupped us good J Rod told me he and Gordon (a lefty) play a lot of doubles together, and it showed, Gordon kept anything not up simply in play, while Rod moved the ball around with his hardbat chops quite well. Anything we left up from the chops, Gordan would kill to the opposite corner. Very effective duo! We lost 3-0.

In the 2nd half, Chris handled Jerry well with a 3-1 win, while I played a very cagey but ultimately unsuccessful match against Rod, losing 12-10 in the 3rd. Britt Salter was kind enough to tell me afterwards I had the right approach to Rod’s hardbat style (giving him nospin pushes/blocks until something came up which I then tried to flat kill), but my kill shots were nipping the net too frequently for me to overcome Rod’s consistency.

 

Our next tie was against Eddie Thompson (1739 spinny/anti combo) and Clayton Pavlorek (unrated, tennis player picking up TT) from Texas.
Eddie, playing Chris first, used a great 1-2 punch of block/chop with anti and great drive putaways to beat Chris 3-0. Clayton, a tall, lanky player with great court coverage, had terrific drive/kills on anything up. When he learns to return services he will be a force to contend with (my severe underspin short/long serves gave him much trouble, enabling a 3-0 win for me).

In the doubles Chris and I again moved well together, giving each other encouragement as we managed a solid win. Then Chris played Clayton, where Chris’ great drives and smart ball placement got him the win, giving us the tie win as well.

 

Our last tie of the day was against Craig Milkowski (1663) and Dalton Daugherty (1608) with Britt Salter (1653) joining Craig in the doubles. We were both a bit under the weather at this point, Chris having pulled his right peck muscle and me just running short on fuel J But Craig and Dalton played strongly and solidly, earning their victories. I lost to Dalton 11-9 in the 5th, his consistency with both pushing and driving and his good service returns ending up too much for me. In the doubles against Britt and Craig, Chris and I gave it everything we had, losing an excruciatingly close match 12-10 in the 5th.

 

I thought Chris played extremely well, and with more experience at shot selection will soar into the 1800s at minimum in the next year. I am (once again) in a transition period, changing my game from playing back from the table for counter drives to standing up close for positional picks, blocks, short topspin drives and kills. My timing still needs adjustment for playing this close, but I played solidly against the 1800 players and feel confident this is the direction I should pursue. My weaknesses continue to be the ‘easy’ stuff, which I consistently overhit, but in the next few months I will focus on this and hopefully see another plateau of play reached by mid next year.

 

A big thank you to Ann for her cheerful support and encouragement of us both throughout our play!

 

A bright finish to the day – Chris and I were done in time for him to get back on the road to the TU football game (without missing much I hope!). I traveled down to Norman for a great visit with my son, dinner, and then some sweet dancing down memory lane with Rock Band: Beatles tunes (I was the Walrus) before the drive home.

 

Thanks again to the folks in OKC for staging another great tournament!

 

(note - Larry added some smiley faces throughout his article, but due to coding errors, this program will not support the smiley faces and it printed them out as a "J" ).

Dawson - 8 players.

Stephen Ackart, Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, Seth Sheriff, Alex Tupas.

Dawson - 6 players.

Chris Agimudie, Joel Agimudie, Bob Kyker, Antonis Lewis, Seth Sherrif, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 8 players.

Chris Agimudie, Melvin Norton, Kelly Boyce, Olga Shendrik, Igor Shendrik, Alto Guidry, Alex Tupas, Joel Agimudie.

Other news:

Players going to the Okla. City tournament this weekend - Chris Agimudie and Larry Buell. Rumor has it that Yee Yang may go.

Alex Tupas, on Monday night, got flooded out at Sheridan and Virgin (3 blocks from the club !)while trying to make it to the Dawson club. Had to leave his car at the transmission place there.

Dawson - 4 players.

Big storm in Tulsa. Lots of flooding.

Stephen Ackart, Larry Buell, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker.

Other news:

Tulsa players going to the Okla. City tournament this weekend - Chris Agimudie and Larry Buell.

Dawson - 7 players.

Chris Agimudie, Larry Buell, Alto Guidry, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, Alex Tupas. 

From an email from Guy Hendrickson, tournament director in Hutchinson, KS:

The last of our 2009 series of USATT sanctioned tournaments is scheduled for October 17, 2009.  Our feature players for this tournament are Alfred Najem, Emporia , KS (2474 current rating) and Christain Wolf, Wichita, KS, (2136 current rating).  The maximum players allowed to be entered are (36) thirty six to make the most matches available to all players.

Please enter soon to guarantee your place in the tournament,

Bixby - 5 players.

Stephen Ackart, Kelly Boyce, Thomas Berryhill, Melvin Norton, Alto Guidry.

Other news:

No one going to the Okla. City tournament next weekend.

Dawson - 9 players.

1 first time out player - a friend of the Agimudies - did not get his name.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, Yee Yang.

Other news:

Tulsa players going to the Okla. City team tournament on 9-26 - none so far.

Dawson - 7 players.

Don Beckstrom, Larry Buell, Alto Guidry, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

Other news:

No Tulsa  players, so far, are going to the Sept. 26 Okla. City team tournament. Dead line to enter is Sept. 22.

Yee Yang won a match from Don Beckstrom!

Hugh Pham has gone back to school and will not be out for awhile.

Bob Kyker is back!!

(He came out Monday and no one showed up).

Below is from an email Bob sent today about the tournament in San Francisco.

I advanced from my round robin but lost early next round.  I played very well, but my key loss was to mark adelman from calif in four games.  he was a very strong looper both wings, shots were too fast for my new chopping technique. I kept chopping the ball back too long.  however, I hit 12 to 15 seemiller backhand kills past him that he didn't touch and his comment every time was "that's too good".  good, but not good enough.  he went on beat the no. 2 seed (about 2050) worse than he beat me and lost only to a 2050 player in the finals.
in doubles, george taplin and I won our round robin and then lost to a 2050 combined rating team.  our rating was 3435.  we found out next day that the 2050 team was composed of a 2050 rated player (no. 2 seed) and an unrated player (zero rating).  ha!  we felt better but this put us out of the top contender list and went into consolation, winding up 7th.  george came in 6th in singles.  this was our lowest performance to date, but the competition was the strongest, also.  entries included george braithwaite,  homer brown, lon dean, larry thoman, jim mcqueen, etc.  we drove 2000 miles to san francisco just to play only four singles matches, but we'll be back!

Bixby - 8 players.

Jim French, Alto Guidry, Kelly Boyce, Larry Buell, Jordan Baker, Alex Tupas, John Moore, Seth Sherrif.

Other news:

Larry Buell has a new style and strategy that is very effective (he has been taking secret lessons).

The club has decided to use Nittaku balls only. No more Gambler balls.

Bixby - 12 players.

1 - 2nd time out player - Jordan Baker.

1- haven't been out since 9-19-06 player - Nestor Prato (?) - from Venzuela - just visiting. Uses long pips on his backhand and controls the ball very well with it. He gave Alex Tupas fits with it. Not sure how Chris Agimudie played against it.

10 regular players - Jim French, Kelly Boyce, Alto Guidry, Chris Agimudie, Alex Tupas, Melvin Norton, Igor Shendrik, Olga Shendrik, John Moore, Seth Sherrif.

Dawson - about 10 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Yee Yang, Larry Buell, Alex Tupas, Antonio Lewis and others.

OKLAHOMA CITY FALL TEAMS TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT
September 26, 2009 @ 9:00 am.  Enter by 22 September.

For info:

http://oklahomacitytabletennis.com/FallTeamTourney.xls 

Bixby - 12 players.

2 first time out players - Jordan Baker and Brian Figg - current rating - 2057. (more about Brian below).

1 watcher - Krassi Figg - mother of Brian Figg

10 regular players - Greg McCann, Melvin Norton, Stephen Ackart, John Moore, Kelly Boyce, Alto Guidry, Igor Shendrik, Olga Shendrik, Alex Tupas, Seth Sherrif.

Other news:

Brian Figg and his mother moved to Owasso about a month ago from Kansas City where Brian learned to play (the only place Brian has played at). Brian is 15 years old and plays pen-hold style and is a big time baseball player (looking for a scholarship in baseball. Owasso's baseball team has been in the finals of the Okla. high school 6A state championships in 12 of the last 13 years !). His last tournament was on 3-1-08 at the Missouri Winter Games and he played Hamid Ezzat and Wilhelm Kruger! Krassi Figg, his mother, plays with the Tulsa Symphony. Contact info for Brian will be posted on the members section of this web site (password protected page).

.

Greg McCann has 12 students signed up for the table tennis class he has at TCC. They play on Friday afternoons and  Tulsa club players can attend his class as a guest.

Dawson - 8 players.

1 first time out player - Brian Figg.

7 regular players - Stephen Ackart, Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Joel Agimudie, Larry Buell, Seth Sheriff, Alto Guidry.

Bixby - 11 players.

1 first time out to Bixby player - Joel Agimudie

Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Chris Agimudie, Yee Yang, John Moore, Thomas Berryhill, Melvin Norton, Igor Shendrik, Alto Guidry, Seth Sherrif.

Dawson - 8 players.

Matts Johannson, Seth Sherrif, Larry Buell, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Alex Tupas, Antonio Lewis.

 

Stephen Ackart is wanting to go to the Little Rock tournament on 10-17-09.

Anyone interested, contact Stephen.

Bixby - 9 players.

1 first time out player - Sam, a close and personal friend of Chris Agimudie.

Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Melvin Norton, Alto Guidry, Yee Yang, Bernard.

Other news:

Yee Yang did go to the Wesleyan tournament in Dallas about 2 weeks ago.

Chris Agimudie just got back from the tournament in Houston. 150 players attended. Chris did beat a 2000 level player! The best player at the tournament was from China and is ranked 80th in the world (he won the tournament easily).

Dawson - about 4 people.

Yee Yang, Alex Tupas, Larry Buell, ?.

Bixby - 12 players.

1 - hasn't been out in a long time player - Venkatesh ("Ven") Movva - current rating - 1962. Last tournament he attended was in 10/2001. His highest rating - 2008.

11 regular players - Martie Quaye, Eugene Quaye, Emmanuel Quaye (all brothers), Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Hamid Ezzat, Chris Agimudie, Igor Shendrik, Melvin Norton, John Moore, Alto Guidry.

Other news:

Chris Agimudie will be leaving this Friday to attended the 4 star tournament in Houston, Tx. this weekend!

The following emails below are from Britt Salter and Christian Lillieroos

Tulsa players - please note that Chris Agimudie attended the first group lesson and was very pleased.

Dawson - 15 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Ray Awe, Travis Bow, Larry Buell, Thai Diep (from Muskogee), Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, Darrel Lucht (from Muskogee), Hugh Pham, Brent Roberts, Seth Sherrif, Leonard Williams, Robert Yang, Yee Yang.

Other news:

Bob Kyker will be going to San Francisco this weekend for the National Senior's tournament!

A great table tennis rally link on "you tube" - courtesey of Larry Buell:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUJ91PuHyLY 

Bixby - 14 players.

4 first time out players - 2 friends of Khalid (did not get their names), Marty Quaye, Brett Stewart.

10 other players - P.J. Cardwell (plays baseball at Jenks HS), Sam Savin (plays football at Jenks HS), Kelly Boyce, Melvin Norton, Khalid Shehada, Alto Guidry, John Moore, Thomas Berryhill, Jim French, Eugene Quaye.

Other news:

Jim French is giving up shuffle board (too many late night tournaments)

Dawson - 13 players.

Chris Agimudie, Joel Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Zack Eldridge, James Gateley, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Other news:

Bob Kyker will be going to San Francisco this weekend to the National Senior Table Tennis tournament (with George from Kansas).

President Obama buys a ping pong table.

.

The table he got is a Stiga - http://www.paddlepalace.com/Stiga-STS-410-Q-Table/productinfo/TE410/

Where is the most expensive table tennis club in America?

http://www.spinyc.com/   (Spin New York)

What is a "ping pong door"? 

Dawson - 12 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Joel Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Zack Eldridge, James Gateley, Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Greg McCann, Seth Sherrif, Leonard Williams.

Results have been posted on the Oklahoma City tournament held 6-27-09 on the USATT.ORG web site. A total of 17 players entered this tournament including 6 players from Tulsa. To view the results - click on the following link:

http://www.usatt.org/history/rating/history/ 

.

 

Bixby - 11 players.

1 - 2nd time out player - Manan Azhar (from the TCC program).

Khalid Shehada, Thomas Berryhill, Melvin Norton, Kelly Boyce, James Gateley, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, Alto Guidry, Mats Johansson, Zack Eldridge.

Other news:

Yee Yang will be going to the Wesleyan tournament in Ft. Worth this weekend. He will be going with Winfred Addy and Linda from Okla. City.

Dawson - 13 players.

1 first time out player - Travis Bow

Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Joel Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Larry Buell, Zack Eldridge, Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Hugh Pham, Seth Sherrif, Leonard Williams.

Dawson - 12 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Joel Agimudie, Larry Buell, James Gateley, Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, Hugh Pham, Seth Sherrif, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 16 players.

2 first time out players - Ibad Rehman and Keegan Sequerra - both from the TCC table tennis program.

14 regular players - Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Zack Eldridge, Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Antonis Lewis, Hugh Pham, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 15 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Joel Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Zack Eldridge, Hamid Ezzat, Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, Dan McIntosh, Hugh Pham, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams

Other news:

The air conditioner has been fixed. Temperature runs 76 degrees all the time.

Bixby - 15 players.

4 first time out players - Gray Whitman and Zane Simmons (both play on the varisty tennis team at Jenks), P.J. (friend of Brian Flynn), Misty Berryhill (wife of Thomas Berryhill).

11 regular players - Yee Yang, Chris Agimudie, Ben Bass, Kelly Boyce, Jim French, Al Houser, Igor Shendrik, Olga Shendrik, Alto Guidry, Brian Flynn, Thomas Berryhill.

Dawson - 14 players.

Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, James Gateley, Bob Kyker, Mike Malan, Greg McCann, Dan McIntosh, John Moore, Hugh Pham, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Other news:

The air conditioner still does not work well. The park maintenance has been out 3 times in the last month to fix it. Club has not decided what to do about this.

Results from the June, 27 tournament at Oklahoma City are posted.

http://oklahomacitytabletennis.com/sum09results.html 

Dawson - 9 players.

1 first time out player - James Gateley (from the Dallas club).

8 regular players - Ben Bass, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Email from Ben Bass on the tournament he attended on 6-27-09 in Okla. City - his first tournament.

I'd like to add another update to the blog for today on the TT website please. I took 1st in the 1250 (I know it's not a major bracket :D )!  And would like to say thanks to everyone at Bixby and Dawson for all of the help, pointers, and practice they have given me. Especially to you, bob, yi, steve, and alex. You guys make the game fun even when you are beating me in the matches!

Bixby - 12 players.

1 first time out player - James Gateley from the Dallas club.

11 regular players - Thomas Berryhill, Nathan Littledave, Kelly Boyce, Hamid Ezzat, Ben Bass, Melvin Norton, John Moore, Greg McCann, Alto Guidry, Igor Shendrik, Olga Shendrik.

Dawson - 19 players.

2 first time out players - Mike Malan, Eduardo X (both students of Greg McCann).

15 regular players - Chris Agimudie, Joel Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Hamid Ezzat, Larry Hill, Marquel Johnson, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, Greg McCann, Hugh Pham, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Article from Larry Buell on the Okla. City tournament he attended Saturday, 6-27-09:

 

Sooner State Games Summer Tournament Report

June 27, 2009

Larry Buell

 

Gentlefolk,

 

Well, the times they are a’changin’, and so has the location of the OKC Table Tennis Club. Their new site is at 1600 NE 8^th Street in OKC. BTW, if you have GPS be verrry careful selecting your destination, because my GPS gave me 2 choices for this address in OKC, and I naturally picked the wrong one (ending up scratching my head wondering where a table tennis site would be amongst all these nice residential houses in the far south OKC suburbs). The one you want has Jordan as a cross street (the OKCTTC site map is correct).

 

The OKC club has done a tremendous job cleaning out and refurbishing this place in a short time. The bathrooms (one measure I use to gauge the quality of a place) were superb, especially the main one that had new carpet and beautiful tiling on the wall (and is very spacious!). The club has room for many tables (which were all in terrific condition), in addition to a lounge/counter area in the front. The air conditioning for the main building is good, and will be helped even more when they get the lounge area a/c fixed (soon, soon as they said!).

 

The tournament was a typically well-run event by the capable OKC club members. We had good participation from Tulsa, with 5 members doing a great job representing us: Steve Ackart, Chris Agimudie, Ben Bass, Yee Yang, and me.

 

From talking with the Tulsa players, and watching them, the future of Tulsa Table Tennis is in good hands! Steve had some great matches he played with his fearless power game, Chris is playing with greater confidence and patience that is approaching his awesome talent, Ben has a terrific court sense and fine ball control (his game will only get better with time) and Yee of course is one of our most improved players and is dangerous to any player with his combination of control and power.

 

As for me, although I did not have the success I had in this tournament in February, I also did not have the failures. I have been trying to improve my power game and focus, and these both were in evidence during my play. Though it was a long day (entered U2000, Open, Over-50s, all RRs in which I played from Noon to 7:30 PM), I felt fairly strong right through to the end. My toughest matches (from an “I almost won” point of view) were against Chris in the U2000 (lost 3-2 in an incredible -3, 10, 8, -9, -10 match, where Chris seemed unable to miss a power loop or cross-court kill when he needed them…grr J ). Chris indeed was playing well as he upset 2nd overall seed in the tournament Brandon Gardner (1835) of Texas, a strong young player who will only get better as he learns to wait for the opportune time to strike.

 

My other successful loss was to that same Brandon in the runner-up playoff for 3^rd/4^th in the Opens. We played a ‘coat of paint’ match which I lost 2-3 (-9, 8, 8, -13, -8). I actually had 2 match points in the crucial 4^th game, one of which was a ‘dratted white stuff’ shot that saw my cross-court forehand power loop just graze the top of the net and miss the table by scant centimeters. Brandon gave out a loud sigh of relief at that one!

 

Overall though, I believe I am in the place I wanted to be, challenging a whole new class of player (my serves still gave folks trouble, that helped!), needing only a better push and serve return to enter into the next level of play.

 

The redoubtable left-hander Scott Ryan (1874/TX) was top seeded and won the Opens. The ever reliable and court sagacious Carl Miller (1824, KS) was 3rd seed and came in 2^nd. Brandon of TX (seeded 2^nd) came in 3^rd, and yours truly was seeded 4^th and came in 4^th.

 

In the U3400 doubles, Scott and his partner Ken Potts (1341/TX) came in first, and our own Yee Yang/Ben Bass showed terrific court coverage and patience to finish 2^nd. Chris and Steve showed promise as a power combo to finish 3^rd.

 

All told, this was a very good tournament experience, and I can only hope for more of the same in the days ahead!

 

 

 

 

John Staley (rated 2011) from the Dallas club will most likely be at the Dawson club tonight -  Monday.

He is in Tulsa on business today and said he thinks he can make it out to play tonight.

Info from Yee Yang about the Oklahoma City tournament he attended on 6-27-09 per an email he sent in.

7 players from TULSA entered the OKC Tournament!

Me "Yee Yang" and Ben Bass took 2nd in U-3600 Doubles, Chris Agimudie & Stephen Ackart took 3rd!
Tulsa player Ben Bass, his first tournament and a person who does not play doubles, did an OUT STANDING JOB which surprised a lot of players there that day! Chris Agimudie took 2nd in the Open Singles who also did an out standing job! Stephen Ackart took 2nd in U-1500 and I took 1st! I learned that the way I am holding my blade is INCORRECT and it has been a habit I need to break! Winfred, the 2300-2500 TT player who noticed it and mentioned it to me! I will work on it and try to change! We all had fun and learned a lot that day! 6/27/09 We started at 9:00am and ended around 7:45-8:00pm

 

 

Update on which Tulsa players are going to the Okla. City tournament this weekend:

6 players - Stephen Ackart, Ben Bass, Thomas Berryhill, Nathan Littledave, Larry Buell, Yee Yang.

(Bob Kyker will not be going).

Ben will go up Friday night and stay at an exclusive apartment paid for by his company.

Thomas will leave Sat. morning.

Stephen will go up with his wife and his wife's parents on Friday.

Nathan will enter the ping pong events only.

Dawson - 17 players.

Stephen Ackart, Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Joel Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Hamid Ezzat, Alto Guidry, Marquel Johnson, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, John Moore, Hugh Pham, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Update on who is going to the Okla. City tournament this weekend:

4 for sure players - Stephen Ackart, Ben Bass, Thomas Berryhill, Nathan Littledave.

3 rumored players - Yee Yang, Bob Kyker, Larry Buell.

Ben will go up Friday night and stay at an exclusive apartment paid for by his company. Thomas will leave Sat. morning. Stephen will go up with his wife and his wife's parents on Friday. Nathan will enter the ping pong events only.

Bixby - 13 players.

1 - first time out player - Ali G. (knows Hamid).

12 regular players - Hamid Ezzat, Jim French, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Igor Shendrik, Olga Shendrik, Alto Guidry, Stephen Ackart, Ben Bass, Thomas Berryhill, Khaled Shehada, Kevin Borgstedt.

 

Dawson - 16 players.

1 first time out player - Marquel Johnson

15 regular players - Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Larry Hill, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Antonio Lewis, Greg McCann, Dan McIntosh, Hugh Pham, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Hutchinson tournament info from an email from Bob Kyker on how he and Yee Yang did Saturday:

Yee and I had a good tournament last Sat.( 6-20-09)  in Hutchinson, KS.  Yee beat a 1700 player and won something in singles and 1st in U-3600 doubles with Don Beckstrom.  George Taplin and I won 2nd in U-3600 doubles.  It was close in the last game with Yee and Don.  Even though Yee was upset about his losses, he played exceptionally well and his level  has jumped since last tournament. 
My new defensive style was working well even at this stage of development (no offense to blend in, yet).  I beat three 1700 players and was winning games against 1800 players.  But I had a hiccup at the end of the day, losing to a 1385 player, with errors in playing defense only.  I have plenty to work on for improvement against certain styles; it works very well against aggressive top spinners.
We started at 8:30 am Sat, and ended at 9:30 pm; it was a good day.
 

Dawson - 20 players.

7 first time out players - Furqaan Azhar, Ibrahaam Azhar, Salmaan Azhar (all nephews of Zaeen Afzal), Hannah Burkett (Muskogee club member, did not play however), Ali G., Antonio Lewis (young friend of Larry Buell), Brent Roberts (Muskogee club member),

13 regular players - Zaeen Afzal, Larry Buell, Thai Diep, Hamid Ezzat, Alto Guidry, Matts Johansson, Bob Kyker, Darrel Lucht (Muskogee club member), John Moore, Hugh Pham, Joe Spaulding, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 12 players.

Bob Kyker, Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Igor Shendrik, Olga Shendrik, Melvin Norton, Yee Yang, Alto Guidry, Jim French, Khaled Shehada, Ben Bass, Kevin Borgstedt.

Dawson - 11 players.

1 visitor - just watched - Oliver Lee

1 first time out player - Stephen Svensson (relative of Matts).

8 regular players - Chris Agimudie, Joel Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Larry Hill, Matts Johansson, Bob Kyker, Seth Sherrif, Yee Yang.

Email below from Thomas Griffin dated 6-15-09:

I did get to play at the Dawson club last Thursday night.

If you get a chance to talk to those guys, please tell them that I had a lot of fun playing with them.

I played 6 matches or so and I was pretty tired after that.

 

If any of you guys are ever in Charlotte, NC, stop by our club to play.

We play Tuesday and Thursday nights, and Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

You can check us out at http://www.charlottetabletennis.org/.

 

Thanks, Thomas Griffin

 

Dawson - 15 players.

1 - first time out player - Thomas Griffin, from Charlotte, NC. An 1850 player - conventional strong looper. He was here in Tulsa on business.

14 regular players - Stephen Ackart, Zaeen Afzal, Sydney Agimudie, Don Beckstrom (from Wichita - 1877 player), Larry Buell, Zack Eldridge, Alto Guidry, Larry Hill, Matts Johansson, Bob Kyker, John Moore, Khaled Shehada, Seth Sherrif, Yee Yang.

Other news:

Rumor has it Yee Yang beat Thomas Griffin. Don Beckstrom did win against Thomas.

Players going to the Hutchinson tournament next weekend - unknown.

Players going to the Okla. City tournament in 2 weeks - unknown.

Dawson special notice: Tulsa will be having an out-of-town player at Dawson tomorrow - Thursday. The club rec'd the following email today:

My name is Thomas Griffin and I am a table tennis player from Charlotte, NC. I have been playing with the Charlotte club for many years. My current rating is 1850.

I am going to be in Tulsa tomorrow (Thursday) for business and I would like to come play at your club at the Dawson center.

 

Bixby - 8 players.

1 - just joined the club tonight player - Greg McCann - teacher of the TCC class on table tennis.

1 - first time out player - Michael - from the Tulsa Chinese Assoc. He was playing because of a tournament their association is having soon (only members of the Chinese Assoc. can play). (Alto Guidry is a member of this assoc.?)

Michael came in first in the doubles during the last tournament and came in 4th in the singles (per Alto).

6 regular players - Melvin Norton, Kelly Boyce, Alto Guidry, Ben Bass, Yee Yang, Kevin Borgstedt.

Other news:

Yee Yang is wanting to go to the Hutchinson tournament this month.

Ben Bass is wanting to go to the Okla. City tournament this month.

Greg McCann said this year was the first time TCC offered a class on table tennis and got about 6 players.

The class is offered again in the fall but no one has signed up yet.

(Amir Khan plays at TCC and Samer Charr works and plays at TCC also).

Ben Bass said he prefers playing table tennis to softball and will try to play more table tennis.

 

Dawson - 14 players.

1 first time out player - Hugh Pham (works with Nicky).

13 players - Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Joel Agimudie, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Dan McIntosh, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, 2 other players we did not get their names.

Tournament schedule change:

The Okla. Sooner State Games will be changed to 6-27-09 so as not to conflict with the Hutchinson, Kansas tournament on 6-20-09.

Dawson - 10 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Dane Boswell, Zack Eldridge, Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Leonard Williams, Robert Yang, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 11 players.

Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Igor Shendrik, Olga Shendrik, Jack Hannah, Melvin Norton, John Moore, Ben Bass, Kevin Borgstedt, Al Houser, Alto Guidry.

Dawson - 14 players.

1 - first time out player - Joel Agimudie

13 regulars - Stephen Ackart, Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Dwayne Beavers, Jeff Beavers, Bob Kyker, Dan McIntosh, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Special note - the Dawson club hit their 100th player (since 2003) with James Gateley (no prizes for James, however),

Dawson - 11 players.

1 first time out player - Caleb Bates (knows Greg Widdowson).

10 regular players - Zaeen Afzal, Sydney Agimudie, Alto Guidry, James Gateley (fireman from Dallas), Bob Kyker, Dan McIntosh, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Greg Widdowson.

Bixby - 11 players.

2 just joined the club tonight players - Igor Shendrik and his wife - Olga Shendrik

1 - 2nd time out player - Eugene Quaye - from the TCC program

8 regular players - Stephen Ackart, Kelly Boyce, Melvin Norton, Alex Tupas, Jack Hannah, John Moore, Alto Guidry, Yee Yang.

Other news: 

The club needs to start setting up after 5:30 PM in order to not interfere with the gymnastics program.

Melvin modified the Detroiter cart to better hold the cardboard. New name for the Detroiter cart will now be the "card board cart".

Dawson - 2 players.

Bob Kyker and Ben Bass.

Other news:

Bob Kyker will be playing in the Hutchinson tournament on 6-20-09.

Bob will also be playing in the National Seniors doubles tournament in August in San Francisco with George Taplin.

Dawson - 6 players.

Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Khaled Shehada, Joe Spaulding, Seth Sherrif,  Yee Yang.

Results of the Flim Flam Slam tournament held 5-16-09 in Springfield, Missouri.

2 players from Tulsa attended - Stephen Ackart and Chris Agimudie.

Letter below written by Bill Lewis, President of the Ozarks Table Tennis Club.

 

Results of the Flim Flam Slam Open table tennis tournament  played in Springfield on May 16th.  A grand total of 24 players played 113 matches of which there were 19 sanctioned players.  Seven matches were played in the Under 3200 and Open Doubles with 11 matches notched in the novice Ping-Pong singles.

Bixby - 10 players

1 - first time out player - Eugene Quaye (from the TCC program).

9 other players - Olga Shendrik, Igor Shendrik (their 3rd time out ! ), Melvin Norton, Kelly Boyce, Alto Guidry, Jack Hannah, Alex Tupas, John Moore, Chau Giang.

Dawson - 17 players.

4 players from Sallisaw - Matt Caldwell, Steve Padgett, Bob Sivils, Daniel Sivils.

13 other players - Dwayne Beavers, Dane Boswell, Larry Buell, Matts Johansson, Bob Kyker, Dan McIntosh, Khaled Shehada, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Tim Yardy.

Dawson - 12 players.

Stephen Ackart, Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Dwayne Beavers, Matts Johansson, Bob Kyker, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Robert Yang, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 14 players.

1 - first time out player - from Ft. Worth, a fireman, we did not get his name.

13 other players - Stephen Ackart, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Dwayne Beavers, Dane Boswell, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Dan McIntosh, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang. 

Dawson - info to follow

Bixby - 9 players.

2 first time out players - Olga Shendrik, Igor Shendrik - both from the Ukraine. Have been in Tulsa since 1996.

7 regular players - Melvin Norton, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, Alto Guidry, Jack Hannah, Ben Bass.

Other news:

Melvin Norton will modfy the "Detroiter carts" to better carry the cardboard rolls.

Dawson - 16 people. 

Kyle Dierking from channel 6 - KOTV came out and interviewed Kelly Boyce, Bob Kyker and Larry Buell and took alot of video of the players - mostly of Nicky Agimudie.

Stephen Ackart, Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Kelvin Frank ( a relative of Sydney who just watched), Dwayne Beavers, Don Beckstrom (from Wichita), Kelly Boyce, Larry Buell, Amir Khan, Bob Kyker, Dan McIntosh, John Moore, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 9 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Dwayne Beavers, Larry Buell, Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Joe Spaulding, Robert Yang, Fong Yang, Yee Yang.

Other news: Don Beckstrom will be playing Monday night.

Bixby - 6 players.

Alex Tupas, Thomas Berryhill, Kelly Boyce, Alto Guidry, Yee Yang, John Moore.

Dawson - 12 players.

Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Rollin Hoggatt, Bob Kyker, Dan McIntosh, Josh Parker, Shane Parker, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 10 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Alto Guidry, Rollin Hoggatt, Bob Kyker, Dan McIntosh, Josh Parker, Shane Parker, Joe Spaulding.

Bixby - 10 players.

Stephen Ackart, Kelly Boyce, Melvin Norton, Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Alex Tupas, Kevin B, Alto Guidry, Thomas Berryhill (brought his fiancee), Mats Johansson.

 

Dawson - 12 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Dane Boswell, Rollin Hoggatt, Bob Kyker, John Moore, Josh Parker, Shane Parker, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 9 players.

3 first time out players - Rollin Hoggart, Shane Parker, a player we did not get their name.

6 regular players - Hamid Ezzat, Chris Agimudie, Dwayne Beavers, Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Joe Spaulding.

Bixby - 8 players.

1 first time out player - Al Houser

7 regular players - Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Grant Bond, Melvin Norton, Thomas Berryhill, Jack Hannah, Alto Guidry.

Dawson - 15 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Ben Bass, Dwayne Beavers, Dane Boswell, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Dan McIntosh, John Moore, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, Tim Yardy.

Dawson - 11 players.

1 first time out player - Greg Ketchum

10 regular players - Chris Agimudie, Dwayne Beavers, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Alto Guidry, Matts Johansson, Bob Kyker, Robert Yang, Fong Yang, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 10 players.

4 first time out players - Chau Giang (played at a table tennis club in California. A chopper. Has lived in Tulsa since October). Josh Willinger and John Davis - both enrolled in the TCC table tennis course (there are 6 players in the TCC course now but John said that is because no one knew about the course that started this semester and that next semester there should be alot more players). One other player that was there because of the gymnastics program.

6 regular players - Thomas Berryhill, Kelly Boyce, Kevin B., Melvin Norton, Alex Tupas, Alto Guidry.

 

Dawson - 15 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Dwayne Beavers, Hamid Ezzat, Steven Freedman, Matts Johansson, Bob Kyker, Dan McIntosh, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Robert Yang, Fong Yang, Yee Yang, Tim Yardy.

Other news:

Chris Agimudie got a new Newgy robot.

Dawson - 12 players

3 first time out players - all from Hawaii - Steven Freedman, Jamie Stokes, Lynn Stokes.

9 regular players - Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Dwayne Beavers, Larry Buell, Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Joe Spaulding, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 15 players.

5 first time out players - all from the TCC table tennis club course - Greg McCann (the instructor for the course), Kyle Chancey, John Davis, Patrick Short, Brad Baumann.

10 regular players - Melvin Norton, Alto Guidry, Jack Hannah, Kelly Boyce, Chris Agimudie, Alex Tupas, Sydney Agimudie, Fred Roper, Kevin Borgstedt, Thomas Berryhill.

Other news:
TCC has an accredited table tennis course and Greg is the teacher for the course.
Good for 2 to 3 college credits. They play once a week for 2 1/2 hours.

Dawson - 14 players.

1 - haven't been out in a long time player - Ray Awe (joined the club tonight also!).

13 regular players - Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Dwayne Beavers, Dane Boswell, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Chuck Lewis, John Moore, Alex Tupas, Fong Yang, Yee Yang, Tim Yardy.

Dawson - 16 players.

2 first time out players - Rollin Hoggatt, Shane Parker (nephew of Rollin Hoggatt).

14 regular players - Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Dwayne Beavers, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Robert Yang, Fong Yang, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 13 players.

3 first time out players - Dick Clemons and his son Sean Clemons, Fred Roper (used to play at the Okla. City club 10 years ago, now living in Broken Arrow).

10 regular players - Thomas Berryhill, Kelly Boyce, Grant Bond, Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Ben Bass, Melvin Norton, Alto Guidry, Jack Hannah, Kevin Borgstedt.

Other news:

Chris Agimudie is planning on going to the St. Louis tournament next month.

Ben Bass will only be playing on Tuesdays now due to his softball commitments on Mondays and Thursdays.

Dawson - 14 players.

3 first time out players - Junaid Malik, Maria McCann (wife of Greg McCann), Amir Khan (won the doubles at TCC)

1 - hasn't been out in 15 years player - Greg McCann (used to play at Owen Park and Turner Park)

9 regular players - Zaeen Afzal, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Dwayne Beavers, Larry Buell, Di Jin, Bob Kyker, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Yee Yang.

Other news:

Di Jin will be leaving next week to work in Detroit, Mich. for General Motors

Bixby - 8 players.

Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce, Ben Bass, Melvin Norton, Thomas Berryhill, Jack Hannah, Grant Bond, Nat Littledave.

Dawson - 9 players.

Stephen Ackart, Zaeen Afzal, Ben Bass, Dwayne Beavers, David Goldsmith, Bob Kyker, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 10 players.

Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Dwayne Beavers, Thomas Berryhill, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas,

Update on the Sapulpa center - no word yet from Jake at the Salvation Army center whether the funding request he made got approved or not.

Bixby - 10 players.

Ben Bass, Kelly Boyce, Melvin Norton, Thomas Berryhill, Jack Hannah, Alto Guidry, Chris Agimudie, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, John Moore.

Dawson - 11 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Dwayne Beavers, Dane Boswell, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 9 players.

Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Dwayne Beavers, Thomas Berryhill, Bob Kyker, Dan McIntosh, Joe Spaulding, Yee Yang.

The Sapulpa Salvation Army Boys and Girls club has made an offer to the Dawson club to move the club to Sapulpa.

Hamid checked out the center today and he approves of the move.

Kelly Boyce will talk to the Sapulpa center tonight to work out the details.

The club can play from 6:00 Pm to 10:00 Pm Tuesday, Wed. Thurs, or Friday (Monday night is currently being used by the karate program). We will get 2 nights a week minimum. The address is: 1721 S. Hickory, Sapulpa.

We will not commit until everyone is on board on this. We could keep the Dawson open on Monday's is a possiblilty.

The Salvation Army has committed to buying 6 new tables to support this new program.

Bixby - 14 players.

1 first time out player - Nathan Littledave (works with Thomas Berryhill and Ben Bass at a carpet repair company that has a table tennis table).

Garrett Belcher, Ben Bass, John Moore, Stephen Ackart, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Jim French (paid his dues), Steve Ford, Melvin Norton, Alto Guidry, Grant Bond, Thomas Berryhill, Jack Hannah.

Other news:

Melvin Norton (the inventor of the "Detroiter cart" ) celebrated his 75 birthday!

Dawson - 14 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Dwayne Beavers, Larry Buell, Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Brett Robbins, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 13 players.

1 - first time out player - Phil Kinnamon (friend of Joe Spaulding).

1 - just joined the club tonight player - Zaeen Afzal.

11 regular players - Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Dwayne Beavers, Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, John Moore, Brett Robbins, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 14 players.

Jim Hughes, Thomas Berryhill, Kelly Boyce, Ben Bass, John Moore, Brett Robbins, Steve Ford, Alex Tupas, Kevin Borgstedt, Melvin Norton, Alto Guidry, Grant Bond, Jackson Fine, Jack Hannah.

Other news:

Ben Bass got his new paddle in from Coles TT. However, he ordered the UL and there were dents on the black side only surface that hopefully will smooth out.

Alex Tupas ordered new rubber from Coles TT due in Friday and he ordered a  blade from Paddle Palace.

Dawson - 15 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Dwayne Beavers, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Dan McIntosh, John Moore, Brett Robbins, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Robert Yang, Fong Yang, Yee Yang, Tim Yardy.

Other news:

2 players going to the Springfield, MO. tournament this weekend - Hamid Ezzat, Dan McIntosh.

Dawson - 12 players.

Zaeen Afzal, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ben Bass, Dwayne Beavers, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Dan McIntosh (from Muskogee), Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas (he broke his carbon blade ! ), Yee Yang.

Bixby - 10 players.

Jim French, Kelly Boyce, Ted Hill, Melvin Norton, Jack Hannah, Brett Robbins, Thomas Berryhill, Alto Guidry, Stephen Ackart. Kevin Borgstedt.

Dawson - 15 players.

Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Dwayne Beavers, Dane Boswell, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Louis Kirk, Bob Kyker, John Moore, Brett Robbins, Khaled Shehada, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Tim Yardy.

Other news:

Players going to the Missouri Winter games in Springfield, MO on 2-28-09 - Nick Agimudie, Tim Yardy, Hamid Ezzat.

Dawson - 14 players.

Stephen Ackart, Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Matts Johansson, Brett Robbins, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, Louis Kirk, Dan Guernsey, Thoman Berryhill, Ben Bass, Zaeen Afzal, one other person, did not get their name.

(info courtsey of Yee Yang).

Below is a letter from Larry Buell and Britt Salter about the 2-7-09 tournament in Moore, Okla.

 

Sooner State Winter Games Tournament

2/7/09

Larry Buell

 

It was the Best of Times,   it was the Worst of Times….

 

This well-known expression (from Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities) could well have described my experience in the Sooner Winter Games last Saturday.

 

The tournament, another well-run affair at Carl’s House of Pong in Moore, got underway for me with the U1700 RR, one of 3 RR events I entered. After an initial win over a fifteen year old relative newcomer, I had to face fast-improving Yee Yang (1345 but not anymore!) of our Tulsa club. I must stop giving him coaching tips, he keeps taking them and getting better! He easily handled my soft topspin rolls to each side with forceful drives and smashes of his own, and had little trouble with my serves (which usually spells my doom). He rolled me 3-0 with three 11-9 wins, and highly deserved this victory. I might mention he also won the U1500 event, and will likely never get the chance to enter that event again J

 

My next match in the RR was against Craig Milkowski (1584), a strapping fellow who belted my easy loops back for winner after winner. Again, my serves posed no problem for him and I could not find the answer to his cross court smashes. Of some small consolation was the later knowledge that Craig won the U1850s and was having a fine tournament of his own.

 

The U1700s represented the worst of times (for me), while the next event, the O50s, represented the best!

 

As usual, once the day wore on I began to find my groove. In my first match of the O50s, I faced our own Bob Kyker (1580), who by my observations was having a very good day (he rolled the same Craig Milkowski who had rolled me, and won the U1700s, yeah Bob! Note a very improved and smooth-playing Chris Agimudie took the silver here!). Bob was very much on his game from the start, marking up two good wins with his great movement, consistent defense, and timely kill shots. I decided at that point to vary my strategy, which to that time had been to try to force Bob into a quick error with hard loops to the extreme sides. Instead, I began returning a mixture of cross-court rolls with short, nospin pushes to keep Bob moving as much as possible until I could get an opening for a putaway. My consistency picked up a bit and I managed to eke out the next 3 games, though it was anybody’s match right up to the end!

 

With Bob, a great sportsman and friend, watching from tableside, I then took on the undisputed power of the O50s, Scott Ryan of Texas (1924). Scott, a lefty, had seemed very potent against Bob in his O50 win earlier. I started Scott out with short spinny serves to his backhand, and was pleasantly surprised at their effectiveness. I varied the spin (heavy chop, side-top, nospin) with attempts to disguise this, and continued to achieve success. So of course I tried something different (long spinny serves to his forehand) and was rebuffed immediately. I could see that I wouldn’t win many long rallies, so I decided to go for broke on each shot with heavy topspin drives, mixing cross-corner/down-the-line shots. I won the first game, Scott the second, me the third. I began breathing heavily (more from nerves than exhaustion – you know, like the Chariots of Fire sprinter said before the 100 yard dash final, that he might have that ‘too afraid to win’ feeling) after the 3^rd game and went to Bob for advice. He said “You’re doing great, I wouldn’t change a thing!”, and gave me a big smile for encouragement. Well, that worked! I calmed down, focused, kept doing what I had found successful, and won! Turns out this was the biggest upset victory of my career….

 

I want to interject a comment here on what I perceive as successful coaching techniques. I have learned from playing with Bob in doubles that we do well together because we never criticize each other. Certainly we give advice, but that is all done with a positive spirit and the knowledge that regardless of whether the advice can be successfully implemented in the moments ahead, we will still be friends.

 

In giving advice to the various players I see (at the tournament, at our club), I follow these rules:

         

1.       Never criticize (give advice tainted with negativity).

2.       Never display disappointment when the advice is either not followed or is followed unsuccessfully.

3.       Always treat a fellow player with encouragement and respect.

 

In doubles, Bob and I had a rough start by having to face a terrific team of David Hash (1581) and Dale Goodman (1643). Their team was the perfect example of the sum being greater than the parts, as Bob and I could not penetrate their great defense/attacks no matter how we varied our approach. I believe David and Dale won our side of the RR, but David had to leave earlier than the finals L

 

Bob and I then faced the Yang brothers (Yee and Robert). As mentioned before, Yee was having a great tournament, and Robert was not too far behind (Robert won the U1250 and the bronze in the U1500). However, I think Yee was slowed a bit by a painful back, and Bob and I managed to overcome them in a close match.

 

We next faced top seeded (in our half) Steve Ackart (1602) and Mats Johansson (1644). Although they both had some terrific shots throughout the match, Bob and I tried to keep placing the ball to the extreme opposite side of the expected returner, and this strategy saw us get the win.

 

In the playoffs, since we finished second in our half, we got to play the winner of the other half, Scott Ryan and his partner Ken Potts (1409). They played very well together, engaging in many counseling sessions to better counter whatever Bob and I threw at them. Their last counseling session (at 10-9 theirs in the 5^th) was the key one: Scott had been consistently serving side/top spins to me throughout the match. On this last critical point, Ken (as Scott let me in on later) had recommended in their final council to give me a heavy chop serve instead. Great advice! So keyed was I to what I had seen before, I missed the read on the heavy chop and pushed it into the white of the net. Game over! But Bob and I felt very good about the way we’d played together in the tournament, ending up with the bronze medal.

 

I’m concluding below with a tournament report written by Britt Salter that he was kind enough to forward to me:

 

Winfred Addy beat Nicky Agimudie in the Open finals.  (I am fairly sure Don Beckstrom got the Bronze...)

Don Beckstrom won the U2000.  He played better than I've ever seen him play - certainly better than he has ever played against me.  His forehand counter, in particular, seemed a solid level better than I remember.  Brandon Gardner (kid from DFW area) played quite well and came in second.  Brandon gave Don a tough match, then ran right over me... (I got the Bronze...)

Craig Milkowski won the U1850 and Dalton Daugherty came in second.  They both played well in the tournament.  I'm fairly sure Dalton beat Brandon (see above) in a tough match to win his RR...  (I got the Bronze - I won the third RR, then defaulted to save my legs for the U2000 (it didn't pay off!)...)

Bob Kyker won the U1700, Chris Agimudie took silver, and Craig Milkowski got the bronze.

Yee Yang won U1500, Ken Potts took silver, and Robert Yang got bronze.

Robert Yang won U1250, Ryan Bao took silver and Steve Marks won bronze.

Larry Buell won Over 50 with a very good win over Scott Ryan (Silver).  Bob Kyker took home the bronze.

Craig Milkowski and I pulled out the U3400 Doubles over Scott Ryan and Ken Potts.  They beat us in our RR, but we advanced as 2nd place then won out.  Bob Kyker and Larry Buell took third.

 

Bixby - 13 players.

3 - 2nd time out players - Will Landsheft, Lucas Gibson - (both Bixby high school students) and Kevin Borgstedt.

1 first time out player - Jackson Fine (friend of Grant).

9 regular players - John Moore, Kelly Boyce, Jim French, Thomas Berryhill, Ben Bass, Brett Robbins, Grant Bond, Alto Guidry, Jack Hannah.

Dawson - 9 players.

Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie, Alex Tupas, Dane Boswell, Yee Yang, Joe Spaulding, Seth Sherrif, Dwayne Beavers.

(info courtesy of Yee Yang).

Note - no info from anyone about the Okla. City tournament on Sat. Anyone with any info please email.

Dawson - 10 players.

Dan Guernsey, Alto Guidry, Matts Johansson, Louis Kirk, Bob Kyker, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Robert Yang, Fong Yang, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 16 players

4 first time out players - Terry Vinsant, Kevin Borgstedt (his daughters do gymnastics also), Lucas Gibson and Will Landsheft - both Bixby high school students).

12 regular players - Melvin Norton, Thomas Berryhill (joined the club tonight!), Alex Tupas, Brett Robbins (joined the club tonight!), Stephen Ackart, Larry Buell, Jim French, Grant Bond, Ben Bass, Yee Yang, Kelly Boyce, Jack Hannah.

Other news:

2 players joined the club tonight - Thomas Berryhill and Brett Robbins.

 

Dawson - 11 players.

Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Dane Boswell, Larry Buell, Alto Guidry, Bob Kyker, Brett Robbins, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

Players going to the Okla. City tournament this weekend - listed as under 3400 double teams:

Bob Kyker and Larry Buell, Stephen Ackart and Matts Johannson, Yee Yang and Robert Yang, Nick and Sydney Agimudie, Chris Agimudie and Seth Sheriff, Hamid Ezzat (no doubles).

Note - still possible that Robert Yang and Matts Johansson may not go.

 

Dawson - 11 players.

Stephen Ackart, Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Bob Kyker, Brett Robbins, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Players going to this weekends Okla. City tournament:
Larry Buell and Bob Kyker (double team),
Yee Yang and Robert Yang (doubles team),
Stephen Ackart and Matts Johannson (doubles team) (Stephen said Matts may not go).
Chris Agimudie and Nick Agimudie (doubles team under 3400),
Hamid Ezzat.

Bob Kyker to confirm this info tonight.

Dawson -  6 brave (?) players ( an ice storm came in today around noon).

Bob Kyker, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Robert Yang, Fong Yang, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 11 players.

2 first time out players - Dan Guernsey, Louis Kirk.

9 regular players - Stephen Ackart, Chris Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 15 players.

1 just joined the club tonight player - Ben Bass.

1 first time out player - Zeke Clark (friend of Grant Bond).

13 regular players - Alto Guidry, Kelly Boyce, Brett Robbins, Stephen Ackart, Alex Tupas, John Moore, Yee Yang, Jim French, Grant Bond, Marshall Earnest, Melvin Norton, Thomas Berryhill, Jack Hannah.

Dawson - 17 players.

1 new player - Cary Enterline

16 regular players - Chris Agimudie, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Dwayne Beavers, Jeff Beavers, Austin Berryman, Larry Buell, Tyler Colston, Glenn Godsey, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Brett Robbins, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Dawson - 9 players.

Stephen Ackart, Laura Avey, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Brett Robbins, Seth Sherrif, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Yee Yang.

Bixby - 12 players.

Kelly Boyce, Melvin Norton, John Moore, Alto Guidry, Alex Tupas, Jim Hughes, Laura Avery, Marshall Earnest , Grant Bond, Brett Robbins, Thomas Berryhill.

Dawson - 22 players.

2 first time out players - Austin Berryman, Tyler Colston

20 regular players - Stephen Ackart, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Allen Krys, Laura Avey, Dwayne Beavers, Dane Boswell, Larry Buell, Glenn Godsey, Hamid Ezzat, Matts Johansson, Bob Kyker, Seth Sherrif, Joe Spaulding, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Robert Yang, Tuo Yang, Yee Yang, Tim Yardy.

 

Bixby - 9 players.

3 first time out players - Laura Ashley, Brett Robbins. Keith Spence

6 regular players -  Alex Tupas, Jim Hughes, Melvin Norton, John Moore, Kelly Boyce, Alto Guidry.

Other news:

Keith Spence played in the club when the club was at the YWCA on 17th and Memorial - around 1975 (when Peggy Shaha was making her place in Okla. table tennis history along with the 4 Sanchez's). He later and last played at Reed Park in west Tulsa.

6 players (so far) going to the Okla. city tournament on Feb. 7 - Hamid, Stephen, Yee, Mats, maybe Larry Buell, Bob Kyker.

John Moore bought a paddle from Cole Ely's table tennis. The rubber is 729 - Cream RITC and the blade is Genote Quattro X. Very nice paddle - all for $40.

Dawson - 14 players.

4 first time out players - Laura Ashley, Dwayne Beavers, Jeff Beavers (son of Dwayne), Brett Robbins.

10 regular players - Stephen Ackart, Dane Boswell, Larry Buell, Hamid Ezzat, Matts Johansson, Bob Kyker, Joe Spaulding, Keith Spence, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang.

Other news:

6 players (so far) going to the Okla. city tournament on Feb. 7 - Hamid, Stephen, Yee, Mats, maybe Larry Buell, Bob Kyker.