(by Steve Hopkins)

On May 20th, Rhode Island Table Tennis held their annual Rhode Island Juniors Closed and the Rhode Island High School Championships.  The Juniors Closed has been a small event for many years  (a modest event in a small State but with recognizable impact for the club and for many local schools).  Because Rhode Island is a small State, and the club is located just five miles from Massachusetts and 30 miles from Connecticut,  “closed” events in RI are more “open” than most – allowing entry for students from nearby communities and those who regularly participate at the club. This is the first post-Pandemic year for this event, as Rhode Island still faced many COVID-related limitations on sports in 2022.  There were three singles events this year – each naming a State Champion:  (1) 18 & Under Boys Singles, (2) 18 & Under Girls Singles, and (3) 12 & Under Coed Singles.  By featuring a High School Teams event, the club is able to aggressively reach out to local schools to publicize the tournament – and it also helps reach local newspapers who are more likely to print stories that include references to those schools (and all the readers with vested interests and connections to those schools).

RESULTS:

High School Team Championship: This is the fourth year that this event has been run, and this is the fourth time that the same two High Schools have faced off in the Final.  Third place went to Pilgrim High School in Warwick, Rhode Island this year.  Pilgrim’s team of Jacob Scott, Kelvin Olea, and Alexander Mihalos claimed third place – and in what has become a common theme in this table tennis event, all three of these students are a part of their High School’s tennis team. Bishop Hendricken High School was the defending champion, but because of the 3-year layoff – only one of their team members (Lucas Fleury) had played when they dominated the field in 2019.  Their all-boys Catholic High School in Warwick has three tables and an active club – and they claimed the championship in 2017 and 2019.   The second seed was Lasalle Academy, a private Catholic school in Providence, RI with a rich history across many sports.  Lasalle also has a table on campus, and they have a history of taking these events very seriously.  This year, Lasalle’s table tennis team included three of their best varsity tennis players (one of whom has been a regular table tennis player at the club as well).   In the High School Teams Final between Hendricken and Lasalle, Alex Hopkins started things off well for Hendricken with a 3-0 win over Dyllon Litmanovich.  However, Lasalle finished strong with wins in the No. 2 and No. 3 positions (Andrew Smith 3-1 over Lucas Fleury, and Nolan O’Brien 3-0 over Caden Ferns).  This is the second time that Lasalle has won the State Teams Title (Hendricken in 2017, Lasalle in 2018, Hendricken in 2019, and now Lasalle in 2023).  Expect to see these teams battle again next year.  

Three singles events were also held on Saturday: 18 & Under Boys Singles, 18 & Under Girls Singles, and 12 & Under Coed Singles.

 

The day started with the younger kids at 9am.  In the 12 & Under Coed event, it was Anay Bhardwaj (Hopkinton, MA) topping Advaith Shankar (Grafton, MA) 3-2 in one Semifinal and Ziad Siddiqui Lincoln, RI) topping

 

 

little brother Yahya Siddiqui 3-1 in the other Semifinal.  Ziad defeated Anay 3-1 to claim the title.  In Girls 18 & Under Singles, it was Lulua Kothari (Providence, RI) dominating the field without dropping a single game.  Second went to Aanya Shankar (Grafton, MA), and the other Semifinalists were Anvitha Murali (North Attleboro, MA) and Ashini Shatish (Warwick, RI).