(By Steve Hopkins)
Cary Cup – Unique for Seventeen Years
The deadline for entry into this event is March 26 – spots are limited. Sign up here.
The Cary Cup began in 2001 – a giant round-robin event designed to maximize the number of matches played by each competitor. The event was unique in the region and quickly drew players from up and down the East coast. It also expanded interest in table tennis in the Southeast, and helped to cement North Carolina as a regional table tennis hub.
In 2014, Triangle Table Tennis opened in neighboring Morrisville and the Cary Cup has been held at the Triangle Table Tennis center ever since. This amazing facility (25,000 square feet of playing area, professional quality Gerflor flooring, 17-foot ceilings, high intensity lighting, and 40 Butterfly tables) has been host to Olympic Trials, US Team Trials, Collegiate events, and high-level training camps. This is the ideal location for a prestigious event like the Cary Cup, and this perfect merger of event and site has been one large reason for the growth of the Cary Cup.
Over the last 16 years this annual tournament has grown into twelve events over four days with the featured Giant Round Robin now a five-division, 160 player event. It’s a 4-Star tournament sanctioned by USATT with over $15,000 in prize money. Last year, there were competitors from 18 US States as well as four other countries. The finals included a world class junior from Hangzhou China and pitted him against a former US Open Champion. (Watch the 2017 Cary Cup finals here)
You might not expect North Carolina to have one of the top table tennis facilities in North America. And you might not expect North Carolina to host one of the largest table tennis events in North America. But if you’re a player or a fan who has overlooked this premiere event, in this premiere location – you should think again. Maximize your matches, play in the best conditions, and compete with some of the best players who will pick up a paddle in our hemisphere in 2018. Check out the Cary Cup and see what North American Table Tennis events should look like.
Check back with ButterflyOnline.com for updates and live video as the 2018 Cary Cup is played.
Sign up here to play or watch.
Some of the Best from Past Cary Cup Events:
2017 Finals: Kaden Xu / Jinxin Wang
2016 Finals: Zhang Bohan / Zirui Zhao
2015 Finals: Kai Zhang /Jishan Liang
2014 Finals: Eugene Wang / Li Kewei