Impressions of the Arnold Fitness Expo - Table Tennis Tournaments

By Bill McLaughlin - Cub Reporter, Table Tennis Dayton

COLUMBUS, Ohio - As I circled the area in my trusty Subaru WRX looking for a place to park, I noticed a number of semi-stout, weightlifter wannabe's trudging towards one of the multiple venues that held events pertaining to this year's latest and greatest Arnold Fitness Expo. After squeezing into a metered slot a mere block away - lucky me, I didn't have to fork out a $10 parking charge - I got out and joined the migration towards "The Man". Actually "Ahnold" was there earlier in the day, prior to my arrival, but I wasn't there to see "Ahnie". I was there for a sport not commonly associated with the muscle-bound, steroid-surging, vein-popping, body-slabbed ... women - nevermind the men. I was there for table tennis. You know - small guys, quick, often found in the far east - or so the stereotypes go.

After paying a $10 door fee, i made my way upstairs, and was instantly greeted by the Killerspin supplies booths. They had a table and ping pong robot set up for any and all to try, and were selling various attire and accessories for the table tennis afficionado. I trudged onwards. The door on the right held the 2-man teams, where I found some of the Cincinnati TTC and the Columbus TTC players already in the heat of battle. Interestingly none of the Dayton TTC players were there, though a few - one? - were to be playing the next day. I wasn't there to play, though I brought my trusty hardbat. No, I was there as a spectator, a cub reporter and a photographer, and after taking my first photograph, I looked at my camera's visi-screen and ... DOH! I forgot to charge the @#$! camera battery! A lousy five minutes of juice was all that was left. Nice going, bonehead.

The Cincinnati TTC contingency included their top-rated guy Nick Snider, Larry Hawkins, Charlie Thompson, while the Columbus TTC crowd consisted of 2250ish players Sleiman El-Hallal and Robert Powell and a few other players. The boys and the rest of the players were battling it out in a grueling five match format with all five matches played regardless of the team score, with Player A vs. Player B, Player B vs. Player A, Doubles, Player B vs. Player B and finally Player A vs. Player A. The winners were the proud owners of some rather hefty looking trophies with the usual oddly contorted table tennis "player" perched at the top.

After taking in a bit of this, and snapping one of my few photographs of Dan Seemiller being interviewed by GSN (who?), I trotted over to the next room, where the "Big Boys" were to play, and where ESPN would be taping the proceedings for a future telecast - sometime in April according to one of the ESPN producers. Interestingly, Diego Schaaf was a primary producer for the taped telecast. On a personal note, I used to play Diego back in the late '80s in Alhambra, California. In addition to freelancing as a TV producer, he also runs a table tennis supplies website, Alpha Table Tennis. Diego videotaped some introductory shots, including an "orbit" of two players rallying, while using a wheelchair bound cameraman circling the table. He also took an oblique close-up shot of the net - so look for both in the upcoming telecast.

I sat down with fellow Dayton TTC player George Moses II to watch the first of the televised matches, between Aleksander Karakasevic and Ilija Lupulesku. After the late shuffling in of Expo attendees and some crowd instructions by one of the producers, the match - such as it was - was underway. Both "Karash" and "Lupi" have undoubtedly played each other hundreds of times - one such match also televised by ESPN from a previous Killerspin tournament. The two obviously know each other's game like the back of their backhands. In fact, they know each other too well, as the match never lit a flame of pure competition and instead was a moderately successful exhibition play. Both players never hesitated to back up and institute a lob defense, while the other player "smashed" away. Or they'd set up for a loop to loop rally that would continue until a shot was blown. This may have been exciting for the table tennis neophyte, certainly many of which were in the audience, but a table tennis afficionado could easily detect it as essentially an almost scripted exhibition, if not in some regards, an artifice. There was no sense of urgency or drama from the players, and indeed, after games they would both saunter over to the same coach, each listening to "instructions" together. I personally had never seen that in any tournament, televised or otherwise, and found it interesting and not a little disappointing, as it only furthered my belief that the match was at best an "exhibition" and at worst a sham.

Did the other sports venues have a similar philosophy? Did the weightlifters not try to outlift each other? Did the fencers not try to outduel each other? What of the Gracie World Submission Championships? Were the combatants not trying to take each other out with every fiber of their being? Was the goal of the Killerspin sponsored tournament to put on a "good show", which apparently means "exciting" shot-making, in particular lobs and smashes, and stepping over the barriers to return a drive? Judging by the first match, that's exactly what it was. However disappointed I, or anyone else who could see through this mockery of competition, the general play did promote vocal crowd responses, with roars and "ooohs" and even some loud bantering. A guy behind me took the side of "Karash", exhorting him on, if only to hopefully hear himself on ESPN. Later that same guy got "Lupi" to autograph a ping pong ball, thus so much for his loyalty.

Accepting the premise that the Karasevic/Lupulesku match was an exhibition, designed soley to play to the crowd, both live and televised, on a simplistic level - shotmaking - another problem I found that contradicted that very concept was the respective personalities of the two players. Granted both are from the war-torn region that was formerly Yugoslavia, but if you're going to "play" to the crowd, then at least play! Look like you're having fun. Both players - Lupulesku in particular - are fairly dour. There were many an opportunity to respond to the crowd's "ooooh's" and "ahhh's" and vocal exhortations with not just deeds, but words ... even a smile! But no such glimmer of emotion from the two, as they performed their duties with robot-like precision and personality.

To be fair, the next, and only other match I watched in part, was the Adam Hugh match as he took on Arturo ... er, somebody. Hugh is a 17 yr. old highly ranked junior with whom the crowd fairly connected with in his match against the Central American (now living in Illinois) Arturo. The rallies and "highlight" points were certainly not up to the previous match, though both appeared to be actually trying to win. The final irony for me is, though the two were duking it out with some degree of gusto, if not a super-high level of shot making, I bailed after the 2nd game to watch some of my fellow Ohioans truly giving their all.

All in all, the tournaments were well managed by Event Chairman Charles Hill and his team, with Arnold Expo attendees probably getting their first glimpse of table tennis - if not high caliber competitive table tennis, then fairly high caliber exhibition table tennis. This tournament and others previously broadcasted on ESPN seem to be clear in that they prefer the exhibition style of play versus truly competitive table tennis. The 2006 Arnold Expo is a year away, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see the "same ole same ole" once again.

[Ed. Note: Event Chairman Charles Hill replied to inquiries and this article by stating that the 2006 Arnold Classic Table Tennis show will feature "very REAL matches. The players will be fighting for their pay checks ... so, in a sense it will be "death match" table tennis." Now that sounds like exciting table tennis!]

More photographs found here.