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Japanese rule Large Ball Ping-Pong Tournament
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Posted on Oct 12 2008
The visiting Japanese players dominated the Large Ball Ping-Pong Tournament held at the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino Friday night.
Based on the partial results provided to the Saipan Tribune, the Sumio Yamamoto-led squad won the one-day team event and the Horoyuki Abe-anchored team placed third. Saipan finished second.
Official scores were unavailable at press time.
Yamamoto and Abe were among the 10 Japanese who arrived on Saipan Friday afternoon to compete in the tournament on Tinian. Joining them were Kimiko Koike, Kimiko Konishi, Masayuki Murai, Yasuko Murai, Junko Kahamura, Akita Kyoko, Mitsuko Yamaguchi, Terumi Morino, and Takashi Sawada.
Abe was an Asian Games gold medalist and won a bronze medal in the World Championship. He and partner Seiji Ono claimed the gold medal in the doubles event in the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, India. In 1983, the 53-year old Japanese teamed up anew with Ono and they notched a bronze medal in the World Championship in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Abe won these medals when he played with the regular ping-pong ball. As he grows older, he shifted to large ball ping-pong and won several tournaments in Japan.
A Large Ball tournament uses a 44mm ball which slows down the game significantly. This has seen some acceptance by players who have a hard time with the extreme spins and speeds of the 40 mm ball.
Yamamoto is also a household name in Japan as far as table tennis is concerned. He was once the No.1 tennis player in high school and a frequent competitor in various Japan-wide tournaments.
On Tinian, the Japanese formed their own team with three members each and squared off with Saipan, Guam, and Tinian ping-pong players.
Saipan, Guam, and Tinian bets stayed at the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino until yesterday for the 10th Annual Goodwill Table Tennis Tournament.
Budhi Gurung, Jean Shi, and Su Yong Dong represented Saipan in the weekend tournament, while Guam had a lone player in table tennis instructor Hisamitsu Hamamoto.
Tinian had Mark Ma, Charlie Cheng, and brothers Robin and Luke Lu.
Marianas Amateur Table Tennis Association organized the Large Ball tournament and the goodwill meet.
