Tinian renews ping-pong dominance

Top guns Luke Lu and Charlie Chen were flawless Sunday and led their Tinian team to victory against Saipan in the 3rd Saipan-Tinian Goodwill Table Tennis Tournament at the Northern Marianas College Gymnasium.

Lu and Chen both dominated and breezed through the competition for six wins apiece while not even dropping a match to finish in a tie for first place in the individual competition.

The tie forced Marianas Amateur Table Tennis Association officials Mario Espeleta and Budhi Gurung to turn to their quotient system, and after reviewing all the matches played by both players, determined that Lu was champion and Chen was first runner-up.

“We took all the matches into consideration, and on one match, Charlie had to play four sets to win, which means he lost a set,” Espeleta said. “As for Luke, he didn’t drop a set throughout the entire tournament.”

Despite having his way and turning back the opposition, Lu still took time to credit the Saipan team for improving their game.

“I played okay, but I feel that the Saipan team improve a lot since last year,” he said.

The Saipan delegation didn’t go home empty handed as Gurung bagged the third place trophy. Gurung and teammate Su Yong Dong were tied with four wins apiece in the tournament, however, the quotient system determined Gurung as the winner. Both players were part of the bronze medal team that competed in the Palau South Pacific Mini Games.

Saipan came back strong in the doubles competition and took top honors as Gurung and Su Dong joined forces for first place, while Espeleta and Constantino Pobre placed second. Lu brothers Luke and Robin of Tinian placed third.

Tinian Dynasty & Casino assistant chairman Liang Weibin, also a member of the Tinian delegation, explained that the tournament promotes friendship among the two groups and that he is already looking forward to future tournaments.

“It feels wonderful,” he said. “What is important is to move the local ping-pong improvement and emphasize how important team work is besides improving skills. The relationship between us is wonderful…we’re sharing opinions about skills and feelings about ping-pong and it’s just wonderful.”

Champion Lu also stressed similar thoughts, adding that players from both groups improve because of the exchange of ideas between the two delegations.

“We love this kind of tournament very much because it gives us a chance to learn many new things and new skills for ping-pong and also we can meet new friends even with different nationalities, so we’re happy,” he said.

The tournament was sponsored by Transamerica Corp. and Pacific Trading Co.