The Asian American Student Association (AASA) hosted a school-wide ping pong tournament that took place in the field house, lasting from Nov. 12 to Nov. 28. Junior Armon Meinstein was declared the winner, as he prevailed with an impressive performance winning the final round over sophomore Ben Getson.
The tournament was broken down into six rounds, each of which consisted of a single-elimination, first to eleven match. However if a competitor was able to beat an opponent seven to zero, they would be awarded a shutout and move on to the next round. This format allowed for some electric performances.
A specifically interesting match was the semi-final match between freshman Vincent Zhou and junior Daniel Shin. Both competitors were at the top of their game and played wonderfully, evenly matched until the very end.
Points were traded identically until Vincent had a set of amazing shots that allowed him to win. An exciting match, full of energy as both sides cheered for their favorite player, the competitive energy could be felt in the air.
AASA co-leader Aayush Kevadia ‘23 said, “I would say the tournament was definitely a success as AASA was able to display the table tennis skills of students that don’t often have the ability to showcase their talent to a greater community.”
One motive of the tournament was to help kids who may play outside of school to show off their skills to the GA community, as GA does not have ping pong as a sport. However, ping pong has a great significance in the Asian community. Many Asian families own a ping pong table, even if it’s not used often.
“My family has had a ping pong table for as long as I can remember,” said Stella Lee ‘23, one of AASA’s leaders. “In addition, our family trips to Taiwan often include playing the sport at relatives’ houses.”
Ping pong is a beloved sport in many Asian cultures and AASA has certainly captured the hearts of everyone with the joy brought on with this event.