auburn table tennis club news

attc news

greetings supreme victors of the auburn table tennis club -

auburn club v. grass valley club: special welcome to grass valley club members who turned out in auburn to be in the first ever “club v. club” challenge last wednesday. great to see players who have been occasional visitors to auburn as well.

grass valley team was: kate duroux, jp solly, steve wolf, doug vaughan, chuck feyh, shu zhiao, micah chavez, matthew blom, mike gaynor, larry scott, lu li and dave mead, plus late addition ron afdal (helping out, thank you).

auburn club fielded a team of: tom spesick, grant connell, fred myers, max fagan, dominic moon, tim aquino, mark copeland, madison k., bill k., bob hemming, dylan moon and ricky pisanu.

specific results have been placed in a time capsule to be opened in 50 years. auburn prevails and holds the bragging rights, at least until part 2 of this challenge, when grass valley hosts the event.

as determined by the event sponsors (sorry, we don’t make up the rules, we just print the news) all auburn club members shall, for the next 30 days, be addressed by all grass valley club members as “club challenge winner.” bowing is optional. rock throwing is discouraged, but understandable. it was quite a thrashing and we are certain the rematch will bring out a plethora of dirty tricks, shady bracketing practices and possible pre-game poisoning attempts. and that’s just the auburn club. no telling what the grass valley squad may try.

welcome new players this past week: clarissa conley and charlotte csantos. placer high continues to produce new players checking out our club and this great sport. our informal count shows no less than 15 phs students hitting the 40 mm spheres across the tables since august. is it true one amongst you contemplates a senior project that centers around conducting a table tennis tournament? my my.

wed. sept 30 – round robin results – we managed to settle down after the big battle and ended up with 26 playing round robin. clear winners in all groups – first time in months. congratulations: john hanna (off to san diego tournament this weekend); matthew blom (showing continuous rapid progress in his game); shu zhiao (helping matthew avenge the club challenge loss); fred myers (closing in on 500 with a clean sweep); and dominic moon (notwithstanding his loss to brother dylan).

for wednesdays - if you think you will be late for the round robin (i.e. after 7 p.m), please call bill (916) 275-0899 or tom (530) 613-0101. if you reach us, we will put you on a table.

bill kochenderfer

results for 9/30/2009: latest round robin results

hello to all who are thinking about cooler weather, and table tennis (not in that order), at the auburn table tennis club –

welcome new players this past week: tim paras (rocklin high graduate, thank you kris han; bring us more), and stephan wolf (did not claim a high school graduation location, but did come all the way from grass valley for our round robin, and we suspect he did graduate some time ago). welcome one and all.

wed. sept 23 – round robin results – maybe it was something in the water or air, but we finally had “world domination “ in group 1, congratulations lu li. groups 2 and 3, sorry, of the aggregate 10 players in those 2 groups, 6 of you went 3-1. no clear winners. not so in group 4 (well done kris han, and this victory will nudge you into group 3 next week).

september 30 – auburn tt vs. grass valley tt. emails to follow, to those players who are going to partake in this battle royale. larry scott and bill k. are going over the match ups this weekend. we will get the tables set up by 6 p.m. next wed. so we can jump right into the matches. should be fun! sad to say almost no decent bribes have been offered (well, at least not to me), but there is still time. we do appreciate the few indecent bribes. this will be a nice lead in to the wednesday regular round robin, which will go on as scheduled. regular playing fees apply if you are going to play in the main round robin; if you are only hitting in the club face off, no charge. who will be crowned “victors of most important tournament”? do you want your name on the plaque? (hey, by the way, if you want to provide the plaque, you are free to put your name on it, too. heck, we’ll name the event after you.) overall club prevailing is the club winning the most games (not matches – games – so every game counts).

for wednesdays - if you think you will be late for the round robin (i.e. after 7 p.m), please call bill (916) 275-0899 or tom (530) 613-0101. if you reach us, we will put you on a table.

bill kochenderfer

results for 9/23/2009: latest round robin results

greetings and happy late summer heat wave at the auburn table tennis club -

welcome sept. 14 new monday players: all from rocklin high where a table tennis club has thrived. karl cannon, chase fong and jeremy crooks – off to uc irvine and ucla but spending an evening first, soaking up a little wisdom, in auburn. send us more from rocklin high – we like ‘em! thank you david ho (and kristopher han, i believe) for spreading the word.

wed. sept 16 – one new player – yet another (seems like an old song) placer high student – peter porata. peter, don’t be ashamed at beating dylan moon in the round robin, even if you were a free-first-time visitor to the club. dylan is working on a forehand that should put a few people in their places in the next few weeks.

special note for round robin check in – be sure to call if you will be after 7pm. we close the rr a few seconds after 7 pm. if there are tables open, late comers are welcome to hit for open play. the last month plus, however, we have had decent size round robins, so not much extra room.

wednesday round robin – except for group 1, where we can’t seem to get a clear winner most nights, we have prevailing hitters in group 2 – grant connell, group 3 – micah chavez (dominating the group with only a single game being lost), and group 4 – chris swart (squeaking by the top seed dylan moon).

september 30 – auburn tt vs. grass valley tt. we will play at 6pm on wed. sept 30 in auburn. if you have emailed or talked to bill k. or larry scott, we will be in touch with you next week to let you know where you fit in. tables will be set up 5:45 p.m. and we will get the matches cooking fairly quickly. singles as well as a few doubles. it will be a nice lead in to the wednesday regular round robin, which will go on as scheduled. regular playing fees apply if you are going to play in the main round robin; if you are only hitting in the club face off, no charge. new players – no problem, we will have all levels playing and the “most games won” by either club will determine the “winners in magnificent ping pong” (w.i.m.p.s) almost makes you want to throw a match or two.

re-match? chana h.s. captured the crown last october in the tournament we conducted that featured teams from placer, del oro, bear river and colfax. they want to defend that trophy! and i just thought the hardware might be gathering dust … wrong. bully for them stepping up. if you are a high school student and reading this deep in the “news” you need some serious therapy and our professional counselors want you to assemble some players and teach those braggarts from chana a lesson. we can dedicate some club time and a few armed guards (armed with paddles) to a “friendly” challenge. send me an email if this strikes a note with you.

clinic/coaching – if you are interested, we have players doing some basic skills coaching and practice. usually early monday and wednesday. let us know if this is something you might like to try (email bill at wkochenderfer@cs.com).

for wednesdays - if you think you will be late for the round robin (i.e. after 7 p.m), please call bill (916) 275-0899 (tom is gone this week). if you reach me, i will put you on a table.

bill kochenderfer

results for 9/16/2009: latest round robin results

happy auburn fair weekend auburn table tennis club -

welcome sept. 9 new round robin players: ken kaeser (responding nicely to his invitation from bob hemming by sweeping group 3); kristopher han (a friend of david ho), and ryan wagner (yet another placer high student).

wednesday round robin – 25 players. 3 way ties in groups 1 and 4. congratulations group 3 – ken kaeser, group 5 – dylan moon (exacting some revenge for a prior loss to dominic moon, it appears). group winners are guaranteed to move up to the next group the following week, regardless of ranking. so be sure to be here sept. 16 ken and dylan!

monday – open play – more good crowds! remember, during peak period and where we have more than 4 players waiting to hit, keep the matches to best 2 out of 3 games. you are welcome to challenge any table by advising the players! again, if things are very busy, stay on the table for 2 matches, then retire and let a new pair jump in. many thanks! if we keep up our numbers, trust me, we will find more room! this is a good problem to have.

berkeley tournament last weekend – at least one player took home a fat parking ticket, we regret to report. anson kwong made some money! first place in the under 1700. john hanna represented the senior component of the auburn club, taking 2^nd in the over 40 years old bracket. we like to think jz considers auburn his “home” club – jz – first place in the over 50 years old event. tom and i look forward to someday being old enough for either of those two age discriminatory events.

september 30 – auburn tt vs. grass valley tt. well very fine turnouts the last few wednesdays for round robin, so in the interest of time (and keeping round robin on track), we are going to conduct this rumble in our jungle starting at 6:00 p.m. wed. sept. 30^th. apologies to those who may want to participate but just can’t make it early – we will do this again (also in grass valley), so stay tuned. for the time being – grass valley hitters please check in with larry scott (careful, you’ll be drafted if he needs you …). auburn – i have a list in hand with 5 or 6 “interesteds”, so email me or talk to me this week.

for wednesdays - if you think you will be late for the round robin (i.e. after 7 p.m), please call bill (916) 275-0899 or tom (530) 613-0101. if you reach us, we will put you on a table.

bill kochenderfer

results for 9/9/2009: latest round robin results

happy labor day weekend auburn table tennis club -

we are closed labor day! grass valley is open. if you need directions or information, email larry scott lgscott@hughes.net. first monday of the month they have a round robin, and definitely a club worth checking out!

more new players to welcome: neil zapatos (a folsom and sacramento player), billy tang (finding us on the ‘net, from rocklin) and dylan day (phs rules, it appears).

wednesday round robin – 22 players; spirited play in all groups, with some unexpected (well, statistically speaking) results. group 2 – tyler battled ricky to 5 games and prevailed as the group winner. watch out table 1, tyler is gunning for each and every one of you. group 3 – bob hemming blasted away, losing only a single game to neil (very kind of you neil, to make sure it was not a clean sweep; we would never have heard the end of that from bob). group 4 – although max fagan grabbed the most rating points (nice work max), fred myers went 5-0 and moves to table 3 next week. no match winner in group 1, although anson and grant both managed to swipe some big points (more on this below).

letters to the editor(s): yes, we occasionally have some comments, incendiary remarks, and the like. mostly grammar and punctuation. however, here is a submission following play sept. 2, from club member john hanna (editors’ notes and comments embedded as you will see):

after returning from the latta open 2009 tourney where i set the place on fire, [ed. note: john took away about 15 pounds of trophies which we proudly displayed monday and wednesday] i must confess i did not expect events to unfold as they did on wednesday evening at the club. auburn ttc has to be the best club in the world and so much competitive fun! [ed. note: tell all your friends!]

i was met by a buxom wench in the lobby who seemed ready to etch a “z “across my chest as i zigzagged through the lobby avoiding the thrusting, swishing weapon held by this woman who should really take up table tennis asap! [ed. note: what can we say; we share the building with the fencing club, and wed. night was dress-up night; it was like zorro, part 3] was this a sign of things to come? would i have to zigzag around the playing floor in order to survive the night? would there be time to get some free lessons from the wench with the épée?

well yes, this would be the case (but no lessons). anson kwong (aka “king”) obviously had a confident day at the office. i confess to sinking a few energy drinks [ed. note: sounds like random drug testing can’t be far away, with this revelation] as i meandered through the picturesque, yet demanding pavements to reach the holy tt grail. as i arrived at the final stop sign prior to turning left down maidu, i am hoping that no more engine mounts have been displaced as i drive out of the deep crevices at this intersection. i am also hoping that “king kwong” has not been on the laughing gas all day in the office. [ed. note: dr. kwong is a dentist; drilling and filling by day, blasting and smashing by evening]

after the usual encounter with bk [ed. note: hanna delivered a swift beating that left bill crying, reconsidering his life-long passion for the sport, and looking for the paddle shredder] , his forehand is such a whopper, and another 11-9 defeat at the hands of lu (eat my top spin) li; i was 2-0 down but pulled back to 2-2 and 8-4 up in the fifth and at 10-9 down, i did a fault serve! lu, you need to spend more time with the baby the night before playing! [ed. note: we believe lu’s wife did not have a child and instead lu has been using this as an excuse to leave work and practice his shots; national enquirer staff is investigating] anson was still laughing after his win over tom spesick! surely his short pimps were worn out from the heat generated by the precise top spins whooshing from tom’s tenergies, and surely the laughing gas was wearing orf (english for off)!

you know when you are 6-0 down in the first; you realize that something is not going quite right. then i was 2-0 down in games and the “king” was not reacting to my feeble attempts to make him feel sorry for my aching elbow (after all, he’s a dentist). i thought i had better step up a gear. i think i was 9-7 up in the third and i recall some deuce encounters he had with ts. all this pressure on my mind yet i was fresh from an u1950 final. come on! finish it!

er…9-9 and anson hits a backhand which thickly hits the post of the net and bounces slowly and high up in the middle of my end of the table. there was so much time to react i could have listened to grant about his latest rubbers he was using and hit a few balls with madison just before i was due to kill this unexpected return right past anson’s helium inebriated looking face (he’s still laughing)!

but no! i swat at it like i do when the wife screams…”there’s a fly in the house” (she hates bugs)...and i think it hits the light above the table… a shade high methinks! akk wins the next point and a 3 zip win! [ed. note: john, tom, if anson keeps this up, we can have him banned from the club]

although i recovered and took my extraction out on grant and tom, kudos to anson kwong who drilled some of us into the ground and filled some holes in his game. he now has a glimmer of everlasting hope and will surely extract some more wins and cause us all to pull a few teeth in the process. i certainly feel as if my game has been bleached and to receive a whitewash like that certainly makes me want to grit my teeth and fight tooth and nail the next time, otherwise i may be extracted by someone in a white coat! yes, this match was certainly a bridge too far for me this time! [ed note: we are arranging for therapy for john, trust me]

anson kwong – see you in berkeley! you are the “king (for now)!”

we welcome your feedback. thank you john for this great report, particularly not gratuitously including puns or double entendres relating to the dental profession. we’re just glad we do not have a proctologist in the club.

we now have plenty of loaner paddles – thanks to all who contributed. new players – check them all out, and don’t be bashful about asking other players what they are using, and maybe hit once or twice too. we have links to great, affordable paddles and gear. jz visited up monday and in addition to putting on a short clinic on warm up hitting, i saw at least a couple players receiving paddle/rubber combinations he had assembled.

berkeley tournament – september 5 and 6 - good luck to all attending this – hope your game(s) are peaking. let us know how things go. remember, it is not a sign of moral weakness to lose to a player under the age of 10. it is, however, very demeaning to lose to a player shorter than the edge of the table.

september 30 – auburn tt vs. grass valley tt. it is on. we have responders via email and this looks to be as big as the “thrilla in manila” (anyone remember that?). format for sept. 30 wed evening will be mano a mano with players of similar rankings from each club playing best 3 out of 5. whichever team wins the most games overall will be declared the winner. larry scott and bill kochenderfer will make the assignments; doubles too. should be fun. email wkochenderfer@cs.com or (grass valley) email lgscott@hughes.net.

for wednesday sept. 9 - if you think you will be late for the round robin (i.e. after 7 p.m), please call tom (530) 613-0101. if you reach him, he will put you on a table.

bill kochenderfer

results for 9/2/2009: latest round robin results

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