Table tennis club? We've got one, and they're good

The Princeton University Table Tennis Club is reestablishing the name of table tennis here at the University as well as in the wider community.

Several years ago, the participation in the club was limited, but under the current leadership of Ivan Bútora '05, club president, and Jason Cherry '06, club vice-president, the club has six tables, used Wednesday and Friday nights by undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff and community members.

The club is also currently seeking new members.

Princeton, a member of the Mid-Atlantic division of the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association, hosted a regional NCTTA meet attended by four other schools — Johns Hopkins, Penn, Penn Stat, and Washington College — last weekend.

The Princeton A team, which consisted of highly skilled players Ram Rangan GS, Jason Cherry '06, Mike Hsu '07 and Adam Berman GS, defeated Washington College and Penn State but fell to Penn and Johns Hopkins. Princeton will need to beat the Quakers and the Blue Jays at the next meet, held in February, in order to earn a trip to sunny Palo Alto, Calif. to play in the nationals held at Stanford.

In addition to competing with other schools, the club has hosted two open tournaments in 2003, the most recent one two weeks ago in Dillon.

"Having our own tournaments has increased the number of students at our club this year," Cherry said. "We have a strong core of trained players, as well as some intermediate players who are looking to improve their games. With the robot we just purchased, we hope to bring beginners up to a fairly advanced level."

The robot of which Cherry speaks is an automaton, much like one used by tennis players, which, when set to a specific speed and spin, serves balls to an awaiting player. The machine is used weekly in practice, and the dividends are paying off.

Club practices, held on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. and Friday at 8 p.m. for the remainder of the semester in the aerobics room in Dillon Gym, are open to both undergraduate and graduate students of all skill levels. More information about the club can be found at the team's website: www.princeton.edu/~puttc.