Bella Livshin and Betty Stein at the Gilbert Center (photo by Mariah Tauger of the LA Times)

Here’s a great article from the June 10 LA Times about the Gilbert Center‘s table tennis program for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. Bella Livshin, Mikhail Zaretsky, and Elie Zainabudinova are also featured prominently in the article.

An excellent program from the Gilbert Center and a great read!

Be sure to check out the South Bay Giant Round Robin Tournament on Sunday, June 5, 2011. Hosted by RoboFit Table Tennis Center in Torrance, the giant round robin format means a lot of quality matches against players of the same level.

If you’ve never played a giant RR tourney before, the way it works is first you play an initial RR group of about four players, then depending on where you finish in that group you advance to a second giant RR group (division A, B, C, etc.). Everyone moves on so everyone gets a lot of playing opportunities. You don’t need to be a USATT member, anyone age 8 or older is eligible.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up today! Here’s all the info:

What: South Bay Giant Round Robin Tournament

When: June 5, 2011
9:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Where: RoboFit Table Tennis Center
1513 W. Sepulveda Blvd., Unit A
Torrance, CA 90501
Map

Registration Deadline: June 3, 2011

Registration Fees: $35 for adults / $25 for juniors (age 8 to 17)

Entry Form: Printable

The Long Beach Table Tennis Club is one of the longest running table tennis clubs in the country (not to mention an LATTF participant since the first season). They’re holding a great one-day tournament, the 4th Annual Fred Martin Memorial Tournament, Saturday, May 21, 2011.

With singles and doubles events and events for different skill levels, it’s got something for everyone. Plus, since it’s not USATT-sanctioned you don’t need to be a USATT member to play. So check it out and sign-up today.

What: 4th Annual Fred Martin Memorial Tournament

When: May 21, 2011
9:00 AM to 7:00 PM (individual event times vary)

Where: Long Beach Table Tennis Club (location and map)

Registration Deadline: May 17, 2011

Entry Form

The annual Golden Western Open tournament is coming up March 26-27 at Santa Monica College. If you’ve played any league matches at SMC, you know they’ve got a great venue with tons of space and great lighting. An ideal place for one of the most popular tournaments in Southern California. So don’t miss it!

Here’s all the info:

What: Golden Western Open

When: March 26 and 27
individual event times vary, check the website for details

Where: Santa Monica College (Pavilion Gym)
1900 Pico Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90405
View Map

Entry Form: On Website

How to Enter: Contact Dr. Ichiro Hashimoto by phone (818) 700-0948
or email ichiro.hashimoto@csun.edu

The Spring 2011 Season of the LATTF team league gets underway Saturday, March 5th.

It’s shaping up to be a great season with several new clubs participating, and a bunch of new and returning players.

While I’m sure everyone’s excited to get out there and play some table tennis, a few tips to help the league run smoothly:

1. Know the rules (no, there won’t be a quiz, but it’s still important)
2. Check the schedule for your division. Show up 30 min. before the scheduled match time to warm-up (you want to play your best, right?)
3. Wear your team uniform (that way you’ll look all snazzy in your team photo for each match, plus it’s required, see #1).
4. Home team: Print out a blank team contest scoresheet and bring it to the match. Instructions for how to play the team contest are at the bottom (now how to win on the other hand, is up to you).
5. Home team captain: submit the results of the team contest within 24 hours (yes, even if your team loses). Be sure to take some photos at the match so you’ll have something to submit.
6. Everyone: Play hard and have FUN!!! (this one is mandatory).

Registration deadline extended! Hurry and sign-up your team today!

Registration is now open for the Spring 2011 Season (season runs from March until early June):

• $150 per team
• February 1 registration deadline Deadline extended to February 8
• Register online (or if you prefer, you could mail a printed entry form instead)

Registration is usually handled by the team captain after getting approval from your home club owner (for more guidance on putting together a team see how to participate).

New to the league? See how the league works for all the details.

Need a team? If you want to play, but need a team, get help finding some teammates.

Team Roster Rules:

• Team rosters must have a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 players.
• All players must have a tournament or league rating as of 2/8/2011 (highest of the two used for players with both).
• Maximum rating difference between players on team cannot exceed 300 points (500 points for teams with rating average above 2300 or below 1000).
• Youth division players must be 14 or younger as of 1/1/2011.

Questions?

Contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

After an excellent season of great playing and challenges galore the time has come for LATTF to present some prizes to the 1st and 2nd place teams from each division. Everyone that participated in the Fall 2010 Season is invited (you don’t have to have won anything).

There will be FREE FOOD and it should be fun and relaxing after a competitive season. Feel free to bring a guest as well. Please come and hang out with all the league players from all the divisions at the Fall Season Awards Banquet.

Hope to see everyone there. Here are all the details:

What: End of Season Awards Banquet
(for all Fall season participants, volunteers, and club representatives)

When: January 29, 2011 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM

Where: USA Valley Table Tennis Club (Mary’s club in Reseda)

RSVP: Let us know if you’re coming by January 22nd. Please also indicate if you’re bringing a guest.

The team from the India Community Center in Milpitas, CA defeated the best teams from leagues around the country to capture their second straight team league national championship. In the final they defeated the team from the Maryland Table Tennis Center 5-2.

LATTF second place finisher Seagulls (Gilbert TTC) lost a close match in the quarterfinals 5-3 to the New York Table Tennis Club (NYTTC). NYTTC was led by current national team member Shao Yu, who won his 3 singles matches in the best of 9 singles format. In what proved to be the turning point of the team contest, Edward Ko (NYTTC) narrowly defeated Tim Nasseir (Gilbert TTC) at deuce in the fifth, to tie things up at 3 apiece. NYTTC won the next two matches to secure the win.

In the semifinals, LATTF Division 1 champion Valley Boys (USA Valley TTC) were defeated by the team from the Maryland Table Tennis Center, 5-1. The Maryland team was led by four-time national champion Cheng Yinghua. Ben Johnson defeated youngster John Hsu in the second match to even the team contest at 1-1, after which things went downhill for the USA Valley team, which lost the next four matches in straight games.

The final saw defending national champion ICC take on Maryland TTC. Despite wins from Cheng Yinghua and Raghu Nadmichettu (MDTTC) over Singh Thounaojam (ICC), ICC’s Shen Hailong and Anal Kashyap proved too strong and ICC went on to win 5-2.

Quarterfinals

NYTTC defeated Gilbert TTC 5-3

• Yang (Andy) Liu lost to Earl Alto 1-3 (9, 7, -8, 8)
• Edward Ko lost to Brana Vlasic 1-3 (5, -4, 9, 11)
• Yu Shao defeated Tim Nasseir 3-1 (-11, 9, 8, 8)
• Yang (Andy) Liu lost to Brana Vlasic 0-3 (8, 8, 10)
• Yu Shao defeated Earl Alto 3-0 (8, 8, 10)
• Edward Ko defeated Tim Nasseir 3-2 (11, -9, -12, 9, 10)
• Yu Shao defeated Brana Vlasic 3-0 (14, 7, 5)
• Yang (Andy) Liu defeated Tim Nasseir 3-1 (9, 8, -10, 2)

Semifinals

ICC defeated NYTTC by default

Maryland TTC defeated USA Valley TTC 5-1

• Raghu Nadmichettu defeated Konstantin Chernomorskiy 3-1 (3, -9, 9, 5)
• John Hsu lost to Ben Johnson 0-3 (4, 2, 8)
• Yinghua Cheng defeated Masaru Hashimoto 3-0 (7, 8, 9)
• Raghu Nadmichettu defeated Ben Johnson 3-0 (9, 10, 5)
• Yinghua Cheng defeated Konstantin Chernomorskiy 3-0 (8, 9, 5)
• John Hsu defeated Masaru Hashimoto 3-0 (9, 9, 9)

Finals

ICC defeated Maryland TTC 5-2

• Singh Thounaojam lost to Yinghua Cheng 0-3 (8, 5, 6)
• Hailong Shen defeated Nathan Hsu 3-1 (5, -8, 9, 8)
• Anal Kashyap defeated Raghu Nadmichettu 3-0 (10, 6, 10)
• Hailong Shen defeated Yinghua Cheng 3-0 (11, 8, 9)
• Singh Thounaojam lost to Raghu Nadmichettu 0-3 (6, 2, 8)
• Anal Kashyap defeated Nathan Hsu 3-0 (5, 4, 5)
• Hailong Shen defeated Raghu Nadmichettu 3-1 (7, -9, 6, 10)

The top 2 teams from LATTF Division 1 will battle with the top teams from the Bay Area Table Tennis Federation and the New York Table Tennis League at the US National Championships in Las Vegas, on Saturday, December 18th. They’ll be competing to be crowned the US National Team League Champion.

Representing LATTF will be:

1. Valley Boys (USA Valley TTC)
2. Seagulls (Gilbert TTC)

So come out and cheer on the LA teams. The team league competition starts at 10:00 AM and if you hang around until the evening you can catch the US Nationals men’s and women’s singles finals as well.

What: US National Team League Championships

When: December 18, 2010
Starts at 10:00 AM

Where: Las Vegas Convention Center, Hall C4
3150 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Map

Website: US National Championships Website

Looking for something to do the day after Thanksgiving? How about a way to work off some of those extra calories AND have fun at the same time?

Then check out the South Bay Giant Round Robin Tournament on Friday, November 26, 2010. Hosted by RoboFit Table Tennis Center in Torrance (an LATTF member club), the giant round robin format means a lot of quality matches against players of the same level.

If you’ve never played a giant RR tourney before, the way it works is first you play an initial RR group of about four players, then depending on where you finish in that group you advance to a second giant RR group (division A, B, C, etc.). Everyone moves on so everyone gets a lot of playing opportunities. You don’t need to be a USATT member, anyone age 8 or older is eligible.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up today! Here’s all the info:

What: South Bay Giant Round Robin Tournament

When: November 26, 2010 (Friday after Thanksgiving)
9:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Where: RoboFit Table Tennis Center
1513 W. Sepulveda Blvd., Unit A
Torrance, CA 90501
Map

Registration Deadline: November 22, 2010

Registration Fees: $35 for adults / $25 for juniors (age 8 to 17)

Entry Form: Printable