Hitmen (USA Valley TTC) lost to Flip Side (Song Jeho TTC) 0-5

Josh Bornstein lost to Ramil Golez 0-3 (3, 6, 8)
Sasanka Budhavarapu lost to Jay Tiu 2-3 (11, -7, 4, -8, 8)
Sasanka Budhavarapu/Josh Bornstein lost to John Eseo/Mike Tadiaman 0-3 (10, 8, 8)
Kenneth Seiple lost to Eric Trillo 2-3 (-9, -11, 1, 8, 10)
Michael Baggott lost to John Eseo 0-3 (8, 5, 7)

Hitmen vs. Flipside

Doubles – Shanks & Josh (far side) vs John & Mike (near side)

Santa Barbara TTC (Thousand Oaks TTC) lost to Flip Side (Song Jeho TTC) 1-4

Albert Alexandrov lost to Jay Tiu 0-3 (9, 6, 6)
John Hui lost to Ramil Golez 0-3 (8, 6, 5)
Albert Alexandrov/John Hui lost to John Eseo/Eric Trillo 0-3 (4, 5, 9)
Albert Alexandrov lost to Ramil Golez 1-3 (-8, 7, 2, 5)
Branton Nestor defeated John Eseo 3-1 (9, -9, 4, 9)

Mike Tadiaman, Jay Tiu, John Eseo, Eric Trillo, Albert Alexandrov, John Hui, Branton Nestor

Bruins (Thousand Oaks TTC) lost to Flip Side (Song Jeho TTC) 2-3

Angus Chung Hin Tse lost to Jay Tiu 1-3 (8, -8, 9, 12)
Xiao Jin defeated John Eseo 3-1 (4, 2, -6, 7)
Angus Chung Hin Tse/Bowen Rao defeated Eric Trillo/John Eseo 3-1 (5, 8, -7, 7)
Bowen Rao lost to Eric Trillo 2-3 (9, 9, -9, -9, 8)
Xiao Jin lost to Jay Tiu 1-3 (7, 5, -6, 10)

Flip Side (John, Eric, Jay) at Bruins (TaiYu, Angus, Max, Xiao, Bowen)

John serving to Xiao

A recent team contest in Division 2A featured defending Division 2 champion Flip Side hosting The Westside International at Song Jeho’s Club in Koreatown. The Westside International have been fixtures in LATTF competition since the league’s inception, but since the teams were in different divisions last season, for some of the players, this was their first time competing at Song Jeho Table Tennis Club.

“It’s a nice, clean facility, and it was exciting playing there,” said Mark Hezinger, of The Westside International.

Despite being the underdogs, Mark started fearlessly, taking the first match for his team 3-1 (with scores of 10, -7, 10, 6). This initial confidence boost for the visitors proved short-lived as Flip Side used their home court advantage to capture the remaining matches, winning the team contest by a final score of 4-1.

Mark Hezinger in action for The Westside International

“In the first match, I was able to stick to my strategy and play to my strengths,” Hezinger mused after the team contest. “But in the doubles match they kept looping at the middle of the table, and the ball was so spinny … it tricked me.”

Mark and teammate Milan Obradovic eventually succumbed 0-3 in that match (by scores of 5, 10, and 6) to Flip Side’s pairing of John Eseo and Mike Tadiaman.

As great as it is to win, Mark pointed out that really, the most important part of participating in the league is was all the fun his team has had of visiting different clubs, meeting new people, and playing a variety of opponents. And in keeping with their team’s LATTF tradition, after their league match, the Westside players got together with their spouses and children and went out to dinner together at a local restaurant.

“It’s really nice having these experiences that bring people together and to be able to share quality time with your teammates and loved ones,” Mark reflected. After all, isn’t that really what the league is all about?

 Full results of the team contest: Flip Side vs. The Westside International (on 03/23/2013)

Flip Side (Song Jeho TTC) defeated Hitmen (USA Valley TTC) 3-2

John Eseo lost to Sasanka Budhavarapu 0-3 (5, 5, 6)
Jay Tiu defeated Josh Bornstein 3-1 (-8, 2, 6, 8)
Eric Trillo/John Eseo defeated Sasanka Budhavarapu/Simone Cecchini 3-2 (-8, -7, 4, 5, 7)
Eric Trillo defeated Kenneth Seiple 3-1 (7, 6, -5, 1)
Jay Tiu lost to Sasanka Budhavarapu 1-3 (7, 7, -10, 6)

John Eseo, Mike Baggott, Sasanka Budhavarapu, Kenneth Seiple, Josh Bornstein, Eric Trillo, Simone Cecchini, Jay Tiu

Jay Tiu serves to Sasanka Budhavarapu

Flip Side (Song Jeho TTC) defeated The Westside International (Westside TTC) 4-1

John Eseo lost to Mark Hezinger 1-3 (10, -7, 10, 6)
Eric Trillo defeated Peter Clarke 3-0 (6, 1, 7)
John Eseo/Mike Tadiaman defeated Mark Hezinger/Milan Obradovic 3-0 (5, 10, 6)
Mike Tadiaman defeated Peter Clarke 3-0 (4, 5, 4)
Jay Tiu defeated Milan Obradovic 3-0 (7, 4, 7)

Flipside with John, Peter, Milan & Eric (Abby)

Peter playing Eric

Tigers (Gilbert TTC) lost to Flip Side (Song Jeho TTC) 2-3

Chia-Sheng (Jason) Huang lost to Sang Seok Lee 0-3 (4, 6, 6)
Igor Segal lost to Eric Trillo 0-3 (5, 8, 5)
Igor Segal/Jay Tiu lost to John Eseo/Sang Seok Lee 1-3 (9, -5, 7, 9)
Chia-Sheng (Jason) Huang defeated Aris Flores 3-0 (11, 8, 8)
Jay Tiu defeated Gerard Liwanag 3-1 (9, 6, -13, 7)

Gerald, Eric, Aris, John, Lee, Igor, Jason and Jay

Access Denied (SGVBC 2) lost to Flip Side (Song Jeho TTC) 2-3

Jack McCarthy lost to Sang Seok Lee 2-3 (8, 4, -8, -5, 3)
Channing Chan defeated Eric Trillo 3-2 (11, -8, -8, 5, 7)
Channing Chan/Nicholas Ng lost to Sang Seok Lee/John Eseo 1-3 (10, -9, 8, 10)
Mario Razo lost to John Eseo 1-3 (9, -11, 6, 11)
Nicholas Ng defeated Sang Seok Lee 3-2 (9, 10, -9, -9, 11)

Flip Side (Song Jeho TTC) defeated Johnny and the Rockets (Westside TTC) 3-2

John Eseo defeated Johnny Shum 3-1 (8, -8, 6, 6)
Aris Flores lost to Paul Harley 0-3 (7, 5, 4)
John Eseo/Eric Trillo defeated Johnny Shum/Paul Harley 3-1 (-8, 9, 9, 9)
John Eseo lost to Paul Harley 2-3 (-2, 3, 6, -7, 4)
Eric Trillo defeated Johnny Shum 3-0 (4, 4, 4)

Aris, Eric, John, Johnny, Paul

John getting ready to serve a spinny no-spin serve

Oaks (Thousand Oaks TTC) defeated Flip Side (Song Jeho TTC) 3-2

Eric Wang defeated John Eseo 3-2 (-7, 10, 6, -2, 8)
Grace Zhou defeated Eric Trillo 3-2 (7, -8, -9, 6, 6)
Eric Wang/Grace Zhou lost to John Eseo/Sang Seok Lee 2-3 (5, 4, -10, -9, 5)
Eric Wang defeated Eric Trillo 3-2 (-13, -7, 8, 8, 9)
Grace Zhou lost to Sang Seok Lee 1-3 (7, 5, -5, 4)

John Eseo, Eric Trillo, Sang Seok Lee/Grace (DongYong) Zhou, Eric (Zezheng) Wang

double Eric