Tournaments preceding the U.S. Openwere held in Toronto and London, Ontario, and the major players there, it comesas no surprise, were those who'd been selected by the CTTA to receive 75%travel assistance to Long Island. Both at the Jan. Toronto Open and the Feb.Ontario Open in London, the Women's winner was Violetta Nesukaitis, and bothtimes in straight games over Helen Simerl who in Toronto had been forced intothe 5th by just-turned-teenager Mariann Domonkos, a lock for theGirls Singles over Midget Singles Champ Biruta Plucas. At both tournaments,though, Simerl paired with Marie Kerr to take the Women's Doubles from Violettaand sister Flora whose games still hadn't meshed together as hoped.

Meanwhile, a number of U. S.affiliates within driving distance of Long Island began gearing up for the Openby holding a tournament or two of their own. At the Feb. Rochester, N.Y. Open,Andy Anvelt not only won the 17's but the Men's as well—in the semi's overpenholder Neal Fox and in the final over Morris Meyers who'd advanced in 5 whenJim Shoots ran out of bullets. Not a woman or girl was reported to be playingSingles or Doubles in this tournament. Maybe not one was even watching?  This while professional photographer NealFox was at the ready to snap photos that USTTA members could buy for $10 each—afundraiser, not for Neal who'd donate his services, but for the InternationalTeam Fund and the University of Buffalo Table-Buying Fund. Men's Doubles wentto Charlie Burroughs/Shoots over Gary Carter/Don Coluzzi. Class A winner: Foxover Dave Berard. Class A Doubles: Meyers/Dave Harrison over Father/Son comboBob/Tom Brickell, 19 in the 4th. Class B: Dave Griffin over Berardin 5. Senior's: Burroughs over Meyers, also in 5. Senior Doubles: WaltStephens/ Bill Hunt over Tom Shirley/John Kazak.

            At theone-star Suffolk County (Long Island) Open, Jim Dixon and Fuarnado Roberts“entered but didn't show, and Sam Hammond entered too late and wasn't allowedto play.” (Those planning to enter the National's take heed, don't delay!)George Brathwaite won the Men's—in straight games over Southern New EnglandChamp Lim Ming Chui and finalist Errol Resek who lamented later to Topicsthat, though the National's Program stated that he was sponsored byChemical Bank, he, like his employer, the Bank, wanted to give credit onlywhere credit was due—and, since the Bank hadn't been helping him to hissatisfaction, he needed another sponsor. Meanwhile, there was theoccasional gig—as when in early Jan. Errol and George were invited to a York,Pennsylvania Sports Night bash. There they went playfully to bat against VidaBlue and Jim Palmer.

            Sixteenteams—with four A-B-C-D group winners—participated in the Feb. PennsylvaniaTeam tournament. A's: 1st: Pittsburgh: Dan Seemiller (12-0), JoeRokop (10-1), and Bill Zatek (8-1). 2nd: Philadelphia: Bill Sharpe(11-2), Hank McCoullum, George Rocker, and Stan Smolanowicz. B's: 1st:Lancaster I: Bob Fritsch (12-0), Bob Cogley, Joe Hertz, and Bill Winger (8-4).C's: 1st: Berwick: Ellis Alley, Dave Dickson, and Joe Scheno (11-2)who about this time, downing Karl Szakacs, had started his string of LehighValley Open wins.

            The Mar.4-5 Pennsylvania Open, played at the Philly Club, proved a great warm-up forthe National's, and a chance for Herb Vichnin, who was providing Topicscoverage, to exclaim that this weekend onlookers were treated to “probably themost exciting series of matches ever seen at a table tennis tournament”(May-June, 1972, 24-25). I'll start with the Singles results—though, as we'llsee, it's the Doubles play Herb's most ecstatic about. Sam Hammond took theMen's from Mitch Sealtiel, 23-21 in the 5th, after Mitch had won the3rd at 19 to stay in the match. Up 21-20 in the 5th,Sealtiel “missed his favorite put away shot on a high lob from Hammond! $50 forone shot!” In earlier matches, both finalists rallied after being down2-0—Hammond to Danny Seemiller; Sealtiel to Tim Boggan. Mitch also was behind1-0 and at deuce in the 2nd before 19-in-the-4th downingResek who'd survived Peter Stephens, 19 in the 4th.

            In theWomen's Singles, when Alice Green didn't show, Hilary Cohen, after eliminatingJuanita Santana 17 in the 3rd, outlasted Girls U-17 winner MurielStern in the final in 5. In the Mixed, Herb tells us that since Boggan/EvelynZakarin were inadvertently left out of the event, it's a good thing he, notTim, is doing the write-up; and that when the Boggan/Zakarin team, insertedinto the draw, right away met Sealtiel/Stern it was a break for the wholePhilly Club that Tim and Evelyn won. The final, however, saw Stephens/PatHildebrand beat the Long Islanders in 5.

            Best inClass A: Vic Landau over Danny Seemiller in 5. B's: Timmy House over HughChing. C's: Mike Senkiewicz, winning a key 3rd 23-21, in 4 overBruce Plotnick. Esquire's went to George Rocker over Bob Green. Senior's toRocker over Boggan. Under 17's: Joe Rokop won the 3rd 28-26 to takea 2-1 lead over Seemiller but couldn't contest the 4th and 5th.Under 15's: Joe Scheno over Scott McDowell, 19 in the 5th. Under13's: House over Mike Stern.

            On they go:15-all…18-all….Down 19-20 match point, Hammond topspins to Seemiller'sbackhand—and, oh, that “ridiculous flick! 21-19! Pandemonium! Everybody'sjumping and waving and screaming”—except of course Hammond and Shiroky (andmaybe a few silent sympathizers).

Next up: a Baltimore Invitational.The USTTA E.C. would shortly adopt rules for Invitational tournaments. Two ofthem were: “more than half of the invited participants” had to be USTTAmembers, and “the basis for selecting players to be invited…must be approved inwriting by the Regional Tournament Director.” A few outsiders did play in thisInvitational. The Men's went to Tim Boggan in a –28, 17, 20, 17 final over MarkRadom, the current and 8-time Baltimore City Champion; the Women's to BarbaraKaminsky over Yvonne Kronlage. Boggan/Tibor Hazi took the Men's Doubles fromLem Kuusk/Bob Kaminsky. Women's Doubles winners were Kaminsky/Kronlage overMargaret Brennan and Eleanor Pritchett. Brennan is the Baltimore Mixed Champwith Mort Greenberg who for three straight years has also been the City Men'sDoubles Champ with Radom. Pritchett presently holds the 1972 Women's Doublestitle with City Singles Champ Xuan Ferguson. Mixed went to Radom and JuanitaSantana, the #1 ranked Woman/Junior Girl in Baltimore, over Boggan and ShellieGainsburg, Girls U-13 winner over Sandy Bengtson. Boys U-13 winner: ScottBoggan over Mark Swerdlin.

Other results: A's: Dr. CarlGundersdorf (Baltimore # 4) over Bob Berkebile (#5). B's: Bob Harris over MikeFeldman, deuce in the 5th (a reversal of their City A final). BestBaltimore Closed Esquire: Gus Sempeles; best Baltimore Closed Senior: DonMarston. Best Baltimore Closed Junior: Pat Lawlor.

At the March Buckeye Open inColumbus, John Tannehill won the Men's from Tim O'Grosky; Joanne Pickett theWomen's from Mary Ann Burdick, Junior Girls winner over Kathy DeMent. Men'sDoubles Champs were Holloway/O'Grosky over Tannehill/Bill Hodge in the semi'sand Don Lyons/Jim Supensky in the final, both in 5. Mixed went toTannehill/Burdick over John Temple/Barb Smith. A's: Supensky over Dick Evans in5. B's: Bruce Abrams over C winner Little who'd ousted wheelchair whiz MikeDempsey. A Doubles: Supensky/Holloway over Henry and Mark Wampler, voted“Outstanding Player” at the 1970 Ohio Intercities. Senior's: Lou Radzeli overHolloway who, against Ron DeMent, had rallied (from a 21-3 2nd gamethat put him down 2-0) to a 21-19 win in the 5th. U-17's: Dave Goinover Hank Coulter in 5. U-15's: Burdick over Dempsey. Under 13's: Greg Schuerover Jeff Williams.

The Feb. Winter Carnival, the firsttournament at the spacious new Magoo's, was written up for the Mar. 10, 1972Minnesota Table Tennis News by Vince Koloski and also, confusingly, for Topicsby several young Magoo writers. (Koloski, in an adjacent Topics article,Mar.-Apr, 1972, 24; 28, detailed the formation of the Minnesota High SchoolLeagues, made up of 14 teams with “over 30 schools” on the waiting list).

Play for the Carnival's 130entrants was on 12 tables, and as the first-time format required that allsemi's and finals in all events be held the second day of the tournament,spectators on Sunday repeatedly got to see significant matches. The weekend wasa success, though not exactly a merrymaking one because the “glossy finish onour 12 new Detroiters” made for a glare. “Severe eye strain was a commoncomplaint and the choice of side became an important factor in the matches.”Since this Carnival write-up centered on the Class B, Class A, and Men's, I'llget to those in a moment, but, first, here are the results of the other events.

Women's: Connie Disney over Colleen Mosio. Women'sA's: Mary Ann Engelhart over Judy Nielson. This 10-entry event was verypopular: “Pretty good play and very good girl watching.” Mixed Doubles: BobHenze/Jo Rollins over the favored pair of Charlie/Connie Disney. Men's Doubles:Doug Maday/Wayne Richter over #1 seeds, Disney/Alan Goldstein.

“The A, B, and Men's Open eventswere dominated by H.C. Chang, a 26-year-old college student from Madison,Wisconsin, who came into the tournament a virtual unknown and left witheverything but the tables.” In the A's, Chang lost his opening game, 25-23, toMinnesota Junior Champ Sinykin, but then steadied to win convincingly. “And heonly practices once a month,” said someone in the crowd. Nor did Chang have theslightest trouble, as some thought he would, with Wisconsin's Paul Wong. Hisfinal victim was Randy Priest who'd won a gutsy –19, 22, 15 semi's over JackJensen.

 In Class B, Chang crushed both Mohan Rao and Shu Fun Lee, whichcaused a rumor to start circulating that, “He was the Under 13 champ ofTaiwan!” On getting by David Barnes and then Dennis Priest who seemed helplessto return those “tricky pen-holder serves,” Chang moved to the final whereCogswell, whose hitting was off, had no chance.

The Men's format had five playersadvancing from Saturday night round robin play: Charlie Disney, Wayne Richter,Alan Goldstein, Paul Chang, and Doug Maday. Doug had had a shot at beatingPaul—he'd lost the 1st at 18, but jumped off to a 7-0 lead in the 2nd,only to 10-all lose his advantage, then drop the game from 19-all. But thenhe'd gone on to 20, 15 down Goldstein. Alan, game for his 11:30 p.m. match, hadscored an easy 10, 14 victory over Paul who'd looked exhausted.

New rumors could be heardcirculating about Chang: “He hasn't improved since he was 12.”…  “He's a strategy and tactics genius.” In thefinal round robin Sunday, Disney opened against Chang, and his “heavy topspindefense” helped him to win the 1st 23-21. But in the 2nd at 18-all acouple of his loops didn't go in, and, failing to win that game, he lostmomentum. Still from 9-2 down in the 3rd, he fought back…to 8-12…butcouldn't close the gap. “At 16-19 he missed a loop. ‘For Christ's sake,' hemuttered as he walked in circles behind the table.” Then, returning to play,his togetherness complete, he dizzily served off. After Chang stopped Richter,so did Alan and Doug. That left Charlie and Alan to play the last match, andwhen Charlie won two straight, Chang was declared the winner, with Maday 2nd.

            On Mar. 11,Dirk Petersen tells us, Wisner, Nebraska, “a little town of 1,300 people,” heldits first sanctioned tournament, a Closed, and drew 82 participants. Notbad—though the organizers are aiming high. “Wisner is known as the beef centerof America. We would like to see it as one of the country's table tenniscenters.” Both the Men's and the A's was won by Kiichi Sato of Japan, now aUniversity of Nebraska student. Finalists Tom Walsh in the Men's and ScottIchkoff in the A's fell victim to “Sato's quickness and ability to loop.” InMen's Doubles, however, Sato and his partner Kenzo Itoh were upset by CharlesPolson and Jon Deuchler—“with Polson working to set the ball up for Deuchler'sgreat forehand smash.” Only, Polson/Deuchler didn't win either, but came 2ndto Walsh/Jerry Malec. Diana Myers of course won the Women's and Senior Girls(over Kathy Moeller) and the Mixed with Dick Ichkoff (over ScottPetersen/Risch).

            In theWinners' Bracket, Flansburg won the 1st from Barnes at 19, then, onrallying from 6-16 down to 19-all, couldn't close and the match was tied. Inthe 3rd game, their pattern of play was “push-push-push-loop forSteve, return, smash—in or out.” When David's return didn't bring a high ballthat Steve could smash, his second loop wasn't so effective. Occasionally Davidwould pick-hit hard, “not easy to do against the wily-fox spin-changerFlansburg.” The match finally went to Barnes, 28-26, on a net ball.

            Otherwinners: Men's Doubles: Barnes/Scott Grafton over Walsh/Dick Ichkoff, 26-24 inthe 3rd in the semi's, and over Sandner/David Ho in the final. Women's: DianaMyers over Kathy Moeller. Mixed: Sandner/Myers over Walsh/Debbie Denenberg.A's: Bob Gellner (hitting the ball “seemingly at the last second it can behit”) 29-27 in the 3rd over Marcus Ng “whose disconcerting habit ofpushing and blocking with the wood side of his bat” produces such a “differencein spin and trajectory” that it's “sometimes paralyzing for opponents.” AConsolation: Leo Kurdika over Physics Professor Jim Craig, 19 in the 3rd.Class B: Jon Deuchler in the semi's over Omaha Club Secretary Lee Larson, andin the final over tricky penhold server Francis Mah. Class C: Craig over ScottIchkoff.

            At theMississippi State University Open, Topics reporter Richard Kissel wasastonished at the straight-game ease with which 15-year-old John Quick wentthrough two of the South's best players—semifinalist Homer Brown and finalistDon Gaither. “We were just a little embarrassed that the large group ofspectators who came out didn't see the thrills we promised.” However, saidRichard, local spectators did enjoy watching the hard rubber match between “MSUhistory professor, Cliff Anderson, who has recently come out of table tennisretirement” and Atlanta Closed Senior Champ Cyril Lederman. Cliff, with his“almost-impossible-to-get-through chop defense that once made him a nationallyranked player,” was more than a match for Cyril and his backhand picks.

            Otherresults: Men's Doubles: Gaither/Brown over Ralph Kissel/Bill Edwards. Class A:Ted Bassett over Ray Filz in 5. Class B: Hugh Lax over Richard Coffman—butHugh's toughest match was with Larry Fisher, after Larry had eliminated WendellDillon, a name we'll hear quite a bit of in the next 30-some years. Under 17's:Quick over Bill Edwards.

            For the 20thAnnual Arizona Open “conducted on ten Brinktun tables in the spacious CortzHigh Gymnasium in Phoenix,” Club President Forrest Barr was happy to announcethat the “entry total of 105 from five states was the largest ever in Arizona.”California's Howard Grossman was a triple winner. “Displaying artisticdefensive skills, mixed with occasional offensive outbursts from either wing,”Howie won a 5-game Men's final from former Arizona Champ, Mark Adelman of SanDiego, after Mark had 19-in-the-5th barely survived his semi's withEl Paso's Mac Horn. Howie also took both Doubles—the Men's with Mark overSenior winner Dan Banach/Eric Thom, and the Mixed with Heather Angelinetta overMark DaVee/Angelita Rosal. Women's went to 15-year-old Angelita who's now muchtoo good for Heather.

            Well, maybemore than a few, because from Bard Brenner we hear how so many Dublin Clubfamilies put up out-of-towners in their homes—with Dieter's familyaccommodating nine houseguests.

            Winners:Championship (open to men and women): Erwin Klein ($200) over Glenn Cowan($100) who was down 2-1 to Denis O'Connell who was down 2-1 to Vancouver'sPhilip Cheng. Women's: Angelita Rosal ($50) 19 in the 5th in thesemi's over Patty Cash ($20), and 19 in the 4th in the final over JudyBochenski ($30) who'd escaped Wendy Hicks ($20), 18 in the 5th.Men's Doubles: Mark Adelman/Eric Thom over George Makk/Jeff Mason. Women'sDoubles: Cash/Bochenski over Rosal/Heather Angelinetta. Mixed Doubles: ZoltanPataky/Bochenski over Thom/Rosal. A's: Cash over Richard Terry in 5. A Doubles:Bolar Naik/Kwan Wong over Greg Sherman/Jerald “Jerry” Crumley.

Also: Esquire's: Allan Herskovichover Russ Thompson. Senior's Herskovich over Dan Banach. Senior Doubles:Thompson/Richard Badger (after being down 2-0) over Monico Rosal/Banach. BoysU-17: Paul Raphel over Thom. Boys U-15: Mike Dempsey over Calvin Chow, 17, 25,-19, 19. Boys U-13: Galardi over Chick Chui. Girls U-17: Bochenski over Rosal.Girls U-15: B.C.'s Leslie Ward over Monica Rosal. Junior Doubles:Raphel/Bochenski (from down 2-0 and at deuce in the 3rd) overThom/Rosal.

A wide variety of play in allevents was offered—and, though Greg would have liked the filmmakers to haveincluded such East-West matches as Hasegawa vs. Bengtsson, Li Ching-kuang vs.Johansson or Orlowski, and Pak Sin Il vs. Secretin, he was pleased to see LiChing-Kuang against Beleznai. All in all, he felt the two-hour selectionprovided “a nice summary of the World's.” I might also add that one of thosefinals he watched had to be Men's Doubles with Champs Jonyer and Klampar. Funcartoon, Greg.

I'm sure the Chinese had theircameras ready for the “Friendship First, Competition Second” Afro-AsianInvitational in Peking in early Nov., 1971. “Fifty-one Associations werepresent, and no doubt there were many players from emerging nations thrilled tobe playing outside their country for the first time. Such goodwill the Chinesewere generating—they'd also entertained five South American countries, and nextyear were going to invite Latin American Associations as well. Why, it'd be alittle World Championships. Right now there were titles for everyone: Men'sTeam's: 1. Japan. 2. North Korea. 3. China. Women's Team's: 1. China. 2. NorthKorea. 3. Japan. Men's Singles: Japan's Hasegawa over Kohno in 5. Women'sSingles: China's Chen Huai-ying over North Korea's Pak Yeung Ok in 5. Men'sDoubles: China's Li Ching-kuang/Tiao Wen-yuan over His En-ting/Liang Ko-liang,19 in the 5th. Women's Doubles: Japan's Ohzeki/Konno overKawamorita/Onuma in 5. Mixed: North Korea's Pak Sin Il/Pak Yeung Ok overJapan's Kohno/Fukuno.

“…Neale believesin the full arsenal of strokes; he takes himself and life seriously.Unfortunately, table tennis books are too often just peas from the same pod.They become interesting only when they reveal those aspects of table tenniswhich most of us can never see: World Championships, team training,behind-the-scenes politics, and just plain back-biting. What the authors sayabout themselves can seldom be taken seriously.

It's not that theydeliberately lie, though this too may occur, but self-analysis is quite difficultnot to mention dangerous….Like other author-champions…[Neale] advocates longand rigorous training periods. He claims to have started without coaching, andnot to have read a table tennis book. Perhaps that is the whole answer tosuccess…” (TTT, March-April, 1972, 4).

            At theMiddlesex Open, Les Haslam, ranked #1 in the Caribbean (George Brathwaite andFuarnado Roberts are respectively #2 and #3) was upset early; the Scottish #1Malcolm Sugden, who lost to D-J Lee 25-23 in the deciding 3rd at the'69 Dortmund World's, went down to a hard rubber player, Henry Buist (“triedsandwich but couldn't feel the ball”); and English National's Tony Clayton andNicky Jarvis were also ousted early. Winner was Chester Barnes over TrevorTaylor. In Men's Doubles, Haslam/Mike Johns knocked out Barnes/Taylor, but lostin the final to Clayton/Laurie Landry who'd also won the Doubles at the MidlandOpen. Women's went to Shelagh Hession over Karenza Mathews in the semi's and amuch-improved Linda Howard in the final.

            East metWest again, as writer/historian Zdenko Uzorinac, a former YugoslavInternational, tells us (TTT, Jan.-Feb., 1972, 3, and March-April, 1972,3)—first, when World #1 China, no doubt considering that the 1973 World's willbe in Sarajevo, invited Yugoslavia, World #3, to play matches in Peking,Canton, and Shanghai. In Peking, the best Chinese and the best Yugoslavs splitties—while more than 400,000,00 people watched them play on TV.

China then sent Men's and Women'sTeams to three European Opens in Nov., 1971. First they went to the YugoslavOpen at Novi Sad, but, alas, if Li Fu-jung did come as scheduled, he did notmake an auspicious debut as trainer/coach. France beat the Chinese men; Russiathe Chinese women. Sweden's World Champion Bengtsson won the Men's overFrance's World #18 Secretin; Romania's World #8 Alexandru the Women's overHungary's World #23 Kishazi, winner earlier of the European Union's RankingTournament. However, at the French Open in Paris, China won the Men's andWomen's Team's. But Bengtsson again beat Secretin to take the Men's, while inthe all-China Women's final Chu Pao-kin defeated Chang Li in 5.

The Scandinavian Open saw Swedenshut out the Chinese in the Men's Team's, and Kjell Johansson win the Men'stitle. It was much to Johansson's credit that, despite having been “out oftraining for more than a month” (he'd had “some kind of jaundice butfortunately recovered from it very soon”), he rallied in the semi's from 0-2and 19-20 down to Germany's Ebby Schoeler, and in the final from 0-2 down toChina's Tia Ven-jan. Bengtsson was upset by Hungary's “relativelyinexperienced” Gabor Gergely. World semifinalist His En-ting went down toEngland's Neale. China's Li Ching-kuang was beaten by Yugoslavia's Korpa. Bestin Women's was Sweden's own Birgitta Radberg who, though “not ranked in the top15 in Europe,” defeated Hungary's Judit Magos in the semi's and China's ChengHui-jing in the final.

             China played their best men—Li Ching-kuang,His En-ting, and Liang Ko-liang at the Jan. 23-25, 1972 Roumanian Open inBucharest—but the Yugoslavs beat them in the Team's. Also, Karakasevic, who'dwon the Bulgarian Open in Dec., was the Men's winner over his teammateStipancic. The Chinese women took the Team's, but lost the Singles when Alexandrudowned Hu Ju-lan.

Hungary's World #10 Jonyer had wonthis summer's European Union's Ranking Tournament, but at the Oct. HungarianOpen, his teammate Klampar had beaten him, 19 in the 5th after beingdown 2-0. In the Women's, Germany's World #20 Agnes Simon had stopped Russia'sEuropean Champion Rudnova.**  Now at thelate Jan. Czech Open in Bratislova, Uzorinac calls attention to the “fantastic,extraordinary final,” won in 5 by Johansson over Jonyer. “Counter-attacks fromlong distances and from all positions! The 1500 people in the audienceapplauded for 10 minutes!” Hungarian penholder Magos, World #27, kept up arelentless attack to defeat defender Kishazi whose game she must know well andfeel very comfortable playing.

At the West German Open, however,both Kishazi and Magos lost to Rudnova (Magos in the final of the Singles too)as the Russians won the Women's Team's from Hungary. The Swedes beat theHungarians  in the Men's Team's, and inthe Singles Johansson stopped Bengtsson in a straight-game final.

            Such anappellation might well have been Victor Barna's. Sad to report the great 5-timeWorld Champion, whose career I've followed in earlier volumes, died of heartfailure Feb. 27 in the intensive care unit of a Lima, Peru hospital.

This is cache, read story here