(by Larry Hodges)
Before we get to the last event of the US Classic Nationals, the Sandpaper Open, let’s take a moment to thank those who helped put the event together.
· Special thanks goes to Tournament Director Steve Claflin, who put it all together.
· Umpire Ning Cheng worked long hours, umpiring all the big matches.
· Equipment Sponsor Butterfly supplied the balls and a large number of hardbat and sandpaper rackets. · Austin TTC, Major League Table Tennis, We R Table Tennis, Rudy’s Bar-B-Q, and Zilker Belts. · Sanctioned by the International Classic Table Tennis Federation (ICTTF) · Miky Huidobro and Alexandra Hoefer, who are here on behalf of the $36,000 2024 Mecano Sports Ping-Pong World Cup.
For the preliminary round robins – four groups of six – matches were best of five to 11. However, once they reached the playoffs, they switched to the sandpaper “London” rules, with five special rules:
· All players had to use the tournament sandpaper rackets.
· Matches were now best of three to 15.
· 14-all is sudden death, so 15-14 wins.
· In the third game, switch sides when either player reaches 7.
· Each player gets one power play. This means that at any time during match, when serving, except at 0-0 or after the player has scored 12 points, a player can declare a two-point ball. If the server wins, he gets two points. If he loses, however, the other player gets just one.
Group One
Jimmy Butler easily dominated the group, winning all his matches 3-0. In Sandpaper ratings – yes, they have separate ones – Lee Abraham was seeded second, with Bryce Milford third. But Bryce won against Lee, 8,8,8. Jimmy had some problems with Bryce in Hardbat Singles, but here won more easily at 7,7,7.
Group Two
AJ Carney easily dominated the group, winning all his matches 3-0. (Yes, I copy and pasted that from Group One.) Second seed Jian Zhuang came in second, also as expected.
Group Three
Brian Jortner easily dominated the group, winning all his matches 3-0. (Yes, another copy and paste.) Third seed Michael Guo upset second seed Oliver Wang, 9,-9,9,9, to advance in second.
Group Four
Second seed Steve Claflin upset top seed Miguel Huidobro, 11-8 in the fifth, but both advanced.
QUARTERFINALS
· AJ Carney d. Bryce Milford, 10,12
· Jimmy Butler d. Miguel Huidobro, 6,7
· Jian Zhuang d. Brian, 6,7
· Michael Guo d. Steve Claflin, -14,11,12
SEMIFINALS
· Jimmy Butler d. Michael Guo, 5,5
· AJ Carney d. Jian Zhuang, 5,9
FINAL
Now we’re into the match we’ve all waited for, AJ Carney vs. Jimmy Butler. The tournament sandpaper rackets they were now using were slower than what they were used to – and both actually liked slower, as it allows them to put more spin on the ball along with more ball control. It led to some of the best sandpaper rallies I’ve seen. Throughout the match, Jimmy was a little more aggressive, with AJ often playing a step further back, sometimes countering with aggressive, almost loop-like topspins, other times fishing. At the start of the rally, both players often attacked the other’s middle, often forcing a weak return to attack. Both players mostly served deep. Jimmy was aggressive on both sides, but as the match went on got more and more aggressive on the backhand side. Since AJ wanted to avoid Jimmy’s backhand, the large majority of the rallies often turned into Jimmy’s forehand vs. AJ’s backhand.
In the first, Jimmy led 7-2, then it was 7-6, and from there on, it was dead even. 9-9, 10-10, Jimmy leads 12-10, 12-12, and 13-13. Then, finishing with a big backhand smash, Jimmy wins, 15-13.
In the second, Jimmy led 6-4, but lost 7 in a row – or rather, 8, to fall behind 6-12. Why the discrepancy? At 6-5, Jimmy leading, AJ called for the power ball – and won the point, and thereby got two points, and suddenly led 6-7, and then 6-12 AJ. But then, as Jimmy almost always seems to do, he crawled his way back into the match, making it to 12-13. Then AJ led 14-12 game point. But Jimmy wins two in a row to “deuce” it, 14-14. Except, under the Sandpaper London rules, it’s sudden death – meaning it’s match point for Jimmy, game point for AJ! Jimmy takes a timeout. Then then have a long, vicious rally – and Jimmy smacks a backhand into the net. Game two to AJ, 15-14.
In the third, both players upped their games – the rallies became even more vicious. At 3-3, Jimmy calls for the power ball, and wins, and leads 5-3. Jimmy maintains the lead to 12-10 – and then pulls away and wins, 15-10. Final scores: 13,-14,10.
And so the two giants of US hardbat and sandpaper have split their matches, with AJ winning the Hardbat Open ($800, to Jimmy’s $400), while Jimmy wins the Sandpaper Open ($500 to AJ’s $250). There was also a $200 bonus to any player who wins both events – but neither did so.
We hope to see you at two upcoming Classic events: · USA Hardbat and Sandpaper Open, Nov. 11-12 at the Westchester TTC in New York. · $36,000 2024 Mecano Sports Ping-Pong World Cup, Jan. 4-6, 2024, in Mexico City – Hardbat, Sandpaper, and Wood!
