Yukon Open Table Tennis Championships big success

Photo by Jon Molson

Table tennis players of all levels, age, experience and skill were on hand at the annual Yukon Open Table Tennis Championships.
This year’s championship was particularly special because it wasn’t just limited to Whitehorse competitors who chose to take part.

The event included two Alaskans and one participant from Mayo.
Their numbers may have been small, but the non-Whitehorse players let their presence be known with Mayo competitor, Walker Ewing winning the novice event on Saturday and the Alaskan team of Andrew Hutzel and Thomas Erbs taking the team title.

In addition to his team victory, Hutzel also won the random doubles event and the top prize at the competition, which was the open category. In the open event, he managed to beat Whitehorse’s Kevin Murphy in a close four-set final. 
Hutzel, 60, said it was really special to win the Yukon championships for the singles open event and that it is the best accomplishment he has ever achieved in the sport.
“You guys have got a good club here, good players, I was lucky,“ he said. “I was just fortunate that they don’t play against my style.

These guys are good players, they are not slouches. When they came to Fairbanks, AK they beat us, so fortunately I had a good weekend. I was playing well.“
Hutzel’s style is based more on ball-control and it isn’t centred on power shots.

He uses a basic racket that can be purchased at any recreation centre, while the majority of other competitive players prefer to use more advanced rackets that will allow for faster shots.
This was a very impressive tournament for Hutzel, who went undefeated in the singles, random doubles and team event categories.
Hutzel took up table tennis in his youth and played it up until the late seventies before taking a 25-year leave of absence from the sport.

Five years ago he resumed his interest in it as a player, attempting to get as good as he could in his older age, he said.

Hutzel said he came back to the game because he enjoys playing it.
“It’s just fun to compete,“ he said. “It’s really good for your mind.

There have been some studies in China and Japan about table tennis helping with alzheimer’s because you have to focus and you have to make a lot of decisions real quick. Kevin and I played the old man’s game, but some of these guys play a lot of power shots.“
He said he expected to lose to Whitehorse player Ryan Bachli in the open category.
“I was just going to try to play as good as I could,“ Hutzel said. “I expected I was going to lose to Ryan because when he is playing well, nobody is going to beat him, but this is not his weekend.“
This was the first tournament he has participated in all season, but Hutzel has competed in Whitehorse at a major table tennis tournament before.

Two years ago he played in the Western Canadian Open when it was hosted in the city.
Hutzel said he chose to compete in the Yukon open this year because of how much he enjoys the hospitality at the Whitehorse Table Tennis Club.
“The hospitality here is fantastic,“ he said. “We all just get together and have a good time.

Like anything else if you are a pilot or if you are into crafting, ping-pong people like to hang around with ping-pong people.

You learn things and the camaraderie is great here, these people are really nice.

It’s been a lot of fun and even though we had to drive 12 hours, it was well worth.“
Kevin Murphy, who coaches at the Whitehorse Table Tennis club, said it’s important to host this type of event on an annual basis.
“We have been going somewhere else to compete in most cases and really we have only run a monthly kind of ranking tournament, which would be just straight singles,“ Murphy said.

“So it’s time to host the big event, the championships for us and for all of the players in the clubs, whether it be at the Holy Family club or the Whitehorse Elementary club. It’s a chance for them to play and show up and try to win.“
He said it was real benefit to have the three non-Whitehorse competitors attend the championships.
“It is always better having more players there because you always want to improve the level of play in your club and bringing in players who you don’t play against on a regular basis will always do that for you,“ Murphy said.

“That’s what is so difficult and in some cases so exciting about the sport. You really have to work on both the mental aspect, understanding the sport and the various technical things that can happen in a game as well as being athletic about delivering your shot.“
Other event winners included Ewing in the novice singles category, who defeated Kieran Halliday of Whitehorse. Lucy Xim also did very well, placing third in this category.
Edna Knight won the women’s singles event over Myrna Bruns, while Zara Bachli finished in the third spot. 
Ryan Bachli rounded out the top three in the open singles event, coming in third place behind Murphy and Hutzel.
The Alaskan team of Erbs, who is from Anchorage and Hutzel, who resides in Eagle River, won the Alaska - Yukon Team event. The Alaskan duo defeated Kevin Murphy and Mehrnoush Maldavi. Ryan Bachli and Ben Barrett-Forest came in third in this category.
For the open doubles event, Kevin Murphy and Sandeep Sharma played well enough to get a victory over Ryan Bachli Ben Barrett-Forest. Edna Knight and Zara Bachli placed third.
Hutzel won this third event of the tournament in the random draw category with teammate Edna Knight of Whitehorse.