By Matt Koper/ne news editor
Sunny Lakhani earned bragging rights after going undefeated in the Pingpong Club’s first tournament March 25 on NE Campus.
Before the tournament, Lakhani, who has played pingpong professionally, said he was going to mess with his opponents.
Photos by Stephanie Pauken/The Collegian
“I’m going to play the first three rounds really bad and then turn it up ‘cause I’m a world-class pingpong player,” he said. “I can’t wait for my match. I’ve played a lot.”
The round-robin tournament had 21 participants playing four games each to see who would make the cut of the top eight. After each had played four matches, those with the best win/loss record would move on.
The participants who made the final eight were Lakhani, Hoang Ta, Adam Ammeter, club president Adrian Rodriguez, Jeremy Fancher, Joey Meade, Ian Reyes and Alvin Solidum.
Rodriguez said despite losing a match, a snack he ate in between games helped him the rest of the way.
“I lost two games against Sam Siddiqi,” he said. “It was the presidential match — Sam’s president of the pool club. After I lost, I wasn’t feeling myself, and my good friend Abraham gave me a Snickers. I told him he should’ve given me this before the match.”
After the remaining eight battled it out, Fancher and Lakhani were set to square off in the finals.
Fancher said he had a different strategy to get to the finals.
“Defensive playing, a lot of sweating — too much, actually. I didn’t think you could sweat this much in pingpong,” he said. “And consistency. I try not to take risks with slams because I know I will screw those up.”
Lakhani said he was confident going into the finals.
“I’m going to show a different game on my finals,” he said. “It’s going to be pure domination.”
During the finals, Lakhani was down early 0-3 in the first game but won 9-11 and took the last two games handily to remain perfect.
Despite coming in second, Fancher said he was proud of himself.
“Normally, I just show up here to work on getting better,” he said. “And normally, there’s guys above me. But today it worked out in my favor.”
Rodriguez said he was happy with how the tournament turned out.
“It was a great outcome that’s for sure,” he said. “Twenty-one people is more than I expected.”
The next two tournaments are fundraisers scheduled April 8 and April 22 in the NE Campus gym. There will be a $5 buy-in, and prizes will be awarded. For more information, contact Rodriguez at adrian.rodriguez746@my.tccd.edu.
