Tinian wins goodwill ping-pong

Tinian ping-pong players didn’t exactly play perfect hosts to their counterparts from Saipan last weekend in the 2005 CNMI Friendship Cup Invitational Table Tennis Tournament held at the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino.

In what is quickly turning into a recurring theme in the ping-pong series between the two islands, players from the island made famous as the takeoff point of the Enola Gay defeated a team from the Marianas Amateur Table Tennis Association at the hotel’s spacious ballroom.

Although, two members of the CNMI National Table Tennis Team powered the Saipan delegation, Tinian ably defended home turf winning in a score of 18-7 and taking 57 of the 90 sets played. The gaming capital of the Marianas also won the three previous head-to-head matches against Saipan.

Chang Zhan Xue led the way for Tinian, as the former Chinese national team trainee posted a perfect 5-0 win-loss record in the tournament. Liang Wei Bin was next in the standings with a 4-1 card, followed by Charlie Cheng and Robin Lu with identical 3-1 marks. Bright Liu filled in admirably as a substitute and came away with a perfect 2-0 record, while the team’s elder statesmen, Alfred Yue, fought hard but finished with a 0-5 performance.

The losses sustained by Liang, Cheng, and Lu were all courtesy of Saipan’s vastly improved Su Yong Dong. The 36-year-old chef of Millennium Restaurant was the most successful player from MATTA in the tournament and accounted for four wins against a single loss.

The national team member’s only setback came against Chang, who arguably was the tournament’s best player. Su’s teammate in the national team, Budhi Gurung, meanwhile had a nightmarish tournament, as an elbow injury limited him to just three games, where he only won once.

Mario Espeleta (1-4), Huang Zhenfa (1-4), Steve Lim (1-4), and Guang Qiang Xi (0-2) were the other members of the Saipan team.

Overall, Lim said even though they lost, they came home from Tinian a better team and the national players more equipped to battle the region’s heavyweights in the 2005 South Pacific Mini Games in Palau.

“Morale was good, Tinian was good. The revelation was Su was able to improve because he was able to beat Charlie Cheng, who defeated him in the past. Though it was tight, in the end Su came out ahead. So, that was very encouraging. Budhi was hampered by his elbow injury. He would have played better if not for the slight tennis elbow. He actually had to ask for a substitute, as Guang from Guangdong substituted for Budhi for two games. Budhi just couldn’t play through the pain anymore,” said Lim, who will be coaching the national ping-pong team in Palau.

Espeleta shared Lim’s assessment and is also optimistic that MATTA players would be able to compete well in Koror because of the experience they gained from last weekend.

“We lost 18-7. Tinian is a very strong and consistent team. As I expected, Su Dong was remarkable for Saipan as he beat Charlie [Cheng]. Budhi [Gurung] was not at his peak as he had elbow problems. Steve [Lim] and I had identical records beating Alfred [Yue]. I hope this experience will bring our Mini Games delegates a good sense of preparation and focus to get medals,” he said.