Bixby - 11 player. Ray Pestridge, John Moore, David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Corey Flaugher, Dylan Garland, Michael Johns, Jaesung Kim, Shane Spicer, Robert Yang, Kelly Boyce.

(from an email from Jared dated 8-22-20) Dear Table Tennis Friends,
We need your help to keep Joplin Table Tennis Club running in the future.
If you’ve had the opportunity to play at one of our Tournaments or at our Club, you know what a great facility our location, Memorial Hall, is for table tennis.  
However, Memorial Hall, needs repair and the City of Joplin is trying to determine if they should fix it or even this type of facility is needed in our community.
Joplin Table Tennis Club needs such a facility for our Club and for hosting Tournaments.  
You can help us show the City there is strong support for Joplin Table Tennis Club by completing their survey.  

Just go to  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JoplinMemorialHall  and answer 22 questions. Done!  

Your help is greatly appreciated. 

Jared Wicklund | Liberty Utilities  (Missouri) | Fuel Contracts Manager
P: 417-625-6190 | C: 417-438-1105 | E: Jared.Wicklund@libertyutilities.com
602 S Joplin Ave, Joplin, MO 64801

Bixby - 12 players. Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, David Leonard, Robert Yang, Jaesung Kim, Dylan Garland, Alex Tupas, Michael Johns, Jason and Noah Taylor, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Jaesung Kim will be moving in Oct to Washington state. He started with the club on 9-19-17 and has been out to the club 232 times! 

Bixby - 13 players. Ray Pestridge, John Moore, Diego Fernandez, Tom Jourdan, David Leonard, Robert Yang, Corey Flaugher, Jason and Noah Taylor, Jaesung Kim, Sam Agbasi, Andrew Martin (played 1 year with the Okla City club), Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 12 players. Ray Pestridge, John Moore, David Leonard, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Sam Agbasi, Corey Flaugher, Jaesung Kim, Jason and Noah Taylor, Michael Johns, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 15 players. John Moore, Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Michael Johns, Sam Agbasi, Mats Johansson, Jaesung Kim, Shane Spicer, Jason Taylor, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Bruno is going to Tulsa Tech and he won't be playing for awhile due to homework.

Bixby - 10 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Sam Agbasi, Mats Johansson, Bruno Fernandez (fresh from Miami), Diego Fernandez, Jaesung Kim, Michael Johns, Robert Yang, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 13 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Diego Fernandez, Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, John Moore, Mats Johansson, Dylan Garland, Sam Agbasi, Jaesung Kim, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 10 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Corey Flaugher, Alex Tupas, Jaesung Kim, Sam Agbasi Michael Johns, Diego Fernandez, Robert Yang, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: David is using a new smooth rubber that he likes alot and plays well with it. It is Nittaku Fastarc G-1. 

Bixby - 12 players. Ray Pestridge, Corey Flaugher, Jaesung Kim, David Leonard, Sam Agbasi, Micheal Johns, Robert Yang, Diego Fernandez, Dylan Garland, Alex Tupas, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 9 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Corey Flaugher, Sam Agbasi, Diego Fernandez, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, John Moore, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Tom Jourdan hurt his neck.

Bixby - 19 players. Mats Johansson, Michael Johns, Alex Tupas, Jaesung Kim, Sam Agbasi, John Moore, Ray Pestridge, Okba Harfouch, Corey Flaugher, David Leonard, Dylan Garland, Robert Yang, Diego Fernandez, Shane Spicer. 5 players from Jenks Highs School - Dru Still, Carter Vash, Sam Phillips, Zac Jiang, Austin Green (info courtesy of Shane)

Bixby schedule for Thursdays:- we can play on July 16 and July 23. After that, we can only play on the 1st Thursday of each month. 

Bixby - 12 players. David Leonard, Corey Flaugher, John Moore, Michael Johns, Sam Agbasi, Diego Fernandez, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce. 4 players from Jenks high school - Drew Still, Austin Green, Ethan Chen, Carter Vash.

Bixby - 16 players. Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, David Leonard, Michael Johns, Alex Tupas, John Moore, Diego Fernandez, Mohammed Luqman, Sam Agbasi, Corey Flaugher, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce. 4 players from Jenks High School - Drew Still, Carter Vash, Zac Jiang, Landon Reynolds.
Other news: Sam Agbasi bought a new penhold paddle from Alex. Sam said he really likes the paddle.

Bixby - 22 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Tom Jourdan, David Leonard, John Moore, Michael Johns, Mohammed Luqman, Corey Flaugher, Bruno Fernandez (paid $15), Diego Fernandez, Samuel Agbasi, Victor Agbasi, Jaesung Kim, Shane Spicer. 7 players from Jenks High School - Noah Pursell, Drew Still, Carter Vash, Austin Green, Carson Piles, Ethan Cheng, Zac Jiang. Kelly Boyce,

Bixby - 13 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, John Moore, Corey Flaugher, Robert Yang, Carl Lewis, Mats Johansson, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Tom Jourdan, Michael Johns, Sam Agbasi, Shane Spicer. (info courtesy of Shane).

Bixby - someone left their sunglasses behind. Shane Spicer has the glasses.

Bixby - 15 players. 1 first time out player - Andrew Martin (he used to play with the oklahoma city club recently). Carl Lewis, David Leonard, Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Robert Yang, John Moore, Okba Harfoush, Enrique Perez, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Mats Johansson, Sam Agbasi, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 14 players. David Leonard, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Okba Harfoush, Michael Johns, Corey Flaugher, John Moore, Tom Jourdan, Brad Balmer, Noelle Cullison, Carl Lewis, Jaesung Kim, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.
Other new: John Cai (did not come out due to Covid 19 warnings) got a robot!
No one has contracted Covid 19 (this note for Alex Tupas, Shweta Govind, Ray Pestridge (or rather Ray's wife), John Cai).

Bixby - 8 players. First time out player - Carl Lewis (in town for 4 weeks to check out Tulsa), Samuel Agbasi (last time out was 9-3-12), Robert Yang, Tom Jourdan, Diego Fernandez, Jaesung Kim, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.

Ray Pestridge had a great idea for those Covid 19 very aware people (ie Shweta, etc).
He said if someone wants to play with only their own ball, they can bring their own ball and no one is allowed to touch their ball. You would kick the ball to the owner of the ball during a match.
(Ray said his wife may not give him permission to play unless certain conditions are in place).

Bixby will be open tomorrow - Tuesday.

So we can all remember the good ol days (of the way we were).
Crazy Shots by USATT Sharon Alguetti

https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/Features/2020/April/08/Crazy-Shots-by-USATT-Sharon-Alguetti

Bixby - the Bixby center is closed for at least the next 3 weeks. 

Bixby - 11 players. Diego Fernandez (paid $100 !), Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, Martin Ndengang, Michael Johns, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Austin Green, Ethan Harder, Reese Harder, Kelly Boyce.

Knox church is closed until further notice.
The club will play at Bixby Tuesday and Thursday of this week.

Update on Tulsa players planning on going to the Springfield, MO tournament on April 4:
Okba Harfouch only so far.

Knox church - 15 players. 2 first time out players - Caleb Maddox, Nathan Luo. Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Okba Harfouch, David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Martin Ndengang, Michael Johns, Diego Fernandez, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Diego has changed his work hours and is going to join the club for 1 year next week!

(From an email from Bill Lewis dated 3-10-20)
The Missouri Show-Me State Games this year will be held: April 4 and April 5.  
To that end there are presently 22 players signed to play.  
(In the premier event - Giant Round Robin - there are but eight slots left).

Bixby - 12 players. John Moore, Alex Tupas, Bruno Fernandez, Martin Ndengang, Jaesung Kim, John Cai, Michael Johns, Mats Johansson, Shane Spicer, Patrick Mmuokebe, Luis Garcete, Kelly Boyce.

Knox church - 18 players. Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Diego Fernandez, Martin Ndengang, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Dylan Garland, Mats Johansson, Shweta Govind, Drew Cowan, Dennis Pauls, Michael Johns, Gabriel Santos, Juan Pagan, Rett Williams, Jake Bohrer.

Bixby - no info

Bixby - 14 players. Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Jaesung Kim, Bruno Fernandez, Dane Boswell, Ethan Chen, Austin Green, Dru Still, Carson Piles, Ray Pestridge, John Cai, Michael Johns, John Moore, Shane Spicer.
Other news: Ray brought the robot from Knox Church to be used/stored at Bixby (info courtesy of Shane Spicer).

Knox church - 15 players. Laukid Reed (new), Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, Okba Harfouch, Robert Yang, Jaesung Kim, Tom Jourdan, Dennis Pauls, Drew Cowan, Hamid Ezzat, Austin Green, Rett Williams, Diego Fernandez, Michael Johns, Dylan Garland.
Other news: Mike Hamby to talk to Dru and Ethan and Gabriel and Rett about joining.
(Info courtesy of mike hamby)

Knox church - 17 players. Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, Hamid Ezzat, Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch (paid $100 !), Gabriel Santos, Michael Johns (paid $100!), Jaesung Kim, Alex Tupas, Juan Pagan, Rett Williams (Mike talked to Rett about joining), Austin Green, Ethan Chen, Dru Still, Dane Boswell. 2 first time out players from Tahlequah - Ahmet and Amy Ozturk. (Info courtesy of mike hamby)

Bixby - 20 players. Michael Johns, Dane Boswell, Jaesung Kim, David Leonard, John Moore, Okba Harfouch, Ray Pestridge, John Cai, Ted Hill, Ming Li, Ethan Chen, Dru Still, Noah Pursell, Carson Piles (new from Jenks), Luis Garcete, Shane Spicer. 4 co-workers.

Knox church - 15 players. Mike Hamby, Alex Tupas, Hamid Ezzat, Tom Jourdan, Dylan Garland, David Leonard, Michael Johns, Okba Harfouch, Dennis Pauls, Robert Yang, Rett Williams, Drew Cowan, Jaesung Kim, Diego Fernandez, Juan Pagan.

(From an email from Bill Lewis dated 2-19-20 from the Ozark Table Tennis Club):
Greetings fellow table tennis enthusiasts!!
The Missouri Show-Me State Games this year is April 4 and April 5.  
Each event winner is ceremoniously crowned ~ Champion.
This year there are 11 events to choose from - six on Saturday - five on Sunday.
Sign up early to reserve the slots of your choosing.  Moneyed payouts:  $2675

Last year's breakaway winner: Rachid El Boubou from the country of Lebanon and he possessed an ITTF world ranking at number 522.

We hope to see your name in attendance.

Below were the 2019 winners by event:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.)                 Giant Round Robin

Class A
1st:  Rachid El Boubou, Broken Arrow OK
2nd: Parviz Mojaverian, Overland Park KS
3rd:  Liedy Handoko, Cordova TN
4th:  Logan Watson, Moore OK  
Class B
1st:  Ilya Rozenblat, Overland Park KS
2nd: Tsung-han Weng, Lawrence KS
3rd:  Drew Angell, Lee’s Summit MO
4th:  David Chu, Lawrence , KS
Class C
1st:  Martin Johnson, Rogers AR
2nd: Hoang Vu, Fayetteville AR
3rd: Dale Boswell, Springfield MO
4th: Tom Jourdan, Vinta OK
Class D
1st:  Kevin Tucker, Grimes IA
2nd: Chris Griesedieck, Springfield MO
3rd:  Imran Mohammed, Jefferson City MO  
4th:  Olaf Hoerschelmann, Alexander AR

2.)   Open Singles
1st:  Rachid El Boubou, Broken Arrow OK
2nd: Liedy Handoko, Cordova TN
3rd:  Logan Watson, Moore OK
4th:  Parviz Mojaverian, Overland Park KS

3.)   Under 2200
1st:  Liedy Handoko, Cordova TN
2nd: Parviz Mojaverian, Overland Park KS
3rd:  Logan Watson, Moore OK

4.)   Under 2000
1st: Ethan Ellsaesser, Springfield MO  
2nd: Ilya Rozenblat, Overland Park KS
3rd:  Martin Johnson, Rogers AR

5.)   Under 1800
1st:  Ethan Ellsaesser, Springfield MO
2nd: Tom Jourdan, Vinita OK
3rd:  Imran Mohammed, Jefferson City MO

6.)   Under 1600
1st:  Thanathip Pirom      
2nd: Gwen Liu
3rd:  Olaf Hoerschelmann  

7.)   Under 1400
1st: Kevin Tucker, Grimes IA
2nd: David Houchens, Springfield MO
3rd:  Imran Mohammed, Jefferson City MO                      

8.)   Under 3200 Doubles
1st:  Martin Johnson / Scott Johnson
Rogers AR / Rogers AR
2nd: Dale Boswell / Wenyan Drake
Springfield MO / Springfield MO
3rd: Jiyun Hu / Hoang Vu
Fayetteville AR / Fayetteville AR

9.)   Open Doubles        
1st:   Logan Watson / Martin Johnson
Moore OK / Rogers AR              
2nd: Rachid El Boubou / Kiran Kapoor
Broken Arrow OK / Valley Park MO
3rd:  Liedy Handoko / Raj Coona
Cordova TN / Memphis TN      

Knox church - 14 players (only able to set up 3 tables). Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Hamid Ezzat, Alex Tupas, Michael Johns, Okba Harfouch, John Moore, Ray Pestridge, Austin Green, Mats Johansson, Paul DeSpain, Dane Boswell (last time out was 2009), John Cai.

Individual results from the Okla city tournament on Feb 8 are now posted on the USATT web site - usatt.simplycompete.com.  43 players were in the tournament.
Including Robert Yang's exciting win over Maria Tran (her rating of 1856!).
David Leonard's incredible 3 come-from-behind wins!
Tom Jourdan's win over Mike Patel (1794) !
And so much more!

Bixby - 10 players. Alex Tupas, Mats Johansson, David Leonard, Ted Hill, Michael Johns, Ray Pestridge, John Moore, Dru Still, Ethan Chen, Shane Spicer (info courtesy of Shane).

Knox church - no info

A person in Broken Arrow is selling their Cornilleau 700M crossover outdoor ping pong table for $1000.
The current retail price is $2150.
https://bestoutdoorpingpongtables.com/cornilleau-700m-crossover/
Anyone interested, contact Stephen Ackart (this table was posted on the clubs Facebook page).

Knox church - 19 players. David Leonard, Robert Yang, Hamid Ezzat, Okba Harfouch, Gabriel Santos, Mats Johansson, Jaesung Kim, Drew Cowan, Jake Bohrer, Rett Williams, Dru Still, Tyler Russell, Ethan Chen, Omar Alawar, Ray Pestridge, Josh Jones, Thomas Belk, Andrew Belk, Tom Belk (info courtesy of Ray)

Bixby - 14 players. John Moore, Wesley LI, Michael Johns, Ray Pestridge, Jaesung Kim, Dru Still, Ethan Chen, Enrique Perez, Patrick Mmuokebe, Shane Spicer. 4 ex-co-workers - Nick Davis, Tilan Ukwatt, Asad Molakar, Sidney Gaston. ( Info courtesy of Shane).

Knox church - 16 players. Dennis Pauls (paid $100 !), Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, Juan Pagan, Michael Johns, Diego Fernandez, John Davis, Hamid Ezzat, Jaesung Kim, Omar Alawar, Robert Yang, Gabriel Santos, Dru Still, Rett Williams. (info courtesy of Mike Hamby).

Results from the Okla City tournament from Saturday - https://omnipong.com/T-tourney.asp?t=103&r=1549
U-2000 - Okba Harfouch won first and Robert Yang came in 2nd !
U-1750 - David Leonard won first and Tom Jourdan came in 2nd !
Shweta Govind came in 4th in U-800.
In the open,
1st - Mike Lauro (rating - 2082),
2nd - Jeff Waters (1979),
3rd -  Maria Tran (1856),  
4th -  Windfred Addy.

13 Tulsa/Broken Arrow players going to Okla City tomorrow. Okba Harfouch, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Jaesung Kim, Cory Flaugher, Chris Lane, Nicole Cullison, Noelle Cullison, Shweta Govind, Jacob Keener, Ray Pestridge and Brad Balmer (info from brokenarrowpingpong.com).

Austin Green left his prescription glasses at Knox Church last Thursday.
If anyone has them or knows where they are, contact Kelly or Alex.

Bixby - Big snow storm yesterday. No info on players.

Bixby - 13 players. Patrick Mmuokebe (new), John Moore, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Jaesung Kim, Wesley LI, Michael Johns, Cory Flaugher, Luis Garcete, Ray Pestridge, Dru Still, Ethan Chen, Shane Spicer (info courtesy of Shane Spicer).

Knox church - 18 players. Katie McGovern (new), Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, Michael Johns, Dennis Pauls, Alex Tupas, Shweta Govind, Cory Flaugher, Tom Jourdan, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Okba Harfouch, Johnny McClanahan, Hamid Ezzat, Arico, Omar Alawar, Diego Fernandez, John David (info courtesy of Mike Hamby).

Knox church - 20 players. David Leonard, Hamid Ezzat, Tom Jourdan, Corey Flaugher, Michael Johns, Trey Rigsby (Muskogee player), Dru Still, Zac Jiang, Noah Pursell, Ethan Chen, John Cai, Robert Yang, Mike Hamby, Austin Green, Gabriel Santos, Juan Pagan, Drew Cowan, Jaesung Kim, Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 17 players. David Leonard, John Moore, Ted Hill, Shweta Govind, Jaesung Kim, Michael Johns, Robert Yang, Shane Spicer, John Cai, Wesley LI, Luis Garcete, Juan Pagan, Kelly Boyce. 4 players that used to work together - Nick Davis, Tilan Ukwatt, Asad Molakar, Sidney Gaston (they played doubles together on the end table).
Other news: Robert Yang is 75% sure he will go to the State Games of Okla on Feb 8.

Alex Tupas has some new paddles/bats with rubber on them for sale!
Also, Drew Cowan has proposed adding Saturdays to Knox church.
Anyone interested, see Drew.

Knox church - 23 players. 6 new players - Joel Thompson, Jon Davis, Tyler Russel, Jake Bohrer, Josh Jones, Tanner Ward. Ray Pestridge, Omar Alawar, Okba Harfouch, Mike Hamby, Robert Yang, Cory Flaugher, Alex Tupas, Johnny McClanahan, Dennis Pauls, Michael Johns, Jaesung Kim, Juan Pagan, Hamid Ezzat, Drew Cowan, Nicole Cullison, Chris Lane, Gabriel Santos. (Info courtesy of Mike Hamby)

Knox church - 20 players. First time out player - Gabriel Santos (see below for more info), David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Hamid Ezzat, Mike Hamby, Robert Yang, Shweta Govind, John Cai, Jaesung Kim, Trey Rigsby (played in Muskogee club), Corey Flaugher, Rett Williams (Booker t), Juan Pagan, Drew Cowan, Johnny McClanahan, From Jenks high school - Ethan Chen, Dru Still, Zac Jiang, Austin Green. Kelly Boyce.
Other news - Gabriel Santos is coach trained player (and looks like it) from Brazil. He is working on his PHD and will be in Tulsa about 4 years. He does not have a USATT rating.

Bixby - 15 players. David Leonard, John Moore, Michael Johns, Jaesung Kim, Shweta Govind, Dru Still, Ethan Chen, Zac Jiang, Sam Phillips, Juan Pagan, John Cai, Wesley Li, Luis Garcete, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.

Knox church - 16 players. Hamid Ezzat, Alex Tupas, Michael Johns, Mike Hamby, Rob, Drew Cowan, Corey Flaugher, Okba Harfouch, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Johnny McClanahan, Dwayne, John Cai, Omar, Lawar. 2 new players from Martinsville - Dennis and Paul. (info courtesy of Mike Hamby).

Update on Ray Pestridge (who hasn't played in 2 weeks).
He has Sinubronchitis.

Knox church - 15 players. Alex Tupas, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Trey Rigsby (new - heard about us from Google), Seth Jacob (played 1 match and left), Rett Williams (Booker T student), Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Juan Pagan, Corey Flaugher, Drew Cowan, Lauchlan Reid (from Booker T.  student), Mauricio Oviedo, Ali Leal (new - not rated but around 1800 - if he finds a job in Tulsa, he will move here), Kelly Boyce.

Tulsa players going to the Okla City tournament on Feb 8 - Shweta Govind, David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Corey Flaugher, Jaesung Kim, Tom Jourdan.

Bixby - 21 players. Alex Tupas, David Leonard, John Moore, Ted Hill (paid $40), Shweta Govind, Juan Pagan, Jaesung Kim (paid $100), Ming Li, Luis Garcett, Wesley Li, John Cai, Shane Spicer. 4 Jenks high school players - Ethan Chen, Dru Still, Carter Vash, Sam Phillips.  4 players that used to work together - Nick Davis, Tilan Ukwatt, Asad Molakar, Sidney Gaston. Kelly Boyce.

Knox church - 25 players. Mike Hamby, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Dylan Garland, Michael Johns, Mats Johansson, John Cai, Jaesung Kim, Shweta Govind, Richard Hart, Corey Flaugher, Robert Yang, Hamid Ezzat, Juan Pagan, Enrique Perez. 2 players from Brad's club-Nicole Cullison and Chris Lane. 2 players from Booker T. Washington-Rett Williams, Nate Burden. 3 players from Jenks high school-Lauchian Reid, Dru Still, Ethan Chen. 3 players that work for Verizon - Satish, Sandeep, Ajay. Info courtesy of Mike Hamby.

Knox church - 18 players. 3 new players - Nate Burden, Rett Williams (from Booker T. Washington high school), Brandon Charles (just moved to Tulsa from Houston). Corey Flaugher, Hamid Ezzat, David Leonard, Robert Yang, Mike Hamby, Tom Jourdan, Seth Jacob, Jaesung Kim, Andy Gonzalez, Drew Cowan, Juan Pagan, Mats Johansson, Ethan Chen, Dru Still (both from Jenks High School), Kelly Boyce.

Top 10 shots of 2019 - https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/Features/2020/January/04/Top-10-Best-Table-Tennis-Shots-of-2019?utm_source=Insider+-+January%2C+8%2C+2020&utm_campaign=Insider+11%2F18%2F2017&utm_medium=email

Bixby - 15 players. 3 new players - Juan Pagan (paid $100 - he has played twice at Knox Church), Brandon Charles (just moved to Tulsa from Houston), Andres ("Andrew") Troncoso (just happened to be in the building and saw us), John Moore, David Leonard, Jaesung Kim, Mike Johns, Ming Li, Alex Tupas, Ethan Chen, Dru Still (both from Jenks High School), Shane Spicer, John Cai, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce.

Knox church - 23 players. Dylan Garland, Tom Jourdan,  Alex Tupas, Robert Yang, Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Ruben Agimudie (Nicks son), Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Jaesung Kim, Cory Flaugher, Mike Hamby, Noah Pursell, Sam Phillips and 4 other Jenks high school players, from Brad's club - Chris Lane, Nicole Cullison, Noelle Cullison, Brad Balmer (info courtesy of Mike Hamby).

Bixby - 14 players. David Leonard, Ray Pestridge, Shweta Govind (paid $20), Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, Mike Hamby, Mike Johns (he will be taking lessons from Ray), John Cai, Kelly Boyce, 5 players from Jenks High School - Noah Pursell (he has played at the Knox church twice and brought the other 4 Jenks players), Zac Jiang, Dru Still, Carter Vash, Ethan Chen.

Knox church - 15 players. Tom Jourdan, Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Dylan Garland, Alex Tupas, Enrique Perez, Johnny McClanahan, Robert Yang, Jaesung Kim, Okba Harfouch, 3 players from Spirit Aerospace -  George Atkins, Randy Petty, Paul Touma (they work the night shift and can only play once a year!), Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Jaesung bought a table for his one bedroom apartment. It is a Stiga table, 15 mm thick top and bought it from Amazon and was delivered on 12-28-19.

Knox church - 12 players. Tom Jourdan, Drew Cowan, Mike Hamby, Jaesung Kim, David Leonard, Robert Yang, Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Hamid Ezzat, Michael Johns, Dwayne Beavers, George Atkins, Randy Petty (info courtesy of Mike Hamby).

Knox church - 13 players. Dwayne Beavers (Union High School teacher - paid $30 in a check), Bob Sisk (also a Union high school teacher), Robert Yang, Okba Harfouch, Corey Flaugher, David Leonard, Ray Pestridge, Jaesung Kim, Drew Cowan, Seth Jacob, Juan Prodigy, Mike Hamby (info courtesy of Mike Hamby).

Bixby - no info

Knox church - no play tonight. Boy Scouts having a dinner. 

Also, a rubber review site has been added to the club's home page:
https://revspin.net/rubber/

Tulsa players going to the Winter State Games of Oklahoma Saturday, February 8, 2020:
Okba Harfouch, John Moore, David Leonard, Shweta Govind, Corey Flaugher, Tom Jourdan, Jaesung Kim.

Knox church - 12 players. Hamid Ezzat, Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, Corey Flaugher, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Shweta Govind, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Drew Cowan, John Cai, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 12 players. David Leonard, John Moore, Ming LI (paid $40 !), Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch, Jim Turner (from the old days of yore), Jaesung Kim, John Cai, Wesley Li, Shane Spicer, Luis Garcete (2nd time out), Kelly Boyce.

Knox church - 12 players. Brad Balmer, Shweta Govind, Michael Johns, Drew Cowan, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Robert Yang, Robb Lee, Stefan Denis, Cory Flaugher, Mike Hamby, Jaesung Kim. (info courtesy of Mike Hamby).

Bixby - Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Ming Li (new), Shane Spicer, Jaesung Kim (info courtesy of Shane).

Bixby - 14 players. Asad Milinare (new), Tilam Ukaka (new), Luis Garcete (new), Johnny McClanahan, Alex Tupas, David Leonard, John Moore, Shane Spicer, John Cai, Wesley LI, Ray Pestridge. (info courtesy of Ray).

Knox church - no info

Knox church - Thanksgiving

Bixby - 7 players. David Leonard, Ray Pestridge, Bruno Fernandez (paid $15), Alex Tupas, Johnny McClanahan, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Johnny is going to the US Open in Ft Worth next month! He is playing in one event - U-1400.
David was hitting on all 12 cylinders tonight! (a car metaphor David will appreciate).

Knox Church - 12 players. Drew Cowan, Hamid Ezzat, Jaesung Kim, Tom Jourdan, Corey Flaugher, Alex Tupas, Bruno Fernandez, Robb Lee, Johnny McClanahan, Robert Yang, Mike Hamby, Michael Johns. (info courtesy of Mike Hamby).

Knox church - 17 players. Michael Johns (new), Bob Sisk (new), Seth Jacob (2nd time), Dwayne Beavers (2nd time), Hamid Ezzat, Tom Jourdan, Mike Hamby, Corey Flaugher, Stephen Ackart, David Leonard, Drew Cowan, Alex Tupas, John Cai, Shweta Govind, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 10 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Corey Flaugher (playing very well - he did not lose a match!), John Moore, John Cai, Jaesung Kim (left early due to illness), Bruno Fernandez, Wesley Li, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Corey has not been out for 5 weeks due to a hip muscle problem.

Winter State Games of Oklahoma will be on Saturday, February 8, 2020 at the Okla city club.

Knox church - 9 players. Mike Hamby, Hamid Ezzat, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Dylan Garland, Jaesung Kim, Robb Lee, Ray Pestridge, Seth Jacob (new player).

Knox church - 14 players. Noah Pursell (2nd time out), Al Smith (Noah's grandfather), Ray Pestridge, Stephen Ackart, David Leonard, Hamid Ezzat, Tom Jourdan, Mike Hamby, Alex Tupas, Shweta Govind, Jaesung Kim, Drew Cowan, Richard Hart, Kelly Boyce.

Knox Church - Stephen Ackart will be out tonight. For those that don't know Stephen, he is a Tri-State champion. Winner of the Hutchinson, Kansas open. Winner of the Joplin, Missouri open. Winner of the Sooner State Games, Oklahoma.

Bixby - 8 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, John Moore, Shane Spicer, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.

To whoever closed up last Tuesday - The Bixby center director sent our club the following email: "Can you please make sure that the tables are against the wall and nothing is blocking the closets?  I have to be able to get to the wall outlet and well as get the chair caddies out without having to rearrange the ping pong tables".

Knox church - 7 players. Big cold front came in tonight.

Bob Kyker update - the following is from an email Bob sent in (as to why Bob has not been out for awhile):
It isn't a nerve condition like the neuropathy I have.
It is poly myalgia rheumatica (PMR), which lets my auto immune system attack the joints.
It is similar to fibro myalgia, which is non curable, but PMR is treatable.
My wrists and ankles are the most affected areas now, which makes walking very difficult without crutches.
So, I never leave the house for now, except to go to the doctor.
Since my immune system is comprised, I have to be very careful to not be anywhere that could let me catch something.

However, it is a long process, which could take a year or two to get back to where I was before (still with neuropathy).
The meds are already working well and I am anxious already to get back to table tennis way ahead of the original prognosis.
I'll be back!

Bixby - 9 players. David Leonard, World Champion Hamid Ezzat Ahmadi, Ray Pestridge, Jaesung Kim, Alex Tupas, Shweta Govind (paid $20), John Cai, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Hamid is considering changing his backhand rubber from long pips to short pips.
Jaesung Kim is experimenting with a new serve.
Shweta Govind still likes her smooth rubber paddle.

Bixby - 8 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Alex Tupas, John Moore, John Cai, Shane Spicer, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.

Knox church - 14 players. Stephan Denis, Mike Hamby, Noah Taylor, Jason Taylor, Alex Tupas, Douglass Rambo (new), Shweta Govind, Mats Johansson, Drew Cowan, Tom Jourdan, World Champion Hamid Ezzat Ahmadi, Jaesung Kim, Dwayne Beavers, Ray Pestridge.

Sad news to report. Bob Kyker has developed a nerve condition (ie "para..." or "peri... ?).
Bob cannot walk or use his right hand and the doctor said it could take a year for him to get over this.
Bob will be missed until he gets back. (Bob has been with the club since 1976 ! )

Knox church - no info

Bixby - 9 players. Alex Tupas, David Leonard, John Moore, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Jaesung Kim, Shweta Govind, Bryan Zhu, Shane Spicer (info courtesy of Shane).

Knox church - 10 players.  Mike Hamby, Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, Ray Pestridge, Hamid Ezzat, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Drew Cowan, Dylan Garland, Jaesung Kim (per Ray email)

Knox church - no info

Bixby - 4 players. John Moore, Bryan Zhu, Jaesung, Shane Spicer (info courtesy of Shane)

Knox church - no info

Knox church - no info

Hamid Ezzat just won Gold in a tournament he played at this weekend at Westchester, New York and got his picture on the ittf.com website! Hamid is officially a World Champion!! Tulsa's first international/worlds Gold medalist!  Click below to see the pic. He won gold in Class 3 (there were doctors at the tournament to determine which class a player could play in.  Class 1 were the players with the worst case of Parkinsons. Class 3 were the players with the least Parkinsons). There were players from 20 different countries.
https://www.ittf.com/2019/10/13/champions-crowned-westchester-tournament-born/

Bixby - 7 players. Okba Harfouch, Mats Johansson, David Leonard, John Moore, Bryan Zhu (got a new paddle), Cody Osborne (visiting from LA), Shane Spicer. (info courtesy of Shane).

Knox church - 12 players. Mike Hamby, Tom Jourdan, Shweta Govind, Diego Fernandez, Alex Tupas, Corey Flaugher, Dylan Garland, Drew Cowan, Robb Lee, Stephan Denis, Ray Pestridge, David (from Washington state).

Knox church - 14 players. Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Bob Kyker, Tom Jourdan, Mats Johansson, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Dylan Garland, Okba Harfouch, Richard Song (plays at "The Tulsan" with Okba), Jaesung Kim, Drew Cowan, Kelly Boyce.

New place to play ping pong!
XTreme Kart Racing and Virtual Reality Arena
708 West Kenosha, Broken Arrow. 918-286-6655.
On the northwest corner of Kenosha (71st street) and Elm.
Open until at least 10:00 PM most days.
https://xtremetulsa.com

Bixby - 15 players. Ray Pestridge, John Moore, Tom Jourdan, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez (he works nights except for this week), Shweta Govind, Jaesung Kim, Alex Tupas, David Leonard, Bryan Zhu, John Cai, Wesley Li, Mats Johansson, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.

Knox church - 9 players. Mike Hamby, Diego Fernandez, Dylan Garland, Okba Harfouch, Stephan Denis, Dave Smith, Mats Johansson, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.
Other news: Ray Pestridge played tonight in the Oklahoma City league and came in 1st in group B.

Bixby - 9 players. Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Bob Kyker, David Leonard, Dylan Garland, Mats Johansson, Corey Flaugher, John Cai, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 10 players. Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, David Leonard, John Moore, Shane Spicer, John Cai, Bryan Zhu, Jaesung Kim, Jaeyoon Kim, Kelly Boyce

Knox church - 14 players. Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, Stephan Denis, Alex Tupas, Nickey Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Tom Jourdan, Mats Johansson, Drew Cowan, Robert Yang, Robb Lee, Jaesung Kim and his brother Jaeyoon Kim  (visiting for one week), Bob Kyker.

Knox church - 15 players. Bob Kyker, Tom Jourdan, Ray Pestridge, Corey Flaugher (playing very well), Hamid Ezzat, Drew Cowan, John Cai, Shweta Govind, Dylan Garland, Robert Yang, Rob Lee, Siraj Muhammad (first time out to Knox), Stefan Denis, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 10 players. Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, David Leonard, John Moore, Shane Spicer, John Cai, Jaesung Kim, Bryan Zhu (new player), Kelly Boyce.

Knox church - 9 players. Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Robert Yang, Trey Wolf (new, plays baseball for oru), Robb Lee, Drew Cowan, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Tulsa players going to the Joplin tournament on Oct 19 - Corey Flaugher, Shweta Govind, Dylan Garland, Tom Jourdan.

Knox church - 15 players. 1 first time out player - Noah Pursell (a Jenks high school student), Shweta Govind (paid $10), Bob Kyker, Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Hamid Ezzat (playing very well), John Cai, Drew Cowan, Alex Tupas, Dylan Garland, Robb Lee, Robert Yang, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 8 players. David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Cullin Tupas, Jaesung Kim, Shane Spicer, John Cai, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Shane is buying a new paddle from Alex. He has the paddle but has not paid for it yet.
Jaesung has decided to improve his game by not back spinning the ball anymore.
David will only be playing close to the table against certain players (ie Alex).

Knox Church - 15 players. Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Robert Yang, Cory Flaugher, Yee Yang, Jaesung Kim, Hamid Ezzat, Nicky Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Reuben Agimudie, Dylan Garland, Bob Kyker, Drew Cowan.

Knox church - 11 players. Mike Hamby, Okba Harfouch, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, John Cai, Robert Yang, Drew Cowan, Yee Yang, Dylan Garland, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby- 8 players. Siraj Muhammad (first time out), Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, John Cai, David Leonard, Shane Spicer (paid $40), Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.

Knox church - 14 players. Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch, Nicky Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Reuben Agimudie, Dylan Garland, Tom Jourdan, Drew Cowan, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Fong Yang, Robb Lee, a friend of Jaesung.

Bixby - 13 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Tom Jourdan, Corey Flaugher, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Alex Tupas, John Moore, Dustin Jackson (1st time out), Jaesung Kim, John Cai, Kelly Boyce.

Sanctioned TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT - Joplin, MO
October 18 – 19th
$1,300 - Prize Money
Easy Sign-up: Call 417-625-4750

Fourth annual Dale Goodman Memorial on Saturday, October 12 at the Oklahoma City.
It is not Sanctioned, but will be lots of fun!

Bixby - 11 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Alex Tupas, John Moore, Shweta Govind, Tom Jourdan, Shane Spicer, Bob Kyker, Jason and Noah Taylor, Kelly Boyce.
Other news - Bob Kyker had a bout with gout (in his foot) but took his medicine and is OK now.

Knox church - Labor day. No play.

Knox church - 15 players. Dylan Garland (paid $100), Robb Lee (paid $20), Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Corey Flaugher, Hamid Ezzat, Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Yee Yang, Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, Drew Cowan, Robert Yang, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.

Note - there will be no play at Knox Church next week. Monday is Labor day and Thursday is the first Thursday of the month and the church is having their monthly dinner then. We will play at Bixby on Sept 5.

Bixby - 10 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Eli Betinjani, John Moore, Alex Tupas, John Cai, Wesley Li, Jaesung Kim, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: there is a new place to play ping pong at the "The Tulsan Bar" (they have only one table) at 412 East 2nd near downtown Tulsa by the Grey Hound bus station and by the Box Yard business area.  They have a facebook page. They have a league - costs $25 to join. They are open 4:00 PM to midnight. (This info is now on the main/home page of the club's website).

Knox church - 13 players. Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Mike Hamby, Okba Harfouch, Dylan Garland, Hamid Ezzat, Arman ("Oscar") Majidi, Jaesung Kim, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Robb Lee, Corey Flaugher, Drew Cowan. (info courtesy of Alex).

Knox church - 18 players. Sean Curtis, Okba Harfouch, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Robb Lee, Drew Cowan, Tom Jourdan, Dylan Garland, Corey Flaugher, David Leonard, Abdulla, Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, John Cai, Jaesung Kim, Hamid Ezzat, Enrique Perez, Arman Majidi.

Bixby - 10 players. David Leonard, Ray Pestridge, Sean Curtis, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Alex Tupas, Robert Yang (paid $10), Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Alex fixed 2 nets. Welded a handle on one of them since the plastic knob broke.

Beginning 9-5-19 - the club will begin meeting at Bixby on the first Thursday only of each month.
The rest of the Thursdays we will meet at Knox Church.

Knox church - 15 regulars + 7 scouts and 2 scout adults. Nick Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Reuben Agimudie (Nick's son), Robb Lee, Robert Yang, Drew Cowan, Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, Shweta Govind, Alex Tupas, Dylan Garland, Mats Johansson, Jaesung Kim, Hamid Ezzat, Ray Pestridge, plus the scouts (waiting on Ray to inform me on their names).

Knox church - 17 players. Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, Shweta Govind (paid $10), Mohammad Luqman, Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Corey Flaugher, David Leonard, John Cai, Drew Cowan, Robert Yang, Jaesung Kim, Arman Majidi, Isaac Smith, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 13 players. Dylan Garland (first time out - a self taught player (ie no coach ever) - 21 years old, Denis Bukin (from Ukraine) - first time out. Rating-1482. Works 1 week in Tulsa then 1 week in Florida - plays with the Tampa, Florida club), Don Lambert (first time out), Alex Tupas, David Leonard, John Moore, Mohammad Luqman, Wesley LI, John Cai, Shane Spicer, Jaesung Kim, Eli Betinjani, Kelly Boyce.

Knox church - 14 players. Alex Tupas, Mike Hamby, Tom Jourdan, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Brad Balmer, Robb Lee, Okba Harfouch, Mohammed Luqman, Hamid Ezzat, Dylan Garland, Jaesung Kim, Johnny McClanahan, Bob Kyker

Knox church - 19 players. Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Robert Yang, Bob Kyker, Jaesung Kim, Drew Cowan, Okba Harfouch, John Cai, Shweta Govind, Robb Lee, Arman Majidi (first time out is Okba's dentist), Mats Johansson, Johnny McClanahan, Isaac Smith (first time out), Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 12 players. David Leonard, Brad Balmer, Noelle, Corey Flaugher, John Moore, Shweta Govind, Vignesh, John Cai, Wesley LI, Kelly Boyce, Faisal Ansari, Tom Jourdan.
Other news: John Moore has change rubber again, back to short pips on the backhand.
Shweta really likes her paddle now.

Knox church - 15 players. Dylan Garland (new, moved here from Iowa - rating is 2033 !), Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, John Moore, Mauricio Oviedo, Robert Yang, Hamid Ezzat,, Mohammed Luqman, Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch, Yee Yang, Drew Cowan, Jaesung Kim, Chang Kue, Bob Kyker.

Knox Church - 13 players - Tom Jourdan, Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Hamid Ezzat, Mike Hamby, Chuck Urasaki, Robb Lee, Drew Cowan, Mohammed Luqman, Jaesung Kim, Chang Kue, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - no info

Knox church - 13 players. Mohammed Luqman, Hamid Ezzat, Robb Lee, Mauricio Oviedo, Alex Tupas, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Shweta Govind, Mike Hamby, Jaesung Kim, Drew Cowan, Chang Kue (new), Bob Kyker.
Other news: from an email from Bob Kyker - We also had members of boy scout troop no. 222 that meets at John Knox church with scoutmaster Doug Craig:
Matthew, Andrew, Caleb, and Aidan - all working on their merit badges by learning a new sport.
Drew Cowan did an excellent job of providing coaching and using our robot for stroke development.
They will be playing with us for about four months to earn their merit badges, probably on Mondays.
We can set up a table for them to use and our players can help them.

Knox Church - per Drew Cowan - there will be 8 boy scouts tonight at 7 pm.  They will need paddles. Need volunteers to help coach them tonight. Please set up 6 tables tonight. Kelly

Knox church - 14 players. Hamid Ezzat, Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, Tom Jourdan, Corey Flaugher, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Chuck Urasaki (paid $10), Shweta Govind (paid $10), John Cai, Drew Cowan, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 11 players. Faisal (rhymes with vassal or hassle) Ansari (a cricket player), David Leonard, Alex Tupas, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Eli Betinjani, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce, Ted Price (just visiting for a week. Ted used to play at Bartlesville during their glory years when Cliff Smith and Jim Taylor where running things. Ted is retired now and plays with the Katy, Texas (outside Houston) club. The club there has 30 tables!).

Knox church - 12 players. Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, Cory Flaugher, Alex Tupas, David Peters (new), Hamid Ezzat (paid $100 - (last time out was 3-28-19), Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Mauricio Oviedo, Rob McKinney, Drew Cowan, Bob Kyker.

Knox church - 12 players. Ray Pestridge, Drew Cowan, Mike Hamby, Cory Flaugher, Robb Lee, Brad Balmer (paid $25), David Leonard, Robert Yang, John Cai, Tom Jourdan, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 9 players. Corey Flaugher, David Leonard, Shane Spicer, John Cai, Wesley Li, Brad Balmer, Nicole or Noelle, Jaesung Kim, Ted Price.

Knox Church - 15 players. Collin Trisler (new), Omer Taveel (new), Adeel Darr (new), Robb Lee (new, just moved here from Calif), Garrett Schaede, Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Jaesung Kim, Drew Cowan, Mike Hamby, Shweta Govind, Bob Kyker.

Knox church - 14 players. Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, John Bryan, Corey Flaugher, Tom Jourdan, Chuck Urasaki, Enrique Perez, Martin Ndengang, Alex Tupas, Shweta Govind, Bob Kyker, Drew Cowan, Johnny McClanahan, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: All of the church elders came by and checked out our club.
Shweta brought her new rubber sheets she got from paddle palace and Alex put the sheets on. She played very well with the new paddle.
Enrique had his new paddle also. He got the rubber from Mega-spin and he did not remember where he got the blade from. He assembled them himself and did a great job (first time he every did this).

Bixby - 9 players. Alex Tupas, John Moore, John Cai, Tom Jourdan, Jaesung Kim, Wesley Li, Eli Betinjani, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: "MacGyver"  (this is what his wife calls him) fixed the 3 broken Stiga nets by welding handles on them (the 6  knobs broke off all of them).

Knox church - 9 players. Brad Balmer, Jaesung Kim, Mike Hamby, Drew Cowan, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Robert Yang, Cory Flaugher, Bob Kyker.

Ray Pestridge won 2nd place in Singles at the National Senior Games that ran last week at Albuquerque, New Mexico.

For a photo of Ray - click here - http://tulsatabletennis.com/photoalbum1.asp?CategoryID=28

No play. 4th of July.

Bixby - 10 players. Brad Balmer, Alex Tupas, Robert Yang, Eli Betinjani, Jaesung Kim, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley LI (paid $40), Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.

Knox church - 11 players. Tom Jourdan, David Leonard, Jaesung Kim, Alex Tupas, Robert Yang (paid $25), Yee Yang, Drew Cowan, Mike Hamby, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Kelly Boyce.

Knox church - 14 players. 1 first time out player - Loretta Harrison (heard about us from Google, she plays at work), Rob McKinney (last time out was 11-17-16), Tom Jourdan, Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Alex Tupas, John Cai, Shweta Govind, Bruno Fernandez, Martin Ndengang, Drew Cowan, Yee Yang, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce, 

Bixby - 11 players. David Leonard, Martin Ndengang, Tom Jourdan, Bruno Fernandez, Eli Betinjani, Nabil Betinjani (Eli's dad), John Cai, Wesley LI, Jaesung Kim, Diego Fernandez, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Tom Jourdan found out tonight he is just a man (ie he is not a table tennis robot because robots don't break down).
David Leonard said to never start using Tenergy rubber (because if you do, you will become hopelessly addicted).

Knox church - 8 players. Tom Jourdan (paid $60), Alex Tupas (paid $20), Mike Hamby, Shweta Govind (ordered a new paddle from Paddle Palace!), Bruno Fernandez, Robert Yang, Johnny McClanahan, Jaesung Kim.

Individual rating results are now posted on the USATT web site for the Oklahoma City and Springfield tournaments held 6-15-19.  29 players were in the Okla City tourny and 34 players were in the Springfield tourny.
Tom Jourdan had the best losses - went 5 games with some 1766, 1893, 1811, 2004 players!

Knox church - 16 players. Yee Yang (paid $100), Tom Jourdan (paid $40), Robert Yang, Alex Tupas (paid $39), Shweta Govind (paid $10), Mats Johansson, Martin Ndengang, Okba Harfouch, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Johnny McClanahan, John Cai, Jaesung Kim, Rachid Boubou, Kelly Boyce, Chuck Urasaki (from the old days - only Bob Kyker and Kelly will remember Chuck. Last time out - Jan 2014).
Players that closed up - Tom, Diego, Mats, Kelly.

Bixby - 10 players. David Leonard (paid $50), John Cai (paid $40), Ray Pestridge, Martin Ndengang, Jaesung Kim, Shane Spicer, Wesley LI, Diego Fernandez, Kelly Boyce, Eli Betinjani (last time out was 1-23-18 and the time before that was 1-31-17).

For a 2017 article on how the new plastic balls have changed the game (ie no more defensive players or loopers or top spin players (but short pips out players will be coming back):
The Evolution of the Table Tennis Ball and How Plastic Balls Will Change the Scene
20 July 2017  | Posted in: Table Tennis Tips
About the author - Radivoj Hudetz

Radivoj Hudetz is a 70-year veteran of table tennis and the Chairman of the ETTHoF board. 

He's the coach of Bayern, the German junior team, the Yugoslavian national women team, and the Yugoslavian champion women team HASTK Mladost Zagreb.
He's an author of several books on table tennis techniques, tactics and history. He's also the chief editor of table tennis periodicals “Tischtennis aktuell” and “SPIN”, and an author of several films and DVD’s on table tennis.
He's also the former president of Yugoslav Table Tennis Association and the former General secretary of Croatian TT Association.
He was the tournament director of World Championships 2007. 

Currently he's a honorary member of ETTU and a member of ITTF President Advisory Council.
He's been honored with ITTF award of merit, with the Croatian Table Tennis Association’s Trophy and with the Sport Award of Croatian Republic.

From its very beginning, table tennis has evolved through many different phases, helping it to become the sport it is today. While alterations such as rule changes and equipment development have mostly offered improvements, some have also been obstacles on the road to the sport’s development. Not so long ago, another big step was taken. 

The recent 2014-2015 table tennis season brought a radical new change to the sport: plastic balls began to replace celluloid balls at the most important events under the tutorage of ITTF – including the World Championships, World Tour Tournaments, and other major competitions. The shift progressed in a manner to phase out the old celluloid balls, keeping them in parallel use with plastic balls for a certain period before completely disappearing.  

Surprisingly, the introduction of plastic balls did not require any change of rules, as the rules do not specify which material the ball must be made of; only the weight, diameter, and rebound are specified. 

Table Tennis Balls: Then to Now
This change in material can be understood in better context if we look at its evolution over time. The first celluloid ball was introduced in England in 1900, at a time when table tennis had traditionally been more of a parlor game than a sport, using balls made from cork or other materials. 

So in 1900, the 38mm celluloid ball became the new standard, and remained this way until the year 2000 when it was replaced by a larger, 40mm ball.  

Even before that date, however, a plastic ball produced by the company Barna Dunlop was used for a short time in the 1980’s, even making an appearance at some big, international events. But most players ended up rejecting these plastic balls as unplayable, because they were as hard as stone, and until now, no further attempts were made to improve upon this type of ball.  

Meanwhile, celluloid was rapidly becoming an obsolete material, replaced by plastic for all of its purposes except for the production of table tennis balls! Strict safety regulations for celluloid production in Europe make its production expensive, and demand for the material has dramatically decreased to the point that there is no more celluloid production in Europe.  

At this point, only two factories in the world produce celluloid, both located in China. These factories produce the material solely for table tennis balls, and Europe has shut down all of its celluloid ball factories completely, as the production has become too costly.  

On top of this, celluloid is an extremely flammable material, making it difficult and rather expensive to transport and store the balls. The development of plastic materials and their widespread use in everyday life has made it quite natural to exchange such an obsolete material as celluloid with contemporary plastics.

From Celluloid to Plastic
Some years ago, China began to investigate how to produce plastic balls, an initiative which came from the ITTF Equipment Committee. In cooperation with ITTF, one of the Chinese ball factories began to produce its first samples of plastic balls. This proved to be a major innovation, as these new balls were produced in one piece, unlike celluloid balls which have a seam down the middle where their two hemispheres connect. 

China’s plastic ball production required totally new technology and machinery. A problem arose immediately: because these plastic balls have no seam, the existing testing procedures and equipment weren’t able to precisely measure whether the ball suited the ITTF approval demands. It wasn’t necessary to change the sport’s rules because of the change in material, but it did become necessary to develop new measuring devices. As a result, the new plastic balls were not immediately ITTF approved.  

In the meantime, two other Chinese factories started to produce plastic balls in the traditional way with a seam, while one was producing them without. So today, we have two Chinese factories producing plastic balls with a seam, one Chinese factory producing plastic balls without a seam, and one Japanese and one German factory producing plastic balls with a seam. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Plastic Balls
From the moment that plastic balls were introduced, all ITTF events from 2014-2015 and onward were required to use the new material. It was only logical that continental events and most national events immediately followed, as celluloid remained in use only in lower categories and hobby matches. 

Plastic balls produce a different sound than celluloid balls, but the most important difference between the two is the harder surface of plastic which makes it impossible to give the ball as much spin as with celluloid balls.  

Also, the durability and quality of plastic balls was initially quite poor. It was expected that seamless balls would produce a homogenous high quality out of production, solving one of the problems of celluloid, but this wasn’t the case – the balls still needed to be divided after production into four categories, from the best quality balls for competitions down to lowest quality balls for practicing. Unexpected differences in production quality were a disappointing result from the new plastic ball production.  

Recently, factories have changed the original plastic used for the production of the balls with a new type of plastic that should solve these existing problems, as well as making the balls less expensive. The fact is that plastic balls have already significantly changed the game, evolving it to be played with less spin and more speed. 

The Impact of Plastic Balls on Table Tennis
Table tennis balls - The introduction of plastic balls to table tennis has definitely changed the game in massive ways. In a rally, a plastic ball bounces higher than a celluloid ball, flies faster, and is more difficult for the player to produce spin than with a celluloid ball. 

Plastic balls as they are today are an advantage for players playing a fast attack game without much spin. These players are hitting the ball as soon as possible after the bounce, before the ball reaches the highest point of its trajectory. The new European champion from Budapest 2017 Lebesson (France) is one player who profited from these characteristics of plastic balls. He won a gold medal with his fast attack style, the plastic ball enabling him to dominate using hard and fast strokes without much spin. 

Another example of a player who has used this new material to their advantage is the new Japanese star Harimoto Tomokazu, who in the 2017 World Championships marched into the quarterfinals at only 14 years of age! He profited massively from the plastic ball using his fast strokes devoid of spin, hitting the ball immediately after the bounce on the table. It is possible that this type of gameplay will bring pimpled rubbers back into the scene. 

But not everyone benefits from the new plastic balls and the changes they bring to gameplay. Defensive players playing backspin defense are even in more trouble than they've already been, and topspin players playing attack from half-distance have difficulties with the new ball as well. The ball comes at them faster, they have less time to react, and they cannot produce as much spin as before. 

Overall, the changes brought to the game have been significant, and have caused players to alter their strategies and techniques to keep up. Table tennis has become faster, and rallies shorter. And with shorter stroke movements comes the need for adequate physical preparation to avoid injuries. 

2 "new" pics have been added to the "Photos" page of the web site from the 2017 June Birmingham, Al Senior Games that Ray Pestridge and Glendale Markwell won. (sorry for this late pic addition).
Click here - http://tulsatabletennis.com/photoalbum1.asp?CategoryID=27

Knox church - 13 players. Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch, Tom Jourdan, Bruno Fernandez, Yee Yang, Corey Flaugher (paid $40), Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Jaesung Kim, Mats Johansson, Kelly Boyce. 

Bixby - 18 players. Maria Tran (got a 1 hour lesson from Rachid), Tiffany Salter (from Okla City - just watched), Rachid Boubou, Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, Glendale Markwell, Robert Yang, Corey Flaugher, Mike Hamby, John Moore (paid $40), Shweta Govind, Okba Harfouch, Martin Ndengang, Yee Yang, Shane Spicer, Bruno Fernandez, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.

Bob Kyker and Ray Pestridge are going to the National Senior Games in Albuquerque, New Mexico on 6-20-19.
The Nationals are held every 2 years.
At least 3 players from the Oklahoma City club are going also - Linda, Kathleen, Joe.

Update on the 9 Tulsa players going to 2 different tournaments this weekend.
There was talk in the club about the USATT approving 2 sanctioned tournaments on the same day and both were somewhat close geographically (ie Oklahoma City and Springfield, Missouri). The talk was that the person at the USATT that approves dates for sanctioned tournaments should not have allowed these 2 tournaments on the same day.
That being said, the following players going are:
The Oklahoma City tournament - Robert Yang (for sure), Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Jaesung Kim, Ray Pestridge (doubles only with Yee Yang), Yee Yang (Yee has to work that day - Saturday- and doesn't know if he can make any single events but he will at least play doubles with Ray).
Springfield, Missouri tournament - Okba Harfouch, Rachid Boubou, Tom Jourdan.
Other news: Rachid Boubou will be moving to North Carolina next month.

Bixby - 18 players. John Moore (paid $40), Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge (paid $100), David Leonard (paid $50), Enrique Perez, Rachid Boubou, Tom Jourdan, Martin Ndengang, Okba Harfouch, Bob Kyker, Alex Tupas, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez (paid $20 for both), Jaesung Kim, John Cai, Wesley LI, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Bixby now has 6 tables.

The Oklahoma City tournament is next week.
Tulsa players need to sign up asap if going.

Knox church update - We will not play here next week. The church is having bible camp. The club will play next week on Tuesday and Thursday at Bixby. The knox church will be open for table tennis next on 6-17-19 - Monday.

Knox Church - 12 players. 1st night to play! Shweta Govind (first time out - she plays at Brad's club), Bruno Fernandez, Drew Cowan, Bob Kyker, Yee Yang, David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Robert Yang, Mats Johansson (paid $100 !), Jason Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: the knox church is a step up from Dawson. Much larger playing area. Lighting is good. There will be 4 people with keys to the storage doors - Alex, Kelly, Drew and Bob. 

John Knox church - We are now moved in ! Thanks to Johnny McClanahan's big truck and Drew Cowan, Bob Kyker and Kelly Boyce for moving the 5 tables, barriers, cardboard, robot and nets from Dawson to the church.
We can begin play on Thursday!
Note - the church has a day camp for kids until around 6:00 PM and the kids stay in the room we will be playing in.
We can't use the room (or be in the room) until the last child is picked up by their parents.
Drew Cowan will be the only contact person with the church, so any questions about the church building or their activities, see Drew only.
For table tennis info, see Drew, Bob, Kelly or any member of the club.
(interesting fact - most people do not care that most Stiga tables are 32" wide when folded up - until you realize, too late, that the room we are storing our tables in at the church is only 28" wide! (oops, we missed this detail tonight but Johnny was nice enough to allow us to go to Bixby and switch out one of the stiga tables ).

Bixby - 7 players.

Dawson moving update.
The confirmed plan (as of 11:30 today) is for Bob, Kelly, Johnny McClanahan and Drew to meet at Dawson today - Tuesday - at 5:30 PM to pickup the tables and take them to Knox Church.

Dawson - 14 players.   Last day to play at Dawson (after 17 years) !  Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, Tom Jourdan, Stephan Denis, Alex Tupas, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Enrique Perez, Robert Yang, Cory Flaugher, Drew Cowan, Johnny McClanahan, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker. For a pic of most of these players- click on the "photos" link in the top right or click here: http://tulsatabletennis.com/photoalbum1.asp?CategoryID=26

Dawson move update - Drew Cowan has secured a place to move the Dawson equipment to.
We will now be playing at John Knox church on 31st between Harvard and Lewis. - 2929 East 31st street, Tulsa.
Johnny McClanahan will use his big truck (with a Tommy gate) to pickup the tables on Tuesday - 6-4-19 at 6:30 PM at Dawson and take them to the church. Storage space is very limited but we think there is room for the tables, barriers, cardboard there. Drew will measure the tables tonight and check to make sure the storage area is large enough. Where we will be playing, we may not need the cardboard.

Dawson - 12 players: Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, Drew Cowan, David Leonard, Cory Flaugher, Tom Jourdan, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Okba Harfouch, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Bob Kyker.

Oklahoma City is having their summer games tournament on June 15.

Dawson move update - We will move the 5 tables at Dawson somewhere next Wednesday - June 5.
At this time, we don't have any place to move them to or a method to transport them.
Please contact Bob Kyker or Kelly if anyone has any ideas
(Kelly has made several contacts with YMCA's, City of Tulsa rec centers, Tulsa County centers but has not found a place yet to move to).
Bixby has agreed to let us play on Thursday nights beginning June 6. 

Bixby - 9 players. Sayed Haris and Sayed Hassan (first time out), David Leonard, John Moore, Alex Tupas, Bruno Fernandez, Martin Ndengang, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other news- We now know where Jaesung has been since 2-28-19- he had a friend from South Korea come in and he has been going all over the USA vacationing. Also, he got a dog!

Dawson - 12 players. Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Mike Hamby, Bruno Fernandez, Jaesung Kim, Diego Fernandez, Drew Cowan, Bob Kyker, Okba Harfouch, Rachid Boubou, 

30' wide x 55' long - Size of the room needed for the new place we hopefully find soon:
To use Dawson as an example, this is how large the space we are using now for the 4 tables.
30' is the distance of the smaller part of Dawson (on the south end of the room) that runs east to west.
55' is the distance, wall to wall, from north to south. 

Update on moving the club from Dawson: Kelly talked to  Hicks Park (on 31st and Mingo area) and Hicks won't work. The center director there said we should talk to Lacy Park at Pine and Peoria which I will do Tuesday.

New place to play update from Bob Kyker:
I went by and talked to the lady in charge at Reed Park, near 41st and union, where we played many years ago.
The gym is under construction and they have no places to store our tables.  She said storage is a problem at most centers.
Anyway, it would have to be after summer, no openings until then.

Drew Cowan has talked to John Knox Presbyterian church on 31st, between Harvard and Lewis.  They will have to talk to the elders to see if it is possible. They just added or remodeled a room bigger than dawson with LED lights and new AC unit. He might have more info by Monday night.

Springfield, Missouri (ie Bill Lewis -Ozark club) is having a big tournament on June 15.
$2975 in prize monies.

Dawson - the club has to move our tables out by June 8.
Kelly went by Whiteside park (41st between Yale and Harvard) and went by Hicks park on Mingo between 31st and 41st and asked them if they had room for our club. Both people said they have to talk to the center director but at this time, they didn't have any open areas available but will let me know if something comes up.

Dawson - 11 players. Ray Pestridge, Glendale Markwell, Cory Flaugher, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Tom Jourdan, Yee Yang, Bruno Fernandez, Diego  Fernandez, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 8 players.

Dawson - no info yet

Dawson - 6 players. Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Cory Flaugher, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 4 players.

Dawson - 16 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Mike Hamby, Okba Harfouch, Tom Jourdan, Martin Ndengang, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Alex Tupas, Drew Cowan, Enrique Perez, Jaesung Kim, Richy R., Evan Hughes (new), Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 14 players. Ray Pestridge, Glendale Markwell, Johnny McClanahan (pd $100 cash), Cory Flaugher, Yee Yang, Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, Drew Cowan, Martin Ndengang, Enrique Perez, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Robert Yang, Bob Kyker.

Bob Kiker has confirmed that the city of Tulsa will no longer allow Tulsa Table Tennis to play at Dawson. Last play day will be approximately 1 month from now. We are currently looking for a new location. Please contact us if you know of a facility.

Bixby - 2 players. John Moore, Martin Ndengang.

Dawson  11 players. Okba Harfouch, Tom Jourdan, Mike Hamby (pd $100 check), David Leonard, Cory Flaugher, Yee Yang, Diego Fernandez, Drew Cowan, Alex Tupas, Martin Ndengang (pd $100 cash), Bob Kyker (pd $100 check)

Kelly Boyce will not be playing the next 2 weeks including the next 2 Tuesdays.
(someone will need to set up the Bixby playing area on the next 2 Tuesdays.

Memberships are due for most players. Bob Kyker will be collecting dues (and he won't be asking nicely).
Also, update on 3 Tulsa players going to the Joplin tournament on May 10 and 11 - Okba and Rachid and Corey Flaugher. Tom does not know if he will go.

Dawson - 16 players. Bruce Oliver (just visiting for 1 week from Florida/Jamaica), David Leonard, Drew Cowan (paid $100 to renew his membership !), Okba Harfouch, Mike Hamby, Sean Curtis, Corey Flaugher, Enrique Perez, Garrett Schaede, Diego Fernandez, Yee Yang, Josh Perez, Jason Mann, Tom Jourdan, Stefan Denis, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Sean Curtis is practicing to become a defensive player. He watches You Tube videos of South Korean player Jo Se Huk.

Tulsa players going to the Joplin tournament on May 10 and 11 (a 2 day tournament - begins 6:00 PM Friday).
Okba Harfouch, Rachid Boubou

Bixby - 6 players. David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Shane Spicer, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 9 players. David Leonard (this info courtesy of David), Tom Jourdan, Rachid Boubou, Alex Tupas, Mike Hamby, Johnny McClanahan, Diego Fernandez, Ray Pestridge, Sean Curtis.

Dawson - 11 players. Enrique Perez (paid $100 !), Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Drew Cowan, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Garrett Schaede, Diego Fernandez, Stefan Denis, Jason Mann, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Update on Tom Jourdan's health (ie table tennis health). Since taking off for 2 months, Tom's game has suffered. However, after a slow start tonight, Tom came roaring back as good-as-new and was playing very well.

Bixby - 7 players. Alex Tupas, David Leonard, John Moore, Ted Hill, Shane Spicer, Diego Fernandez, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 14 players. Stephan Denis, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Mauricio Oviedo, Sean Curtis, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Mike Hamby, Diego Fernandez, Garrett Donert (new), Richie Ramysaran, Okba Harfouch, Rachid Boubou, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 9 players. Tom Jourdan, David Leonard, Glendale Markwell, Mike Hamby, Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Ray Pestridge, Drew Cowan, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 6 players. Okba Harfouch, Rachid (just practiced with Okba), John Moore, Shane Spicer, Sean Curtis, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 16 players. Yee Yang, Sean Curtis, Jason and Noah Taylor, Okba Harfouch, Cory Flaugher, Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Mauricio Oviedo, Mike Hamby, Alex Tupas, Diego Fernandez, Drew Cowan, Robert Yang, Richie Ramysaran (new), Bob Kyker.

(From an email from Brad Balmer):
Hello, just an update that the deadline for the 1st Broken Arrow Table Tennis Open is this Thursday 4/11.
Please call me if you have any questions.
This is a great opportunity to support the local table tennis scene.
We are volunteers and do not receive payment for our efforts.
Yes, the facility is not perfect, but the environment is equal on both sides of the table.
I have probably 14 juniors that will play in this event and having local, seasoned players exhibit their skills, and top-notch sportsmanship, goes a long way in shaping the future crop of local enthusiasts.
If you are on the fence, in regards to entering, please consider giving back to our sport by joining us.
Local participation is needed to grow and improve the local ping pong arena.
Thank you, Brad Balmer  918 240-7465

Dawson - no info yet

Bixby - no info yet

Dawson - 6 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Yee Yang, Bob Kyker

Joplin tournament notice.
May 10 – 11th – JOPLIN, MO
Just over 1 month till the Tournament
$855 - Prize Money
Easy Sign-up: Call 417-625-4750

Update on Tulsa players going to the Broken Arrow ping pong  tournament on April 13:  
Going for sure: Stephan Denis, Enrique Perez, Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch (dbls with alex), Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Sean Curtis (new, from oru), John Moore, Kelly Boyce.
Maybe going: Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Garrett Schaede, Mats Johansson.
Not going: Cory Flaugher, Bill Wyman, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Maruicio Oviedo, Bob Kyker.
Unknown: Tom Jourdan

Bixby - 7 players: John Moore, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, John Cai, Wesley Li, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 16 players. Stephan Denis, Enrique Perez, Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch, Bruno Fernandez, Sean Curtis (new, from oru), Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Garrett Schaede, Mats Johansson, Cory Flaugher, Bill Wyman, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Mauricio Oviedo, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 11 players. Blake Storm (new), Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Hamid Ezzat, Tom Jourdan, Drew Cowan, Mauricio Oviedo, Kelly Boyce, Robert Yang, Garrett Schaede (he got new rubber tonight - Tibhar Evolution - per Robert Yang's recommendation. Bob Kyker glued it on tonight).

Update on Tulsa players going to the April 13 Broken Arrow Ping Pong club tournament - one so far.

Bixby - 9 players. Alex Tupas, John Moore, Diego Fernandez, David Leonard, Shane Spicer, John Cai, Wesley LI, Bruno Fernandez, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: 4 players arrived after 7:00 PM tonight!

Dawson - 12 players. David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Robert Yang, Drew Cowan, Stephan Denis, Okba Harfouch, Cory Flaugher, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Mauricio Oviedo, Johnny McClanahan, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 12 players. Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, Corey Flaugher, Hamid Ezzat, David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Brad Balmer, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Mats Johansson, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: David Leonard has decided to start using performance enhancing drugs before he plays.
Corey's new faster equipment has made a huge difference in his game.
Mike Hamby may decide to finally upgrade his equipment. 

Bixby - 4 players. David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Drew Cowan, Maurico Oviedo.

Dawson - 12 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Cory Flaugher, Stephan Denis, Garrett Schaede, Mike Hamby, Johnny McClanahan, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker.  
Other news: Diego and Bruno bought a robot - a Paddle Palace A32W.

Dawson - 16 players. Corey Flaugher, Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, Josh Perez, Garrett Schaede, Bob Kyker, Hamid Ezzat, Tom Jourdan, Diego Fernandez, Bill Wyman, Paul Despain, Robert Yang, Drew Cowan, Bruno Fernandez, Jason Mann (from the Broken Arrow ping pong club - 1st time out), Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Diego and Bruno bought a robot - a Paddle Palace A32W.

Bixby - 8 players.  David Leonard, John Moore, Alex Tupas, Diego Fernandez (paid $10), Bruno Fernandez, John Cai, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 14 players. Ray Pestridge, Cory Flaugher, Alex Tupas, Mats Johansson, Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Bill Wyman, Drew Cowan, Yee Yang, Johnny McClanahan, Robert Yang, Bob Kyker

Dawson - 19 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Hamid Ezzat, Yee Yang, Garvin, Luke and Taylor Ramkaran, Jeremy (new, didn't get his last name), Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Bill Wyman, Okba Harfouch, Mats Johansson, Drew Cowan, Paul Despain and his son Levi (new), Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 7 players. Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Shane Spicer, John Moore, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Kelly Boyce.

Stephen Ackart won the 2015 Joplin tournament against Bill Lewis.
For a link to the you tube video of the match:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZbzmft2F4Q

Dawson - 15 players. Alex Tupas, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Okba Harfouch, Richard Hart, Cory Flaugher, Drew Cowan, Hamid Ezzat, Stephan Denis, Mats Johansson, Enrique Perez, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Brad Balmer, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 11 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Corey Flaugher, Mats Johansson, Okba Harfouch, Drew Cowan, Mike Hamby, Jaesung Kim, Jaron Stewart, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 9 players. John Moore, David Leonard, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, John Cai, Wesley Li, Shane Spicer, Jaesung Kim (paid $100!), Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 14 players. Drew Cowan, Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch, Mike Hamby, Cory Flaugher, Robert Yang, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Enrique Perez, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker. 3 new players Garvin, Luke and Taylor Ramkaran.

Brad Balmer from the Broken Arrow Ping Pong Club will be having a tournament on April 13.
No other info is available at this time - per Brad.

Dawson - 12 players. Stephan Denis, Robert Yang, Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, Corey Flaugher, Henry Ngo/Ango, Garrett Schaede, Paul Despain, Jaesung Kim, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 8 players. David Leonard, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, John Moore, Alex Tupas, Shane Spicer, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce

Dawson - 15 players. Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, Cory Flaugher, Garrett Schaede, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Bill Wyman, Stephan Denis, Jason and Noah Taylor, Okba Harfouch, Hamid Ezzat, Jaesung Kim, Drew Cowan, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - no players showed up. The club was open but no one showed up.

Bixby - 9 players.  Derick Whitmore (new), Ray Pestridge, Phil Tolbert (new), John Moore, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Shane Spicer, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: The "tall" table (and most unpopular table) has a broken leg. Be careful in moving it until we get it fixed.

Dawson - 15 players. Mike Hamby, Stephan Denis, Garrett Schaede, Alex Tupas, David Leonard, Cory Flaugher, Ray Pestridge, Drew Cowan, Hamid Ezzat, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Okba Harfouch, Robert Yang, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 14 players. Robert Yang, Garrett Schaede, Okba Harfouch, David Leonard, Hamid Ezzat, Cory Flaugher, Stephan Denis, Paul Despain, Drew Cowan, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Mike Hamby, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.
Other news: Per Bob Kyker - "Okba brought the new paddle palace a32w pro robot with 2 ball pickers and a ball basket/stand for multi-ball or serve practice.
Nearly everyone tried out the new robot and it was a great success.  
We stored it in the corner behind the tables out of sight.
It will be part of extra training that the club players are needing and wanting to improve.

Bixby - 10 players. Enrique Perez (new), John Moore, Ray Pestridge, Bruno Fernandez, Hamid Ezzat, Rachid Boubou (just gave a lesson to Hamid), David Reynolds (new), Jared Wheeler, Diego Fernandez, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Ray Pestridge has passed his test and is now an official USATT "Club Umpire".

(From an email from Bill Lewis today):
Non-sanctioned tourney - no USATT fees.  Last call for:  Feb 16 Table Tennis Tournament in Springfield.

Greetings Table Tennis Fanatics ! !  

This non-sanctioned tourney has no USATT fees.
Plus - if you haven't played in a FUN tournament in awhile then this tourney's for you!

Date ........... February 16, 2019
Site............. O'Reilly-Tefft Gymnasium.  1408 E. Pythian St.  Springfield, Mo.   65802
Events........ 4 Rated Events ..... 1 Doubles Event ..... 1 Giant Round Robin.
Payouts...... $1,000.00

Download contains Entry Form and also on Home page.
Email to reserve the slots of your choosing.

'Thanks so much' - and - we hope to hear from you.

- Bill -


Bill Lewis
3818 South Farm Road 103
Brookline, Mo.   65619
President: Ozarks Table Tennis Club
USATT C.R. C.U. T.D. and Safe Sport Certified
Club site:  http://www.OzarksTableTennisClub.org/
(C)  417.493.6259

Dawson - 13 players. Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Garrett Schaede, Brad Balmer, Cory Flaugher, Drew Cowan, Robert Yang, Jaesung Kim, Okba Harfouch, Enrique Perez (new), Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 10 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Henry Ngo, Hamid Ezzat, Paul Despain, Drew Cowan, Mike Hamby, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 14 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai, Bruno Fernandez, Jared Wheeler, John Guernsey (new), Nick Reeds (new), Hamid Ezzat, Rachid El Boubou (just gave a lesson to Hamid), Wesley Li, Okba Harfouch, Diego Fernandez, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - no info

Dawson - 15 players. 3 first time out players - Phil Tolbert (just watched), Jaron Stewart (Jaesung's guitar teacher), Kent Schaede (Garrett's dad), Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Corey Flaugher, David Leonard, Paul Despain, Garrett Schaede, Hamid Ezzat, Mike Hamby, Bob Kyker, Okba Harfouch, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.

Update on the 9 Tulsa players going to the Okla City tournament on Jan 26.
Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Corey Flaugher, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Ray Pestridge (doubles only with Corey), Rachid El Boubou, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang. (This is in addition to the 9 Broken Arrow ping pong players going).

Bixby - 12 players. David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Jaesung Kim, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, John Moore, John Cai, Jared Wheeler, Peter Malley, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Jared Wheeler is wanting to step up his game with a better paddle. Also, after playing left handed since he started, is switching to right handed. He said he gets more spin left handed but more power right handed.

To view several You Tube videos of Tulsa's own Rachid el Boubou in action, go to You Tube and type in "rachid el boubou".

(from an email from Bill Lewis dated 1-21-19)
Greetings Table Tennis Fanatics ! !
There will be a non-sanctioned table tennis tournament in Springfield, Missouri on Saturday, February 16, 2019.
This is a "first-come, first-serve basis" and the main event is a GRR
with 24 slots.  
(Enter early if you'd like to reserve one of these key positions.)  
Tourney pays out:  $1000.
There will also be a large Open Doubles event near the end of the day and will hold 16 teams and pays out
$200.  
There are also 4 other events from which to choose.
Thanks so much ! !  
And - we hope to hear from you.
Bill Lewis
(Note - from the tulsa table tennis club - if you don't know what "GRR" is, then we can hook you up with a nice tiddly winks tournament for you to play in instead).

Dawson - 14 players- Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Mike Hamby, Cory Flaugher, Okba Harfouch, Drew Cowan, Brad Balmer, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Jaesung Kim, Hamid Ezzat, Johnny McClanahan, Bruno Fernandez, Bob Kyker.
Other news: Okba is ordering the new robot!

9 players from the Broken Arrow Ping Pong Club are going to the Okla City tournament on Jan 26.
Brad Balmer, Rithun Kulengath, Nicole Cullison, Noelle Cullison, Shweta Govind, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Howard Grinsteinner and his daughter (and club junior) Jacee. (7 players from the Tulsa club are going also).

Dawson - 13 players. Paul Despain (paid $20), Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Hamid Ezzat, Tom Jourdan, Corey Flaugher, David Leonard, Drew Cowan, Okba Harfouch, Stefan Denis, Gary Schaeder, Robert Yang, Kelly Boyce.

From an email from Lloyd Blankenship from the Joplin Table Tennis club: We have scheduled our spring and fall tournaments. They are on May 10th and 11th and Oct. 18th and 19th.  Our spring tournament is non sanctioned and our fall tournament will be a 2 star sanctioned tournament. If you would spread the word hopefully we will see some of you there, thanks.

Update on the Tulsa players going to the Okla City tournament on Jan 26.
Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Corey Flaugher, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Ray Pestridge (doubles only with Corey).
Rachid will play in the Open!

Bixby - 11 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Jim French, John Moore, John Cai, Bruno Fernandez (paid $10), Jared Wheeler, Shane Spicer, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 17 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Cory Flaugher, Tom Jourdan, Bill Wyman, Drew Cowan, Alex Tupas, Jason and Noah Taylor, Johnny McClanahan, Bruno Fernandez, Okba Harfouch, Jaesung Kim, Rachid El Boubou, Hamid Ezzat, Samer Charr (did not play), Bob Kyker.

7 players from the Broken Arrow Ping Pong Club are going to the Okla City tournament on Jan 26.
Brad Balmer, Rithun Kulengath, Nicole Cullison, Noelle Cullison, Shweta Govind, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez.

Dawson - 13 players. Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Jaesung Kim, Mike Hamby, Paul Despain, Corey Flaugher, Hamid Ezzat, Tom Jourdan, Garrett Schaede, Bill Wyman, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: update on who is going to the Okla City tournament on Jan 26 - Okba, Corey, David, Tom.

Bixby - 14 players. David Leonard, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch, John Moore, John Cai, Shane Spicer, Jared Wheeler, Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez, Obie Bryant, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce, Rachid El Boubou (just coached Jaesung for 1 hour (a paid lesson - reasonable rate also).

Dawson - 13 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, Cory Flaugher, Mike Hamby, Drew Cowan, Johnny McClanahan, Jaesung Kim, Stephan Denis, Bruno Fernandez, Diego Fernandez, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 9 players. Okba Harfouch, Drew Cowan, Mike Hamby, Alex Tupas, Paul Despain (new), Garrett Schaede, Tom Jourdan, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Rachid El Boubou (rating 2427) moved to Tulsa 3 weeks ago.  He will be available for paid training services. Okba has ordered some training equipment due in soon (including a robot).

Dawson - 14 players. Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, Robert Yang, Mike Hamby, Bill Wyman, Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, David Leonard, Josh Ford (just visiting from San Antonio), Johnny McClanahan, George Atkins, Randy Petty, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Josh Ford (who is now a lawyer) was recently elected as President of the San Antonio club!

Dawson - 15 players and 1 watcher. Tom Jourdan, Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Corey Flaugher, Drew Cowan, Stefan Denis, Mike Hamby, Alex Tupas, Matt Rodgers, Tim Rodgers (the watcher - is Matt's dad), Mats Johansson, Kyle Spence, Diego Fernandez, Jaesung Kim, Johnny McClanahan, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: There are 2 tournaments next month in this area - Little Rock and Okla City. 

Bixby - 7 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Alex Tupas, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley LI, Kelly Boyce

Dawson - 14 players. Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Garrett Schaede, Drew Cowan, Mike Hamby, Stephan Denis, Cory Flaugher, Mats Johansson, Diego Fernandez, Okba Harfouch, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - no info. Rainy night. 

Bixby - 9 players. 2 first time out players - Diego Fernandez, Bruno Fernandez. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 13 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Mike Hamby, Cory Flaugher, Greg McCann, Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Jaesung Kim, Bruno Fernandez (new), Diego Fernandez(new), Bob Kyker.

Dawson - no info

The Winter State Games of Oklahoma Table Tennis tournament will be on Saturday, January 26, 2019 held at the Okla City club.

Little Rock is having a 2 star sanctioned tournament on Jan 12.
For more info, go to their website - https://lrttc.org/.
The tournament is limited to the first 32 players and has 8 tables.

1st Tri-County Table Tennis Tournament Results 12/01/2018 (Broken Arrow ping pong club)

                           1st                      2nd                     3rd                           4th
Open          Okba Harfouch        Alex Tupas             Tom Jourdan             Rithun Kulangath
O-Dbls       Tupas/Jourdan        Kulangath/Acosta  Flaugher/Cowan       Harfouch/Kim
O-Women  Nicole Cullison        Shweta Govind
O-50          Alex Tupas              Edgar Acosta          Brad Balmer             Drew Cowen
Novice       Bruno Fernandez     Matthew Stitt
3-Star       Tom Jourdan            Rithun Kulangath  Matthew Rogers
2-Star       Matthew Rogers       Nicole Cullison       Jaesung Kim            John Strelow
1-Star       Obie Bryant              Scott Bradley          Eric Gassen             Ming Huang
P/C Dbls   Jourdan/Jourdan     Taylor/Taylor
18U Girls  Noelle Culliison        Jacee Grinsteinner
18U Boys  Sam Smithee            Noah Taylor            Ouli Jourdan            Sam Carr
13U Girls  Noelle Culliison       Jacee Grinsteinner
13U Boys Ouli Jourdan            Sam Smithee
10U Girls   ***                           ***
10U Boys Steele Cullison         Nick Lupari
Jr Open     Noah Taylor            Ouli Jourdan             Jacee Grinsteinner      Sam Smithee
Jr Dbls      Grinsteinner/Cullison Carr/Taylor

Bixby - 7 players. David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai, Shane Spicer, Alex Tupas, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: John Moore has switched his forehand rubber from pips to smooth rubber (and was playing well with it).
David Leonard is experimenting using Okba's carbon fast paddle with slow rubber.

Dawson - 11 players. Ray Pestridge, Drew Cowan, Tom Jourdan, Ouli Jourdan, Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch, Garrett Schaede (paid $100 cash!), Omar Amadiha (new), Scott Bradley, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 11 players: Jaesung Kim, David Leonard, Henry Ango (new), Hamid Ezzat, Drew Cowan, Okba Harfouch, Obie Bryant, Jeff Motley, Mike Hamby, Johnny McClanahan, Bob Kyker.

From an email from Brad Balmer:
Hello, with the Tri-County Table Tennis Tournament coming up,
if you have a place to hang one of the tournament flyers/poster
please pick one up at the club this Friday 11/23 or Sat. 11/24 10-2p.
Any place with frequent public traffic will be great.
Hope all of you enter some events at the Tri-County Tournament.
This will go along way in growing the sport in this area and put us
on-track for more events in the future.
Growth through participation.
This will be a fun event, so enter early to assure a spot in the event you want to
play in.
42 trophies were ordered today.
You can't win one if you don't enter.
Hope to see you all this Friday League Night. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Go Bears!!
Call me with questions, Brad  918 240-7465  
http://www.brokenarrowpingpong.com/

Bixby - 7 players. David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Alex Tupas, JT ? (new player).

Dawson - 13 players. Jaesung Kim, Tom Jourdan, Cory Flaugher, Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch, Drew Cowan, Bill Wyman, Garrett Schaede, Robert Yang, Brad Balmer, Jason and Noah Taylor, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - Thanksgiving day. No play today.

Bixby - 4 players. David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce
Other news: Kelly will not be out next week (to either location).

Dawson - 14 players. Ray Pestridge, Okba Harfouch, David Leonard, Stephan Denis,  Jason and Noah Taylor, Cory Flaugher, Tom Jourdan, Garrett Schaede, Drew Cowan, Jaesung Kim, Brad Balmer, Alex Tupas, Bob Kyker.

Brad Balmer's tourny info is now posted. See his web site for info.
Below is info from his website.
https://brokenarrowpingpong.com/
1st Tri-County Table Tennis Tournament.
This will be the flyer used to attract the areas best and local youth players to join the fun.
Let me know if you have the perfect place to post one. I will get it to you.
This is a non-sanctioned event that will be fun to enter.
Make your plans today.
Entry blank will be uploaded soon for print.
Hope to see many of you attend.
This is a great way to support the local Table Tennis scene.
Growth through participation.

Dawson - 11 players. Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Jaesung Kim, Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Hamid Ezzat, Drew Cowan, Mike Hamby, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Brad Balmer is having a tournament on Dec 1. He will post info any day now on his website. 

Link below to the Joplin tournament (held Nov 2-3) article on the usatt's web site (with lots of pics on the tourny):

https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/Features/2018/November/10/Joplin-Table-Tennis-Clubs-first-2-Star-Sanctioned-Tournament?utm_source=Insider+-+November%2C+14%2C+2018&utm_campaign=Insider+11%2F18%2F2017&utm_medium=email

Bixby - 8 players. David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, John Moore, John Cai, Peter Malley, Shane Spicer, Vignesh, Kelly Boyce.

USATT national rating updates for the Joplin tournament held Nov 3 are now posted!
Read and enjoy.

This is a late update on the Joplin tournament held Nov 2-3.
Okba Harfouch won U-1900 !
Jaesung Kim won the Group C in the round robin!
For the full list of results:
2018 Fall Table Tennis Championship

2 Star USATT Sanctioned

$1200 in cash prizes!

Winners:

Open Singles:

1st Winfred Addy

2nd Russ Hamilton

3rd Scott Malek

4th Akshay Menon

Under 2200:

1st Akshay Menon

2nd Scott Malek

Under 1900:

1st Okba Al Harfough

2nd Martin Johnson

Under 1600:

1st Kaden Seward

2nd Lloyd Blankenship

Under 1300:

1st Jordan Clark

2nd Olaf Hoerschelmann

Under 1000:

1st Daniel Reverberi

2nd Schyler Utley

Giant Round Robin:

Group A 1st Scott Malek

Group B 1st Sage Crane

Group C 1st Jaesung Kim

Group D 1st Will Cahill

Dawson - (2" of snow this morning). 7 players. Tom Jourdan, Drew Cowan, Alex Tupas, Garrett Schaede, Mike Hamby, Jaesung, Brad Balmer.

Dawson - 7 players (cold and rainy tonight). Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, Hamid Ezzat, Drew Cowan, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 7 players. David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce, Peter Malley.
Other news: Okba is 75% certain he will be going to the Kansas City 2 star tournament this Saturday.

Dawson - 15 players. Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Cory Flaugher, Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, Robert Yang, Stephan Denis, Garrett Schaede, Drew Cowan, Hamid Ezzat, Kyle Sanchez, Johnny McClanahan, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 12 players and 1 watcher. Tim Yardy (yes, that Tim from 2009 - more below), Hamid Ezzat, David Leonard, Drew Cowan, Okba Harfouch, Bob Kyker, Alex Tupas, Mike Hamby, Yee Yang (first time to play in 3 months), Ray Pestridge, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce, Mimi Sandberg (just watched, friend of Tim Yardy).
Other news: Tim Yardy (current rating 2129) played with the club from Oct 2005 to May 2009. He has not played since then. His last tournament was March 2009. 

Bixby - 6 players. David Leonard, Alex Tupas, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Kelly's tennis elbow has flared up again (last night, Kelly played Alex and Alex made Kelly play alot harder than he should have. Alex should have known better). Will find out Thursday if Kelly can play or take another 2 months off.

Dawson - 15 players. Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Bill Wyman, Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch, Mike Hamby, Drew Cowan, Jaesung Kim, Hamid Ezzat, Charley Chen, Garrett Schaede, Jason and Noah Taylor, Johnny McClanahan, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 9 players. Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, Okba Harfouch, Hamid Ezzat, Bill Wyman, Drew Cowan, Robert Yang, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 7 players. David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Ouli Jourdan, John Cai, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 13 players. Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Garrett Schaede (3rd time out), Drew Cowan, Bill Wyman, Jason and Noah Taylor, Alex Tupas, Kyle Sanchez,  Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 11 players. Okba Harfouch (paid $100!), David Leonard, Garrett Schaede, Bill Wyman, Hamid Ezzat, Alex Tupas, Drew Cowan, Jaesung Kim, Mats Johansson, Robert Yang, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 4 players. David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: David found his mojo and is using a fast blade now. 

Dawson - 11 players. Jaesung Kim, Mike Hamby, Tom Jourdan, Mats Johansson, Garrett Schaede (new), Bill Wyman, Drew Cowan, Okba Harfouch, Hamid Ezzat, Alex Tupas, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 11 players. Drew Cowan, Okba Harfouch, Bob Kyker, Mike Hamby, Hamid Ezzat, Tom Jourdan, David Leonard, Kyle Sanchez, Ouli Jourdan, Mats Johansson, Kelly Boyce

Bixby - 6 players. Corey Flaugher, John Cai, John Moore, David Leonard, Shane Spicer, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: David lost his mojo tonight. Hopefully, he finds it Thursday.

Dawson - 14 players. Drew Cowan, Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, Cory Flaugher, Scott Bradley, Mike Hamby, Kyle Spence (new, from San Francisco, CA), Hamid Ezzat, Jason and Noah Taylor, Bill Wyman, Mats Johansson, Robert Yang, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 11 players. Mats Johansson (paid $100!), Okba Harfouch, Tom Jourdan, David Leonard, Bob Kyker, Han Hu (2nd time out - a Petroleum Engineer from China), Bill Wyman, Drew Cowan, Mike Hamby, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 7 players. Vignesh (paid $40 membership!), David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Martin Ndengang, Shane Spicer, John Moore, Kelly Boyce.
Update on the Joplin tournament - Tulsa players going are Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch, Tom Jourdan. 

Dawson - 12 players. Okba Harfouch, Tom Jourdan, Cory Flaugher, Mike Hamby, Alex Tupas, Mats Johansson, Drew Cowan, Bill Wyman, Jason and Noah Taylor, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 10 players. Liu Guoliang and Han Hu (new), Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, Okba Harfouch, David Leonard, Jaesung Kim, Kyle Sanchez, Johnny McClanahan (played awesome tonight and asked Ray to pick up a new racket from Hallmark TT (when Ray goes to England for three weeks), Bob Kyker.

Update from Bob Kyker on the Kansas Senior Olympics last Saturday in Topeka, KS:

Ray Pestridge won gold in 80-84 singles.
Gold in 80-84 dbls with Glendale Markwell
Glendale won silver in 80-84 singles

Bob Kyker won gold in 75-79 singles.
Gold in 75-79 doubles with George Taplin (from Abilene, KS).
George won bronze in 75-79 singles.
(this is first time Bob has beaten the silver medalist, 1772 rating)

Bixby - 8 players. Scott Bradley (first time out), Shane Spicer, David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Martin Ndengang (has a job that he works late at now), John Moore, John Cai, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 12 players. Alex Tupas, Scott Bradley (new), others.

Dawson - 4 players. Corey Flaugher, David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Ray Pestridge.

Bixby - 5 players. David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai, Alex Tupas, Vignesh.

Dawson - 10 players. Jaesung Kim, Tom Jourdan, Mike Hamby, Okba Harfouch, Johnny McClanahan, Drew Cowan, Jason and Noah Taylor, Kyle Sanchez, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 13 players. Glendale Markwell (Ray's dbl partner for sr. olympics next Sat in Topeka), Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Brodie Peery (new), Cory Flaugher, Nestor Prato, Jaesung Kim, Johnny McClanahan, Jason and Noah Taylor, Mike Hamby, Bob Kyker (also going to Topeka next sat)

Bixby - No players tonight.

Dawson - 16 players. David Leonard, Cory Flaugher, Jason and Noah Taylor, Johnnny  McClanahan, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Drew Cowan, Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, Nestor Prato, Okba Harfouch, Tom Jourdan, Auqis Khan and Mohammad Luqman (new), Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 13 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, David Leonard, Jaesung Kim, Charles Chen (first time out), Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, Nestor Prato, Bill Wyman, Khamla Thao, Drew Cowan, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Tom Jourdan has a "private zoo" on his property! It is an unofficial zoo and it is not open to the public .
Okba ordered a new blade and rubber (to replace the one stolen from his car). The blade is coming from Butterfly and the rubber is coming from Paddle Palace.
Nestor will be in Tulsa for 2 more weeks.

Bixby - 6 players. David Leonard, Shane Spicer - paid $40, Vignesh, John Cai, Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce.
Other new: Kelly will not be out to Bixby the next 2 Tuesdays (or Dawson).
Shane Spicer got a new paddle from Paddle Palace. Anatomical fast blade with spinner rubber on both sides.

Dawson - (Labor Day) 7 players. Yee Yang, Tao Yang, Ying Xiong, Drew Cowan, Jaesung Kim, Nestor Prato, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 11 players. Mauricio Oviedo, Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, David Leonard, Nestor Prato, Bill Wyman, Stephen Ackart, Drew Cowan, Okba Harfouch, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: A pit bull dog was harassing one of our players and Stephen Ackart went up to the dog and starting petting it. (We were taking bets, (safely inside our building),  as to who would win if a fight broke out and no one would bet on the dog).

Bixby - 8 players. David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai, Alex Tupas, Mauricio Oviedo, Vignesh, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce.

Next tournament close to Tulsa is Kansas Fall Open in Overland Park, Kansas on Sept 22.
$2000 cash prizes. 2 Star Sanctioned tournament.
https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/Events/2018/September/22/Kansas-Table-Tennis-Fall-Open-Tournament
("Big Money Alex" will probably go to this one).

Dawson - 6 players. Okba Harfouch, Tom Jourdan, Mauricio Oviedo, Drew Cowan, Kyle Sanchez, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 18 players. 5 first time out players - Charles Lee, Mauricio Oviedo, Sean Fuentes, Arun Merugu, Jay Sari. Ray Pestridge, Nestor Prato, David Correa, David Leonard, Robert Yang, Jason and Noah Taylor, Okba Harfouch, Hamid Ezzat, B‎ill Wyman, Matts Johansson, Kyle Sanchez, Kelly Boyce.

Club management learned last night that there was a secret table tennis meeting at Dawson over the weekend.
Secret meetings are against the bylaws of the club's charter.
(This explains the small turnout for Monday's meeting).
If this happens again, "there will be consequences" (this is a famous line from a famous cable show few will know about). (The consequences will be a stronger worded message next time).

Bixby - 8 players. David Leonard, Vignesh, Alex Tupas, Shane Spicer, John Cai, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce, First time out player - Mauricio Oviedo (rating 1544). His last tournament was in 2007. He used to play with the Oklahoma City club. He is moving to Tulsa soon from Columbia.
Other news: David has decide to use his faster paddle only now. He said it is less work then using his slower paddle.

Best of Pongfinity - https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/Features/2018/August/13/Best-of-Pongfinity?utm_source=Insider+-+August%2C+15%2C+2018&utm_campaign=Insider+11%2F18%2F2017&utm_medium=email

Dawson - 8 players. Okba Harfouch, Drew Cowan, Jason and Noah Taylor, Nestor Prato, Kyle Sanchez, Bill Wyman, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 14 players. Hamid Ezzat, Parviz Mojaverian, Robert Yang, Mike Hamby, Alex Tupas, Mats Johansson, Bill Wyman, David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Johnny McClanahan, Drew Cowan, Jason and Noah Taylor, Bob Kyker.
Other news: Stephen Ackart will start playing again on 8-31-18. Stephen has a great funny story about the one time he played Parviz Mojaverian. Please ask Stephen about it. He is happy to tell it.

Bixby - 12 players. John Moore, David Leonard, Martin Ndengang, Johnny McClanahan, John Cai, Wesley LI, Shane Spicer (he used to play 20 years ago), Vignesh, Kelly Boyce, 3 new players - A family (husband, wife and son) - they knew Wesley.
Other news: Martin has changed his game. Instead of playing close to the table, he is playing back (and the rallys are longer now which is giving some of us fits).
David has changed paddles (again). Using his old paddle (again).

Dawson - 12 players. Robert Yang, Tom Jourdan, Mike Hamby, Alex Tupas, David Leonard, Cory Flaugher, Kyle Sanchez, Hamid Ezzat, Bill Wyman, Johnny McClanahan, Drew Cowan, Bob Kyker.

Parviz Mojaverian (rating 2213) will be at the club on Thursday. He is from the Overland Park, Kansas club. He is in Tulsa on personal business (ie fishing). He and Hamid are from the same hometown ! He should be at the club around 5:00 PM. Hamid is picking him up at the airport.

Dawson - 12 players. Bob Kyker, Hamid Ezzat, Nestor Prato, Fernando Prato, Mike Hamby, John Moore, Bill Wyman (paid $100 !), Robert Yang (paid $20), Martin Ndengang, Kelly Boyce, Noah Shockley and Tyler Shockley (both are brothers and Bob Kyker's wife's grandsons).

A personal note from Bob Kyker:
"Many thanks for the QT gas card from the many players at the greatest table tennis club in the U.S. This is a group effort to keep the club cool in the hot summer months".

Bixby - 4 players. John Cai, David Leonard, Martin Ndengang, one player - did not get their name.

Dawson - 13 players. Ray Pestridge, Drew Cowan, David Leonard, Robert Yang, Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, Cory Flaugher, Mike Hamby, Nestor Prato, Brad Balmer, Hamid Ezzat, Bill Wyman, Ed Corona (new).

Dawson - 13 players. Okba Harfouch, Bill Wyman, Mike Hamby, Tom Jourdan, Robert Yang, Ray Pestridge, Drew Cowan, Cory Flaugher, Hamid Ezzat, Nestor Prato, El Sweify Nader, Maria Magued (did not play), Majeed Magued (new, from Egypt)

Bixby - 10 players. David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai (paid $40), Alex Tupas, Martin Ndengang, Greg McCann, Johnny McClanahan, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce, Ed Corona (first time out). Ed is from Venezuela and was on the national table tennis team! He was coached for 9 years. His first coach in Venezuela was Nestor Prato! He has been living in Bixby the last 2 years. Ed said he will be at Dawson Thursday.
Other news:
Keith Spence died last month. Alex Tupas attended the funeral. Keith was a decorated war hero! However, he never talked about it openly. Keith started with the club in the 1970's and played a lot at Reed Park in West Tulsa. Keith was friends with Steve Sumner (who was at the funeral).Steve started the Tulsa Table Tennis club in the early 1970's (and his legacy is still with the club).
Nick Agimudie is moving to New York soon. 

Dawson - 15 players. Bill Wyman, Ray Pestidge, Robert Yang, Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Cory Flaugher, Nestor Prato, Hamid Ezzat, Mike Hamby, Brad Balmer, Drew Cowan, Johnny McClanahan, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.
Other news: Bob's update on the City of Tulsa replacing the tiles and floor:
All the work by the city appears to be now completed.
All the new tiles are the same thickness as the original ones.
Looks good.
They repaired the holes in floor at the front door with new tiles, also.
The floor is still "soft" in some places, but would require replacing all the floor plywood, which would be very expensive.
Many thanks to the city for their promptness and good workmanship.

Dawson - 12 players. Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Nestor Prato, David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Drew Cowan, Kyle Sanchez, Johnny McClanahan, Martin Ndengang, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker, Bill Wyman.
Other news: Bob's update on the tiles:
Looks like the city repair crew hasn't done any more since Monday.
Tiles still missing and not replaced.
Probably waiting for parts to come in, maybe.

Bixby - 7 players. John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, David Leonard, Martin Ndengang, Alex Tupas, Jordan (first time out).

Dawson - 20 players. Ray Pestridge, Nestor Prato, Robert Yang, Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, Cory Flaugher, Alex Tupas, Sydney Agimudie, Nicky Agimudie, Mike Hamby, Kyle Sanchez, Johnny McClanahan, Brad Balmer, Drew Cowan, Jason and Noah Taylor, Jeff Zhang, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker, Bill Wyman.
Other news: Bob's update on the tiles and AC problem:
Sunday at 6 pm: the water leaks appeared to be fixed, the floors all dry, the bottom insulation in the ac return duct now dry.
(all the lost and found clothes in the sw window gone, except two pair of shoes).
The outside condensation line dripping fast, signifying that it is cleaned out.

Monday at 3.30 pm: looks like they started the tile repairs; about 83 tiles total removed in front of the ac return duct, near the table storage area, and where I had placed a 2ft x 2ft sheet of sheet metal (now exposing a near collapsed hole).  
None removed in the storage closet.

I removed the sheet metal I had placed in front of our entry door.
This exposed a hole through the floor which will have to be fixed before adding new tiles.
Hopefully, they will also fix the other one under the other sheet metal.

This looks great, no problem during club play.
Anxious to see the final result.

Dawson - here is an email from the City of Tulsa maintenance dept rec'd today on the water leaking at Dawson:
"We are repairing a water leak on the water heater in the attic and clearing the condensate drain line. There are also approximately 50 floor tiles that need replaced".

Dawson - 10 players Nestor Prato, Fernando Prato, David Leonard, Bob Kyker, Okba Harfouch, Martin Ndengang, Johnny McClanahan, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Robert stopped using his fast blade.
Johnny went to Lefty's Bar on Sunday and had a great time. He is planning on going again this Sunday. They have one table there.

Joplin Table Tennis Club tournament notice.
Nov 2nd & 3rd
$1,200 Prize Money
2 Star Tournament - sanctioned - singles only.
16 players per event limit
https://joplinttc.wixsite.com/jttc

Bixby - 8 players. David Leonard, Wesley Li, John Cai, John Moore (paid $40 !), Greg McCann, Martin Ndengang, Corey Flaugher (paid $60 !), Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 17 players. Robert Yang, Nestor Prato, Fernando Prato, Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Jason and Noah Taylor, Kyle Sanchez, Johnny McClanahan, Brad Balmer, Mike Hamby, Vishu Botta and his friend Sitaram Musabet, Jaesung Kim, Jeff Zhang, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 10 players. Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Bill Wyman, Okba Harfouch, Greg McCann, Martin Ndengang, Kelly Boyce. 

Bixby - no info

Dawson - 19 players: Robert Yang (paid $20 on membership), Ray Pestridge, Bill Wyman, Okba Harfouch, Yee Yang, Mike Hamby, Nestor Prato, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Brad Balmer, Vishu Botta, Vic Gopi (new), Martin Ndengang, Johnny McClanahan, Greg McCann, Drew Cowan, Jeff Zhang, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 13 players. Martin Ndengang, Tom Joudan, Ray Pestridge, Bill Wyman, Nestor Prato, Fernando Prato, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Mats Johansson, Okba Harfouch, Jeff Zhang, Johnny McClanahan, Bob Kyker

Bixby - no info

Dawson - 15 players. David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Mike Hamby, Drew Cowan, Jeff Zhang, Martin Ndengang, Nestor Prato, Fernando Prato, Johnny McClanahan, Mats Johansson, Bill W., Okba Harfouch, Brad Balmer, Vishu Botta, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 13 players. Nestor Prato, Fernando Prato, Tom Jourdan, Hamid Ezzat, Corey Flaugher, Mats Johansson, Okba Harfouch, Bob Kyker, Mike Hamby, Drew Cowan, Johnny McClanahan, Martin Ndengang, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 5 players. Martin Ndengang, David Leonard, John Cai, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: John Cai thinks he has tennis elbow. Just started tonight.
David got a new paddle from Paddle Palace that is very fast compared to his last paddle. He is not sure if it is too fast or not.
Martin is out of school and looking for job. Until he finds one, he will be able to play 2-3 times a week!

Dawson - 14 players. Greg McCann, Jason and Noah Taylor, Nestor Prato, Cory Flaugher, Brad Balmer, David Leonard, Johnny McClanahan (pd $100 check), Mike Hamby, Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Martin Ndengang, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 5 players. David Leonard, Nestor Prato, Mike Hamby, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.
Thanks to Jaesung and Mike who helped me secure all our equipment at Dawson in preparation of the children's carnival this Saturday.  The tables were covered and tied with two tarps and all our equipment stored in the southwest corner of the building.

Delisa called today. She is cleaning the Dawson building today (she is a professional cleaner!).
She asked that tomorrow, Thursday, we leave the building as she has it.

Bixby - 3 players. David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce.
Update on the Tulsa players going to the Okla City tournament this weekend - Yee Yang and Tom Jourdan.
Other news: Alex has a table tennis secret. We can't reveal it here but it has to do with the tournaments Alex goes to and the reason for this secret is external to Alex (ie it has nothing to do with Alex).

Dawson - 14 players. No names. Bob was not there.

Dawson - 14 players. Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, Yee Yang, Hamid Ezzat, Tom Jourdan, Matthew Kontje (2nd time out), David Leonard, Drew Cowan, Matts Johansson, Okba Harfouch, Kelly Boyce, Corey Cook (last time out until Dec, Navy business in South Carolina).

Here is the tournament Mats, Hamid and Ray are going to:
Worlds Veterans Championship held June 18-24:
http://wvc2018.com/
Hamid said there are 490 players in his age group (age groups are in 5 year increments) !
Mats is not sure if he will play or just watch (due to his China incident).

Bixby - 5 players. Tom Jourdan, David Leonard, John Cai, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce

Results for the Missouri Show-Me State Games Open held June 2 are now posted on the USATT's web site. Tom Jourdan, John Moore and Alex Tupas attended this tournament. Read and enjoy.

Dawson - 17 players. Robert Yang, Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Corey Flaugher, Corey Cook (on leave from the Navy), Johnny McClanahan, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Matt Rogers, Okba Harfouch, Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Jay Rushing (new, knows okba), Drew Cowan, Yee Yang, Bob Kyker.

Update on the Okla City tournament coming up on June 23.
Tulsa players planning on going - Yee Yang, Tom Jourdan.

Dawson - 10 players. Matthew Kontje (first time out), Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge, John Moore, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, Hamid Ezzat, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Ray Pestridge is going to a tournament in Nebraska this weekend. An unsanctioned tournament by Rod Cowles. Ray is also going to the Veterans tournament in Las Vegas this month. Hamid and Mats are going also.
Bob Kyker could not make it out tonight because his legs have not recovered from his playing on Monday.
Yee Yang bought a robot from Martin in Arkansas. It is a Newgy 2040.
Kelly played 3.5 hours tonight and lost every match. Something that hasn't happened since 1974. Kelly heard about an old Chinese guy that uses the Ten-su table tennis exercise method for older players. He will try that. 

Some results for the Springfield, Missouri tournament held June 2.
3 Tulsa players attended. Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, John Moore.
Alex came in 2nd in the Under 2050
2nd in the Under 1900.  
3rd in the Round Robin group A.
3rd in the Open Doubles.
Alex was seeded 4th in the tournament.
Tom was seeded 6th and John Moore was seeded 9th.
There were 31 players in the tournament.

Bixby - no players tonight.

Dawson - 12 players. Drew Cowan, Cory Flaugher, Tom Jourdan, Yee Yang (paid $100), Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Jason and Noah Taylor, Okba Harfouch, Hamid Ezzat, Matt Young, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 9 players. Drew Cowan, Okba Harfouch, Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, Mike Hamby, Hamid Ezzat, Matt Young (new), Bob Kyker.

Results from the Kansas City tournament are now posted on the USATT's web site that Yee, Robert and Tom went to. Read and enjoy (ie Tom beat a 1923 player ! ). Tournament had 75 players!

Bixby - 6 players. David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai, Corey Flaugher, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: John Moore and Yee Yang are going to the Springfield, Missouri tournament this weekend. Not sure who else is going.

Dawson - 3 players (Memorial Day). Yee Yang, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan.

Dawson - 7 players. Alex Tupas, Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Hamid Ezzat, Jaesung Kim, Okba Harfouch, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Mats Johansson is being evaluated in China to see if he has any heart damage. If not, he will leave China in a few days.
Alex Tupas is using new medium long pips on his backhand.

The following info is from Mats Johansson's facebook page.
Mats had a heart attack in China. He is in China now awaiting surgery.
If any facebook people have any info to add to above, email me and I will post it.
Hamid talked to Mats on Wed - 5-23-18 and he has the latest info.

Bixby - 5 players. David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: John Moore got a new carbon blade and a new sheet of rubber.
David Leonard still only has 1 blade (ie no backup blade). He said by only having one blade, he is less likely to break it.

Dawson - 8 players. Ray Pestridge, Okba Harfourch, Tom Jourdan, Yee Yang, Mike Hamby, Jaesung Kim, Greg McCann, Drew Cowan. (info courtesy of Ray)
In Kansas City, Yee won the Under 1900 !!  Don't know how Robert did. Tom Jourdan went and was rumored to have beaten 2 high rated players!

Dawson -  a volunteer has been found to turn on the AC on Sunday. 

Dawson - 9 players. Ray Pestridge, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Drew Cowan, David Leonard, John Moore, Tom Jourdan, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Robert and Yee are going to the Kansas Tournament this weekend!!
All players that played tonight were there by 5:00 PM. No one came in after 5:00 PM.

Bixby - 4 players. David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai, Kelly Boyce.

Other news: John Moore is going to the Springfield tournament.

Dawson - 15 players. Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Tracy Jay (new, works with yee), Jaesung Kim, Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, Jerry Nabb (been here before, from Santa Fe), Tom Luker (didn't play, photographer for Jerry), Johnny McClanahan, Greg McCann, Drew Cowan, Kyle Sanchez, Mauricio, Mike Hamby, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - Bob Kyker still needs a volunteer to turn on the AC (to 65 degrees) on either Weds or Sundays during the summer months. Right now, Bob is the only one turning on the AC.

Dawson - 13 players. Ray Pestridge (paid $100), Bob Kyker (paid $100), Tom "no rally" Jourdan (paid $100), David Leonard (paid $100), Greg McCann, John Moore, Hamid Ezzat, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Mauricio, Mike Hamby (paid $100), Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 4 players. John Moore, David Leonard, John Cai, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: David broke his new paddle. He just used it for the first time tonight. He said the blade broke by itself. That he did nothing to break it.

Dawson - 12 players. Drew Cowan, Tom Jourdan, David Leonard, Cory, Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, Yee Yang, Alex Tupas, Mats Johansson, Brad Balmer, Mauricio (new, didn't get last name), Bob Kyker.

Dawson - No info

Dawson - Bob Kyker request - Looking for a volunteer club member to turn on the ac this summer with me when it gets in the mid 80's, I usually turn it on the day before we play, i.e., Sundays and Wednesdays.
If someone will be near Dawson on those days and will turn on the ac before 3:00 PM, please text me at robertkyker@yahoo.com.
I usually set it at 65 degrees.
Also, we appreciate Ray Pestridge setting a good example for our younger players (even though he drives from Stillwater) by emptying the trash and cleaning the floor.  

Bixby - 6 players. David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Matt Rodgers, a friend of Matt's.

Dawson - 12 players. Jaesung Kim, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Richie Ramsaran, Cory, Hamid Ezzat, Kyle Sanchez, Mike Hamby, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 9 players. Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Hamid Ezzat, Mike Hamby, Alex Tupas, Jaesung Kim, Moosong Kim (new, from Tahlequah), Bob Kyker.

Brad Balmer is having a tournament the first of June!!
More details later.
Oklahoma City is having their tournament on Jun 23.

Bixby - no info yet

Dawson - 14 players. Cory, Drew Cowan (pd $100 check!), Hamid Ezzat, Brad Balmer, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Alex Tupas, Ray Pestridge, Kyle Sanchez, Dave Oberding (new), Joziah Valdez (new), Zach Hoover (new), Matthew Parrot (new), Bob Kyker (not new).
Other news: the membership police (ie Hamid and Bob) will out in force to collect membership dues that are due May 1. Anyone that doesn't pay will have to deal with Bob's wrath (or what we in the club call "the wrath of Bob" ).

Dawson - 7 players. Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Hamid Ezzat, Greg McCann, Mike Hamby, Yee Yang, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Yee Yang is wanting to go to the May 19, Overland Park, Missouri tournament (near Kansas City).
Hamid and Mats are going to the Las Vegas Worlds Veteran tournament in June. Ray is going also.
Springfield, Missouri is having a tournament on June, 2.

Bixby - 7 players. Matt Rodgers (plays at Brad's club), David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Vic, Kelly Boyce.

2018 Joplin Spring Table Tennis Championship held 4-14-18

$750 in cash prizes!

Winners

-------------------------------------------

Open Singles:

1st Russ Hamilton

2nd Alex Tupas

3rd Robert Yang

----------------------------------------------

Under 3400 Doubles:

1st Tom Jourdan/Alex Tupas

2nd Yee Yang/David Correa

---------------------------------------------

Under 1900:

1st Alex Tupas

2nd David Correa

------------------------------------------------

Under 1600:

1st Robert Yang

2nd Sam Ding

-----------------------------------------

Under 1300:

1st James Rodriguez

2nd Andrew Minard

----------------------------------------------------

Under 1000:

1st James Rodriguez

2nd Troy Dilworth

----------------------------------------------

Novice Junior:

1st Will Cahill

2nd Emily Chappel

---------------------------------------------

Novice Senior:

1st Dennis Patrick

2nd Dwight Brennforder

Dawson - 7 players. Alex Tupas, Drew Cowan, Jaesung Kim, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Cory, Ray Pestridge (info courtesy of Ray).

Dawson - 10 players. Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Mike Hamby, John Moore, Hamid Ezzat, Robert Yang, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 5 players. Vic, David Leonard, John Cai, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 13 players. Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Edgar Acosta, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Sydney Agimudie, Nickey Agimudie, Rubin Agimudie, Mike Hamby, Chris Kwon (new, visiting from Calif.), Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 12 players. Robert Yang, Edgar Acosta, Jaesung Kim, Ray Pestridge, Yee Yang, Okba Harfouch, Mike Hamby, Hamid Ezzat, Cory, Bradley Hill (new), Jay Hayhurst (new, from okc), Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 9 players. Chase Smith (first time out. From Atlanta, Ga and Phoenix, AZ). In Tulsa for work. Will be here 2-3 weeks. Yee Yang, David Leonard, Robert Yang, Alex Tupas, John Moore, John Cai, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: One of our sagest players said any table tennis player that stops playing table tennis will suffer depression. My experience agrees with that. There is nothing sadder than an ex-table tennis player. "Fight depression - play table tennis".
David Leonard got a new table tennis robot - a dually - and it has helped his game. He beat Kelly and Yee tonight.

Dawson - 12 players. Jaesong Kim, Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Cory, Mike Hamby, Brad Balmer, Kyle Sanchez, Robert Yang, Jason Taylor, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 10 players. Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge, Edgar Acosta, Okba Harfouch, Hamid Ezzat, Jaesong Kim, Robert Yang, Fong Yang, Johnny McClanahan, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 5 players. David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce

Dawson - 12 players. Ray Pestridge, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Edgar Acosta, Alex Tupas, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Mats Johansson, Brad Balmer, Jaesong Kim, Johnny McClanahan, Bob Kyker

Dawson - 10 players  Ray Pestridge, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Edgar Acosta, David Leonard, Jim Stewart (last time here was 2013 and he was in the 2013 Muse tournament and should have won it!), Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Jaesong Kim, Bob Kyker

Bixby - 7 players. John Moore, David Leonard, John Cai, Ted Hill, Jaesung Kim, Harris (1st time out player), Kelly Boyce
Other news: After not playing for 2 1/2 months, Kelly forgot about the pain in table tennis. Not the pain in losing to someone you rarely lose too (ie losing 11-0), but the pain you wake up with. "Hope springs eternal" is a life saver of sayings.

Dawson - 16 players. Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Ray Pestridge, Edgar Acosta, Mike Hamby, Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, David Leonard, Jason and Noah Taylor, Cory, Mats Johansson, Nicky Agimudie, Sydney Agimudie, Jaesong Kim, Bob Kyker.

Thursday - 13 players. Yee Yang, Edgar Acosta, Ray Pestridge, Okba Harfouch, Hamid Ezzat, Cory, Alex Tupas, David Leonard, Tou Yang, Mats Johansson, Mike Hamby, Robert Yang, Bob Kyker.

Kelly has been cleared by Dr. Bob to play again (for those who don't know who Dr. Bob is, he specializes in tennis elbow problems and if you still don't know who he is, you need to take up a new sport. Dr Bob has the best story in the world about tennis elbow). Kelly will start playing next Tuesday.

Bixby - no info

Dawson - 16 players. Cole Ely!! (from Kansas) Yee Yang, Edgar Acosta, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Cory, Alex Tupas, Jason and Noah Taylor, Mike Hamby, Hamid Ezzat, Kyle Sanchez, Brad Balmer, Stephan Denis, Jaesong Kim, Bob Kyker
Other news: Thanks to Yee for setting up and sweeping floor! (info courtesy of Bob).

Dawson - 10 players. Yee Yang, David Leonard, Leonard Williams, Jaesong Kim, Hamid Ezzat, Okba Harfouch, Mike Hamby, Mats Johansson, Robert Yang, Bob Kyker.
Other news: Robert Yang was playing very powerful tonight, went back to his control blade with faster rubber.

Bixby - no info

Dawson - 19 players: Jaesong Kim, Robert Yang, Johnny McClanahan, Alex Tupas, Ray Pestridge, Leonard Williams, Edgar Acosta, David Leonard, Cory, Mike Hamby, Tom Jourdan, Jason and Noah Taylor, Stephan Denis, Richard Hart, Bob Kyker, and three new players from Missouri: Kay, Alvin, and Kiza.

Dawson - 14 players. Leonard Williams, David Leonard, Ray Pestridge, Yee Yang, Hamid Ezzat, Robert Yang, Alex Tupas, Jaesung Kim, Cory, Mats Johansson, Mike Hamby, Tou Yang, Edgar Acosta, Okba Harfouch. (info courtesy of David).

Joplin is having a non-sanctioned tournament April 13-14. $750 prize monies.

Bixby - 5 players. John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Cory ?, David Leonard. (info courtesy of David).

Dawson - 16 players. Ray Pestridge, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Leonard Williams, Mike Hamby, Jaesong Kim, Cory, Edgar Acosta, Jason and Noah Taylor, Ray Awe, Mats Johansson, John Strelow (new), Kyle Sanchez, Brad Balmer, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 10 players. Mats Johansson, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Jaesong Kim, Leonard Williams, Edgar Acosta, Hamid Ezzat, Ray Awe, Okba Harfouch, Tom Jourdan (info courtesy of Hamid )

Bixby - 5 players - John Moore, John Cai, Alex Tupas, Wesley Li, David Leonard (info courtesy of David)

Dawson - 17 players. Ray Pestridge, Yee Yang, Glendale Markwell and grandson Amos, John Moore, Alex Tupas, Ray Awe, Okba Harfouch, Leonard Williams, David Leonard, Edgar Acosta, Hamid Ezzat, Bill Wyman, Cory, Robert Yang, Jaesong Kim, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - no info

Dawson - 12 players. Ray Pestridge, Yee Yang, Leonard Williams, Alex Tupas, Mike Hamby, Tom and Ouli Jourdan, Jason and Noah Taylor, Robert Yang, Edgar Acosta (new), Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 14 players. Ray Awe (pd $40 on membership), Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge, Leonard Williams, Jaesong Kim, Mike Hamby, Cory, Okba Harfouch, Dena Shaban, Mats Johansson, David Leonard, Hamid Ezzat, Kyle Sanchez, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - no info

Dawson - 15 players. Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Cory, Leonard Williams, David Leonard, Yee Yang, Jason and Noah Taylor, Mats Johansson, Richard Hart, Kyle Sanchez, Mike Hamby, Brad Balmer, Jaesong Kim, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 11 players. David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Kyle Sanchez, Mike Hamby, Jaesung Kim, Mats Johansson, Ray Awe, Tom Jourdan, Hamid Ezzat (info courtesy of David).

Results of individual matches from the Oklahoma City tournament held 1-27-18 are now posted on the USATT web site!

38 players were entered. 11 Tulsa players attended. Read and enjoy.

Bixby - 6 players. Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, John Cai, Wesley Li, Ray Awe, David Leonard (info courtesy of David).

Dawson - 15 players. Ray Pestridge, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Mike Hamby, Fong Yang, Cory, Alex Tupas, Phil Curtis and his son Conner Curtis(new), Richard Hart and his friend Noell Michael (new), Mats Johansson, Jaesong Kim, Kyle Sanchez, Bob  Kyker.

6 Tulsa players going to the State Games of Okla this Saturday in Okla City: Okba Harfouch, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Tom Jourdan, John Moore, Ray Pestridge.

Dawson - 15 players. Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Ray Pestridge, John Moore, Okba Harfouch, Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Richard Hart, Hamid Ezzat, Ray Awe (paid $60 cash on membership), Tao Wang, Danny Gill, Kyle Sanchez, Jaesong Kim, Bob Kyker.
Other news: First night to try out the new balls from colestt.com - Yinhe Plastic S40+ White Seamless 3*. These are the newest balls from Colestt.com. First impression - the players liked them.

Bixby - 5 players. David Leonard, John Cai, Martin Ndengang, Eli Betinjani, Ray (Awe?) (says he played at Dawson years ago and will start playing again. Ray ordered a new paddle ! ) (info courtesy of David).

Dawson - 12 players. Yee Yang, Jaesung Kim, Mike Hamby, Seth Hammock, Alex Tupas, John Moore, Tom Jourdan, Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Kyle Sanchez, Martin Ndengang, Brad Balmer.

Dawson - 15 players. Martin Ndengang, Mats Johansson, Leonard Williams, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Hamid Ezzat, Mike Hamby, Okba Harfouch, Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Kyle Sanchez, Johnny McClanahan, Jaeson Kim, Bob Kyker.

Kelly just ordered 12 balls from Colestt.com. The balls are:
Yinhe Plastic S40+ White Seamless 3*.
A new version of the seamless Yinhe with different print and a red box. Said to be more durable.
These are less than half what Nittaku balls cost us.
Try them out then let me know if the hard hitters like them.

Bixby - 9 players. David Leonard, Alex Tupas, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Mats Johansson, Corey Bryant, Martin Ndengang, and one new player Matt. (info courtesy of David)

Dawson - 13 players. Ray Pestridge, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Okba Harfouch, Leonard Williams, Cory, Mike Hamby, Johnny McClanahan, Richard Hart, Mats Johansson, Martin Ndengang, Mosong Kim (new, from tahlequah), Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 10 players.  Okba Harfouch, David Leonard, Martin Ndengang, Danny Gill, Robert Yang, Fong Yang, Alex Tupas, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker, Leonard Williams.

Bixby - 8 players. David Leonard,  John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Martin Ndengang, Peter Bao, two new players Eric and William.
Other news: Kelly Boyce will not be playing the next several months due to tennis elbow.
2 Tulsa players going to the State Games of Okla tournament on Jan 27 - John Moore, Robert Yang.

Dawson - 19 players. Leonard Williams, Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Jaesong Kim, Mike Hamby, Ly Nguyen, Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, Jason and Noah Taylor, Alex Tupas, Cory Walker, Richard Hart (paid $100 bill cash), Mats Johansson, Martin Ndengang, Cory Bryant, Kyle Sanchez, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 14 players. 3 first time out players - Mat Rogers, Greg Tater, Mauricio Oviedo. Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Corey, Jaesung Kim, Johnny McClanahan.

Bixby - 5 players. Alex Tupas, Robert Yang, John Moore, Greg McCann, Kelly Boyce.
Update on the Tulsa players going to the Jan 27 Okla City tournament - Robert Yang. Possibly Yee Yang.

Dawson - 14 players. No names.

Bixby - no play. Center closed.

Dawson - 15 players. David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Cory Cook, Greg McCann (pd $100 check), Seth Hammock (new), Mike Hamby, Tom Jourdan, Ouli Jourdan, Johnny McClanahan, Robert Yang, Chris and Greg Tater (new), Kyle Spence (new), Jaesong Kim, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 3 players. Greg Taylor (first time out - plays at Leftys on Sundays), Peter Bao, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Bixby will be closed next Tuesday - 12-26-17.

Dawson - 14 players. Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Fong Yang, Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Leonard Williams, Cory Cook, Cory Walker, Greg McCann, Johnny McClanahan, Jason Taylor, Clinton Fields, Sean Fuentes, Bob Kyker

(From the Okla City web site): Table Tennis Club looks to expand membership in new space
By Whitney Bryen For The Oklahoman • Published: December 14, 2017  
WARR ACRES — Table tennis tables are generally the only stable part of the game as players maneuver side to side swinging their paddles and chasing a quick-moving white ball.
But this month, 10 tables belonging to the Oklahoma City Table Tennis Club moved across town.

The club, which has been in Oklahoma City since at least the 1950s, lost its home inside Plaza Mayor at the Crossroads (formerly Crossroads Mall) when the building shut its doors Oct. 31.
Members gathered at one another's homes in November to keep their skills sharp while club President Britt Salter searched for a new space and prepped it for play.

Members christened the new clubhouse on Dec. 1 when the club reopened at 5845 NW 50 in Warr Acres.
This is the club's fourth move in the past 10 years, Salter said.

The new location is more than double the size of the Plaza Mayor space, providing opportunities to expand membership, classes and tournaments.

The former grocery store is much wider than the long and narrow room at Plaza Mayor that forced the tables close together, limiting the number of players that could compete at once.
Now, 10 tables are spread across the large open room with barriers surrounding each court and buffers between them where spectators can be closer to the action.

“We used to have to limit the doubles teams because there wasn't enough room to have them at every table,” Salter said.
“They would have been too crowded, but now we have more than enough space to fit doubles teams at every table if we need to.”

Partitions provide access to individual tables without forcing people to walk through the middle of other games as they move around the room alleviating another limitation of the former space.

The biggest downside of the club's new location is rent, Salter said.
Despite a discount from the landlord who is friends with one of the members, the space is still more expensive than Plaza Mayor.
But Salter hopes new members, youth programs, additional tournaments and corporate sponsors will support the nonprofit club and avoid raising membership fees.

Salter aims to launch youth clinics next year that would bring in additional funds and boost interest in the sport.

“We want more people to play,” Salter said.
“That's why we offer free lessons on Saturdays and why we aren't raising our membership fees, because we want to encourage interest in the game.”

More than 20 players still were breaking in the space on Dec. 5 with games or lessons occupying all but one of the tables.

Seif Azadi praised the size and layout of the new building, which he described as a second home for most members.
However, he said he would like to see new flooring put in since members had to rip out the existing tile that was too slippery to play on, exposing the unattractive concrete subfloor.

David Correa and Si Lam played a heated game at a table near the back of the room.
They are two of the club's top players, Salter said, and had just returned from a tournament over the weekend so they were both feeling worn out — an exhaustion not visible to the naked eye.
The pair grunted and stomped their way through the game before sitting down to rest and dote on the new space.

“It's great that we can handle more people,” Correa said. “I'd like to see some new players come in now that we have the room.”

The club is open to members and the public from 6 to 9 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays and from noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

Dawson - 9 players. Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Ray Pestridge, Stephen Ackart, Leonard Williams, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Okba Harfouch, Bob Kyker.
Other news: Stephen was playing with his new body (110 lbs lighter than before. If you want to know how he lost all this weight, ask him and he will show you a photo of what was removed from him - Yuck).

Bixby - 8 players. Richard Selman (last time out was 2005), David Leonard, John Moore, Peter Bao, Matee, John Cai, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 11 players. Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Ray Pestridge, Cory Walker, Leonard Williams, Mike Hamby, Richard Hart, Kyle Sanchez, Jaesung Kim, Okba Harfouch, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 9 players. Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Ray Pestridge, Bill Wyman, Okba Harfouch, David Leonard, Leonard Williams, Jaesung Kim, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - 9 players. Carson Thoma, David Leonard, Matt Dyer, Okba Harfouch, Dena Shaban, John Moore, John Cai, Peter Bao, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - no info

Dawson - 11 players. Bill, Greg McCann, Ray Pestridge, Leonard Williams, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Mats Johansson, Jason Taylor, Jaesung Kim, Okba Harfouch.

 Bixby - 3 players. David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai.

Dawson - 16 players. Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge, Jaesung Kim (paid $100), Alex Tupas, Cory Walker, Mike Hamby, Bill Wyman, Okba Harfouch, Kyle Sanchez, Leonard Williams, Jason and Noah Taylor, Stephan Denis, Richard Hart, Bob Kyker.

Thanksgiving day. No play.

From an email from John Potochnik:
I was hoping to see a Tulsa team at my tournament on Saturday, Dec 2.  
So far it looks like I have 8 or 9 teams confirmed: Wichita, Wichita State University (3), Abilene/Topeka, Kansas City, Hutchinson and Liberal.  
Also, I have several more considering sending a team: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma University, Kansas University and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.  (I’m the Director of the Central Plains Division of the NCTTA, which is why we have all the collegiate interest).  
I can only take a maximum of 15 teams.
I’d love to have a team from Tulsa to help round out the field.

John Potochnik

President, Wichita Table Tennis Association

johnpot@cox.net

316-640-1313 (cell)

Bixby - Kelly will not be out tonight.

Dawson - 14 players. Stephan Denis, Okba Harfouch, Cory Walker, Yee Yang, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Ray Pestridge, Mike Nguyen, Kyle Sanchez, Robert Yang, Jaesung Kim, Johnny McClanahan, Danny Gill, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 12 players: Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Stephen Ackart, David Leonard, Mike Hamby, Leonard Williams, Cory Walker, Richie Ramsaran, Johnny McClanhan, Okba Harfouch, Dena Shaban, Bob Kyker.

New ping pong place to play in Tulsa. (From an email the club received yesterday).
My name is Trey Hightower, I found your name and email on the Tulsa table Tennis website.
I am reaching out to you because there is a venue where table tennis is played every Sunday around 6:30 or 7:00 until close at Leftys on Greenwood (bar and grill) in downtown Tulsa.
10 N Greenwood Ave A, Tulsa, OK 74120. Phone: (918) 794-0017.
We have a group of about 5 to 7 faithful guys that show up every Sunday to play and I would love if you and a few of your group would come over to show us what the talent in Tulsa looks like.
The environment in which we play is by no means a championship set up, the table is right in the middle of the bar surrounded by TVs and barstools and people sitting in booths.
But it is understood that Sunday nights are reserved for table tennis and everybody is very accommodating.

Please give me a shout if you think you can come out and bring some guys and I will keep in touch on any details leading up to the date.

Thanks, Trey - 918-232-2945

From the Okla City web site:
Work Schedule and Progress on 50Mac
Our next work day will be Thurdsay, Nov 16.  We need to work on the following things:
Get all the tile debris moved from the floor piles to a roll-off dumpster.  
Carl is bringing his skip loader (Bobcat) to make the task much easier.  
But we’ll need as much help as we can get to get it done.  
We plan to start around 4:30 pm and go till we get the stuff out of the building.
Get all remaining little bits of tile picked up and get the floors swept during and after the debris removal.
Lighting – we need to change some ballasts and light bulbs.

Progress so far:
Packed up old club on Friday, Nov 3.  
Thank to David Hash, Carl Deal, Terry Holley, Linda Piatt, Logan Watson, Dalton Daugherty, Seif Azadi, Keon Azadi, Maria Tran, Tiffany Salter, Jeff Waters, Kathleen Fitzgerald, John Noori for their help! (I am pretty sure I’m forgetting someone(s), but my brain hurts…)
Moved everything on Saturday, Nov 4.  
Thanks to David Hash, Logan Watson, Dalton Daugherty,  David Correa, and Keon Azadi for their muscle.  I’d like to thank Linda Piatt, Kathleen Fitzgerald, and Seif Azadi for their muscle AND organizing help!
With the help of the fine folks from OEM Products Inc., we got the nasty old linoleum tiles removed on Saturday, November 9.  
Thanks to David Correa for getting us hooked up!  
Thanks to OEM for bringing out their super cool machines and putting on a tile removal exhibition!  
I can’t believe how quickly they got it done or how nice it turned out!  
Check out the machines! LINK  TO OEM PRODUCTS.
We had a floor and light  party on Sunday, November 10.  
We had to move the remaining tile debris to our corner pile then sweep the rest of the floor.  
We also changed out ~30 light bulbs and identified a few fixtures with bad ballasts.  
Thanks to Joe Cooper, Hank Park, David Correa, Damion and Melody Swearingen, Logan Watson, Kathleen Fitzgerald, and whoever else I might have forgotten.

New Place “50Mac”

We will be reopening (probably early December) at a new place near 50th and North MacArthur (5845 NW 50th, Warr Acres, 73122).  
The place used to be a grocery store and should work out well once we get everything sorted.  
It has plenty of room for 10 tables – with each court being plenty big enough for doubles!

Bixby - 8 players. Alex Tupas, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Matee, Stephen Littlechild, Sam Pokharel, David Leonard.

Dawson - 14 players. Ray Pestridge, Jaesung Kim, Yee Yang, Cory Walker, Kyle Sanchez, Alex Tupas, Leonard Williams, Richard Hart, Mike Hamby, Mats Johansson, Danny Gill, Okba Harfouch, Robert Yang, Bob Kyker.
Other news: Brad Balmer's opening night for his new Broken Arrow club was Friday. Read his website for info and pics.

Dawson - 9 players. Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Mike Hamby, Okba Harfouch, Dena Shaban, Richie Ramsaran, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker.

From Brad Balmer on his new club:
Players must be signed up by 6:30 pm Fridays.
You can call me in advance 918 240-7465 to sign up.
Play begins at 6:45 pm. Round Robin format.
Initial ratings will be assigned using USATT rating, if you have one.
RR will be 5 players sometimes 6. Players will be matched with similar skill levels.
Ratings, club ranking, match and game records will be updated on the web-site weekly. Spread the word.

Bixby - 7 players - David Leonard, Alex Tupas, John Moore, John Cai, Wesley Li, Matee, Stephen Littlechild (fresh from England).
(Info courtesy of David).

Dawson - 13 players. Richard Hart (new, tennis player and boy's soccer coach at Holland Hall), Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Alex Tupas, Cory Walker, Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Johnny McClanahan, Jason and Noah Taylor, Jaesong Kim, Bob Kyker.
Other news: the new orange balls from ColesTT.com are in! (the ones Ray likes (and because Ray likes them, we will all have to like them). Kelly will drop off the balls at Dawson tomorrow - Tuesday.

(from the Okla City web site by Britt Salter):
The Plaza Mayor/Crossroads Era is Over…
Plaza Mayor management decided to close down the mall.  October 31 was our last day playing there.
On Friday, Nov 3 we packed up the club to prepare for the move.  
Thank to David Hash, Carl Deal, Terry Holley, Linda Piatt, Logan Watson, Dalton Daugherty, Seif Azadi, Keon Azadi, Maria Tran, Tiffany Salter, Jeff Waters, Kathleen Fitzgerald, John Noori for their help! (I am pretty sure I’m forgetting someone(s), but my brain hurts…)

On Saturday, Nov 4, we moved all our stuff to what will be our new home.  
Thanks to David Hash, Logan Watson, Dalton Daugherty,  David Correa, and Keon Azadi for their muscle.  
I’d like to thank Linda Piatt, Kathleen Fitzgerald, and Seif Azadi for their muscle AND organizing help!

Our new home will be at 5845 NW 50th which is just east of MacArthur on the north side of 50th.  
The new place is not ready for play yet – we expect to start playing in December.  
We need to remove old bumpy linoleum floor tiles, smooth out the floor, likely paint the floor, and get the lighting sorted out.

We will need help with our renovation project!  
I was not impressed with the turnout for our packing party and was very disappointed with the lack of support for our move.  
I expected much better.  
We need a lot more folks to step up and help.  
The same few people can’t continue to do everything – at least not if the club is to continue.  
Our club is a non-profit organization.  
Nobody gets paid anything for what they do at the club – not the President, Vice-President, any other Board Member, or anyone else.

Our working schedule at 50Mac (Nickname for new place) it To Be Determined (TBD), but it is very like we’ll be working next Saturday.  
Details on work schedule will be posted here and (hopefully) on our Facebook page.  
The more help we get, the quicker we’ll be done and the sooner we’ll be playing again!

(From Brad Balmer - his new club is up and running!).
League night on every Friday night at 6p starting 11/10/17.
This is the Northside Christian Church, Family life Center
Gymnasium located at 1221 N. Elm, Broken arrow, OK.
For all the details. Check out our Web-site at: http://brokenarrowpingpong.com/
This will be a competitive league for all levels of skill. Spread the word and bring a friend.
First time is free.
Starting on 11/18 Saturday's I will have junior training from 9-12n.
Hope to see you! E or call me with questions. Info on web-site

Dawson - 9 players. Richie Ramsaran (first time out), Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Yee Yang, Kyle Sanchez, Mike Hamby, Robert Yang, Jasung Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: The club has decided to buy new balls from Colestt.com. ABS Huichuan orange poly/plastic balls. Most of the reason we are buying them is because Ray Pestridge will not play with white balls now. The orange balls are easy to see. We have been trying them for 2 weeks now and they play very well and are not breaking. 

Update on the Joplin, Missouri tournament being held Nov 4.
For a list of the players entered - click here - https://joplinttc.wixsite.com/jttc/tournaments
The U-1400 and U-1800 are filled up. Only one opening left in the U-1200.
4 openings left in the U-1600.
Only 2 players from Okla in the tournament, one from Vinita and one from Okla City (I didn't recognize their names).

Bixby - Halloween. Center is open but probably no players will show up.

Dawson - 11 players. Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge, David Leonard, Jaesung Kim, Ly Nguyen, Cory Walker, Mike Hamby, Mike Nguyen (new - in town for a week - from Dallas), Greg McCann, Kyle Sanchez, Bob Kyker.

Update on Tulsa players going to the Joplin tournament next weekend - Nov 4: Possibly Jason and Noah Taylor.

Dawson - 11 players. Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, Yee Yang, David Leonard, Ly Nguyen, Hamid Ezzat, Mike Hamby, Mats Johansson, Leonard Williams, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Robert Yang messed up his knee and won't be playing for the next 6 weeks. He hurt his knee playing soccer and really hurt it while bow hunting.
Yee Yang can't decide if he wants to play a style that he enjoys playing (ie an all-around side-spin style ) or a style that wins him more matches.
Alex Tupas will not be going to the Joplin tournament next weekend.

Bixby - 6 players. Jason and Noah Taylor, David Leonard, Yee Yang, John Moore, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Jason is wanting to go to the Joplin tournament on Nov 4.

Dawson - 14 players. Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge, Cory Walker, Alex Tupas, Peter Buscemi, Charles Xiong, Jaesung Kim, Stephan Denis, Leonard Williams, Mike Hamby, Kyle Sanchez, Danny Gill, Greg McCann, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 8 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Hamid Ezzat, Leonard Williams, Kyle Sanchez, Jaesong Kim, Bob Kyker.

Bixby - Kelly will not be out tonight.

Dawson - 14 players. Ly Nguyen, Ray Pestridge, Mats Johansson, Greg McCann, Leonard Williams, Robert Yang, David Leonard, Hamid Ezzat, Jason and Noah Taylor, Danny Gill (new), Jaesung Kim, Kyle Sanchez, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 13 players. Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Mats Johansson, Hamid Ezzat, Mike Hamby, Kyle Spence, Robert Yang, Kyle Sanchez, Leonard Williams, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 7 players. David Leonard, John Moore, Alex Tupas, John Cai, Wesley Li, Sam Pokharel (first time out - knows Wesley), Kelly Boyce.

(from the Oklahoma City club web page):
Oklahoma Senior Games was held on Saturday, Oct 7!
We had a good turnout, and everyone seemed to have a good time and got plenty of Table Tennis!  
Our Road Warrior award for this tournament goes to Rusty Carter, who came up from Austin, TX!
The results are summarized below.
Note that, due to the many different age groups coverer, i.e. 50-54, 55-59… etc. The results below do not show all the gold medals awarded…

Women’s Singles
 1st Place    Esther Lamptey
 2nd Place   Linda Piatt
 3rd Place    Kathleen Fitzgerald
 4th Place    Debbie Pestridge

Women’ Doubles
 1st Place    Esther Lamptey and Linda Piatt
 2nd Place   Debbie Pestridge and Kathleen Fitzgerald

Men’s Singles
Group A
 1st Place   Ray Pestridge
 2nd Place   Mike Patel
 3rd Place   Rusty Carter
 4th Place   David Correa
 5th Place   Cole Ely

Group B
 1st Place   John Gillette
 2nd Place  Dennis Rhodes
 3rd Place   Joe Tran
 4th Place  Mark Yelavich

Men’s Doubles
 1st  Place  Mike Patel and David Correa
 2nd Place  Cole Ely and Britt Salter
 3rd Place  Rusty Carter and Ray Pestridge
 4th Place  David Hash and Dennis Rhodes
 5th Place  John Gillette and Joe Tran

Mixed Doubles
 1st Place  Linda Piatt and Mike Patel
 2nd Place  Kathleen Fitzgerald and John Gillette
 3rd Place  Debbie Pestridge and Ray Pestridge
 4th Place  Tiffany Salter and Joe Tran

Dawson - 7 players Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Yee Yang, Corey Walker, Kyle Sanchez, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 13 players. Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, John Moore (paid $40 membership!), Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Ryan Sharpe, Stephan Denis, Leonard Williams, Hamid Ezzat, Kyle Sanchez, Drew Cowan, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other new: Ryan bought a new paddle from colestt.com.

Bixby - 6 players. John Moore, Stephen Ackart, David Leonard, Ly Nguyen, Ryan Sharpe, Kelly Boyce.

(From the Okla City web site).
Plaza Mayor, OKCTT home for 7 years is Closing!!!
Sad news!  Plaza Mayor management has decided to close down the Crossroads mall.  October 31 will be our last day playing in our current home…
The OKCTT Board would like to encourage everyone to keep their eyes open for a new home.  
It is always tough – we need a pretty large space and we can afford very little.  
Maybe being a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit can help?  
Anyways, if anyone knows of a 4000 – 7000 square foot building with 12 foot (or higher ) ceilings, flat floors, A/C, heat, and at least one bathroom, please let us know!
We are also greatly interested in any brilliant ideas regarding financing the purchase of an existing building, or perhaps building a steel building (we’d need to find a suitable lot).

Dawson - 17 players. Kyle Sanchez, Leonard Williams, Johnny McClanahan, Jason and Noah Taylor, Ly Nguyen, Corey Walker, Alex Tupas, Mike Hamby, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge, Gustabu and Louis Garcetem (both first time out), Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker, Jaesung Kim.
Other news: thanks to Okba for turning on the ac and for Mike Hamby grinding down the edges of new floor tiles (no tripping now).

Dawson - 14 players. Ryan Sharpe (first time out), Tao Wang (last time out was 8-13-12), David Leonard, Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Ly Nguyen, Okba Harfouch, Mike Hamby, Leonard Williams, Johnny McClanahan, Kyle Sanchez, Jaesung Kim, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: 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).

Bixby - 6 players. David Leonard, Ly Nguyen, Alex Tupas, Wesley Li, John Moore, Kelly Boyce.

16 players. Kyle Sanchez, Mike Hamby, Leonard W‎illiams, Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Stephan Denis, Ly Nguyen, Cory Walker, Johnny McClanahan, Noah and Jason Taylor, Jaesung Kim, Matts Johansson, Ray Pestridge.

Dawson - 11 players. Yee Yang, Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Ly Nguyen, Leonard Williams, Alex Tupas, Robert Yang, Kelly Boyce.

Bixby - 9 players. Jaesung Kim (first time out - knows Wesley), Wesley Li, David Leonard, Matee, Brad Balmer (paid $20), Alex Tupas, John Moore, John Strelow, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Brad has most likely found a place to start his ping pong club. Will know for sure this week.

Dawson - 13 players. Leonard Williams (last time out was 9-30-13), Ray Pestridge, Johnny McClanahan, Noah and Jason Taylor, Robert Yang, Kyle Sanchez, Yee Yang, Okba Harfouch, Mike Hamby, Alex Tupas, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker.
Other news: Okba turned on the AC on Sunday.

Dawson - 8 players. Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, David Leonard, Okba Harfouch (paid $100 to renew his membership!), Ly Nguyen, Robert Yang, Mats Johansson (showed up at 8:00 pm!), Kelly Boyce.
Other news: A group (6) of 7-8 year old boys on bikes showed up. Kelly was overly patient with them but Ray showed us how to disperse them quickly.

Bixby - 9 players. David Leonard, John Moore, John Cai, John Strelow, Matee, Alex Tupas, Wesley LI, Brad Balmer, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: John Moore left early due to arthritis in his playing hand. He is trying drugs (but doesn't work well enough). He is trying to change his playing style to see if that works.

(From an email today from Britt Salter:)
Hi Everyone!
I just wanted to let everyone know that the OKCTT Club will be hosting the 2nd annual Dale Goodman tournament on October 21.
It is not USATT Sanctioned, and is intended to be more fun than serious.  
We will have a random draw doubles event in the morning, some kind of lunch, then a handicapped giant RR in the afternoon.  It should be fun!
We have cool purple Scooby-Doo tournament shirts too!
Please spread the word...

Dawson - 11 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Mike Hamby, Corey Walker and his friend Jennifer (did not play), Ly Nguyen, Okba Harfouch, Jason and Noah Taylor, Johnny McClanahan, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 9 players. Bob Kyker, Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Mike Hamby, David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Ly Nguyen, Alex Tupas, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Okba got all his paddles stolen! (for details, talk to Okba).
Robert finally got used to his very fast paddle (and putting the hurt on us slower players).

Bixby - 10 players. David Leonard, Alex Tupas, Rueben Hill, Caleb Hill, Brad Balmer, John Moore, John Cai, Ty Nguyen, Robert Yang, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - no play. Labor Day.

Joplin is having a sanctioned tournament Nov 4.
Only 16 players max per event so send in your entry early.
To enter - https://joplinttc.wixsite.com/jttc

Dawson - no info yet

Bixby - 9 players. 2 first time out players - Reuben Hill, Craig Shiever (used to play at Owen park - northwest of downtown Tulsa !). Brad Balmer, David Leonard, Yee Yang, John Moore, Ted Hill, Drew Cowan, Kelly Boyce.

(From an email from Bill Lewis on the Springfield tournament held 8-27-17):
Greetings table tennis fanatics!!
 
Nineteen players participated in the $400 "Missouri Mini" table tennis tournament which was held August 27.
Eighty-three matches were completed through three events using 10 identical Cornilleau 740 tables.
The person driving the farthest was Drew Angell who hailed from Overland Park, Ks. while Ranjith Periyathipalayammani arrived from Bentonville, Ar, and a distance of 120 miles.
 
The day’s first event was Under 1800.  It witnessed eight players play two round robins in a contentious $60 purse.  When the winnowing was complete, four individuals managed to progress from their respective round robins:
Drew Angell came in first place from Group 1 while Chris Kolb came in second;
in Group 2 Bill Lewis came in first and Dustin Spalding came in second.
The finals were set with Angell vs. Lewis.  
Drew drew first blood then continued to draw even more as a steady barrage of precise hits doomed Lewis's efforts at: 11 - 5, 11 - 9, 11 - 5.  
Drew took home $40 while Lewis garnered $20.  
In the 3rd place finals, Spalding could not overcome either Kolb's speed or agility and he too was likewise eliminated in three games: 11 - 5, 11 - 7 and 11 to 6.  
Bragging rights belonged to Kolb.
 
The day's second event was Open Doubles where a total of 4 teams played in one round robin.  
The tandem tag team of Dennis Yanga and Janus Lazarus proved too much for anyone to adequately handle as they conquered each competitor in three decisive matches taking home the 1st place prize of $80.  
Second place finishers were Dale Boswell and Wenyan Drake who won two matches while losing but one and they received $40.  
Rounding out 3rd were Bill Lewis and Dustin Spalding while 4th place went to Ethan Ellsaesser and Nitesh Negi.  
 
The Giant Round Robin was the day's premier event with $220 in the offing.
This event held a maximum 20 players of whom 19 were authorized and slotted.  
Each initial round robin had four players play in five groups.
When these 27 matches were completed each player was reassigned to a respective final round robin.  
In the end and surfacing in 1st place from Group A was none other than Springfield's very own Chris Kolb who netted $50.  
Angell came in 2nd place and took home $30.  
From Group 2 Kaden Seward from Joplin had a stellar record of four wins against zero losses and received $40 while Sage Crane, also from Joplin, won a two way tie against Lewis and received 2nd place and $20.
In Group C Omar Roman blitzed everyone in his 5-person group in four demonstrable performances and got $30 while Janus Lazarus plucked $20 for his efforts and 2nd place.  
In Group D Dustin Spalding from Springfield kept his competition at bay by winning four consecutive matches and was awarded $20.  
Steve Kuert, also from Springfield, played well enough to secure 2nd place by winning three matches and $10.  
 
I'd like to say "Thanks so much" {^_^} for your combined efforts at making this $400 dollar "Mini" tournament a success.
 
- Bill Lewis -

Dawson - 8 players. Corey Cook, Corey Walker, Yee Yang, Ray Pestridge, Martin Ndengang, Ly Nguyen, Robert Yang, Mike Hamby.

Dawson - 11 players. Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Ouli Jourdan, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Mike Hamby, Okba Harfouch, Alex Tupas, David Leonard, Ly Nguyen, Kelly Boyce.

Bob Kyker will not be out the next 2 weeks (eye surgery).
Okba will turn on the AC for Thursday and Monday.
Robert has volunteered for after that if we can get him a key (Kelly will get him a key).
Hamid will bring some more balls on Monday - 8-28 (since Bob is out).

Springfield, Missouri (ie Bill Lewis) is having a mini tournament on 8-27-17 - Sunday.
Click here for info - http://www.ozarkstabletennisclub.org/
(from Bill Lewis email):
Greetings fellow table tennis fanatics.
There will be a "Mini" table tennis tournament held in Springfield on Sunday, August 27.
$400 is cash spread across three events.

Under 1800.....................Total:    $60

Doubles...........................Total:  $120

Giant Round Robin.........Total:  $220

Play starts 10 am -- and -- concludes approximately 6 pm.

First come first serve.  Tourney seats maximum 30 players.

Thanks so much.

Your input appreciated: comments, format, likes, money, questions, etc, etc.   :)

- Bill -

Bixby - 7 players. Matee (paid $40 - renewed his membership!), David Leonard, Martin Ndengang, Wesley Li, John Moore, John Cai, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Martin found his old paddle (it is very fast) and was playing like his old self (from 4 years ago). In 2012 Martin was rated 1710.

Dawson - 10 players. Jason and Noah Taylor, Cory Cook (joined the navy, leaves sept 5th), Mike Hamby, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Alex Tupas, Martin Ndengang, Okba Harfouch, Bob Kyker.

(From the Okla City web site):
OKCTT In The News!!!
The Daily Oklahoman did a very nice article on the OKC TT Club.
http://newsok.com/article/5559306

The Oklahoma City Table Tennis Club offers free lessons

By Whitney Bryen For The Oklahoman-Published: August 10, 2017 5:00 AM CDT-Updated: August 10, 2017 1:44 PM CDT

Mike Patel, of Oklahoma City, stretches to hit the ball as he plays table tennis with the Oklahoma City Table Tennis Club.

On the second level of the building that once housed Crossroads Mall, sounds of the Oklahoma City Table Tennis Club sail through the hallways.

The harmony of thumping paddles, plastic balls clicking against the tables and grunts from competitors can be heard four times a week, echoing across the wide open space at Plaza Mayor at the Crossroads.

In a room lined with nine tables, club members and visitors gather for open play from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

Leagues brought 12 regulars and two first-timers together July 31 to compete in three brackets divided by skill level.

The club's youngest member, Maria Tran, 11, faced a 40-something insurance agent, an accountant in his mid-30s and a middle-age bearing company owner in the advanced league.

"We're kind of like a big, slightly dysfunctional family, club President Britt Salter said. "We are a really eclectic group, but this sport brings us together.

The club has been around since at least the 1950s, but early members did not record exactly when the club was launched, said Salter, who has been president nearly 10 years.

About 50 members currently hold lifetime, annual, monthly or weekly paid memberships, which provide unlimited access to open play, leagues and lessons.

In July, about 20 regulars paid daily drop-in fees of $4, $5 or $7 depending on their ages. A spike in players is expected as college students return for fall classes.

One or two new players generally show up every week, Salter said, but they don't always stick around.

Recreational players often come to the club expecting the same results they see at home in their garages, said Salter, who sought out the group after dominating workplace tournaments. Recreational skills don't necessarily translate when technical players are involved, he said.

"Life at the club is very different than the breakroom at work, Salter said.

Members encourage beginners and recreational players to attend group lessons offered every Saturday as an introduction to the club.

Norman resident Kathleen Fitzgerald, 74, said Saturdays are the best time to ease into the group and mingle with members.

Fitzgerald joined the club four years ago after moving from Florida, where she played in a club but couldn't afford the lessons. She said the Oklahoma club's free lessons "turned me into a totally different player.

Fitzgerald said she loves the uplifting atmosphere of the club and getting to know the diverse members, including players from Vietnam, Pakistan, India and other countries.

"I get to travel the world without leaving the country, she said.

The club occasionally hosts tournaments, and some members, such as Fitzgerald and her doubles partner John Gillette, use the club as training for national and international competitions.

Gillette, 71, said the popularity of table tennis is growing worldwide, and he can see why.

"It's more than a hobby,� Gillette said. "It's a disease. Once it grabs you, you'll never escape.

Dawson - 13 players. Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Ouli Jordan, Ly Nguyen, Cory w., Johnny McClanhan, Okba Harfouch, Sam Walton, Stephen Denis, Cory Cook, Bob Kyker

Dawson - 7 players. David Leonard, Okba Harfouch, Cole Ely, Alex Tupas, Martin Ndengang, Kyle Sanchez, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 13 players. Mike Hamby, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Tom Jourdan, Ouli Jourdan, Cory Cook, Ly Nguyen, Okba Harfouch, Dena Shaban, Jason and Noah Taylor, Cory Walker, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 7 players. Hamid Ezzat, Alex Tupas, David Leonard, Bob Kyker, Corey Cook, Mike Hamby, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: David Leonard finally did it! He beat Alex and Kelly tonight! (His Battle 2 rubber made all the difference). He also took the first game from Hamid (but then Hamid does what only Hamid can do with his backhand short pips and won the next 3 games).

Dawson - 13 players. David Leonard, Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Bob Kyker, Mike Hamby, Ly Nguyen, John Cai, Corey Cook, Alex Tupas, Okba Harfouch, Mats Johansson, Miguel Riera, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Okba turned on the AC on Wed night!
Bob Kyker will replace the broken tiles on the floor! 

Dawson - 15 players. Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Yee Yang, Tou Yang, David Leonard, Miguel Riera, Antonio Riera, Okba Harfouch, Hamid Ezzat, Mats Johansson, Corey Cook, Jason and Noah Taylor, Mike Hamby, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Bob Kyker turned on the AC on Wed night.
Next tournaments - July 22 in Austin, Tx.  In August in Tyler, Tx., San Antonio, Tx. El Paso, Tx. Nov 4 in Joplin, Missouri. Nothing in Arkansas, Kansas. 

Update on the State Games of Okla held 6-24-17: Tulsa had 7 players attend - Okba Harfouch, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Nestor Prato, Stephan Denis, Samuel Ekehchiadi, Tom Jourdan.
Okba came in 2nd in the U2000 and 3rd in Open Singles.
Yee Yang came in 1st in U1600.
Robert Yang came in 1st in U1400.
Samuel came in 1st in PP Single.
You can see all the event winners on the Okla City web site - https://okctt.wordpress.com/
29 rated players attended.
The tournament results are already posted on the USATT' web site so you can view all matches of the tournament. http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/Ratings.aspx

Other news: There was an incident that occurred during the tournament and Tom Jourdan was right in the middle of it. (No other info about this incident will be posted here).

Dawson - 9 players. Samuel Ekehchiad, Robert Yang, Okba Harfouch, Ray Pestridge, Jason and Noah Taylor, Hamid Ezzat, Corey Cook, Bob Kyker.

From an email today from Ray Pestridge:
I got Gold in the 80-84 singles and we (Ray and Glendale Markwell) got silver in the 80-84 Doubles.
There were 24 in our Singles event
A total of 370 Table tennis players in the Senior National Games in Birmingham AL
(2 photos will be added later to the club's photo pages).

Update on Tulsa players going to the State Games of Okla this weekend - Yee Yang
(Okba Harfouch's tournament days are over since he works Saturday's now).

Dawson - 10 players. Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, Nestor Prato, Fernando Prato, David Leonard, Tom Jourdan, Robert Yang, Mike Hamby, Shawn Cheney, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Ray Pestridge (and Debbie) are going to the Alabama National Seniors tournament next week !!
Fernando and Tom said they would pay their membership next week. Kyle and Okba still owe also.

For a list of players playing in the Springfield, Missouri tournament this weekend, click here:
http://www.ozarkstabletennisclub.org/

Bixby - 6 players. Tim Schley, Amanda Dawson, Alex Tupas, David Leonard, Matee, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Tim and Amanda work at their family owned Tulsa business (5 employees). Their website is: highgravitybrew.com
Other news: 4 players are past due on their memberships - Tom Jourdan, Okba Harfouch, Kyle Sanchez, Fernando Prato (note to the membership police - please follow up with these players).
.
One Tulsa player has never heard of the rock band Journey (and he is not a millennial or Generation Y or Generation Z). (Alex saw them in concert a few days ago at the BOK center). Out of proper disrespect to the player -  his name will be mentioned here, but due to privacy laws we will not mention his last name - Tom.
.
The Bixby Green Corn festival carnival rides will be parked in the Bixby Center next Tuesday. For parking, do not park in the Dollar store just south of the center. Park in the small police parking area directly west of the Dollar store, or on the grass on the south end of the Bixby center, or park in the gravel parking lot northeast of the Bixby center (enter here by going around the block south and east of the Bixby center).

(From an email today from Bill Lewis about the June 10 Springfield, Missouri tournament):
Greetings table tennis fanatics.
To borrow a phrase from the earlier ancestors . . . Long Time No See.  
It's a pleasure writing and I hope you've had an eventful fall, winter and spring.
That said, before 'hot--n--hotter' summer rolls around, Springfield is hosting the "Grand Old Opry Show"?   GRAND OLD OPRY SHOW??    NO!! We'll leave those goings-on to Nashville. 
Instead, Springfield is hosting the annual Missouri Show-Me State Games Open table tennis tourney. 
For your viewing convenience I've attached an entry form for the June 10, 2017 Missouri Show-Me State Games Open.  (print out, fill-in and send  :)
There are a total of 9 events which include both a high and low set of doubles. 
The tournaments premier event for this year and this tourney is the Giant Round Robin.
This format allows each contestant a minimum of 8 matches (details in entry form). 
Additionally there are five classed events as well as an Open Novice and the two doubles. 
As is Missouri's custom - each 1st Place event winner is ceremoniously crowned Missouri Champion for the calendar year 2017. 
Two events were excluded from this year's tourney: Hardbat Open and Under 1000 - this - due to more time for and more entrants into the Giant Round Robin.
Last year's winners in the premier Open Round Robin were:
1st Place:  Felipe Morita from St. Charles, Mo
2nd Place:  Sina Asadallahi from Houston, Tx
3rd Place:  Patricio Pereyra from St. Charles, Mo

We hope to see--n--hear from you and yours.
 
Thanks so much.     - Bill -

          !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bill Lewis
3818 South Farm Road 103
Brookline, Mo.   65619
President: Ozarks Table Tennis Club
USATT Tournament Director, Certified Referee, Club Umpire
Club site:  http://www.OzarksTableTennisClub.org/
Phone:  (H) 417.890.8092     (C)  417.493.6259

Dawson - no info
For a list of the players entered in the Joplin tournament (36 players and all events are full except the U-1300)
http://joplinttc.wixsite.com/jttc/tournaments

Dawson - 15 players. David Correa and Claire, Yee Yang (paid $100), David Leonard (paid $100), Mike Hamby (paid $100), Mats Johansson (paid $100), Ray Pestridge, Robert Yang, Fernando Prato, Kyle Sanchez, Hamid Ezzat, Corey Cook, Okba Harfouch, Dena Shaban, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: David Correa still "got game" (unfortunately for some of us).
8-10 players from Okla City will be going to the Joplin tournament next weekend.
Dena Shaban designed the website for her and Okba's new business that starts up in 1 week.

Bixby - 14 players. David Leonard, Carson Leonard, Yee Yang, Anish Shrastha, Okba Harfouch, Dena Shaban, Alex Tupas, Raj, Corey Flaugher, Matee, John Cai, Wesley Li, John Walsh, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: The results for the Kansas City tourney are posted already. Okba went to 1949 !

Membership dues are due May 1.
$100
Pay Hamid or Bob on Monday, or, Kelly on Thursday.

Bixby - 13 players. Alex Tupas, Michelle Pan, John Moore, Bilal Ahmed, Corey Cook, Stephen Littlechild (here for 10 days - paid $20), Matee C., Raj, Corey Flaugher, Bret Thoma, Carson Thoma, Anish Shrestha, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Corey Flaugher lost his paddle (with short pips out on the backhand). He will buy a new one with spinny rubber on the backhand.
At 6:30 tonight, there were only 2 players (thought that was all that were going to show up).

Results from the Oklahoma City tournament from this weekend:
The 2017 Winter State Game was held on Feb 11, 2017 at the OKCTT Club.  A more complete write up coming on the Tournament Page. (info from the Okla city web site)
(Event- Gold -Silver -Bronze)

Ping Pong Singles
Joe Tran (OKCTT)
Dennis Rhodes (OKCTT)
Terry Holley (OKCTT)

Ping Pong Women
Linda Piatt (OKCTT)
Alanis Hamilton (Bentonville, AR)
Annie Vo (OKCTT)

Ping Pong Junior
Kaden Seward (Joplin, MO)
Jason Piech (Rogers, AR)
Maria Tran (OKCTT)

TT U1000
Jason Piech (Rogers, AR)
Alex Piech (Rogers, AR)
(Remaining players unrated…)

TT U1300
Kaden Seward (Joplin, MO)
Jason Piech (Rogers AR)
Cory Bryant (Tulsa TTC)

TT U1600
Mike Patel (OKCTT)
Kaden Seward (Joplin, MO)
John Moore    (Tulsa TTC)

TT U1900
Logan Watson (OKCTT)
David Correa (OKCTT)
Okba Al Harfouch (Tulsa TTC)

TT Open
Winfred Addy (OKCTT)
Russ Hamilton (Bentonville, AR)
Michael Lauro (Little Rock, AR)

U2700 Doubles
Sage Crane Neosho, MO) & Kaden Seward (Joplin, MO)
Mike Patel (OKCTT) & Linda Piatt (OKCTT)
Tiffany Salter (OKCTT) & Maria Tran (OKCTT)

U3800 Doubles
Michhael Lauro (LRTTC) & David Correa (OKCTT)
Logan Watson (OKCTT) & Cory Bryant (Tulsa)
Ray Pestridge (Stillwater) & Okba Al Harfouch (Tulsa TTC)

Dawson - 12 players. Ray Pestridge, Alex Tupas, Kyle Sanchez, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, William Jbar, Okba Al Harfouch, Fernando Prato, Cory Bryant, Cory Cook, David Leonard, Bob Kyker.

Dawson - 16 players and 5 spectators. Alex Tupas, Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, David Leonard, Fernando Prato, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Tou Yang, Corey Flaugher, Hamid Ezzat, Carson Thoma, Kyle Sanchez, Johnny McClanahan, Kelly Boyce, Brad Balmer, Nicole Collson (Brad's daughter). Other news,
Brad Balmer is moving next week to Broken Arrow from Sheridan, Wyoming. Here are a couple of links about Brad:

https://www.facebook.com/Sheridan-Ping-Pong-Club-1024887664200334/

http://thesheridanpress.com/the%e2%80%88ping%e2%80%88pong%e2%80%88professor-indiana-native-brings-history-ping-pong-club-sheridan/

Also, Robert Yang got a new paddle from Paddle Palace.
Carson Thoma is taking his 2nd lesson from Nicky Agimudie tomorrow. 

Dawson - 22 players. Ray Pestridge, Tom Jourdan, Cory Flaugher, Alex Tupas, John Moore, William Jbar, Jason and Noah Taylor, Yee Yang, Robert Yang, Okba Al Harfouch, Cory Cook and his dad John Cook (new players from Vinita - knows Tom Jourdan), Bee Thao?, Charlie (Traolly) Xiang, Tou Yang, Kyle Sanchez,  Carson Thoma, Bret Thoma, Johnny McClanahan, Hamid Ezzat, Bob Kyker.

For those few Tulsa table tennis players wondering, "what ever happened to Tim Yardy"?
(last seen in 2007 when he decided not to become a pro table tennis player (he was quite the player once upon a time) and settle here in Tulsa).
The answer is (from his website): The Maison Group was founded by Englishman Tim Yardy in 2007.  What started with small renovation projects on his own homes, has evolved to large scale home building and magnificent restorations of multi-million dollar residential properties. 

The Maison Group is passionate about restoring historical homes to their former glory and beyond. The Maison Group does both speculative residential projects and design/build for others. Tim's passion for design/build and particularly restoration come from growing up in London and coming from a family of designers and developers. 

The Masion Group would describe everything that they do as timeless elegance
http://www.themaisongroup.biz/

The Oklahoma City club has a new fee schedule (from their website).

We will have three fee levels  plus one Annual Fee option.  New fees below:

Adults:  $7/day, $45/month, or $500/year

Adult Students (Undergrad College only): $5/day, or $35/month

Youth Students (High School and younger): $4/day, or $30/month

Bixby - 8 players. Alex Tupas, Corey Bryant, John Moore, David Leonard, Wesley Li, John Cai, Robert Yang, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: players going to the Oklahoma City tournament on Feb 11: John Moore (sent his entry form in).

23 Things I've Learned About Running Table Tennis Tournaments - by Will Shortz - Owner, Westchester Table Tennis Center
The Westchester Table Tennis Center hosts a USATT-sanctioned 4-star tournament every month.
We average close to 130 competitors per tournament, on 19 tables, drawing players from across the country and around the world.
We've held 60 Open tournaments since 2011.
After initial losses, these now make money for the club.
With the help of Roman Tinyszin, our expert and tireless referee, and Robert Roberts and Rawle Alleyne, who run everything on site, here are some things I've learned:

1. Players want a chance to win.
We offer 18 events per tournament, with skill events for every 150 rating points from Under-850 up to Under-2500, plus Open.
No matter what skill level a player is, he or she has a chance to win a prize.

2. Players like a chance to win money.
We award cash in every event.
In the lower-rated events it's just the return of the entry fee.
But I noticed when we started doing this, the number of entries in the lower-rated events increased significantly.
We also award cash through 8th place in the Open event, as an incentive to top players.

3. Players want to play as many matches as possible regardless of winning.
Besides starting with a round robin for each event, as most tournaments do, we let the top two players (not just one) from each group advance to the playoffs.
So even if a player loses a match, he or she may still be able to move on.

4. Most players want to spend only one day at a tournament.
We schedule our lower-rated events on one day of the weekend and the higher-rated events on the other (with a little overlap in the middle).
In this way, for most players, one day at the tournament is all they need.

5. Early morning and late afternoon events are not popular.
We schedule our earliest event at a civilized hour, 10:00 am, and our last one starts at 3:30.
Most players are done by 5:00, and everything's usually over by around 8:00.

6. Late fees are not popular.
At our first tournament in 2011 our registration form listed a late fee of $10.
When the tournament came around and we were about to charge a player $10 for signing up at the door, Roman turned to me and asked, "Do you really want to charge this person an extra $10?"
I decided I didn't. And we've never charged a late fee since.
Nowadays, knowing that we don't charge late fees, almost all players sign up and pay at the door.
They appreciate the convenience.

7. Low-rated events have an audience.
At our early tournaments our lowest-rated event was U1000.
I didn't think players rated much lower than that would want to compete.
I was wrong. When we added an U850 event, that proved to be well-attended.

8. 12 & Under event is more popular than 14 & Under.
As far as kids are concerned, not many kids over 12 want to compete in a table tennis tournament -- and those who do are usually good enough to compete in the regular rated events.
So the 14 & Under event that we used to run is now 12 & Under.

9. It's discouraging to players when the same people win all the time.
The first time we held an Over 40 event, we had a big signup.
Over time, though, as the same players repeatedly won, the number dwindled.
Lower-rated players felt they couldn't win.
When we changed the event to "Over 40 + Under 2000" or "Over 40 + Under 1800" (that is, with both an age and a rating restriction), the attendance soared again.

10. Women's events aren't successful, even with significant cash prizes.
There doesn't seem to be enough interest.

11. Hardbat events, ditto. On the East Coast at least, hardbat is not popular.

12. Novelty events add spice.
Every month our tournament has a novelty event -- such as Mini-Table (played on a 3-1/2' x 5' table), Mini-Paddle (played with small paddles, provided), Other-Handed (players had to play with the opposite hand from their usual), 44+ Ball, etc.
Some of these have had modest success.
By far the most popular novelty event, though, has been Handicap, in which the higher-rated player is handicapped by 1 point per game for every 75-point rating advantage over the lower-rated player, up to a maximum of 7 points per game.
We've had players rated over 2600, under 1000, and everything in-between win this event.
It never gets old.

13. Stay on schedule.
Players appreciate a tournament that starts and runs on time.
And they don't want to wait too long between matches.
We limit players to three events per day, and bar players from entering two events starting at the same time, in order to avoid jamming the schedule.
Also, it's important not to overbook a tournament for the same reason.

14. Don't let Doubles mess up the schedule.
By definition a Doubles match involves four players rather than two.
If the players are also playing in other events, it can be difficult to get everyone together for Doubles -- and when they do get together they're not playing their other events.
If a tournament has Doubles, it should be scheduled at or near the end, so as not to hold up other matches.

15. Have food on-site.
For the Westchester tournaments, we buy sandwiches and cookies from Subway, fruit cups from a local deli, and snacks and drinks from the supermarket.
We resell everything at a slight markup.
The point is not to make money from the food.
We just don't want players to have to leave the club.

16. Report your results to the USATT as quickly as possible.
Players are anxious to see their new ratings.
Do your best to help them.

17. Winners like to be recognized.
We post winners' photos on our website for all the events.
Also, we vary the photos as much as possible to make them fun to view. 
The results and photos remain up permanently.

18. First-time players want a chance to win.
At many other tournaments, first-time players compete separately in a Rookie category.
My feeling is that this discourages new players from entering.
Instead we use a new player's League Night rating, if he or she has one, or we estimate the rating by watching the person play.
We always estimate high, but at least the person is eligible to win a prize.

19. It is possible to make money from spectators.
For the Westchester tournaments, on the days when the top players compete, we charge spectators $10.
There are exceptions -- players (obviously), family members of players, coaches (one per player), and kids accompanying paying adults.
Lately we've been making about $150 per tournament from spectator fees.
It's not a lot, but it helps.

20. Spectators want to understand what they're watching.
If you want spectators to come, you have to make it interesting for them.
One way the Westchester TTC does this is through electronic scoreboards, connected wirelessly to iPads, for major matches.
Besides keeping score, these provide photos of the players, say where they're from, give their ratings, and name the event.
Even if you don't have scoreboards, having scorekeepers with flip-cards helps.

21. Prizes matter, especially at the high end.
At Westchester we treat the Open event as a loss leader.
We offer over $3,000 in prize money for it, which is more than twice what we get from it in entry fees.
But money does attract high-rated players -- typically 10 to 15 players rated 2500+ per tournament.

22. Keep a tournament database.
We maintain an email list of everyone who has competed in a Westchester tournament over the past few years, and we write them each month about what is special about the upcoming tournament.
We try to make the email interesting and informative so it gets read.

23. Use YouTube.
We film and later post our top matches for viewing on YouTube, where over time they average 2,000-3,000 views per video.

In sum, if you give your tournament players a good experience, they will enjoy your event and want to return.
Most tournament-goers are regulars.

I welcome your comments on any of the above, as well as additional suggestions based on your own experience.
What things have worked for your club? You can email me at wshortz@aol.com.

Website: www.westchestertabletennis.com

Dawson - 6 players. Kim Chan (just visiting from Atlanta), Steven Hyslop, Okba Al Harfouch, Mike Hamby, Johnny McClanahan, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Bob Kyker could not make it because of his sciatic nerve - he can only walk for 100 ft before he has to sit down. Ray Pestridge had a cold.

2016 Fall Table Tennis Championship at Joplin held 11-5-16 

Winners

Open Singles:

1st Winfred Addy

2nd Russ Hamilton

Under 2000:

1st Ray Pestridge

2nd Jamey Hall

Under 1500:

1st Mike Patel

2nd Brian Flinn

Unrated:

1st Evan Cherryholmes

2nd Kaden Seward

Open Doubles:

1st Winfred Addy/Jamey Hall

2nd Russ Hamilton/Alanis Hamilton

The Arkansas Open has been cancelled due to participation - fees will be
returned promptly. Kitt Oudthone - AITTA Tournament Director

Kelly will not make it the next 2 Tuesday's at Bixby.
Hopefully, someone (ie Bob, Alex, John, etc) will go to Bixby and help set up.

This is from an emailed article from the USATT.
Humidity: The Ultimate Pitfall of the Plastic Ball
It's been over 2 years now since the plastic ball was formally introduced into competition and, like most players, I have come to accept the new ball and continue on with playing.
Most of my quarrels with the ball have been diminished but there is one which comes back to sting me over and over again.
Humidity is probably my biggest pet hate when it comes to table tennis, that feeling of hopelessness in humid conditions when the ball constantly fails to make any kind of quality contact with the rubber at all.
As a 5th ball attacker, moisture is my biggest enemy when trying to make a good quality heavy spin opening.
While it was difficult before, I never recall it being as difficult as it has been since we changed ball and there is a perfect scientific reason for that.
One of the reasons that the plastic ball produces less spin is because of the surface of the ball.
It is commonly known that celluloid has an almost unseen layer of grip on the outside, you may remember that new celluloid balls have a certain grittiness (if that's a word) to their surface.
Plastic on the other hand has a smooth surface.
The difference is easily seen with the ball in normal playing conditions, the amount of spin achieved with celluloid is much greater than with plastic.
Add humid conditions into the mix.
With the celluloid ball that microscopic level of grip seems to make quite a significant difference. I have found it much more difficult to play in damp or muggy conditions since the ball changed.
It's more difficult to play slow spin and also to make soft blocks without the ball completely sliding off your bat.
Also previously the level of humidity was visible in difficult conditions and usually left a ball mark. Now even with the slightest film of moisture on your rubber it becomes far more difficult to play.
I don't feel there have been significant advancements in rubber production to combat the effect and I'm left wondering if in future development of the ball, ITTF will look past the fact that they want less spin and at least make the ball more playable in wet conditions by adding some grip to the surface of it.
Posted by  Matt Hetherington

Bixby - 12 players. Steven Hyslop (left early due to blisters on his feet), John Moore, Matee (rhymes with "Katy") Chinsethagid (got a new Stiga paddle from Amazon.com), Brian Flinn, Edwin Jin (penholder), Wesley Li, David Leonard, Corey Flaugher, Glen Grusendorf, Tim Bao (high toss server), Eli Betinjani, Kelly Boyce.
Other news; Corey doesn't like the short pips on his backhand. Will change to spinny rubber.
Glen has a new aggressive strategy (ie no more Mr. Nice Guy).
Brian Flinn is working hard on improving his backhand.

Bixby - 21 players. 4 first time out players - Magee Chinsethagid, Tim Bao (uses a very high toss up serve), Sahel Koutti, Parmida Gebreil (both women know Brian Flinn). Stephen Littlechild, Steven Hyslop (will be getting a new paddle on Thursday from Mats- very long pips on the backhand), Eli Betanjani, Okba Al Harfouch, William Jabar, Brian Flinn (paid $100 with a Benjamin), Glenn Grusendorf, Zac Grusendorf, John Moore, John Kerfoot, John Cai, David Leonard (has a very well balanced and solid feeling paddle now), Wesley Li, Ava Chiu, Dora Chiu, Rod McDonnel, Kelly Boyce.

KJRH - Channel 2 - ran the video last night on the Tulsa Table Tennis Club. See it here:
http://www.kjrh.com/sports/olympics/2-for-the-gold/2-for-the-gold-big-al-cayden-and-sunny-from-the-voo-crew-try-their-hand-at-table-tennis

2 for the Gold: Big Al, Cayden and Sunny from the VOO Crew try their hand at table tennis

By: Cayden McFarland

Posted: 6:25 PM, Aug 11, 2016 - Video By KJRH

TULSA - What you grew up playing in the garage was ping pong.

Nick Aga-Moody plays table tennis. Let's not get the two confused.

Nick is the top-ranked player in Oklahoma. He won countless tournaments as a junior, and even faced Team USA Olympian Timothy Wang.

"It's neat to see some of the these guys I played with," Nick said. "He would smoke me."

Speaking of getting smoked. Big Al, Sunny from the 98.5 VOO Crew and I took our best, if you can call it that, shot at Nick.

Big Al couldn't muster a single rally. Nick took seven straight points. Game, set, match. Wait, that's regular tennis. Just, match.

During warmups, Sunny showed some promise, but that was in warmups. When the scoreboard got turned on for the real deal, nada. Nick remained unscored upon.

My turn. Eight straight serves and eight straight times I fail to return one. Until the ninth. Finally, one of us got one back over the net.

For those of you keeping score, it was Nick 33, and us, 1. Yikes.

And now that I think about it, we didn't do much better than when we last tried this sport in 2012.

But don't let our failures scare you off. It really is fun. Check out Tulsa Table Tennis if you're interested in learning more about the sport.

Dawson - 15 players. 2 first time out players - Edwin Jin (a penholder - hasn't played in 20 years), Zac Grusendorf (son of Glen). Ray Pestridge, George McCutchin, Bob Kyker, Steven Hyslop, Bill Wyman, Hamid Ezzat, Kyle Sanchez, Michael Barns, Corey Bryant, Troy Sanchez, Brian Flinn, Glen Grusendorf, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 16 players. Ray Pestridge, Gabe Sanchez, Troy Sanchez, Nestor Prato, Fernando Prato, David Leonard, Stephen Ackart, Steven Hyslop, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Hamid Ezzat, Kelly Boyce, Bill Wyman, Brian Flinn, Mike Hamby, Glen Grusendorf.
Other news: Stephen Ackart left early due to pulling a ham string while playing Nestor.

Channel 2 will be out tomorrow - Monday - at 6: 30 pm (per Nicky).

USA players going to the Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil held August 6 to the 17.
Women:
Jiaqi Zheng    (Calif)
Lily Zhang     (Calif)
Yue "Jennifer" Wu (N.J.)

Supporting Coach: Lily Yip (N.J.)

Men:
Kanak Jha         (Calif)
Yijun Feng       (Atlanta)
Timothy Wang (Houston)

Team Coach - Massimo Costantini 

Current World Champions
Men: MA Long (CHN)
Women: DING Ning (CHN)

Reigning Olympic Champions:
Men: ZHANG Jike (CHN)
Women:LI Xiaoxia (CHN)

The mens world number two and three,
FAN Zhendong (CHN)
XU Xin             (CHN)
will play in the team event only.

There will be four gold medals to be handed out: mens singles, womens singles, mens team and womens team.
The singles event will be contested by 64 men and women, while the best 16 teams on earth will battle to be crowned Olympic Team Champion.

Only 16 mens team (from 16 different countries) and 16 womens team (from 16 different countries) will play in the Olympics.
The USA qualified for both (this is the first time USA has done this) !

The players qualified for the Olympics when they played at the North American Olympic Qualification Tournament in Markham, Ontario, in April.

A U.S. table tennis player has never advanced past the quarterfinals of an Olympic tournament.

Part of the Olympic Games since Seoul 1988, table tennis is the most popular racket sport in the world.
https://www.rio2016.com/en/table-tennis

For a pic of the USA mens and womens team -
http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/Features/2016/June/16/SPiN-San-Francisco-To-Host-2016-US-Olympic-Table-Tennis-Team

Bixby - 14 players. Ava Chiu, Rod McDonnel, Ouli Jourdan, Tom Jourdan, Alex Tupas, Alan Tupas, Corey Flaugher, John Kerfoot, John Cai, Wesley Li, Okba Al Harfouch, Ted Hill, Jason Taylor, Kelly Boyce.

Dawson - 11 players. Ray Pestridge (paid $100), Alex Tupas, Okba Al Harfouch, Hamid Ezzat, Sina, Tom Jourdan, John Moore, William Jabr, Jason Taylor, Peter Buscemi, Bob Kyker

Bixby - 11 players. William Jabr, Okba Al Harfouch, Alex Tupas, Tom Jourdan, Jason Taylor, John Moore, John Kerfoot, Corey Bryant, Michael Barns, Wesley Li, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Kelly will be on vacation so the blog postings will be late.
The membership police talked to William, Okba, Jason, John, John about their memberships.

Memorial Day - no play.

Dawson - 10 players. Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, Rob McKinney (the "hot sauce king"), Kyle Sanchez, Hamid Ezzat, Corey Bryant, Michael Barns, Okba Al Harfouch, William Jabr, Kelly Boyce.
Other news: There was a serious problem at Dawson tonight - high humidity.
Humidity was 100% and you could not spin any ball in.
The ball would slide on the rubber every time and go into the net.
Could only flat hit tonight (since the air conditioner was not working which removes moisture in the room). (Okba did not adjust his game in time and paid the price).

Dawson - 11 players. Mike Hamby, Stephen Ackart, Tom Jourdan, Hamid Ezzat, Cory Bryant, Michael Barns, Rob McKinney., Okba Al Harfouch, William Jabr, Mats Johansson, Bob Kyker

Dawson - 8 players. Joe Mhemedi, Ray Pestridge, Bob Kyker, Kyle Sanchez, Jason Taylor, Corey Bryant, Mike Hamby (paid $100 - Hamid - make note of this), Kelly Boyce.
Other news: Bob Kyker was playing well and moving well. He played from 4:00 PM to after 9:00 PM !
Dawson had a mystery guest.
Someone drove up in a whiteish surburban? and parked but never got out of their car and then left after being parked for 3 minutes.
We took a vote and most of us guessed it was Johnny McClanahan.
But why didn't he get out of his car and why did he leave?
We took another vote and some said Johnny was just checking up on us after the "incident" with the hoodlums last week.
Others thought Johnny may have gotten scared after the "incident" he was in last week with the punks but someone said that since Johnny is a Harley biker, he wouldn't be afraid of punks (would be the opposite if the punks knew they were messing with a Harley biker).
(we cannot go into any details on the "incident" due to the pending police investigation).

For results from the Kansas City tournament:

http://omnipong.com/T-tourney.asp?t=103&r=468

Dawson - 11 players. Bob Kyker is back, Ray Pestridge , Corey Bryant got second place in under 1300 at the KC tournament! He said the guy that beat him also won the under 1500, Okba Al Harfouch, Kyle Sanchez, Mike Hamby, David Leonard, William Jaber, Alex Tupas, Allain Tupas (Alex's son), Johnny McClanahan

Table tennis tournament draws devotees to Joplin.
By Sarah Okeson sokeson@joplinglobe.com - Apr 9, 2016 
Joplin City Councilman-elect Taylor Brown battles Councilwoman Melodee Colbert-Kean during an exhibition match at the Joplin Table Tennis 2016 Spring Classic on Saturday at Memorial Hall.
Joplin City Councilwoman Melodee Colbert-Kean is a study in concentration as she duels with councilman-elect Taylor Brown during an exhibition match at the Joplin Table Tennis 2016 Spring Classic on Saturday at Memorial Hall.
Councilman-elect Taylor Brown fulfilled his first duty for the city of Joplin on Saturday while pitted against veteran Councilwoman Melodee Colbert-Kean — in an exhibition pingpong match at Memorial Hall.
Brown easily defeated her in 3-11, 6-11 and 9-11 games while Colbert-Kean, a former mayor, played to the onlookers with a steady stream of lighthearted comments.
"It's not that you earned the points," she told Brown. "It's that I've given them to you."
Brown said he enjoyed the match.
"I'm proud of Joplin for having an event like this," he said.
There was little verbal jousting in other matches at the spring tournament of the Joplin Table Tennis Club as about 30 players, some ranked by the national table tennis organization, competed for about $300 in prize money.
"It's not a violent sport," said Janus Lazarus, the president of the Joplin club.
"It's fun. It improves the eye and hand coordination.
It stimulates your brain because you have to have a strategy."
Lazarus said the Joplin Parks & Recreation Department asked him to start the club, which he did in 2014.
The club is open to the public and holds practices on Monday and Friday nights at Memorial Hall.
The club is affiliated with USA Table Tennis, the sport's national organization, and has sponsored four tournaments so far, with players coming from Oklahoma, Arkansas and elsewhere in Missouri.
The game, which dates to the Victorian era when it was played in Britain, is now an Olympic sport and can be demanding.
The first person to reach 11 points wins a game.
Dentist Tom Jourdan, 44, of Vinita, Oklahoma, had a brace on one leg that he attributed in part to table tennis and in part to running.
Jourdan, who ran track and cross country in college, became interested in table tennis because he wanted to find a sport for his young son.
Jourdan had the 10th-best ranking, 1,650, among players expected to be at the tournament.
The higher the ranking, the better.
"It took me probably a year to win a game when I started," Jourdan said.
Al Harfouch Okba, 22, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, won one of the tournaments 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 over Nguyen Phuc, of Joplin.
"It's really fun," said Okba, a college student. "You move a lot, and it's a smart game at the same time."
Phuc, 50, was one of six people in the tournament from Joplin.
Phuc defeated Ray Pestridge, of Stillwater, Oklahoma, who had the third-best ranking of players expected to be at the tournament.
"I keep calm," said Phuc, an employee at Mercy Hospital Joplin who came to town about six years ago from Vietnam.
"I keep patient. I wait for the good ball to hit, and then I am ready to defend."
Pestridge, who has won gold medals at the Summer National Senior Games, has been playing since he was a teen.
"It makes the brain really concentrate," Pestridge said.
"The brain has to work quite hard."

More on the Joplin tournament from Janus Lazarus:

We had a fabulous turnout at the Table Tennis Tournament on Saturday.  Thirty-three players from the

4-States region were represented.  Joplin Table Tennis Club (JTTC) area players were joined by other Missouri

participants from Lamar and a strong showing from the Springfield Club.  We also hosted players from Fayetteville, AR;

Vinita, Tulsa and Oklahoma, OK, and Wichita, KS.   In addition, we were pleased to have two celebrity players from the

Joplin City Council, Melodee Colbert-Kean and Taylor Brown, participated in an exhibition match.

Oklahoma represented themselves well this Tournament with four 1st place finishes and one 2nd place finish.

Event 1st Place 2nd Place

Exhibition Taylor Brown, Joplin, MO Melodee Cobert-Kean, Joplin, MO

Unrated Evan Cherryholmes, Joplin, MO Kaden Seward, Joplin, MO

Under 1500 Mike Patel, Oklahoma, OK Paul Liu, Springfield, MO

Under 2000 Okba Al Harfouch, Tulsa, OK Phuc Nguyen, Joplin, MO

Open Singles Alex Tupas, Broken Arrow, OK Bill Ryan, Wichita, KS

Open Doubles Alex Tupas, Broken Arrow, OK

Tom Jourdan, Vinita, OK

Joplin City Council – Exhibition Match

In a "LETS GET READY TO RUMMBLE" style matchup, Councilman-Elect Taylor Brown challenged

Councilwoman Melodee Colbert-Kean to a ping pong showdown. 

In a bold move, the rookie came out swing (the paddle) hard and fast putting Colbert-Kean down in first game with a

decisive victory.  But if Brown thought he was going to simply roll over our veteran he had another thought coming. 

With the support of the crowd, Colbert-Kean came out strong in the second game doubling her previous score.  But it

wasn’t enough stop the newcomer from racking up another win.  Then with the match on the line, Colbert-Kean sought

advice of her coach, and in a stunning turn of events, and to Brown’s shock, Colbert-Kean raced to a quick 4-0 lead. 

Moments later she was over half way to a win with a 6-2 lead.  But with the youthful energy of a rookie, Brown stayed the

course and was finally able take the match with a tight 11-9 final game victory.

In the end, it was a wonderful matchup with lots of laughs and fun.  JTTC would like to thank both Council members

for their support of our Table Tennis Tournament.

Under 2000 Event

In the crisp Spring morning air 15 competitors began the journey of the U2000 event.  Only four survived to advance

to the semi-finals as they quickly rose to the top of their respective groups by winning every match they played: Ray

Pestridge, Phuc Nguyen, Okba Al Harfouch and Alex Tupas, 

In the Semis, both victors Okba & Phuc won in tight 3 game matches against their competitors Alex and Ray.  Then it

was on to the finals.  Okba turned on the gas winning a decisively in a 3 game match over Phuc. 

Unrated Event

In the Unrated event 11 players hit the floor running.  Their persistence paid off as 3 Joplin Table Tennis Club

regulars, Evan Cherryholmes, Kaden Seward and Dennis Patrick, bested their opponents.  In the Semi-Finals it looked like

JOPLIN TABLE TENNIS CLUB  MEMORIAL HALL  212 WEST 8TH STREET  JOPLIN, MISSOURI 64801  www.facebook.com/joplinmotabletennisclub

Kaden would cruise to an easy victory taking the first two games from Dennis.  But Dennis fought back with two

successive victories pushing to a deciding 5th game.  With a decisive 11-5 victory, Kaden closed the deal to move on to the

finals.  Kaden pushed hard in the first game, but it wasn’t enough as Evan won 15-13.  Evan prevailed in a close second

game at 11-9 before finally finishing with an 11-5 win.

Open Singles Event

A multitude of powerful players took the floor for a high noon shoot out with each other in the premiere event, the

Open Singles.  This event featured 15 players from each of the local 4 States.  Bill Ryan, representing the entire State of

Kansas, was able to overcome early leads by his opponents to secure the win in Group 1.  Okba Al Harfouch, of Tulsa

Oklahoma dispatched his competitors in style, dropping only 1 game in 3 matches, advancing as the winner of Group 2. 

Joining in from Oklahoma was Alex Tupas, of Broken Arrow.  Alex swept 2 of his matches and finally put away the

scrappy Dale Boswell in a 5 game match to become the winner of Group 3.  Group 4 was a well-balanced match up which

resulted in a 3 way tie.  Ultimately, Chris Kolb emerged the winner of Group 4 and the only Missourian to advance in the

On to the Semi-Finals.  The 4 semi-finalists squared off with Chris Kolb vs. Alex Tupas and Bill Ryan vs. Okba Al

Harfouch.  Alex decided he had seen enough of Missouri competitors, putting Chris down in 3 games.  But the match

between Bill and Okba wasn’t to be decided so quickly.  Bill finally prevailed, going to the 5 fifth game, wining 13-11. 

With the Missouri and Arkansas threats out of the way, Oklahoma and Kansas met.  In a stunning show of power, Alex

Tupas swept Bill in the Open Finals in 3 games to become the undisputed Champion of the JTTC 2016 Spring

Classic.  Congratulations Alex!!

Under 1500 Event

Now that the 1500 competitors had a chance to put their skills to the test.  The winners of their respective groups, Paul

Liu, Lloyd Blankenship, Mike Patel & Sage Crane showed no mercy as they all won all of their matches in just 3 games,

with the exception of Sage who only allowed a single game to slip from him.  In the Semi-Finals, Paul dropped only the

3rd game to Lloyd, sending Paul on to the Finals.  While Mike made quick work of Sage moving on in just 3 games.  In the

Finals, the match between Mike and Paul took on true ping pong style as the scores bounce back and forth.  But in the end

Mike Patel emerged victorious with a score sheet which looked as follows: 11-4, 12-14, 11-8, 11-0.

Doubles Open Event

The doubles event was stacked with power as the combined ratings for 5 of the 8 teams was over 3200, 1 team 2,400. 

This would make it an uphill battle for the 2 remaining unrated teams.  The Oklahomans shine once more as the teams of

Alex Tupas / Tom Jourdan and Ray Pestridge / Okba Al Harfouch emerged victorious from their respective groups.  In

scintillating battle for 1st the team of Tupas / Jourdan would finally best Pestridge / Al Harfouch with a score of

11-7, 7-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-9.

The JTTC Official would like to thank all the participants for making this a fun and exciting Tournament.  We hope to see

you all again this Fall.

Janus Lazarus

Results from the Joplin tournament this weekend:
Open winner - Alex Tupas, 2nd place - Bill Ryan (from Wichita)
U-2000 - winner - Okba Al Harfouch
Doubles - winner - Alex Tupas and Tom Jourdan

Update on the Joplin tournament this weekend.
From an email from Jared Wicklund dated 3-30-16:
This is lining up to be a great Tournament!!  Below is the current list of players.  Also, today is the last day to get the early bird savings and the events are getting full.  You can sign up by calling the City at 417-625-4750.  They are open until 9:00 tonight. 
You can still join after today, it is just $2 more per event.  Hope you can join the fun. (this table did not hold - could not paste it into notepad or word. I will try to copy and paste it here again)
4-7-16 - this table appeared for awhile and then disappeared when I copied and pasted it in. Since I can't paste it into notepad or word, I will have to figure out how to post the info later.

Dawson - 10 players. Ray Pestridge, Kelly Boyce, Okba Al Harfouch, Rob McKinney, Tom Jourdan, Mike Hamby, Kevin Akers, Norbert Kunz, Jason Taylor and Hamid Ezzat !
Other news - Hamid said he will be able to start playing sooner than he originally thought.
He came out and played 1 "match" with Rob.
He can play well but doesn't want to move too much or too quickly in any direction (he can probably take pointers from Ray on how to play well without moving much).
(He was just testing the waters out tonight).
Rob McKinney has decided to play shakehand style instead of his Seemiller grip.
Norbert Kunz was playing very well. rallying back from the table, something he has not done before.
Mike Hamby is one month out of chemo now and hopes his hair will start growing again.
Tom Jourdan - sorry, but nothing new to report.

Bixby - 11 players. 1 first time out player - David Haraughty (a tennis player). John Moore, John Kerfoot, John Cai, David Leonard, Kelly Boyce, Alex Tupas, Okba Al Harfouch, Corey Bryant, Corey Flaugher, Sam Samour. Other news: John Moore was playing well. He beat Kelly twice and took Okba to 5 games. Since getting that new Dr. Neubauer Killer rubber, he has played very well (he also has a secret food he eats before playing).

Dawson - 9 players. Alex Tupas, Rob McKinney, Corey Bryant, Kyle Sanchez, Mike Hamby, Ken Krehbiel, Johnny McClanahan, Dustin Clifton, Logan Seiter 1st time (friend of Dustin).

Dawson - 6 players. 1 first time out player - Patrick Thomas (plays at Sharky's at 37th and Peoria - note - table tennis players are not allowed to play at ping pong venues unless approved by the USATT), Rob McKinney, Ray Pestridge, Kelly Boyce, George McCutchin, Norbert Kunz.
Other news: Tulsa players going to the Joplin tournament on 4-9-16 - Ray Pestridge.
Rob McKinney cannot decide what to use on his backhand (in the last 2 months he has used Anti, pips out and now 1.5 mark V).
Stephen Ackart wants to start using pips out on his backhand.

March 16, 2016    

Write-Up for March 12 Giant Round Robin   Author:  Bill Lewis

Greetings table tennis fanatics. 
A final tally revealed 33 players in the March 12 Giant Round Robin tournament.
Players arrived from: Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tennessee. 
The player who drove the furthest was Randy Davis who hailed from Omaha, Ne. 
A total equaling 158 matches were completed on 12 Cornilleau 740 tables.
All events were concluded by 5 pm.
The day's premier event Giant Round Robin had six initial round robin groups of four players each for a combined 24 players. 
After this preliminary round robin was concluded, each player advanced to four groups now with six players: a reverse RRRR format. 
In the highest rated Group A Parviz Mojaverian from Overland Park, Ks breezed through unscathed, unblemished and with a perfect 5 matches won and consequently won $100. 
A three-way tie then existed for 2^nd place. 
In the tie breaker it would be PJ Phachantry from Wichita, Ks who had a better games won to games lost ratio than either Alfredo Baez from St. Louis, Mo or Jeff Johnston from Smithville, Mo. 
PJ received $75 for his 2^nd placed 'best efforts'. 
Rounding out 5^th place was Nik Terzic from Ballwin, Mo and in 6^thplace was Ray Pestridge from Stillwater, Ok.  
In Group B - Sarang Mairal from Overland Park, Ks had all the right stuff to finish in 1^st place and a sterling 5 wins against zero losses and won $75. 
Dennis Yanga from Webb City, Mo came in 2^ndplace with a 4 matches to 1 total and received $50.
Raj Coona from Cordova, Tn came in third with 3 wins to 2 losses while Omar Roman from Springfield, Mo got 4^th.
Rounding out 5^th place was Wenyan Drake from Springfield, Mo and arriving in 6^th place was Craig Street also from Springfield, Mo. 
In Group C - Lloyd Blankenship from Neosho, Mo survived to tell about his stunning 5 matches won to zero matches lost for an acclaimed 1^stplace finish and received $40 greenbacks to go along with a handshake. 
Finishing in 2^nd  place was awesome Megan Hayes from Wichita, Ks who possessed a nice 4 and 1 record and received $20.
Further rounding out that group and in 3^rd  place was Sage Crane from Neosho, Mo and 4^th place went to Kaden Seward from Joplin, Mo. 
Fifth place went to Venki Gunasekaran from Wichita, Ks and 6^th was awarded to Conner Wackerman from Springfield, Mo. 
In Group D standing as tall as any oak tree might and in 1^st place solely was Arnie Ami from Springfield, Mo who won $30 dollaro's. 
In 2^nd  place was Josh Fellers from Springfield, Mo who won $15. 
Randy Davis came in 3^rd followed by 4^thplace winner Everett DeLeon Jr. and 5^thplace went to Everett DeLeon Sr. both from Wichita, Ks. 
In 6^th was Joe Fong from Springfield, Mo. 

The Under 2000 was the days second highest rated event.
Here there were three Groups of four players for a total of 12 duelers.
In Group 1 Sarang Mairal advanced with a spotless 3 to 0 match record. 
In Group 2 this would be the last of the day’s three way ties with three of four players ending with identical records: 2 matches won to 1 match lost.
The principals involved were: Chris Kolb from Springfield, Mo, Ray Pestridge and Raj Coona.
Coona would go on to win the decisive tie-breaker with a 4 games to 3 advantage. 
In Group 3 Scott Meredith from Jefferson City, Mo had an uncompromised record of 3 wins to zero losses. 
Sarang Mairal was awarded the mandatory Group 1 bye.
This meant Coona vs. Meredith semifinals would necessarily occur. 
Coona was maestro defense extraordinaire which proved beneficial against an offensive minded Meredith. 
Arguably more potent in an offensive match Meredith could not sustain point for point against Coona as he lost in a hard fought 3 games to 1 match. 
The 1^st place finals then saw Raj Coona vs. Sarang Mairal. 
Coona, though he’d lose later on in the day to Mairal in another event, won this earlier match at 3 games to 1.
Coona was summarily granted the victor's purse of $100 and Mairal received 2^nd place and $75.

The Under 1600 also had three Groups of four players for a total of 12 players.  
In Group 1 Janus Lazarus from Joplin, Mo eclipsed his round robin comprehensively at 3 games to 0.
In Group 2 Megan Hayes pounded out very impressive wins against Craig Street, Wenyan Drake and Aaron Rice from Springfield, Mo to advance from her group. 
In Group 3 Chris Kolb downed his fellow combatants with 3 matches won to zero matches lost.
Janus Lazarus would cordially and duly wait in the West Wing with the obligatory Group 1 bye while Kolb and Hayes fought one another in the semifinals. 
A pivotal and spirited battle ensued as Kolb narrowly outlasted a battle-hardened Hayes in a protracted 3 games to 1 struggle. 
Now, having had time to resurrect his reserves of strength Lazarus would need this and perhaps a doppelganger (if he could find one) to fend off Kolb. 
In a summary dismantlement of either the real or the imagined, Kolb began like a seasoned surgeon taking apart his patient point by point.
Kolb’s power by the hour short-circuited any thoughts of Lazarus being revived as he won their encounter with a solid 3 games to 0 performance.
Kolb received a 1^stplace Crown Awards trophy while Lazarus was awarded a smaller, albeit still golden 2^nd place trophy.

In the Under 1200 there were 5 players in one round robin.
Venki Gunasekaran would yield to no one as he posted an impressive 4 matches won to 0 lost and won 1^st place and a large Crown Awards trophy. 
Josh Fellers almost matched that with his own 3 wins to 1 loss to win 2^nd place and a Crown Awards trophy.

In Doubles there were a total of six teams who vied through two round robins. 
Nik Terzic and Scott Meredith would survive from their Group 1 round robin with 2 match wins to 0 matches lost. 
In the Group 2  PJ Phachantry and Megan Hayes, as the # 2 seeded team and 300 plus rating points below the higher team in their round robin, managed to out-game their counterparts to proceed to the championships. 
The finals saw Terzic/ Meredith vs. Phachantry/Hayes. 
To both teams’ credit – a total of zero points ended up separating the victor through five games played. (Each team scored 46 points through five games.)
This in itself is a testament to resolve, grittiness and determination. 
But, a winner in all contests must and shall be declared, but who might that be?
The stage hand appropriately delivered an envelope with a Boeing 747 emblazoned in relief but otherwise white and thin to the announcer:
"Here it is women and gentlemen, here’s what you’ve been waiting for:
In 1^st place; with $80 and an all expense paid trip to Hawaii - plus - a brand new car to the team of: Terzic and Meredith.â€� 
Well, the last two items were made up but they did receive $80. 
The Wichitans in Phachantry and Hayes were awarded $40.
Congrats to each of the six teams who were ‘in it to win it.’

The Hardbat event attracted 5 players in two groups.
In Group 1  Jeff Johnston would down both of his two adversaries:
Rock Norat and Aaron Rice both from Springfield, Mo while in the Group 2 Alfredo Baez would best Chris Wilson from Buffalo, Mo to advance to the finals. 
Baez was not be able to unbalance the national hardbat champion in Johnston and lost in the finals: 21 to 15 and 21 to 12. 
Johnston won $30 while Baez was awarded $15.

From: epcotmagic <epcotmagic@aol.com>
To: EpcotMagic <EpcotMagic@aol.com>
Sent: Wed, Mar 16, 2016 3:41 pm
Subject: Write-Up -- Photos -- Winners in: March 12 Springfield Missouri Tournament

March 16, 2016   (Wednesday)

Greetings table tennis fanatics!

In the download is a Microsoft Word copy of the Write-Up for the March 12 Giant Round Robin tournament. 

(It includes also the winners by name and by event.)

Immediately below is a hyperlink for photos which I took during the March 12 Giant Round Robin tournament. 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zo087kycmxyxpc3/AAD6LXh6O1D5eSF9y7erkjrha?oref=e&n=404002092

Immediately below is a hyperlink for photos which Todd Dudenhoeffer took during the March 12 Giant Round Robin tournament.

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=46B39C55843A8A4D!7817&authkey=!AMhx34zJvN5ganc&ithint=folder%2cJPG

Immediately below is a YouTube hyperlink for the Under 2000 championship match between: Sarang Mairal and Raj Coona.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnAulWU75Wc

If you go to: www.YouTube.comand type in   igottascoot   you will find more match videos of our recent

tournament as well as other prior matches recorded. 

I’d like to "Thank Everyone� for your participation.

The next upcoming tournament is April 9 at Joplin, Mo. 

You can view it and the entry form here: http://joplinttc.wix.com/jttc    

The tourney after that is in Overland Park, Kansas on April 15, 16 and 17. 

You can view it and the entry form here: https://www.kansascitytabletennis.com/

The tourney after that is in Springfield, Mo on June 6.

You can view it and the entry form here: http://www.ozarkstabletennisclub.org/

Thanks so much.  Signed:  ** Bill Lewis **

Below are the winners by Name and Event

Bob Kyker's surgery involved getting hardware installed in his back.
No word on when he will be able to play again.
(info courtesy of Ray Pestridge).

Dawson - 7 players. 2 first time out players - Matt Wozniak, Chris Brown. Ray Pestridge, Stephen Ackart, Kelly Boyce, Corey Bryant, Johnny McClanahan.
Other news: Ray Pestridge just got back from the Topeka tournament - a doubles only tournament. His partner was Glendale Markwell. There were 12 teams. Ray and Glendale won 3 out of 11 matches.
Bob Kyker's surgery involved getting hardware installed in his back. No word on when he will be able to play again.

Tournament Flyer Link
Web: joplinttc.wix.com/jttc
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/joplinmotabletennisclub
Tournament Sign-Ups: http://www.joplinparks.org/
or by Phone:417-625-4750

(Below is from an email from Britt Salter):
From: Ranjit Ramdas <ranju_r@hotmail.com
Subject: Kansas City Table tennis tournament on April 15-17
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2-63iX76aC2UVhnREMybWNaekk/view
I am writing to let you know that we are planning to organize a USATT 2 star Sanctioned tournament out here on April 15th - 17th in Overland Park, Kansas.
We are planning to have a wide range of events from u 1100 to u2300 and 18+under 2 person team event (could be a good event for Juniors like Logan Watson) culminating in the Dan Seemiller Clinic on Sunday Apri 17th.
I have attached the flyer to the tournament and would highly appreciate it if you could help promote it at the other clubs in Oklahoma. Ranjit
Tel no :  913-685-1675 (res)  913-991-1222 (cell)
click here to view pdf

Results for the 1-23-16 state games of okla are now posted.
http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/Ratings/USATT-Ratings-Page