Spring 2011 Tourney – Night 1

And we’re off.  Out of the gates.  Running with all the fervor and excitement that fans of Championship Table Tennis at the Colburn School expect.  Nineteen hardened veterans and two tournament newcomers began this hallowed journey knowing full well that only one will survive the chaos and mayhem to become the champion and hoist the coveted crystal trophy that says, above all else, “I rock at ping pong.”

The tournament kicked off with an upper seed matchup between 13th seed Stephen Tavani and 21st seed Colin Sieg.  The last-seeded Sieg made a valiant run, but couldn’t make a dent against Tavani’s spin-filled serves.  If he can keep the error number down, we very well may see more of this 13th seed in days to come.

Another high-seed matchup was next, as we saw the 15th seed Mark Teplitsky against the tournament newbie 19th seed John Winstead.  Teplitsky liked his chances as he worked the crowd with his confident bravado.  Like a master of propaganda, he had nearly everyone in the arena believing that he was the man to beat–words he backed up with a first set victory.  For some reason, though, Ben Lash “LaRue” was snickering in the corner.  The reason for this wasn’t immediately known, but did he have some reason to believe in the 19th seeded Winstead?  Did he believe this lowly tournament rookie could knock off a veteran who only lost last tournament to the champ, Christopher Zack?  Whatever LaRue’s hidden information, Winstead made a dramatic comeback and stormed to take the next three sets and match 3-1.

Next to do battle was the 16th seed Ilia Ulianitsky versus the 18th seed Anton Smirnov.  Spouting taunts to each other that only they could understand, they settled in for a long and arduous battle.  Ulianitsky, the clear 2-seed favorite, struck first and struck hard by taking the first set in dominating fashion.  Smirnov, with a determined look on his face, battled back and nearly lost the next set, but down 10-8 was able to hold off two set points to pull out the deuce victory 14-12.  Taking set three as well, Smirnov positioned himself for the minor upset, but Ulianitsky wouldn’t say die as he stormed back in set 4.  With our first 5-set match of this tournament, Smirnov sprinted out to a sizable 8-3 lead.  Ulianitsky tried to mount a comeback and came as close as 9-6, but couldn’t hold on as Smirnov got the victory and advanced.

The next scheduled match was the 9th seed Sean Case against the 14th seed Ben Lash “LaRue”.  Unfortunately, this sportswriter won’t be able to make any “phi slamma jamma” or “Slamma Potta Max” or “Slammy Davis Jr” jokes with regards to Case’s game as he was a mysterious no-show.  So LaRue got to snicker for the second time in the evening as he got the win by default.  (Interestingly, this is the second time this has happened with these exact two competitors, except last time Case bounded up the stairs at the last moment to take the win.  See the Fall 09 Tournament Day 1 Recap if you don’t remember)

18th seeded Anton Smirnov looked to continue his run against tournament champ, the number 1 seed Christopher Zack in the following match.  Looking as if he would be stone dry on a 110 degree day, Zack cruised effortlessly in his 3-0 domination of the spirited Smirnov.  Still undefeated with his now record of 19-0, Zack looks invincible.  Will anyone crack his seemingly perfect armor?

Entering the arena next was our former Grand Champion, the number 2 seed Jeremy Berry.  It will be interesting to see how Berry handles this tournament, as he hasn’t entered the tournament without being the defending champion since before Evin Blomberg was born.  How will he fare without a target on his back?  How will he settle in to this new, unfamiliar role?  His first challenge was against 11th seed Hugh Palmer, and as far as Palmer was concerned, he settled in to his new role fairly well.  Berry dismantled the 11th seed 3-0 to advance.  This sportswriter could see no signs of defeat in the champ’s eyes–if anything he looks determined to gain back the top spot he held for so long.

The evening’s final match had the 6th seed Greg Cardi take on the 12th seed Titus Underwood.  The scoreboard has Cardi in a seemingly one-sided 3-0 victory, but in actuality, this match was much, much closer that the final score would have you believe.  These two athletes fought it out on each and every point with slams returned by more slams, and returns  dished back for winners.  This was hard core table tennis at its best, and each of the three close sets came down to one or two key points.  Cardi happened to win each of those key points to take the victory, but Underwood deserves so much more credit for strength and determination in this match than a 0-3 loss would at first seem.

So day 1 comes to a close.  The next night of Championship Table Tennis at the Colburn School happens this Thursday, March 31st where the action continues toward its inevitable conclusion.

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