Professional table tennis players take their sport very seriously, often standing some 20 feet behind the table, feverishly trading shots, completely drenched in sweat accumulated during the intense showdown.
It’s not too far from what the N.C. State club table tennis team does on a regular basis. Its players also use some of the same tactics like the ones seen on television, including working their way backwards during the match to make up for the quickened pace of the game.
The club also competes against rival colleges and has the opportunity to collect championships, but still the club can be very recreational at the same time.
Take for instance Joel Chapman, a junior in mechanical engineering. Chapman has been a member since his freshman year, and said he enjoys the club because it helped him find others who understand and enjoy the game.
“Before, me and my brother played in the basement and that was about it,” Chapman said. “I had a few friends in my high school who played but nobody who really knew the rules at the time.”
According to Chapman, there is a wide range of talent and experience on the team, with most falling in the middle, much like the bell-shaped curve.
“There’s not a huge disparity between all the players. There are a few players who come in and beat absolutely everyone and a few inexperienced players who always get beat,” Chapman said. “Most of the players fall in the middle and generally don’t get beat by the same person five or six times in a row.”
The team goes to about three tournaments a year, facing other schools in their division.
Each school brings an A-team and B-team with four people apiece, with only the A-team counting towards competition.
The four players each play singles and pair off for doubles competition as well. Whoever has the best performance at the end of the last tournament will go on to nationals.
“All the tournaments we play would be division tournaments,” club president Daniel Mellinger said. “Every tournaments counts.”
Mellinger, senior in mechanical engineering, said the team finished 18th nationally after winning the division two years ago. This year the division consists of six teams – State, Clemson, UNC-Charlotte and Duke with two first-year members Wake Forest and North Carolina.
Last year the club finished in a three-way tie with Duke and UNC-Charlotte, but Duke won the tiebreaker and headed to national competition.
“It was pretty close between all three schools,” Mellinger said. “It was almost us.”
Just like any competing college team, graduation has removed some of the best and most experienced players from the team, leaving this year a question mark.
“We lost our top four, so it’s going to be rough this year. We’ve got some guys who can compete, but it’s going to be rougher this year,” Mellinger said.
The first tournament of the year is scheduled for Dec. 2, but the location is still to be determined. That will have to be worked out among all teams sometime beforehand.
“We’re having trouble finding where’s going to be the optimal place to hold it because we have three teams in the Triangle now and Wake Forest. So, it’s not really fair for all of us to drive to Charlotte,” Chapman said.
State hopes to host its own tournament sometime next semester, but the only facility on campus even remotely capable of hosting a tournament would be where the team practices, the basement of Carmichael Gymnasium.
With only four tables at hand, Mellinger said the team would try to host the tournament at the Cary Table Tennis Club instead.
“Last year we played one in Charlotte, and they had seven tables and it took seven hours. So, with four tables it would take way too long,” Mellinger said.
With school bearing down on its players, only a handful of club members can get to every single practice, but all still manage to play when they do get free time.
“[During school] I probably am able to get in two or three hours a week,” Chapman said. “During the summer and Christmas I can probably get in two or three hours a day.”
Practices are held on Monday and Wednesday from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.
“They come in and try it out to see if it’s something that they like, Chapman said. “We just ask that the people who try to come do follow by the rules, and we’ll tell them to you if you don’t know.”