Dear Tabletenniser’s,

   We had a healthy repeat of last week’s 67 players competing in the BTTC round-robin this week. Only this week’s round robin was lacking in volunteers

and assistance to me. I will explain further later….Also there was  another problem concerning the draw; two  people left  messages on the late call line and did  not show up…

This is disruptive as round-robin sections were not full and people wanting to play in a higher section were omitted. Offenders were promptly defaulted.

       Johnny Huang edged Parry Husband on tie-break to capture the top division. Congrats!

This week’s Top Performers

Zhiyun Ma  +106

Roger Tong +100

Carey Lee +94

Aria Lee +94

Brian Pak +93

Antonio Mattas +84

Nina Pak +73

Anthony Szumilo +62

Wesley Boot +52

Jacob Bogosian +48

CONGRATS!       To view the RR results go to www.berkeleytabletennis.org  Please report any errors or omissions ASAP.I cannot change the posted result but will make the rating adjustments.

Now I need to digress and explain the volunteer problem…Of course there are many of you who chip in and help set-up and take-down tables and barriers….and please keep up the good work!

Last night there were few  people to help set up until 6:30…I show up at 5:45 every week, set-up the computer and take registration, this week I  brought out 14 tables and helped dismantle  at the end of the night as well. There are always other small problems and people’s questions to address as well. Executing the draw is a little tough and is time sensitive, having an assistant to collect money and call the late-call line is necessary. I’m spending about two hours after the tourney processing the results and writing this note every week O.K. I get the gold award for a volunteer but I am doing too much for one person, I also just want to compete in the tourney and focus on my games too… it was not possible last night as I had no warm-up, no focus and little enjoyment. If I just have a break every few weeks I’ll be much happier… I need someone to help do registration and eventually someone to run the tourney about once a month. I’d love to train you to help me as we really need at least two back-ups to run the tourney as I cannot do it every week! I’ve had people indicate interest in helping but no-one has followed up with a firm commitment. This is disconcerting. I sincerely hope some of you will step forward on my plea for help. Please someone good on a computer step forward!

      PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO ARRIVE EARLY! REGISTRATION CLOSES AT 6:50 SHARP! If you are planning to be late then call the Cell Phone Reservation Number:  (510) 587-3388 before 6:35 PM. If you call this latecomer's number, please make sure to pronounce your first AND last name clearly. For non-native English speakers it is recommended to repeat their full name at least twice. We do not guarantee spots in our Round Robin tournament to latecomers who only left undecipherable messages or people who misuse this line and do not show up to play.

Sour Taste is not a good Place

Regards , Mike Labins