APU Ping-Pong Tournament attracts students and staff alike to compete for prizes and bragging rights
On Friday, students and staff filled the Cougar Dome to compete in the Ping-Pong tournament, hosted by Communiversity.
“Ping-pong has been a part of the APU community for quite some time. Each living area has a ping-pong table,” said Judson Lim, director of campus recreation.
Lim, who also competed in the tournament, said his goal is to add a variety of intramural sports for students to choose from.
“When you think of intramurals, you think basketball, flag football or volleyball. We are trying to incorporate different sports to offer to students who don’t play those conventional sports,” Lim said.
Tournament winners received a $25 Nike gift card, a trophy and bragging rights as the ping-pong masters of APU.
There were two divisions: a single player division and a double-player division. A total of 14 players were in the singles division and six teams participated in the doubles division. The tournament was set up with pool play into single elimination games.
“I am pleased with the turnout. As long as people are having fun … That’s the biggest thing,” Lim said. “I always tell my staff, ‘It’s never about the numbers as long as we do this with the right heart and right intentions.’”
The winner of the singles division was senior Oleg Simonyan. Simonyan, who was born in Russia, is no stranger to the game.
“I’ve played ping-pong on and off for the past two years, but I’ve played tennis since I was five years old,” said Simonyan. “I love playing. It’s my favorite hobby, and I love meeting others who love it too.”
Simonyan went undefeated in the singles division throughout the entire tournament. He frequently plays ping-pong during his free time.
“I always hang out [in the Office of Communiversity] because I’m a commuter. I use it to get my mind off of stress and school work,” Simonyan said.
The winners of the doubles division were Lim and junior Miku Ramirez. Ramirez wasn’t originally signed up to play in the tournament but stepped in when an extra player was needed.
“The tournament was really fun. Everyone here was super friendly, but I couldn’t have won without Judson,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez is a member of the APU women’s club volleyball team. During the tournament, they were having a bake sale to fundraise for their trip to the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation (NCVF) Championships in Denver.
“With the bake sale we were able to gather a lot of people to support and watch their friends,” said Ramirez. “We want to thank Communiversity for allowing us to do this.”
Spring intramurals are nearing the end of the season with the playoffs coming in three weeks. Communiversity’s next tournament will be a six-on-six indoor soccer tournament in early April. The club volleyball team will be selling baked goods at this event as well to continue raising money for the NCVF Championships.