2001 Ann Van Vooren Memorial Cup
The winners name is added to the Cup
Randy Medcalf continues to stay in contention for the title three years
in a row
Bob O'Neill
2001 Ann Van Vooren Memorial Cup
The winners name is added to the Cup
Randy Medcalf continues to stay in contention for the title three years
in a row
Bob O'Neill
The 3rd annual Ann Van Vooren Memorial Cup tournament was another tremendous success this year. June 30, 2001 saw the HTTC host yet another superb event. Completing the conversion to a full volunteer facility, Bob O'Neill, Robert Mayer, and Roberto Byles helped stage a competition truly loved by its entrants.
With
a cut-off of a 2000 point USATT computer rating, the AVVMC draws enthusiasts
from all over the region. In yet another highly competitive field,
It appears that this years winner, Randy Hou (pronounced HO), will follow
the footsteps of all previous winners and be ineligible for next year's
event. But this event is not just about the competition. It
is sponsored by Ann's husband, D. G. Van Vooren, long a fixture in the
table tennis world. D.G. withdrew from competition for many tears
as he assisted his wife through the grueling tragedy of Alzheimer's.
Now that he has retired, and Ann has passed on to a much better venue,
he is becoming a driving force in the TT community.
The HTTC is a wonderful venue to hold such a tournament. It provides ample space for competition and socializing. The tournament provided pizzas and soft drinks to all competitors and volunteer staff members. It was very well received, and quickly devoured! This is very much a family event. As a matter of fact, so many kids are coming with their folks, that the club hosted the Sunbelt Junior Championships on the day before to accommodate the interested youth!
This year at the AVVMC, the top 16 advancing to the A division all received prize money. Pretty good for an event of this size! There was an early upset in the preliminary round robin as David Rice took out former ACUI National Champion Swami Bhaskar. Fortunately for Bhaskar, two advanced out of the group into the A division. This was very much to the disadvantage of Peter Tellegen, one of Houston's top players making his return to competitive play after an absence of almost a decade. Peter, who won his group easily, now had to face Bhaskar in the first round of the A's. For his part, David advanced to 1/4 finals of the A's before losing to Randy Metcalf, thus proving he deserved to be there.
This proved to be to strong a matchup for him and out went one of the top seeds to another in the first single elimination play. Bhaskar then had to deal with Gerald Kempa. Gerald has been steadily improving each year and this time made the semi-finals. Of course this means that, that match was his. :-) The semis between Gerald and Aaron Aboagye, were matched by that of the "Battling Randys". Randy Medcalf and Randy Hou played a fiery 4 gamer as did Aaron and Gerald.
Aaron and Randy Hou were seeded 1 and 2 coming into the event and indeed they did meet in the finals! In a barn burner of a match, Randy proved just too fast and powerful for Aaron. But Aaron played a fine duel. Lots of points were followed with loud applause from the appreciative spectators. Try to make this event one on your playing schedule next year. You won't regret it!
Timmy Wang plays in back to back tournaments
Oh Yeah! and then there is Mike Hormozi!
