Ping pong tourney turns up competition

Twenty-six students showed off their skills at the Ping Pong Tournament Thursday night.

The Pit hosts the Ping Pong tournament every year and always has a good turnout.

Manager of The Pit Jennie Robbins, 21, senior of Mitchell, said that the tournament is always interesting to watch.

“It gets really intense for a school ping pong tournament,” she said.

The winner of the tournament this year was Neil Lin, 20, sophomore of Taichung, Taiwan. Lin has won the competition before, and was very excited to be the champion once again.

“It felt great to win the competition,” Lin said. “It is nice to see the freshman trying it out also, and they definitely have the potential to beat me someday.”

This year there were many prizes for the winner and other placers to receive, including iTunes gift cards, a Vizio speaker, a table tennis game, and a 32 inch flat screen TV. Lin won the TV.

“The best part of winning was the prize,” Lin said. “Who wouldn’t get excited about a free TV?”

For the championship game, Lin played against Evan Smith, 18, freshman of Gillette, Wyoming. Lin won both games against Smith. Lin went undefeated against all of his opponents, beating them 2-0.

According to Lin, ping pong is harder than others might think.

“Players should realize that it takes a lot of practice to improve the counterattack, looping and spinning,” he said.

Along with a night full of ping pong, The Pit also provided pizza. Pizza attracted many students as well as the prizes they could win.

Ethnicity doesn’t mean anything with the sport in Lin’s opinion.

“Being an Asian doesn’t mean that I’m entitled to be the champ,” he said.

Lin would like to see even more people at the tournament next year.

“I want to encourage people to play ping pong more often,” he said. “Anyone can ask me about skills and how to improve.”