2011 Butterfly Cary Cup
Part 1: Getting there - Thursday, March 17
Tim Boggan had been staying at my house for two weeks as I did the layouts and photo work on History of U.S. Table Tennis, Vol. 11, so we went down together on Thursday, March 17. He was doing the coverage while I was playing only in the hardbat event, coaching the rest of the way. The drive down was uneventful other than the usual extravagantly expensive Tim kept treating me to (as he had for two weeks). I could eat for a week on what he paid for one of our meals. I spent Thursday night in Tim's hotel room.
Part 2: Hardbat - Friday, March 18
This was held on Friday, from 10AM to 4PM. I was the defending champion, so all the pressure was on me, right? Ah well, us champions have to get used to it. :) In my round robin, I had a tough match with Chris OBrian (no apostrophe in his name) and his big forehand smash, and he led much of each game, but I ran them both out near the end. (All hardbat matches were best of three to 21, using 38mm balls.) Jim McQueen was also a surprisingly tough match with his touch and backhand pick-hitting, but I adjusted and pulled away near the end of each game.
In the final four-person RR, I had to play Chris again. Down 6-11 in the first, I jokingly (or was it?) complained about the five edge balls and one net dribbler he'd already scored with! I'm not making that up. At one point he won three straight points on edges. Most of them were because he was playing everything to the wide corners, trying to get away from my forehand, so he was also missing balls off the side. He ended up winning that game, but I won the next two. The only thing worse than an opponent getting nets & edges is an opponent getting nets & edges who is also playing well! Chris has a nice forehand, and his angled backhands were also effective, even when they weren't clipping the edge.
The next match was Steve Hitchner. He attacked my serve and followed up his serve with aggressive backhands to wide angles, putting pressure on my forehand-oriented game. For 1.5 games, I still won somewhat easily. Then I just ran out of steam - he'd run me to death, a smart tactic. I had trouble running down his shots, and started chopping more, and next thing I know I'm practically dying. I led 20-18. He deuced it. I went up 21-20. Then he ran me around, I put a ball up - but he missed it, so I survived.
Before the final against Chu Bin Hai, I took a 15-minute break. Chu is an elderly pips-out penholder rated 2243 from Florida. He'd forgotten to bring shorts, and so was playing in jeans. (He'd get shorts for the next day.) Since he's used to pips, and since he'd steamrolled everyone he'd played so far with ease, the feeling was he was a big favorite - especially after he won the first, I think 21-15.
I was attacking every serve with my forehand, and following every serve with a forehand. I continued this, but started angling even wider into his backhand. He had a very efficient forehand and a steady backhand block, so I wanted to keep him blocking. I almost died running around hitting, and did throw in some chopping (usually ending the point by suddenly smashing one of his drives), and managed to win the match by scores of (I think) -15, 17, 15.
Here are the extremely heavy trophies I won for winning Hardbat Singles at the 2010 and 2011 Cary Cup Opens. Plus $500!!!
The Cary Cup's been good to me the last two years - two hardbat titles, two huge trophies, and $500, a nice supplement to my coaching work. The down side - I came out hobbling about on an aching right knee, right leg, upper back, and right shoulder.
That night I moved in with Tong Tong, his dad Chaoying, and Greg Mascialino, another top junior from Maryland.
Part 3: Tong Tong Gong - Saturday, March 19
My major task at the Cary Cup was to coach Tong Tong Gong, a player I've been working with for a year and a half or so. He's 13, rated 2256, and a member of the U.S. National Cadet team. Unfortunately, I can't really talk about the tactics - his opponents might be reading this! - but I can give the gist of it. I knew most of players, and was able to watch all of them play before Tong Tong faced them, so was able to come up with pretty good tactics. More importantly, Tong Tong knew how to follow the tactics, and was able to adjust as needed as the opponent adjusted.
He beat a 2144 player 3-0 to get into the "A" Division, where he was put in a group of nine players, so eight matches. First, his losses: to Gao YanJun (2609), Zheng Jiaqi (2527), Paulo Rocha (2474), and Raghu Nadmichettu (2368). Gao was simply too strong. He almost got a game off Zheng, but challenged that surprisingly good backhand loop of hers too much and lost 3-0. He got a game off often-practice partner Raghu. The interesting loss was to Paulo. Tong Tong went up 2-1 in games, and made it to 9-all in the fourth, 8-9 in the fifth before losing 11-8 in the fifth. It was a disappointing loss as he thought he had the shots to win in the fourth game, but couldn't pull them off. There were some spectacular rallies, and Tong Tong pulled off some backhand kills that brought back memories of Jim Butler. What made this even more interesting is that in his next match, Paulo upset Gao, and he would later be up 2-0 on top-seeded Peter Li (2646) in the quarterfinals before losing a close five-gamer.
Now to his wins. Tong Tong defeated Cory Eider (2341), John Wetzler (2299), Olivier Mader (2239), and Brenda Mun (2085, but after defeating Wetzler and Thor Truelson - rated 2274 - she'll probably be adjusted upwards. Tong Tong had upset Wetzler at the Teams in Baltimore, and showed that he still knows how to play him with his attacking forehand and long-pips backhand - though of course next time out Wetzler will be after him again. The two really interesting matches were against Mader and Eider. Mader is a pure long-pipped blocker with seemingly frictionless long pips. Normally he eats up junior players with their lack of experience, but Tong Tong is apparently wise beyond his years in the ways of long pips and won easily, I believe 7,4,7. Against Eider, he won the first, lost the next two badly, and was rather dispirited. I gave him a pep talk, got him to jump up and down a few times to get his feet going, and (helped by a few nets/edges in game four), won the next two games somewhat easily by the scores, though every point was a struggle.
So Tong Tong finished 4-4, in fifth place. The top four advanced, and so he missed it by one spot. He spent the rest of the day lamenting that match with Paulo, and on the way home we made up humorous revenge stories for the next they faced each other. One of them ended with the zombie of Tong Tong defeating the ghost of Paulo where they used a flaming ping-pong ball. Don't ask.
I wrote a paragraph here on what Tong Tong's improved on, but his rivals might be reading this. (Shhh!) Suffice to say he's returning serves better, his backhand is becoming lethal, and he has more power on the forehand. He still has trouble with [deleted] and [deleted], so any opponent that [deleted] will easily defeat him. :)
Part 4: Car incident - Saturday afternoon, March 19
I had a bunch of heavy stuff in my playing bag, and couldn't find Tong Tong's dad. But when I went outside, I saw that the car window was partially down, and I could reach in and unlock the door to put the stuff inside so I didn't have to carry it around. Unfortunately, it set off the car alarm, which was VERY LOUD. As numerous people stared and complained, I raced about, trying to find Tong Tong's dad Chaoying, since he had the key. During my rushing about, I hurt my left knee, which gave me matching aching knees. Fortunately, Dick Evans (one of the umpires) came by, and somehow was able to turn it off with his key. I was ribbed for being a "car thief" by a number of players. My knee still hurts.
Part 5: The Open - Sunday, March 20
I watched some of the matches, but didn't take notes. Lots of us Marylanders were at the tournament, including top-seeded Peter Li (2646), Champion Jeffrey Zeng Xu (2583), Han Xiao (2522), Marcus Jackson (2418), and about 25 others.
Here are the basic results, from memory - let me know if I got any of it wrong.
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Final: Jeffrey Zeng Xun (2583) d. Gao YanJun (2609), 3-1.
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SF: Zeng d. Peter Li (2646), 3-1.
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SF: Gao d. Barney J. Reed (2574), deuce (or was it 11-9?) in the fifth.
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QF: Zeng d. Marcus Jackson (2408), 3-2.
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QF: Gao d. Michael Landers (2518), 3-0.
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QF: Li d. Paulo Rocha (2474), 3-2.
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QF: Reed d. Fernando Yamazato (2554), 3-0.
Part 6: Returning home - Sunday afternoon, March 20
And then we played travel bingo and told Paulo revenge stories all the way home. (Actually, Paulo's a very nice guy and cool and reserved during matches, but Tong Tong REALLY wanted that match!)
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Re: March 30, 2011
"If you leave your long pips in the heat or play outdoors in the heat, and that changes it into frictionless long pips, then you have treated it with heat, thereby making it illegal."
Based on your own quote and my understanding based on that would be that you would consider a rubber treated if it was played outdoors in the heat or just in the heat indoors.. So, if I'm understanding this correctly, I would be treating my rubber no matter if I was playing in my garage as the temperatures there reach 130 - 140 degrees in Summer or if I'd play outdoors where we are usually well into the 90's on a nice and sunny day.. So, unless I play at the clubs that is 1 hour away, I would be treating my rubbers just by using them in my garage or outdoors in my driveway as it is hot in Florida for most of the year... Of course, you can't really play indoors in 120+ degree temperatures.. That's unhealthy, so outdoors play is really the only option unless I could convince my wife to put the table tennis table in the living room and I doubt that this will happen.. With other words, I would have to stop playing at my house for most of the year in order not to not treat my rubber based on your definition as we do have heat for most of the year around here..
So, what about people in poor countries with hot climate where they usually don't have AC units.. They would be treating their rubbers any time that they play as they don't have AC..
Even on the ITTF website, they show such treaters at work in a Park in NYC..
http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf_full_story1.asp?ID=23814
Re: March 30, 2011
In reply to Re: March 30, 2011 by pushblocker
This is one of the most fascinating responses ever. So now you claim you are playing in a garage in 130-140 degrees? Okaaaaaaaay. By the way, I conversed with the chair of the ITTF Equipment Committee, and he sounded pretty doubtful that pure heat would do this to long pips, as opposed to actual light, such as sunlight or (drum roll please) a sun lamp. But there is one thing you are correct on - it's very difficult to test, and so those who cheat can get away with it, just as those who cheated with steroids got away with it for years.
As to your "understanding" of my quote, you changed what I wrote and attributed me saying something I had not said. That's lying by omission. If you want to inteprete what someone says, then quote them *accurately* and explain your interpetation, don't put your interepretation out there as if it were something I said when I didn't. That's dishonest.
By the way, I play table tennis in my garage. Since I'm the world's top distributor of rubber cements and bicycle glues, the basement is full of these glues, and they get into my rubber. I have no other place to play. So if I show up at a tournament with glue fumes coming out of my racket, it's not my fault. :)
Re: March 30, 2011
In reply to Re: March 30, 2011 by Larry Hodges
You didn't read my post correctly.. I said that I'm playing outdoors as it's too hot to play in my garage.. I already previousely said that I checked some of the rubbers in my garage and they weren't much different than the ones out of the package.. Might be the UV rays when playing outdoors if it's not the heat..
"By the way, I play table tennis in my garage. Since I'm the world's top distributor of rubber cements and bicycle glues, the basement is full of these glues, and they get into my rubber. I have no other place to play. So if I show up at a tournament with glue fumes coming out of my racket, it's not my fault. :)"
If that would really be the case, you could verify if your rubber is legal or not by buying or renting a ENEZ or similar device..
No such device is available to test pips friction and furthermore, there really is no friction limit that applies to players as it only applies to manufactorers.. Again, I have run many times into players who played anti like inverted rubber, so it's not really a long pips phenomena..
Re: March 30, 2011
In reply to Re: March 30, 2011 by pushblocker
Actually, in the first half of your response you were talking about playing both indoors and outdoors, but I'll accept that you meant outdoors, since that's what you did say in the second half. Regardless, I don't believe playing outdoors, even in the sun, is going to turn your legal long pips into frictionless long pips. What do you do, keep them aimed up at the sun throughout the point? (You get very little energy if the sun's rays come at an more severe angle.) You do realize that if you keep the racket straight up and down, as you mostly do when you play, the pips will aim sideways, not up towards the sun. Or will you now claim that you play with the sun in your eyes, low in the sky, so the sun can bask directly on your long pips, during hour after hour of play in thereby maximizing the sun's energy on your poor, poor pips?
Sorry, I don't believe it. To make your long pips frictionless, you'd have to leave it outside to bake in the sun, or use the sun lamp that you admit you use to treat other people's long pips, just not your own, even though yours just happen to end up the same way, frictionless. Of course. And you don't seem to want to respond to the problem of your changing my words and then posting them as if I'd said something I hadn't said.
Now a really serious question. Since you claim it's from playing outdoors in the sun that must be causing your long pips to become frictionless . . . why aren't you heavily tanned? Do you wear a mask when you play to protect your face from these terrible sun rays? Heck, in the videos, your legs are whiter than mine, and that's saying something! Or do you play in the hot sun in long pants? How is it that the very sun that can burn into your long pips until they are frictionless hasn't done the same to your face, arms, and legs?
Here's an example of a tape that shows you close up - sorry, you are very untanned. How is this possible?
Re: March 30, 2011
In reply to Re: March 30, 2011 by Larry Hodges
I actually said " if I was playing in my garage" and not that I'm actually playing in my garage at those temperatures.. I also later said that it would be unealthy to play in 120+ degree temperatures indoors..
As for tanning, did you ever hear about sunblock?? I did have a skin cancer removed once before and I do not take any chances.. My dermatologist told me that for any longer outdoor activities, I do have to use heavy SPF (I use SPF 55).. If I wouldn't do that, I would be a frequent flier for skin cancer surgery.. The sun is pretty strong down here in Florida and anyone not using sunscreen for longer outdoor activities is a fool..
Re: March 30, 2011
In reply to Re: March 30, 2011 by pushblocker
If you are in the sun so much that it's able to burn into your long pips and make them frictionless, it's going to take more than sunblock to stop you from getting some tanning. They are not perfect absorbers of UV radiation. (That's why they have SPF numbers - to indicate the level of protection. There's no perfect protection. But congrats on taking steps to avoid skin damage.) And you haven't explained how you keep the sun's radiation flowing into your long pips when you play (even though it's hitting it at an angle, thereby losing most of its effect), or why you publicly misquoted me. I'll drop the misquoting issue now, but please don't do it again.
Re: March 30, 2011
In reply to Re: March 30, 2011 by Larry Hodges
SPF 55 means that it takes 55 times the time to tan/burn than without it.. This means that if I'm 55 minutes in the sun, I actually only burn like I spent one minute in the sun.. So, if I play 4 hours on a Weekend day using the SPF 55, it's like spending just over 4 minutes in the sun without sunblock. 4 minutes are really not enough to get tan...
Re: March 30, 2011
In reply to Re: March 30, 2011 by pushblocker
The problem is that with the sun hitting your paddle at an extreme angle, it's going to take a HUGE amount of hours to have a major effect. Remember, we're talking about sunlight coming down on your paddle at a rather extreme angle, unless you spend your playing time pointing your paddle into the sky for some reason. I just don't see how the sun can have such a major effect on it like that, unlike the handy sun lamp you say you have but don't use on your own tournament rubbers, though you do on others.
It's rather coincidental that you openly use a sun lamp to create and sell frictionless long pips, claim you don't use them yourself, but just happen to play outdoors in the sun all the time and so the sun supposedly also makes your long pips frictionless despite the angle it's coming down at, while of course not being out there long enough to get a tan, while denying that exposing your racket to direct sunlinght for long periods of time is treating the rubber in any way even though it apparently greatly affects its characteristics. Sorry, I just don't buy all this, or the whole "The sun did it!" supposed loophole to allow you to use frictionless long pips. But we're going nowhere on this, and I'm leaving for the North American Championships soon, so I'll drop this for now.
Re: March 30, 2011
A little off topic perhaps, but another nice way to see how the game changed so radically from the 70s to the 90s is to watch the best of Waldner DVD set. The footage of the matches between the early 80s and the early 90s is like watching two different games.
Re: March 30, 2011
In reply to Re: March 30, 2011 by david.bernstein
It's completely on topic, and you're right that watching Waldner is an excellent way to watch how the sport has evolved. The biggest difference is in backhand play, from flatter backhands like Waldner's and Persson's to the modern almost-everyone-backhand-loops-everything game. I may write an article on that.