 "Photo: Nicholas Brasowski")
The Rutgers Table Tennis Club will swing away Saturday as it competes in the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association’s spring regional tournament at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.
The team has its sights set on placing first in the tournament and advancing in April’s national tournament as it squares off against No. 1-ranked Columbia University.
Club Vice President Kenneth So said Columbia is one of the team’s biggest rivals.
Still, members are confident in their ability to be victorious next week in New York.
“I think we definitely have the chance to win it all,” said Stephen Le, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student.
Club President Judy Hugh said she initially felt uneasy about the year.
“I had low expectations,” said Hugh, a School of Arts and Sciences junior.
But the team’s performance proved Hugh wrong.
The club is coming off a successful 2009 season, where Hugh won the Women’s Singles Championship. For her, table tennis is not just a hobby — it is her life. She travels to China every summer to train with the women’s national team.
“[The Chinese national team] trains 6 hours a day, six days a week and play a little bit on Sunday,” Hugh said. “But that’s why they’re the best.”
Hugh, whose mother is a two-time Olympian, tried out for the 2004 and 2008 Olympics but was cut in the final round of tryouts.
“I want to go to the Olympics at least once,” she said. “2012 is my best shot. After that, I’ll be too old,”
School of Arts and Sciences junior Khaled Elfarra said he was not expecting much from the club at first either but now comes to practice with the determination to compete nationally.
“I joined just to get a break from classes, just to come here and have fun,” he said. “Everyone here is just so good that they make you better.”
Elfarra, who was among the Junior League top 16 in his home country of Egypt, gave up table tennis when he moved to the United States in 2002 but picked it up again once he enrolled in college.
But he is not the only member who started playing at a young age. Le chalks up his success to being introduced to the sport early.
“[Starting young] was definitely a big advantage,” Le said. “I’ve been playing since I was 8 years old.”
Stephen Zhao, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student, heard about the group and joined after not playing since middle school.
“For a lot of us, it’s just fun competition,” he said, while helping new club members with their swing at practice. “Making regionals is pretty big, but the goal is definitely making nationals.”
At practice Zhao, like most members, spends most of his time playing a teammate and the rest helping others.
Hugh, on the other hand, does all of that and puts in time volleying against the table tennis robot Newgy Robo-Pong 2040 on one of its highest settings.
With a look of determination on her face, Hugh returned every ball the robot shot at her with ease. She did not miss one.
The club went through a major rebuilding period at the beginning of the season, So said. Of the team’s top four players last year, three graduated.
So, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, understands the importance of the tournament in achieving the team’s goal at the tournament.
“It all comes down to spring regionals,” he said. “We have to place first or get a wild card spot.”
Whatever the outcome this weekend, Elfarra said the future is bright for this young club only in its 10th year of existence.
“Next year we [will be] looking even better,” he said. “We’re just going to keep on getting better and better from now on.”
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