Does anyone remember Choi? The Korean table tennis player who played
with a wood bat in the 1951 Nationals in St. Louis? One of the best
matches of that tournament was Choi vs. Reisman...Marty won in three
duece games. Every point was a long counter driving rally.

--- In hardbat@yahoogroups.com, "Robert Palgon" <robertpalgon@...>
wrote:
>
> This past Saturday afternoon, February 28, 2009, between 1:30 and
5:30
> PM, eight hardbatters, one "liha" enthusiast (plain wood paddle – no
> rubber, no sponge, no sandpaper), plus a favorite acquaintance of
mine
> came together at the Potrero Hills Neighborhood House gymnasium in
San
> Francisco to participate in the first SF Hardbat Fest of 2009.
>
> Organized by John Lam and hosted and supported by the Twin Dragons,
> Mike and Dan Marinas, a giant round robin was conducted with each
> player slated to play the other eight. With three tables dedicated
to
> the event, all 36 matches – each a 21 point, best 2 out of 3 game
> contest – could have been accomplished in the time allotted, however
> only 33 matches were in fact played, as a couple of participants got
> too pooped to play their final match.
>
> This was quite understandable considering that the format for the
> event was a 21 Point-Handicap system. This modified point-handicap
> system, developed in consultation with Butterfly's Mitch Seidenfeld,
> is designed to make the playing field more level, giving players of
> lower-skill levels a real shot at victory against higher-skill level
> players, while providing quite a challenge for all.
>
> Under this format, each participant was assigned a minus number,
zero,
> or plus number handicap according to their hardbat rating to
establish
> the starting score or "spot". You can just imagine how much more
> taxing a match is under this format compared to regular competition,
> when you reflect, for example, that John Lam had to spot Bill Brin,
20
> points a game. That is, each game he played Bill, John started from
> the score -8 (his handicap number based on his hardbat rating) to
+12
> (Bill's handicap number).
>
> As a measure of how accurate the assigned point-handicaps were, a
> number of higher-rated, middle-rated, and lower-rated players
emerged
> from their matches winning about as much as they lost. Each match
> appeared highly competitive, making their outcome highly
> unpredictable, always challenging, and a heck of a lot of fun.
>
> Part of that fun, too, was welcoming back Howard Blum to these
hardbat
> fests after a long absence. His lovely strokes were hampered by
> inconsistency borne of only playing twice in the past six months.
> Fond of him though we are, none of us showed him any mercy on that
> account and I'm afraid he emerged with a record of 0-8.
>
> In addition to welcoming old friends, we all were happy to make the
> acquaintance of a new hardbatter from the world of the squishys by
the
> name of Rok Yu – a wonderful player, aged 36 but looking more like
26,
> with wonderful form and balance, who at first hit his forehand with
a
> looping stroke, but after only three short instructional tips, took
to
> forehand hardbat hitting as if he were Bobby Gusikoff.
>
> And everyone viewed with amazement Andy Abad's beautiful defensive
> strokes and explosive, highly stylized forehand and backhand hitting
> …with a plain wood paddle, for goodness sake! He emerged with a
> winning record of 6 matches to 2.
>
> By the way, Andy and his wood paddle was invited to participate in
our
> hardbat fest although he is not considered eligible under current
> USATT rules because a number of us are planning to seek a rules
change
> to include liha (that is, wood and sandpaper) racquets under the
USATT
> hardbat umbrella.
>
> Refreshments provided by the Twin Dragons, John, and Becky included
> bananas and oranges, Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies, bottled water and
> Gatorade. This contributed mightily to keeping the Hardbat Fest
> festivities festive.
>
> The day ended with a bunch of us repairing to the neighborhood Goat
> Hill Pizzeria for wonderful pizza, great salads, fabulous garlic
> bread, and thoroughly refreshing Lagunitas Pilsner on draft. Thanks
> to all who made this day so enjoyable.
>
> To get a more visual flavor for the event, go to the link below:
>
> http://public.fotki.com/HardbatTT/sf/?cmd=fs_slideshow
>
> No one need point out that Becky's form is superior to mine; I know.
>