Table Tennis Club small in size, large in spirited competition

Most people wander into the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation for their usual workouts or for the start of the intramural basketball playoffs. However, a group of five people enter twice a week for an entirely different reason--the IU Table Tennis Club.\nThe table tennis club has only five active members. Those members are working to increase their numbers and they hope to play in a few tournaments, member Mike Schopp said.\n"All types of players are welcome," Schopp said. "Not just people who have played competitively."\nThe team has not played in a tournament since the 2003 National Collegiate Table Tennis Team Championship, where it came in third, according to the team's Web site, www.informatics.indiana.edu/fil/TT. That team, comprised of five students, won four of six games, losing only to the first-and second-place teams.\nThe team might go back to playing tournaments this year, club president Abbas Shirinifard said.\n"Purdue invited us to go to a tournament in March," Shirinifard said. "We are going to discuss (the tournament) during practice this week."\nAccording to www.nctta.org, the team could potentially rejoin the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association for a $100 fee, that could provide many options for the club. Joining this association would make IU the sixth active Big Ten team in the association. The other active teams include the Illinois, Purdue, Michigan State, Penn State and Ohio State. The team would rejoin the Ohio division, which is comprised of 14 teams throughout the Midwest region. Membership also allows the students a discount from The Table Tennis Pioneers, a major online store available at www.ping-pong.com.\nHowever, the team is lacking a major aspect in order to be competitive: a coach. According to the Web site, Gurhan Gunduz, former player and coach, started playing in the 1999-2000 season and ended his career with a 31-3 singles record and a 25-1 doubles record for IU. Gunduz started coaching the team after placing third in the nation in 2003. The team has been looking for a new coach since Gunduz recently returned to his home country of Turkey.\nThe team practices at 7 p.m. every Monday and Wednesday at the HPER in room 293.\n"During practice we train for fun," Shirinifard said.\nSchopp said practice is more then just training. \n"We play a lot of open games," Schopp says.\nThe practices are open to everyone, and the team hopes to recruit enough players to regain tournament status in the future, Schopp said. The membership cost is $10 per semester and covers equipment and practice time.