Ping pong team hoping to turn the tables on Princeton

Through the men's locker room of Hutchinson Gym, past the squash courts and down a fire escape, is the path that leads you to the basement. But this is also the path to the home of one of Penn's most accomplished non-varsity teams, the Penn table tennis team.

Despite consistent top-10 finishes in the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association tournament, the team has gone from practicing in a brand-new dance studio in Pottruck to a dingy, out-of-use converted squash court in the sweltering basement of Hutch.

This lack of recognition doesn't bother some players. Senior Shahab Joudaki - this year's No. 1 player - says that "it's been a lot of fun to play on the team," and, although he acknowledges that the sport of table tennis hasn't really caught on in North America, "it is always exciting to play the best college players in the nation and to travel to other cities and schools."

Due to the departure of Casey Ching, last year's captain, and No. 3 player Eric Leventhal (who is studying abroad this year), the Penn team has been left slightly under-manned. It may find itself in a tough uphill battle against division rival Princeton.

The two teams usually compete for the one or two Mid-Atlantic division spots in the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association tournament. Games between Penn and Princeton "are usually very intense," President Viral Gandhi said.

"They are extra fierce, because they are often a 'win or die' situation," Joudaki added.

Last year, there were only six teams in the Mid-Atlantic division (the number varies from year to year), meaning only one qualified for the NCTTA tournament.

Princeton and Penn were tied through their first two meets, but in the decisive rubber match, the Tigers shuffled their lineup to get the best singles matchups for themselves. This tactic worked, and Penn was shut out of the tournament as Princeton won the series, 2-1. Before that, from 2003-2005, Penn placed fourth, third and fifth, always topping their New Jersey rivals in the rankings.

But Princeton scored a big "recruiting" victory (there is no formal recruiting for table tennis, since it is not a varsity sport) by landing the top young player in the United States, Adam Hugh. Gandhi speculates that Hugh - the top college player in the country, according to the USATT rankings - may even represent the United States in table tennis at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

There is some hope that Penn can secure a player of equal talent. "People want to come to Penn just to play table tennis," Gandhi said.

Tengerph Chen plays for the junior Canadian national team and has e-mailed Gandhi, saying that "coming to Penn and playing table tennis is my dream."

Gandhi laments that not much can be done to improve his chances at being admitted to Penn, as would be the case for a varsity sport.

However, there are still plenty of talented freshmen who want to play for Penn. Andrew Abranovic, a Pittsburgh native, hopes that he can make the A-team this year.

"I was really impressed with some of our players," he said. That was "something that I didn't think would be a problem before I came."

Abranovic admits that table tennis was not a major factor in his decision to come to Penn, but he recalls reading about its fifth-place finish two years ago. In addition to the current crop of freshmen, Penn also has one or two graduate students who are very accomplished and are ready to play.

Penn will still be among the top teams in the country this year thanks to Joudaki and juniors Eddie Yang and Peter Hua. The three comprise the core of Penn's table tennis team, and the A-Team will add one or two by the start of the season.

Joudaki admits that it will be hard to beat Princeton, but a win should mean a trip from the Hutch basement to the top-level table tennis tournament in the country.

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