The last Charlotte tournament before summer heat kicks in went well.
Conditions were definitely on the hot side, not as brutal as mid summer heat,
but hot, humid & sweaty none the less. There were some complaints, mostly
from players having no dry clothing left. Yet most still had a fun challenging
weekend. Even if we had air conditioning, some will still look for reasons to
whine; the Team tournament in Baltimore is a major 5 star event, yet most have
to play on concrete floor with no barriers between tables. It's always something.
Maybe we will plan next years spring tournament 3 weeks earlier.
Chances will be better for milder weather, but no guarantees.
50 players converged this weekend to participate in 9 events for usatt rating points
as well as over $1000 in prize money.
Along with the Open RR winner Steve Wang, players of note included multiple event
winners Usher Huang, Lars Buchholz & Colton Carter.
Saturday events fell behind schedule due mostly to a few players going awol for
rest breaks when they should have been in the gym playing matches.
The entry form states: "Be prepared to play 2 consecutive matches when necessary".
Most events had preliminay groups of 4, which means 2 players will have to play
2 consecutive matches. Of course a short 2 minute break is allowed to towel off, etc,
but disappearing for 1/2 hour & demanding the other players adjust the order is
selfish & unacceptable behavior when it affects the whole tournament.
If you can not play 2 consecutive matches, it is a matter of conditioning & you may
want to reevaluate your choice of sports. Maybe knitting is more for you.
The Open RR format keeps evolving & I think we have a winner:
Preliminary round = 8 groups of 4.
All players advance to round 2.
Top 2 players from preliminary round groups advance to Class A, 4 groups of 4 RR.
Top 2 from these 4 groups advance to Championship Single Elimination.
Bottom 2 advance to Class A Single Elimination.
3rd place from Preliminary Round advance to Class B, 2 groups of 4 RR.
Winners of these groups play for 1st place (Class B)
4th place from Preliminary Round advance to Class C (RR or Se depending on #)
This format gave most players at least 6 quality matches as opposed to a
Giant Round Robin that pairs the top & bottom seeds, sometimes with a thousand
point difference: pointless.
Saturday Events
U1200 RR
2 groups of 4 RR advanced the only 3 rated players to the finals.
1st Place: Troy Davis ($20)
2nd Place: Ron Kaufman($10)
3rd place: Jesse Pahl
Davis' looping practice paid off. Kaufman couldn't stop him even with Anti on 1 side,
& long pips on the other.
U1500 RR
5 groups of 4 advanced the top 2 from each group to Single Elimination.
Semi Finals
1497 Lars Buchholz over 1303 Christian Flohr -10,5,-2,7,5.
1337 Mike Stroupe over 1206 Sattanathan Rajaram 4,6,7.
Final
Lars Buchholz over Mike Stroupe 4,8,-6,9.
1st/$60 2nd/$30
U1800 RR
6 groups of 4 advanced the top 2 from each group to Single Elimination.
Preliminary round Upsets
1309 Andy Bain over 1795 Tom Miller 9,6,6.
1436 Elvis Lopez over 1633 Victor Plugovoy -10,-16,7,9,7.
Semi Finals
1497 Lars Buchholz over 1337 Mike Stroupe -11,8,-9,7,5.
1633 Colton Carter over 1746 Michael Adjei 10,-5,-3,14,9.
Final
Colton Carter over Lars Buchholz 8,9,-8,-8,7.
1st/$70 2nd/$35
u2100 RR
5 groups of 4 advanced the top 2 from each group to Single Elimination.
Preliminary round upsets
1879 Uko Marcus over 2005 Jude Lam 7,11,13.
1633 Colton Carter over 1746 Yuri Godin -7,9,7,9.
1889 Jean Perez over 2030 Jim McQueen 7,8,9.
Semi Finals
1933 Usher Huang over 2096 DJ Settle 9,-9,11,9.
1889 Jean Perez over 1795 Tom Miller -8,7,9,-3,6.
Final
Jean Perez over Usher Huang -8,7,5,8.
1st/$80 2nd/$40
U2800 Doubles
8 teams played 2 groups of 4 RR, the top teams meeting in the final.
1st/$60 Heiko Plankenhorn/Ron Kaufman
2nd/$30 Khoa Vu/Christian Amidi
U3600 Doubles
8 teams played 2 groups of 4 RR, the top teams meeting in the final.
Group 1 ended in a 2 way tie,
Usher Huang/John Pahl advanced over Jim McQueen/Israel Dumbuya 3-0.
Group 2 ended in a 3 way tie,
Fan/Godin over Perez/Cruz & Plankenhorn/Colton.
Final
Usher Huang/John(Icanwinwithanyone)Pahl over Ling Fan/Yuri Godin 7,9,-10,9.
1st/$80 2nd/$40
Sunday Events
Open RR
8 groups of 4 advanced the top 2 to Class A, 3rd to Class B, 4th to Class C.
Preliminary round upsets
1795 Tom Miller over 1840 Ling Fan 6,-5,6,7.
1633 Colton Carter over 1841 Elias Gomez 8,-10,7,-9,7.
1879 Uko Marcus over 2005 Jude Lam 6,9,-9,-1,12.
1889 Jean Perez over 2004 Corey McElveen -7,-9,3,10,9.
1633 Colton Carter over 1879 Uko Marcus -4,-9,9,8,8.
1633 Colton Carter over 1795 Tom Miller 8,6,8.
1879 Uko Marcus over 2005 Jude Lam 6,9,-9,-1,12.
1933 Usher Huang over 2096 DJ Settle -9,9,4,8.
1623 Tim Hoagland over 1841 Ling Fan 7,-8,8,-9,9.
Class C Final
1746 Michael Adjei over 1436 Elvis Lopez 8,8,-9,7.
1st/$40
Class B Final
1783 Edem Komlanvi over 1841 Elias Gomez 2,-8,9,5.
1st/40
Class A
Semi Finals
2005 Jude Lam over 1633 Colton Carter 9,7,7.
1902 Van Vu over 1823 Stan Gee -13,3,4,-2,9.
Final
Jude Lam over Van Vu 15,10,-9,-8,8.
1st/$60
Championship
Semi Finals
2302 Steve Wang over 2030 Jim McQueen -10,8,7,8.
1933 Usher Huang over 1889 Jean Perez 7,-6,11,6.
Final
Steve Wang over Usher Huang -5,9,12,-6,3.
Very enjoyable match.
Steve Wang is Charlottes newest & highest rated active player.
His smooth/long pips combination has a purpose & strategy.
They are not just stuck on for a whim.
He can chop & block from both sides, hit with the pips & loop with smooth.
Good serves & serve return complete his game.
If you're going to beat him, it won't be close to the table patient pushes
as Jim Mcqueen found out, he's more patient than you are.
Huang needed to attack, & he did. Virtually no points ended quickly.
The tournament had many 2000 level loopers, the difference here was Huang
was able to read Wangs returns better so he could reloop, smash or push
the proper return. Huang was also able to block most of Wangs attacks.
As matches progress, most players get tired & lazy. Wang was able to adjust
in the final game serving & returning short & safe giving Huang less balls to loop.
He varied the spin more as well as if he had a secret weapon in the last game
not revealed in the first four.
Conditions were hot, Huang played many more matches by this point;
yet looped & looped & kept focus better than the rest.
1st/$200 2nd/$100
U4000 Doubles
8 teams played 2 groups of 4 RR.
Many competetive matches, with the top 2 seeds advancing to the finals:
Jim McQueen/Amir Amidi (3969) over Chris Obrian/Ty Petty (3975) 3-2.
1st/$100 2nd/$60
Open Hardbat
2 groups of 4 advanced top player
Final
Ty Petty over Jim McQueen 3-2
1st/$60 2nd/$30
