August 21^st and 22^nd , 2004

In the tradition of Anglo-American law, nothing carries more weight than testimony.  Attesting to something, providing first-hand accounts, bearing witness, is the ultimate proof.  At this year's Matthew J. Murad Memorial, there was a whole lot of testifying going on, proof of performance was rendered and in the end, a convincing verdict.

Kudos to Tournament Director Fong Hsu and Tournament Ref Terry Bell for a well-managed competition!  Table Tennis Pioneers was on hand is support of the tournament, the fourth stop on the 2004 STIGA North American Tour.  Jack and Mozart did a brisk business and enjoyed their location next to Table One. 

Matt's parents, Ronald and Gloria, have created a living memorial to their son that is worthy of his name.  Players are impressed not just with the prize money, but also with the concept of an annual trophy.  Only two names appear on that loving cup, the only two players to ever have won the tournament are David Zhuang and Fan YiYong.  That's pretty steep competition!

Competition is not limited to the highest levels, of course, and great competitive matches were to found at all levels of play.  Reza Ghiasi managed to win both the Boys Under 13 and the Boys Under 16, overcoming a 3-0 game deficit to Taiyee Chien.  Dominique Flexer was happy to claim second, twice!  She made the finals of both the U-1550 and the U-1700, making valiant efforts against both Dimitri Moundous and Gary Schlager.  No disappointment on her face when she held aloft her award and announced "My first Trophy!"  Chance Friend won both the U-950 and the U-800, but appeared to cherish most his 4-1 victory over his father, Todd in the U-800.  Mackenzie Friend added to the family's hardware haul by taking the Girl's Under 10 title with brother Spencer contributing a second place in the Boys Under 10 as well.  

Some notable upsets included Xavier Therien's convincing 4-1 victory over a deflated Barney Reed in Open Singles Round Robin play.  Barney came out on the short end of a three-way tie that advanced De Tran and Therien to Quarterfinal matches.  Samson Dubina handed a 7 game loss to Gao Yan Jun in the same event, repeatedly scoring against the man's forehand.  Samson, also the U-22 Men's champ and second in the U-2375 to Raghu Nadmichettu, pitted youth and self-belief against the more experienced International player. 

But in the end, it came down, once again to the pairing of David Zhuang and Thomas Keinath in the Championship Final.  These two have contributed several exciting matches to table tennis in the recent past, David's big victory against Thomas in last year's Teams final, Keinath's wonderful come-from-behind win at the STIGA Open being the two most recent.  But today David was in control all the way to take the title and add his name for a third time to the annual trophy. 

What I noticed in this match was the way David dominated play with his backhand penhold block.  There were many backhand to backhand rallies, but not by Keinath's choice!  Zhuang effectively pinned the younger man down by varying his block's spin, pace and placement, and Keinath, try as he might, could not Loop through it with consistency.  Playing to David's forehand was far more effective for him, but he simply couldn't get there often enough.  In response to David's famous service game, Thomas showed a few high-toss serves of his own, but not to any great effect.  David was definitely at the top of his game in this match!  The normally unflappable Keinath was talking to himself before it was all over, but seemed unable to provide any good answers. 

But when the two players posed for photographs with the Murads, it was evident that the answers are all good.  Hard fought points and games behind us, we record the match results and embrace in mutual respect and a shared love for our sport.  For the NATT staff, it was time to pack up the control desk and roll away the STIGA tables, time to prepare for the Western Open in Fremont, CA, the last tour stop of the 2004 season.  Matthew would be proud.