The Parksville Table Tennis Society staged a successful friendly ping pong tournament.
The inaugural event was held at the Bradley Centre in Coombs on March 30. It drew longtime and new lovers of the sport coming from Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Errington and Coombs.
The tournament had 10 beginner category players, 12 in the novice/intermediate division, and eight more at the competitive level.
The competitive division drew some high-level talent and in the end featured a closely-contested final between junior international student from Spain, Juaquin Barrau, a Grade 10 student at Ballenas Secondary, and seasoned athlete Max Stutzig from Errington.
The match went to a fifth-set tie breaker after each player garnered two wins in the best-of-five finals.
The game was a nailbiter as the match was tied 10-10. The victor has to win by two points and in the end it was Stutzig who prevailed 13-11.
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In the novice division, John Ferguson of Qualicum Beach cruised to victory 3-0 in the final, beating James Dean; while at the beginner level, Terry Wei beat Nando Gomex in three sets.
Organizer Michael Trinidad was pleased with the way their first tournament went so smoothly.
“We have lots of fun,” said Trinidad. “It’s a learning process because it’s our first tournament, but I’m happy with the results, the camaraderie and volunteerism.”
The society thanked the Regional District of Nanaimo for helping fund the event, as well the Bradley Centre, other sponsors and volunteers, whose assistance made the friendly tournament a success.
Trinidad said they’re looking forward to staging their next tournament.
“Let’s keep on pongin’” he said.
