Forrest Gump isn’t the only one who can make ping-pong championships look hot. Last Saturday Carleton hosted the regional championships for the collegiate sport.
Ping-pong, coined “table tennis” by those who have met its calling, is quite the competitive college sport. Its governing body, the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association, had 104 member schools and 16 regional divisions as of 2005—and ping-pong’s popularity in the States continues to grow each year.
The tournament for the Minnesota regional division took place in our beloved West Gym. All four member schools were in attendance, including the University of Minnesota, Northwestern College, Iowa State, and our fighting Knights. During the tournament, the gym was the site of furious activity, but hardly any noise. (Silent but deadly, no?) As student athletes slammed their ping-pong balls back and forth, the gym was muted except for the sound of gentle tapping. The intensity was overwhelming!
Most of the people in the bleacher sitters were other eager ping-pongers. The tournament was arranged so that every player on one team played every player on another team. If this round robin resulted in a tie, it was resolved in a doubles match between the two teams.
Scoring is most akin to volleyball. A player must have at least 11 points and be at least 2 points ahead of his or her opponent to win.
The NCTTA says on its website that “NCTTA stands to meet the challenge of promoting one of the least developed collegiate sports by actively increasing its membership, competitive level of play, and professionalism.” Despite comedic jests at the sport (i.e. Balls of Fury), it has been a noble Olympic sport since 1988.
Carleton has its own share of ping-pong stars. Chemistry major Felix Amankova-Diawuo ’08 is co-president of Carleton’s ping-pong club along with Bryon White ’08 and Khanh Nguyen ’09. Amankova-Diawuo founded the team two years ago along with Adam Carr ‘07. Though only a CSA-sponsored club presently, they hope to expand as a full club sport next year.
Practicing three times a week is “pretty intense,” Amankova-Diawuo says. He went to the national championships in ping-pong last year and made it to the top 32 out of 128 players. He’s vying for a spot in the national tournament this upcoming spring.
The team’s coach, Mitch Madson, has medaled in the table tennis Paralympics. Felix hopes he will remain their coach once ping-pong club is an official club sport.
Ultimately, Carleton finished third in the tournament, which means that as a team the national championships in Rochester are a no-go. But! The individual players that will advance to the championship have not yet been named. And thus, our ping-pong honor has not yet been lost.
