A slow economy and high gas prices left area table tennis players undeterred as a record 160 players signed up for this 17th annual tournament. With 20 tables available, we had an estimated capacity of 140-150, so the tournament staff scrambled all weekend to keep from getting behind, and succeeded for the most part.

In the Open division, the top four seeds Dan Seemiller, Barney Reed Jr, Samson Dubina, and Joe Cochran easily advanced to the final four round robin where the big money was to be found. In the first match between a strong-looking Dubina vs. 9-time Millcreek Open winner Dan Seemiller, Samson shocked the crowd and Danny by cruising to a 4-0 win. Barney Reed likewise disposed of Cochran and Seemiller to set up the final match for 1st & 2nd. The spectators were treated to a slam-bang demonstration of top-notch table tennis between these two young and fit powerhouses with Barney coming out on top four games to one.

Thanks to all players and tournament staff for taking part in our biggest, and maybe best tournament yet in Erie. Thanks to Bill McLaughlin of Dayton for photos, which may be viewed on his Flikr site. And special thanks to the following who sponsored new tables for this tournament: Tom Burik, Greg Soltys, Sam Steiner, Alric Beach, and Dan Waugaman.

LOST & FOUND: 1) a blue & white Nittaku towel, 2) a dark orangish brown hoodie labelled “Football - Division II Varsity”, & 3) a blue & gray Lakers hat

Results:

U900- Semi’s: Mary Beth MacClaren d. Mike Gueth 3-1; Jason Johnson d. Mark Anderson 3-1. Finals: Johnson d. MacClaren 3-2.

U1600- Semi’s: Jon Thornton d. Ralph Prescott 3-1; Michael Yu d. Alex Bateman 3-0. Finals: Thornton d. Yu 3-2.

U1100- Semi’s: Dustin Zemaitis d. James Kim 3-0; Mike Gueth d. Ellen Leung 3-1. Finals: Zemaitis d. Gueth 3-1.

U1800- Semi’s: Roy Dietz d. Peter Yu 3-0; Richard Roman d. Simon Ling 3-2. Finals: Dietz d. Roman 3-1.

U1300- Semi’s: Dustin Zemaitis d. Lou Bystrak 3-2; Herb Kramer d. Ellen Leung 3-0. Finals: Zemaitis d. Kramer 3-1.

U2000- Semi’s: Yevgeniy Puzyrev d. Ray Nagel 3-0; Cliff Sullivan d. Alex Meleshenko 3-1. Finals: Puzyrev d. Sullivan 3-0.

Junior U-17- Finals: Seth Pech d. Jason Chan 3-2.

Senior Over 40- Semi’s: Dan Seemiller d. Ray Mack 3-0; Mark Nordby d. Bob Panahiazar 3-0. Finals: Seemiller d. Nordby def.

3400 Doubles- Semi’s: Grandalski/T. Burik d. Halliday/Juneau 3-1; W. Carney/C. MacClaren d. Mack/Zimmer 3-0. Finals: Carney/MacClaren d. Grandalski/Burik n.s.

Open Warmup: group winners Dan Seemiller Sr, Barney Reed Jr., Samson Dubina, Yahao Zhang, Marcus Jackson

U2400- Semi’s: Mike Walk d. Terence Leung 3-1; Chip Coulter d. Yong Ma 3-1. Finals: Coulter d. Walk 3-1.

U1450- Semi’s: Larry Arnold d. Tom Neal 3-1; Kevin Knowles d. Aaron Prose 3-0. Finals: Arnold d. Knowles 3-2.

Senior Esquire Over 60- RR Finals: 1. John Hay 2-0 (d. Bill Walk 3-0; d. Ray Gutowski 3-1). 2. Bill Walk 1-1 (d. Ray Gutowski 3-1). 3. Ray Gutowski 0-2.

Open- Quarters: Dan Seemiller Sr. d. Marcus Jackson 4-1; Joe Cochran d. Tak Cheong Yip 4-2; Samson Dubina d. Mark Nordby 4-0; Barney Reed d. Don Hamilton 4-1.
RR Finals: 1. Barney Reed 3-0 (d. Deemiller 4-1, d. Dubina 4-0, d. Cochran 4-0). 2. Samson Dubina 2-1 (d. Seemiller 4-0, d. Cochran 4-1). 3-4. Dan Seemiller. 3-4 Joe
Cochran.

Junior U14- RR Finals: 1. Kyle Barnes 2-1 (5-4). 2. Sabrina Daoud 2-1 (5-5). 3. Eric Barnes 2-1 (4-5). 4. Zack Wawrzaszek 0-3.

U2800 Doubles- Semi’s: Falk/Abrameto d. Grandalski/Waugaman 3-0; Beggin/Klobusnik d. C. Bailey/D. Barnes 3-2. Finals: Falk/Abrameto d. Beggin/Klobusnik 3-2.

U2200- Semi’s; Desmond Wilson d. Chandru Krishnan 3-2; A.J. Carney d. Ray Mack 3-0. Finals: Wilson d. Carney 3-0.

Open Hardbat- RR Finals: 1. Ray Mack 2-0 (d. A.J. Carney 2-0, d. Pinili def.). 2. A.J. Carney 1-1 (d. Pinili def.). 3. Ken Pinili 0-2.

U1750- Semi’s: Tom Burik d. Joe Grandalski 3-1; Jim Burik d. Roy Dietz 3-0. Finals: Jim Burik d. Tom Burik 3-1.

U700- Final RR: 1. Bill Stewart 4-0. 2. Kyle Barnes 3-1. 3. Carol Joyce 2-2. 4. Eric Barnes 1-2. 5. Zack Wawrzaszek 0-4.