THANK YOU for supporting the Samson Dubina Table Tennis Academy and table tennis here in Ohio by entering the $6000 Presper Financial Architects Open table tennis tournament!!!!  We really appreciate your participation!
 
This tournament is a part of the annual fundraiser for the Samson Dubina Educational Table Tennis Academy, Inc. 501(C)(3) Non-Profit.  All events fee are going directly to support the non-profit.  If any of you are willing to make additional donations throughout the weekend, it would greatly benefit us and further grow the sport!
 
Please note the event times are 9am, 1pm, 5pm.  This is different than our prior tournaments, so please take note.
 
Our tournament hotel is The Hampton Inn located on Arlington Road only 1.5 miles from the Samson Dubina Table Tennis Academy and has limited rooms still available for the tournament!  Tell them it is for the Presper Financial Architects Open Table Tennis Tournament / Samson Dubina Table Tennis Academy.  That will get you the low room rate.  The number for the Hampton Inn is 330-644-6579.   
 
Please read the updates listed below:
 
Venue
The tournament venue is the Samson Dubina Table Tennis Academy located at 2262 South Arlington Road, Akron, Ohio 44319.  Make sure that you check-in at the control desk and give/sign the waiver.  The table assignments for your groups will be posted.  Please try to arrive at least 30 minutes before your event!  Event time is default time! 
 
Friday Night Events
Please note that there is a possibility that the Friday night events (Under 2000 and Under 1400) could carry over until Saturday morning.  This is highly unlikely!!  These round robins will go from 5:00 to approximately 8:30pm and single elimination will go from about 8:30 to 10:30pm.  Any carryover will begin at 8am on Saturday.  We will make every effort to complete them Friday, but please be aware that the carryover is a possibility.  Additionally, the Saturday events that start at 5pm (Under 2150 and Under 1500 and Under 4000 doubles) have round robins that will go from 5pm to approximately 8:30pm and single elimination matches that will go from about 8:30 to 11pm.  They will end late.  Please be aware of this.  They will not carryover to Sunday.
 
Facility Availability
We know warm up is important to you, so we suggest you make sure to arrive early to get in some practice.  The facility will open at 8:00am on Friday for practice and 8:00am on Saturday.  We try to run a very efficient tournament so in general, there will be limited table availability for practice once matches start each day.  You will have to try to jump on the tables between matches.  Matches take priority over practice.  There may be limitations on the number of people in the building and spectators.  Ohio does not currently have any limitations in place, but this can change quickly.  Spectators are allowed though!
 
Thursday, the facility will be available for practice from 3pm to 5pm and then again from 9:30pm to 11pm.  We have some limited availability in our Thursday night league if you would like to play in the league from 6:30pm to 10:00pm.  You can play any number of matches (1 to usually about 9) in your assigned group if you choose to participate. You do not have to play all the matches in your group.  Let Samson know if you want to get into the league this Thursday.
 
Format
Most of the events are Giant Round Robin format with 7 players per group and the top 4 advancing to the elimination rounds.  The size of the group may vary depending on the number of entrants in the event.  Some events will end after the finish of the round robin matches.  This is based on the number of players in the event.  If at least 12 people entered the event, then the event will have more than one group.
 
Tournament Draws:  https://ttlive.app/ui/tournament/295104fb-f027-4084-a582-b09c07836385
 
Prize Money and Taxes
Each player who earns $600 or more will be responsible for providing information needed to generate a IRS Form 1099 and will be responsible for claiming the income.  You will be asked to fill out a Form W-9 if you have not previously filled one out in 2021.  Dumps, Defaults, and Splits receive no awards or prize money.
 
Meals
Snacks are available at the Samson Dubina Table Tennis Academy to purchase, including Gatorade, bottled water, Starbucks Frappacino drinks, V8 energy drinks and a variety of other drinks, snack foods and fruit.  On Saturday only, free meals will be given to all the tournament players.  If you entered one event, then you get one free meal.  If you have entered multiple events on Saturday, then you can get a free lunch and free dinner.  Make sure that you get a meal ticket when you arrive on Saturday morning.  Saturday lunch will be served from approximately11:30am-12:30pm and Saturday dinner will be served from approximately 5:30-6:30pm.  Meals may be available to spectators for $5 on Saturday only.
 
Rules:
1. Please arrive at least 30 minutes before your first match.
2. If you arrive late, you may be defaulted some matches.
3. TT Live will be used for scoring.  Scoring will be done on group sheets or in the TT Live App.  Please contact Samson in regards to the setup of this App if you are not aware.
4. The winner of each group will be responsible for returning any score sheets used to the control desk.
5. If controversy arises, please seek help with the tournament staff.
6. Minors need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
7. No white shirts or shorts!
9. There is a two minute warm up period for each match.  This will be strictly enforced.  Please observe this rule!  In order to get through all our matches in a timely manner, warmups must not exceed two minutes.
10. Players should remain in the facility as much as possible during their event periods when they are not playing.  Matches need to move along quickly and we need to know where players are.  Please notify event staff if you are going to leave the facility.  You may be defaulted if we cannot find you after a reasonable period of time.
 
Sponsors
We would like to send out a huge THANK YOU to our tournament sponsors who brought this event to Akron and have helped us promote this event during the last couple months.  Thanks to:
Presper Financial Architects www. Presperfinancial.com
CLJ Studios www.cljstudios.com
Sports Alliance of Greater Akron www.playakron.com
Wil-Cut Engineered Abrasive Solutions www.wil-cut.com
Paddle Palace www.paddlepalace.com
Power Pong www.powerpong.org
Hampton Inn www.hamptoninn.com
Nittaku www.nittaku.com
Samson Dubina Table Tennis Academy www.OhioPingPong.com
 
Tournament Staff,
Thanks to our dedicated staff and volunteers who make this event possible - Samson Dubina, Steve Graber, Mark Hendricks, Ethan Alexander, Sid Khandelwal, Blake Cottrell, Sam Dubina, Nancy Dubina, and Heather Dubina.  The tournament director is Tim Detwiler and the Referee is Steve Graber.  Samson and other SDTTA staff will be coaching academy players throughout the tournament.
 
Pro Shop
We have a wide variety of table tennis products available in our pro shop.  We are an official Nittaku club, so most of the products are Nittaku.  In addition, all of Samson’s products will be available for sale during the tournament, including Samson Dubina's TT-FLEX strengthening system, TT-Serve, table tennis book, and table tennis dvd.  These items will be available for sale as well as other table tennis equipment and clothing.  Official Samson Dubina Table Tennis Academy Nittaku playing shirts will be offered at a special price.  You can pay for the products using cash, check, credit card, or PayPal.
 
 
Thanks again and have a great tournament!
 
Samson Dubina