The May 3 & 4 Loopalalooza drew 47 players from North & South Carolina,
Virginia, Georgia & Kentucky. We had the strongest group of 1900+ players
ever, 12 in all. This meant good competition & opportunity for all.
While we all enjoy watching 2400+ players battle at a higher level than
we will ever attain, I was tired of those players entering & winning our
Open events barely breaking a sweat with no real challenge on the way to
the final. This time there were no easy matches. Even the 1700 & 1800 players
could not be overlooked. While 2099 Pablo Perez & 2089 DJ Settle were the
favorites, and did well, they were both upset along the way.
Newsflash: Running a 2 star usatt sanctioned tournament will not make you popular.
Even though I spent time over the last few weeks leading up to the tournament
reminding all about service & other rules, It did little good.
Those with bad habits continued their evil ways leading to more warnings &
confrontations than we have ever had at previous events.
Everyone take note: You are expected to know & follow the rules when participating
in any usatt sanctioned event. It is the referee's/umpires job to enforce the rules,
not take time out to teach them to you during a match.
1. Just because others are not serving "perfectly" does not give you an excuse to
do the same or worse. The fact that you know your serve is illegal makes you a cheat.
2. Just because other tournaments are less strict does not give you an excuse to
act the same everywhere else. Just wait until you decide to go to the US Open
or Nationals, you will be glad you came prepared.
3. Earn your points with your racket, not attitude.
When intense personalities collide, a match can degenerate to shouting & unacceptable
behavior disrupting other matches as well.
Take a lesson from the pros & be the bigger man.
Unless you are down at the end of the deciding game, it's just a point.
Arguing about a ball hitting the edge or side for more than 10 seconds is a waste.
Without an umpire there is no way to absolutely decide, so just play it over.
No need to get heated or personal.
4. If you anticipate a real problem, call an umpire. If you find players are calling
umpires often on you, you just might be the problem.
Play hard, play to win, above all, play like an umpire is there & the cameras are on.
Better to lose with the respect of all than win by being a thug.
We try to teach our juniors to win & lose graciously, take a lesson.
Format was the same for all RR events: groups of 3 or 4 advancing the winner to
single elimination. All matches 3/5.
Saturday Events
U800 RR
David James, Khang Vu & Jeffrey Ashkin.
James won the event 2-0, his developing strokes just shy of breaking out of this
novice division (coached by 2000+ Ty Petty); Khang Vu the youngest of the tournament
just tall enough to see the ball coming (coached by father & brother to surely be a
force in years to come); & unrated Jeffrey Ashkin bringing in a surprising performance
with good serves, strong forehand & fearless optimism. A great example of a beginning
junior with great potential without the aid of high level coaching. Reinforce good
technique in a novice & the skys the limit.
Trophies for all.
U1200 RR
Group 1
Christian Amidi advanced over unrated (lucky for him) Ken Ashkin, David James & Khoa Vu.
Group 2
Bill Englebreth advanced over Khoa Vu, David Roddick & Jeff Ashkin.
Final
Christian Amidi won over Bill Englebreth 10,5,-9,8.
Great come back in the 1st game from 7-1. Amidi was focused & relentless in his attack,
& on the verge of taking on & conquering the next level.
1st & 2nd place trophies.
U1450 RR
Group 1
Aleksey Vodopyanov advanced 4-0 over Mike Stroupe, Bill Englebreth, Ken Ashkin (2nd)
&Khoa Vu & David James.
Group 2
Joel Mitchell advanced over Andy Bain, unrated Christian Flohr, Christian Amidi &
David Roddick.
Final
Mitchell over Vodopyanov 6,9,-1,5.
1st & 2nd place trophies.
U1700 RR
Group 1
Russell Buxton over fellow Brit David England & Aleksey Vodopyanov.
Group 2
John Pahl over Mike Stroupe & Christian Amidi.
Group 3
Eric Bailey over Armadillo Auriemmo & Joel Mitchell.
Group 4
Mike Wetmore upset Blair Wilson & Christian Flohr.
Semi Finals
Bailey over Pahl (again) -9,9,-8,8,9.
Buxton over Wetmore 8,8,9.
Final
Russell Buxton over Eric Bailey 9,9,-9,-8,8.
1st place $80, 2nd $40.
U 2000 RR
Group 1
Elias Gomez (1729) advanced in a 3 way tie over Usher Huang (1946) & Ray Filz (1759).
Joel Mitchell came in 4th.
Group 2
Salil Surendran (1721) advanced & upset Uko Apbanmbak (1929), Ling Fan (1770) &
Mike Wetmore.
Group 3
Min Xu advanced over Heiko Plankenhorn, Russell Buxton & John Pahl.
Group 4
Edem Komlanvi advanced over Tom Miller, Eric Bailey & Aleksey Vodopyanov.
Group 5
Van Vuadvanced over Stan Gee, Blair Wilson &Armadillo Auriemmo.
1/4 Final
Van Vu over Edem Komlanvi 12,11,-6,-7,9.
Semi Finals
Min Xu over Salil Surendran 8,11,-4,10.
Elias Gomez over Van Vu 10,-5,10,-5,4.
Final
Min Xu (1929) over Elias Gomez (1729) -9,8,9,-10,7.
1st $100, 2nd $60.
U2800 Doubles
Ty Petty/David James over John Pahl/Khoa Vu -9,-8,8,7,9.
As long as James could return serve & keep the ball in play, Petty was able to
finish with 2000+ loops & counters.
U3300 Doubles
Sunday Events
U1900 RR
Group 1
Elias Gomez advanced over Salil Surendran & Armadillo Auriemmo.
Group 2
Van Vu advanced over Marcel Frotscher & Ira Goodman.
Group 3
Stan Gee advanced over Gyver Huang (ur/est 1750), Yishan Zhao (1673)& John Pahl (1477).
Pahl upset Huang & Zhao.
Group 4
Tom Miller over Ray Filz & Mike Wetmore.
Group 5
Heiko Plankenhorn over Ling Fan, Eric Bailey & Tim Hoagland.
1/4 Final
Miller over PLankenhorn 6,-9,-8,10,4.
Semi Final
Miller over Gomez 9,8,7.
Vu over Gee 9,4,4.
Final
Tom Miller over Van Vu 8,8,7.
1st $100, 2nd $60.
U2100 RR
Group 1
Pablo Perez over Stan Gee, Marcel Frotscher & Gyver Huang.
Group 2
DJ Settle over Le Ly, Ray Filz & John Pahl.
Group 3
Chris Obrian over Van Vu, Ling Fan & Tim Hoagland.
Group 4
Jim Mcqueen over Guido Schnabel, Heiko Plankenhorn & Armadillo Auriemmo.
Group 5
Amir amidi over Min Xu, Tom Miller & Mike Wetmore.
Group 6
Petro stirbu over Usher Huang, Salil Surendran & Eric Bailey.
Group 7
A 3 way tie advanced Corey MvElveen over Uko Akpanmbak & Yishan Zhao.
Elias Gomez 4th.
1/4 Finals
McQueen over Amidi 10,-6,8,-5,8.
Stirbu over Obrian -11,4,6,10.
Settle over McElveen 8,5,11.
Semi Finals
Perez over McQueen -8,6,7,8.
Stirbu over Settle 8,8,7.
Final
Pablo Perez over Petro stirbu 8,2,-11,6.
In the 3rd game, Perez led 10-6, Stirbu then served a trick underspin serve, almost
as if giving up, in which the ball spun back to his own side untouched by Perez.
This seemed to give him new life & ran out the game.
The 4th was much the same as the 1st two with Perez in control.
1st $100, 2nd $60.
Open Single Elimination
Round of 16
Pablo Perez over Tom Miller 3-1; Uko Akpanmbak over Min Xu 3-2;
Amir Amidi over Le Ly 3-1; Jim McQueen over Van Vu 3-0;
Chris OBrian over Ray Filz 301; Usher Huang over Guido Schnabel 3-2;
Corey McElveen over Petro Stirbu 3-0; DJ Settle over Heiko Plankenhorn 3-0.
1/4 Finals
Pablo Perez over Amir Amidi 3-0; Jim McQueen over Uko Akpanmbak 3-2;
Chris OBrian over Usher Huang 3-2.
Semi Finals
Jim McQueen (1964) over Pablo Perez (2099) 8,-9,9,9.
Perez' only loss this day, McQueen wore him down with steady patient safe play.
He must have learned something from his loss earlier, or Perez was just a little
tired unable to capitalize on opportunities.
DJ Settle (2089) over Chris OBrian (1983) -7,9,9,8.
Settle is a slow starter, evident in this & the next match. Maybe he doesn't feel the
motivation until his opponent gives him an 0-1 wake up call. These 2 know each other
well, no surprises, not fooled by serves, just straight up attack at 1st chance.
Final
DJ Settle over Jim McQueen -2,8,9,8.
MCqueen even admitted to being in trouble after winning the 1st game at 2.
Settle was downright lethargic in the 1st game, getting to the ball too late to
execute a great shot. McQueen will return a good shot every time, you need great
shots to keep him on his heels.
This semi humilation did the trick; Settle chastised himself on the sidelines enough
to stir his winning spirit & played games 2,3 & 4 like a champ, hitting winners from
both wings, 2,3 & 4 volleys when necessary without flinching, without missing much,
as if the 1st game never happened.
He will surely be able to jump to that next level when he can get over his 1st game
lack of concentration/motivation.
$150 1st; $80 2nd.
U3800 Doubles
In the end it was Jim McQueen/Tom Miller over Chris Obrian/Ling Fan 3-2.
$100 1st, $60 2nd.
