Table tennis club looks to expand

Every weekend, college students across the country put pingpong balls to good use – by tossing them into plastic cups full of beer. However, the IU Table Tennis Club knows pingpong balls offer other uses besides drinking games and knows they can bring bigger victories, too.\nThe club, which meets regularly in the upstairs gym of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation building, consists of a very small group of about 10 regular members. So small, in fact, that they did not qualify for the national championship due to the lack of eligible members. This does not stop the group from enjoying its favorite past-time or each other’s company. \nWen Huang, whose wife works for the Kinsey Institute, joined the club in 1999 and is still an active member today. Huang mentioned that the club is extremely multicultural, and that they not only share table tennis information with each other but their cultures as well.\n“Almost everyone here comes from different countries,” Huang said. “We have anywhere from eight to nine different countries (represented). So we are here not just to play pingpong, but also to give information and give culture – to get to know each other.”\nThe club managed to volley their way to a third place national ranking in 2003 at the table tennis championship, but were suspended as a team soon after due to a lapse in leadership position candidates. Current president Abbas Shirinifard said that miscommunications lead to their year of probation, but that the team is now fully aware of IU’s club team rules and plans to stick around for a while.\nShirinifard says that there are many misconceptions about table tennis, including the level of athleticism involved.\n“People think table tennis is very slow or just a hobby in the basement and you can’t spend any energy on this,” Shirinifard said. “But I’m pretty sure (inexperienced players) could play just two sets and that would kill (them). It’s very energy consuming.”\nShirinifard’s teammate senior Michael Mendelson agrees that the level of athleticism is often under-appreciated, as well as the skill level involved.\n“The beauty of the sport is that among other basic athletic principles, such as balance and coordination, this game is tremendously psychological,” Mendelson said. “The clever players are the ones who win.”\nAlthough many members are high-level players, the club encourages others of any skill level to join in its quest for a shot at the national championship, which Shirinifard hopes to do in the near future.\n“Next year, hopefully,” he said.