Dayton Giant Round-Robin Open - 'The Battle for the C Notes' Results - 11/6/04

Dayton, OH - Under a clear blue November sky, the Lohrey Center gymnasium was the focal point for 61 players from the surrounding geographical region, including Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio. Dayton Table Tennis Club members James Hamilton, Scott Harris, Ron Joseph, George Moses, Dan Draper and Danny Moses were playing on "home turf" and were collectively determined to defend it with rabid determination.

The players were divided into six groups, with the first place winners taking home $100.00 (hence the title of the tournament), while second and third place received $35 and $15 gift certificates courtesy tournament sponsor Butterfly. Due to their lofty rating status, Group A players vied for the first place prize of $200, with second taking $100 and a $50 gift certificate and 3rd receiving $100. Nine Butterfly tables were in action, perimetered by Butterfly barriers, while ... no surprise ... Butterfly balls were used for the action.

And what action it was! Top seed Chandramouli Shankaren from the Southern Indiana TTA took home all the marbles, nearly sweeping the Group A competition but for the dogged determination of Cincinnati TTC regular, Charlie Peterson. Nick Snider, from the same club, took 2nd place, as he also blew out the competition but for a loss to Shankaren. Dayton TTC regular James Hamilton, the 7th seed, played his usual full-court, "Charlie Hustle" defensive game while power-looping opportunistically but equaled his seeding with a 7th place finish.

Group B saw Amer Shaw of the SITTA sweep the competition to a 9-0 record, while Al Grambo of the TTC of Indianapolis and DTTC's own Mani Antharaman coming in third. The latter two and Babak Fakharpour of Lexington all finished at 7-3, but the results were due to tiebreaker rules.

The Group C had Randy Burnett of the Cincy club take a C note as he had to overcome five grueling five-set matches and three four game matches to finish at 7-2. A three-way tie-break had the Columbus TTC's Qiang Lu and Sharath Adengada finish 2nd and 3rd. DTTC players Scott Harris and Ron Joseph fought well but ended up short in the rankings. Joseph took their one-on-one match adding fuel to their friendly rivalry.

Aron Frank of Lexington beat the ratings odds in his Group D. A 9th place seed did not belie his results, and he finished 8-1, with his single loss coming to 2nd place finisher Scott Rief. DTTC member George Moses finished in 3rd, also at 6-3.

A southern migration by Midland, Michigan player Bence Toth provided him with a sought for C note as his 8-1 thrashing of Group E hurdled him to a first place finish. Toth lost only to 3rd place finisher, DTTC member Dan Draper. Xianchen Bu of Columbus came in second place in Group E.

Group F fought no less fiercely as the other groups and the end result was a three way tie for first place and the last C note. Finishing at 8-1, it was left to the dreaded tie-breaker to clear the fog, and in the end, David Cook took home the greenback. Francis Marcotty and Anthony Miller finished 2nd and 3rd.

With no less than nine matches under every players belt, the partipants left for home with the clear blue sky since replaced by a rising moon and the darkness of night. Some richer in the wallet, and all richer in the partipation of competition. The Dayton Table Tennis Club looks forward to hosting another tournament in the spring of 2005, so clear your calendars.