The Barbara Wurster Memorial Open Table Tennis Tournament
Samson Dubina Table Tennis Academy
May 14-15, 2021
 
 
Tournament Article – By Samson Dubina
 
 
Since the grand opening of the Samson Dubina Table Tennis Academy, Barbara Wurster has been one of our main supporters!  We were planning to open one of the largest academies in the US with almost no money in the bank.  Her anonymous donation of $17,000 is what we needed to help with the many startup costs associated with opening a new business.  Also, I went to visit her and was surprised by her table tennis skills, she was about to rally quite well with forehand and backhand and really enjoyed playing.  Not only was she a great supporter of table tennis, but she knew how to play as well!
 
 
Several months ago she died and her daughter Chris Jordan donated the money to the academy for this prestigious event in honor of her mother, who was such an awesome supporter of the academy.  Not only did Chris donate, but she also competed and took hundreds of photos for us capturing the action from the weekend.  Chris is a great example of someone who started table tennis as an adult, uses it to get fit, and is still progressing her game!  We enjoy seeing her success and encourage many other adults to pick up the sport and begin playing as well! 
 
 
Friday morning, we kicked off the weekend with the u2300, under 1600, and under 1000.  Each of the giant round robin events consisted of 5-8 players with the top 4 advancing from each group to the next round.  Players from Texas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Carolina, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, and 14 players from Puerto Rico competed for a chance at the title and the $5000 in cash prizes!  On Friday, Jishan Liang took top honors in the u2650 final beating 2021 Canadian Olympian 11-19 in the 5th with a dramatic finish.  On Saturday, Mishel Levinski took top honor beating Gal Alguetti 3-0 in the open final to take home the $1000 prize.
 
 
I would like to thank our many workers and volunteers to made this event possible – Blake Cottrell, Steve Graber, Rosie Graber, Chris Graber, Ethan Alexander, Joseph Alexander, Peter Alexander, Sam Dubina, Nancy Dubina, Heather Dubina, Mark Hendricks, Letty Tharp, and our amazing photographer Chris Jordon!  I would also like to thank our sponsors Barbara Wurster, Nittaku, Paddle Palace, Presper Financial Architects, APAPA, Power Pong, Wil-Cut, and Hampton!  Thanks for your support and we look forward to having you back in June, July, and August for more great tournament action!
 
 
 
Open
1 Mishel Levinski
2 Gal Alguetti
3-4 Jishan Liang and Jeremy Hazin
5-8 Daniel Gonzalez, Ojo Onaolapo, Jimmy Butler, Sid Naresh
9-16 Sarah Jalli, Kai Jiang, Chance Friend, Daniel Stepanyuk, Aditya Sareen, Jabdiel Torres, Seth Pech, Nandan Naresh,
 
 
Under 2650
1 Jishan Liang
2 Jeremy Hazin
3-4 Gal Alguetti and Daniel Gonzalez
 
 
Under 2500
1 Sid Naresh
2 Nandan Naresh
3-4 Sarah Jalli and Jabdiel Torres
 
 
Under 2300
1 Vlad Farcas
2 Jose Nieves
3-4 Daniel Stepanyuk and Martin Rogers
 
 
Under 2150
1 Giovannie Centeno
2 Jose Nieves
3-4 Connor Lee and Jerrall Montijo
 
 
Under 2000
1 Richard McAfee
2 Alanis Reyes
3-4 Adrian Rivera and Airam Santiago
 
 
Under 1900
1 Airman Santiago
2 Dylan Ley
3-4 Alanis Reyes and Arthur Lopez
 
 
Under 1800
1 Arthur Lopez
2 Misael Duran
3 Alice Chu and Bryson Liu
 
 
Under 1700
1 Ethan Alexander
2 Misael Duran
3-4 Frank Yin and Ryan Day
 
 
Under 1600
1 Bryson Liu
2 Brooks Leonard
3-4 Istavan Kovacs and Ryan Day
 
 
Under 1500
1 Geovanni Quinonez
2 Brian Dillon
3-4 Mark Penkhasov and Iana Gonzalez
 
 
Under 1400
1 Giovanni Quinonez
2 Nikhil Kori
3-4 Brian Dillon and Iana Gonzalez
 
 
Under 1300
1 Iana Gonzalez
2 Brian Tomlin
3-4 Richard Beer and Anya Shanbhag
 
 
Under 1200
1 Iana Gonzalez
2 Nikhil Kori
3-4 Abigail Yu and Alex Conrow
 
Under 1100
1 Adrit Kini
2 Firoz Basheer
3-4 Alex Conrow and Sadhvi Kurra
 
Under 1000
1 Brian Tomlin
2 Adrit Kini
3-4 Fiona Dubina and Kenzie During