Charlotte Planet Suzuki 2 Star Open John Pahl
44 players rated 400-2026 played in 6 events in this 2 star tournament
sponsored by Planet suzuki, Champion sportswear, Paddle Palace and Stiga.
Lots of matches for everyone, truly testing the endurance of the winners
of each event. The U1400, u1700 & U2000 events started with a 4 man round
robin. The winner of each group advanced to a stage 2 single elimination
match. These 3 winners played a final round robin group of 3.
There were also Open & U1850 single elimination events to round out the day
as well as an U3700 doubles round robin.
Every entrant averaged 7-8 singles matches, with many advancing to play more
at every level. Those who advanced in more than 1 event showed heart &
determination playing 10+ matches.
Under 1000 RR
This rapidly improving group of 7 played a round robin on 2 tables with TP Lee
keeping score. This may well be Elias Gomez jr's last U1000 event, as he went
6-0 to improve upon his 838 rating. Unrated Jack Liang from Virginia came
in 2nd with our own Sean Langston taking 3rd to give them their 1st rating.
Thomas Diller was 4th followed by Tom Simpson, Khoa Vu & Christian Amidi.
Under 1400 RR
Group 1:
David England won 3-0 over all his opponents with Keith Newman coming in 2nd,
Stuart Diller 3rd, Sean Langston 4th & Tom Simpson 5th.
Group 2:
Daniel Espejel also won 3-0 over all his opponents with Chris Saade 2nd,
Arun Tramalingam 3rd, Thomas Diller 4th & Christian Amidi 5th.
Group 3:
Eric Bailey won 3-0 over his opponents leaving John Griffing 2nd (2-0), Elias
Gomez jr 3rd (1-2) & Jack Liang 4th.
Final RR:
Previously unrated Eric Bailey won 1st & $40 in the u1400's with wins over Daniel
Espejel & David England. Espejel came in 2nd over England.
Under 1700 RR
Group 1:
Top seed Rick Thigpen won this group with wins over unrated Herbert Mueller &
I-should-know-better-than-play-my-own-tournament John Pahl.
Group 2:
1353 David England was able to step up his level of play with the first major
upset of the day with a 3-0 record over 1531 Vik Shukla & 1676 Tim Hoagland &
Stuart Diller.
Group 3:
Yuri Godin squeaked past unrated Thao Ngo after losing the first 2 games with
2-1 wins against Daniel Espejel & Chris Saade as well. Ngo came in 2nd, Espejel
3rd & Saade 4th.
Group 4:
David Pannell, John Nagel & John Griffing all had 2-1 records with John Nagel
& David Pannell tying the win/loss ratio as well, but Nagel getting 1st place
head to head. Keith Newman rounded out the group at 4th place.
Group 5:
Richard Ilson won 3-0 over Eric Bailey, Mike Dorman and Arun Tramalingam. Bailey
ended up 2nd, Dorman 3rd & Tramalingam 4th.
Stage 2:
Rick Thigpen earned a bye to the final RR group of 3.
Richard Ilson beat Dave England 3-0 & Yuri Godin did the same with John Nagel.
Final RR:
Yuri Godin won 3-1 over Ilson & 3-0 over Thigpen for 1st place & $80.
Ilson won 3-1 over Thigpen for 2nd & $50, leaving Rick 3rd & $30.
Under 2000 RR
Group 1:
Top seed 1985 Norbert Herfert won 3-0 over 1734 Mike Robinson & 1531 Vik Shukla
but stumbled against 1735 Bilal soylu, losing the first 2 games but eventually
winning -6,-5,5,8,8. Robinson came in 2nd with wins over Soylu & Shukla with
Soylu taking 3rd.
Group 2:
2nd big upset of the day here with 1744 Stephen Dreyfus antispinning 1964 Van Vu
into submission 8,-7,5,-9,10. Wins over 1728 Heiko Plankenhorn & unrated but
dangerous Thao Ngo earned him 1st place.
Group 3:
1957 Tim Connelly (remember that name) had a 3-2 hard time against 1794 Elias
Gomez sr but won with wins over 1701 Tom Miller & 1574 John Nagel as well.
Gomez, Miller & Nagel all went 1-2 with Nagel ending up 2nd, Miller 3rd &
Gomez 4th.
Group 4:
More upsets with 1921 Chris OBrian losing to 1829 Ira Goodman & 1695 Chris
Wellman. Goodman won over Wellman as well but lost to 1588 Mike Dorman, but
still claimed 1st place. Wellman came in 2nd, OBrian 3rd & Dorman 4th.
Group 5:
No upset here but there were hard matches & close calls. 1916 Giancarlo Anselmo
won but battled 4,2,-3,-11,10 over 1860 Amir Amidi. Amidi won but battled
8,-12,5,-10,10 over 1657 Richard Ilson. Ilson won 3-1 over 1694 Rick Thigpen
as well. Anselmo advanced with 1st place 3-0, Ilson was 2nd, Amidi 3rd &
Thigpen 4th.
Group 6:
1892 Edem Komlanve earned 1st place but had to fight 8,7,-7,-9,9 over 1876
Simon Brain. 1676 Tim Hoagland managed a game against him but no more once he
got into his groove. David Pannell stole 2nd place from Tim Hoagland with a
3-1 win.
Stage 2:
Norbert Herfert usually uses his combination inverted/long pips & pick hits to
frustrate his opponents, but Edem Komlanve was having none of it today winning
9,14,7. Giancarlo Anselmo also disrespected Stephen Dreyfus' antispin & push
game powering to a 6,9,6 win. Tim Connelly dropped 1 game to Ira Goodman on his
way to the final 3.
Final RR:
Tim Connelly prevailed but not without a real fight. Both matches went 5 games
and both times he was down 1-2. Another combination rubber player, Connelly is
usually content to let his opponents lose by returning everything they can fire
at him Seemiller style. He is a wall. Both proved the wall has some holes, but
these 2 loopers seemed to hit most shots down the middle to his strength.
Komlanve won over Anselmo 11,9,9.
1st place $ $150 to Tim Connelly; 2nd place and $90 to Komlanve; 3rd place &
$50 to Anselmo.
Open Single Elimination
This event had a 1400 minimum to make it more competetive leaving 20 players
signed up with prize money for the final two. Top seed 2020 DJ settle cruised
through the preliminary matches as did 1957 Tim Connelly. 1707 Tom Miller put
Settle to the test 8,-4,-7,8,4 but fell short. Settle then avenged a loss from
a previous tournament against 1985 Norbert Herfert 10,7,7. Tim Connelly was
tested against 1964 Van Vu 10,7,-9,-9,5. The final match was more of the Tim
Connelly show as he dismantled Settle 3-1.
$80 to Connelly & $50 to settle.
Under 1850 Single Elimination
Top seed 1829 Ira Goodman & 2nd seed 1792 Elias Gomez sr each played 4 matches
before getting to the final of this 16 man single elimination event. Goodman
won at 6,8,8 to earn the $50.
Upsets along the way included 1574 John Nagel over 1695 Chris Wellman, 1707
Tom Miller won over 1735 Bilal Soylu & 1588 Mike Dorman over 1676 Tim Hoagland.
Under 3700 Doubles
12 doubles teams played 4 groups of 3 RR. The 4 semi final teams were
Connelly/Dorman vs Settle/Nagel & Henry/Yen vs OBrian/Clifton.
The final match of the day had DJ settle & John Nagel win over Larry Yen &
Henry 3-2 to claim the $60 winner take all prize.
