Auburn & Northern California
Table Tennis Tournament Info 

Upcoming Tournaments

Upcoming USATT Pacific Region Tournaments

2008 - 2009

Tournament Results

1^st Annual Gold Country Open       Auburn, California       Tournament Pictures

Oct. 11 & 12, 2008

Our inaugural tournament, a two star event, put on by the Auburn and Sierra Table Tennis Clubs, was an unqualified success. The first day saw fifty-six players compete in 10 singles and 3 doubles events for a prize purse of $1050. A late addition to the event was coverage of U-2200 finals and the open singles on our local cable access channel. The second day showed a solid show of local support with the turnout of better than 115, including about 60 players from five local high schools, for an all day recreational table tennis event sponsored by our Rec & Parks Department with coordination, coaching and encouragement by many members of our clubs.  Sixteen tables busy morning ‘til evening.  We look forward to the carryover benefits to our clubs and believe this is a spark to more and better youth play, including potentially establishing a playing base at the participating high schools.

Saturday Oct. 11, 2008

Open:   1^st Barney Reed, 2^nd James Therriault, 3^rd Freddy Gabriel, 4^th Mert Caglar

U2200:  1^st James Therriault, 2^nd Mert Caglar, 3^rd Thanh Nguyen, 4^th Jian Zhuang

U1950:  1^st Billy Fu, 2^nd Sammy Chu

U1700:  1^st Wesley Boot, 2^nd Kumar Vellore

U1600:  1^st Tyler Spesick, 2^nd Nathaniel Chu

U1450:  1^st Rajesh Swarna, 2^nd Tyler Spesick

U1200:  1^st Tyler Spesick, 2^nd Mike Dempewolf

U950:    1^st Peter Daza, 2^nd Michael Wong

U700:    1^st Mel Starkey, 2^nd Mark Copeland

U550:    1^st Brian Zhuang, 2^nd Michael Wong

U3600 Doubles:    1^st Saul Weinstein/Bill Kochenderfer, 2^nd  Kumar Vellore/Joe Badrena

U2900 Doubles: 1^st Mike Dempewolf/Mike Sturtevant, 2^nd Ron Afdal/Bill Lyons

U2200 Doubles: 1^st Nathanial Chu/Anthony Chu

Sunday Oct. 12, 2008

High School teams:

1st Chana A

2nd Chana B

3rd Bear River A

High School Individual winners

1st   Dan Silva

2nd  Mitch Sears

3rd   Tyler Caster

The Sunday events were many.  Chana High School carried the day for the high school competition, winning the “overall” category. 

Particular thanks to Bob Grittner, Howard Parker and Mel Starkey, who provided key assistance in coordinating players for Sunday events.

Many thanks go to a number of people who gave time and energy to the weekend, before during and after, and to our sponsors.

At the risk of forgetting someone – thank you very much to:

Mark Copeland, Larry Scott, Mike Giangreco, Chebu Herrick, Tina Jacobson, Madison Kochenderfer, Ron Mallory, Marsea Mallory, Tom Spesick, Chris Pratt, Vince Cavanna, Eric Cavanna, Donna Aquino, Bob Grittner, Mike Gaynor, Bill Indreboe, Doug Vaughan and JZ Zhuang.  The clubs are very grateful to you all for your work, from moving tables (from Grass Valley as well as Auburn) in and back again, to running the food concession, to assisting on game days with event coordination.

Our monetary sponsors were crucial to keeping us above water (financially), and we are most appreciative of the following:

ARD (Auburn Recreation District) – your support of the Auburn club on an ongoing basis, and this event in particular, has been tremendous.  Thank you Manouch Shirvanioun and Joey McNutt, in particular, and thank you to the Board for its encouragement of this sport.

Roger’s Automotive Diagnostics & Repair – thank you Walt.

Homeschool.com and El Portal – our 1/3 page sponsors, thank you.

“Friends of Gold Country Table Tennis” – Dough Vaughan, Larry Scott Photography, Ron Mallory (Prudential Real Estate), Bill Indreboe, Law Offices of S. Ross Kochenderfer, Jr. (no relation to tournament director), TableTennisOnly.com, Fastenal of Auburn, Subway-BelAir Shopping Center, Raleys (Lincoln Way), and also to Paddle Palace.

Many thanks to Gil Dominguez and Touchdown Production!  If anyone wants to see several hours of fine matches from the Saturday USATT events, including some stellar color commentary and wildly insightful comments (no kidding on this), their DVD is well worth the purchase.

Finally, a shout out in recognition to the high schools and players and coaches – from Bear River, Colfax, Placer, Chana and Del Oro.  This was a great turnout.  We hope to have sparked some interest in table tennis, and we know we saw some good talent both in the making and already in play. 

We have received a number of comments and suggestions and lots of very positive feedback, for which we are glad (for the suggestions as well as the positive feedback).  By all means please send us an e-mail or corner any of our respective club representatives and let us know your thoughts.