We all know Alan Peters for his fun sense of humor, spinny playing style, and for the fact that he owns and operates the beautiful Melody Ballroom. But his achievements do not stop there– he also is responsible for starting up the table tennis program at our sister club, the MAC. With his passion for the sport, dedication to the MAC, and his upbeat, friendly demeanor it is no wonder that the MAC has awarded Alan Peters with the Inspirational Award. Congratulations Alan!

We are proud to announce that Isaac Zuckerman has won the silver medal in U1800 singles! Isaac is one of the top players at the Ambridge, and he’s got a fun, positive attitude that makes him a great representative of our club. Congrats Isaac!

Evan started at the Ambridge not too long ago, and his progress has skyrocketed! Evan has been getting better and better (and taller!) with each day, and always exhibits an excellent sporting-like attitude with a friendly smile on his face. Way to go Evan!

Dean has been playing table tennis for quite some time now with his father and #1 fan, Jeff Schultz. The two of them recently returned from training in China, with great results. Go Dean!

Most improved players for 2017:
Here are the top 30 most improved players from the Ambridge TTC: Adam Mertz, Nick Mertz, Jan Williams, Evan Williams, Taiji and Shinji Yamakawa, Dima Raber, Arturo Zendredre, Isaac Zuckerman, Winkey Wheeler, Alex Grimaldi, Lila and Sophie Jones, Lyndsey Zendredre, Zach Kenyon, Steve Marcy, Brian Kimura, Cowen Brown, Gabby Karp, Sayantan Sur (Zubin), John Vinh, Jeff Gullish, Liam Neely-Brown, Greg Pederson, Joel Sommer, Ryan Mead, and Xi Xia.

The Stiga Open at the Tualatin Sports Complex, Nov 11 and 12, 2017
Our Ambridge TTC players showed good results from this year’s annual Stiga Open at the Tualatin Sports Complex. Steve Marcy got to the finals in a couple of events and barely lost in the finals. Isaac Zuckerman won the U1700. Brian Yoder was runner-up in the U1700 and made it to the semi-finals in the U1900 event. Joel Sommer defeated at 1850 US rated player and Bryna Smith also chalked up a good win. John Vinh won all of his matches in the U800 event and now has his official rating for the first time. James Therriault, Jeff’s student from the 1980’s lost in the 1/4’s of the Open and got second in the U2300.

The 2017 Charity Doubles Tournament for Portland’s Homeless – November 16.
First Place: Brian Kimura and William Heinz; Second Place: Joe Reeb and Jonathan Gifford; Consolation Event: First Place: Nick Mertz and Sam Lehecka; Second Place: Barry Pinkley and Ryan Mead; Thank you to Mira Scalpone for helping with this major fun, meaningful event.

The 2017 Portland Inter-City Tournament at the MAC, December 2nd

A great tournament at the MAC with over 75 entries on 9 tables. Started at 10 am and completed by 5:30 pm. This was a Round Robin tournament with the qualifiers playing in a final single elimination draw. Big thanks goes to the MAC committee and organizers of the event; Alan Peters, Steve Marcy, Stephen King, Mike Barmache, and Catherine Leedy. Thanks to Romi Jones and Kristen Merryman for the fantastic help at the desk and inputting all of the Ratings Central results (Super!). Tournament Directors: Jeff and Sandy Mason.

Here are the Winners and Runner ups!

U200 D Singles:  1st Sam Lehecka;  2nd Lila Jones:  U500 C Singles: 1st         Brent Wojahn, 2nd Deirdre Froehlich;  U800 B Singles: 1st Ivan Lehecka, 2nd Emily Vander Ploeg;  U1100 A Singles:1st  Sarit Roy, 2nd  Arturo Zendrere;   Open Singles: 1st Isaac Zuckerman, 2nd Landry Molimbi; U1200 Doubles: 1st J Williams/E Williams, 2nd E Vislocky/N Atanasov; Open Doubles: 1st I Zuckerman/M Aguilar; 2nd  L Molimbi/C Mac;  Mixed Doubles:  1st D Schultz/C Zwang, 2nd M Aguilar/B Smith;

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The Ambridge Table Tennis Club’s End of the Year Pizza-Movie-TT Party at the Melody Ballroom, December 6, 2017 For family and friends of the Ambridge TTC players. The Party started at 6:30 and went for a couple of hours with TT play during the movie and party time. Over 150 players enjoyed a fun night of pizza, ping pong, and party. See you next year.

The U.S. Open in Las Vegas is Dec 17-22, 2017. Thirteen players  from the Ambridge TTC competed in the U.S. Open Championships in Las Vegas. Jeff coached all 13 players during the four solid days of play. The Ambridge TTC was represented by: Alan Peters, Catherine Leedy, Steve Marcy, John Vinh, Adam Mertz, Nick Mertz, Jan Williams, Evan Williams, Isaac Zuckerman, Dean Schultz, Jeff Schultz, Deirdre Froehlich, Bryna Smith, Sandy Mason, and Jeff Mason,  We won three U.S. Titles/three medals. Evan Williams and Dean Shultz won two Bronze Medals for their semi-final placement in the Junior Under 3200 Event against very stiff competition. Isaac Zuckerman won the Silver Medal in the U1800 Event, Runner up in the U1800 Event, getting close to that Master mark of 2000. Way to go! All of our players gained valuable experience and are now more motivated to improve their games and reach their potential. Jeff was very proud to coach such a great group of players that possess super attitudes.  We don’t want to forget to mention that Steve Marcy defeated the #1 ranked player in the U.S. during one of his better matches. She was 9 years old, but her level was about 1600, at least. At least she didn’t bring her stuffed animal to the table. We’d like to also thank Sandy, Jonah, and Leslie for being there as our support group and rooting section.

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Ambridge TT Winter 2-Person Team Leagues starting Jan 16, 2018

 U500 Division C Tuesday                                             Wins/Loses

Janet Allison 16 and Catherine Leedy 192 (The Force Awakens)     0/4

Lila Jones 154 and Sophie Jones 110 (Team Jones)                         3/1

Chris Freeman 168 and Coen Brown 344 (Cool Guys)                       2/2

Miguel Amaro 296 and De’Mel Mojica est 150 (SANTA ANA WINS)   3/1

Ted Fountain est 125 and James Scheidt 130 (Waldo)                       1/3

Sam Lehecka 259 and Nick Mertz 203 (The Medalists)                     3/1

Nicholas Austin est 100 and Dan Eldenkanp est 100 (Golden Gopher)                                                                                                         0/4

Taiji Yamakawa est 150 (328) and Keshav est 150 (The Wolves)     4/0

 Subs: Stephanie Peterka, Jon Irvine, Steven Lang, Zachary Kenyon, Mozhgan Mansuri, Ken Goldman,

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 U1200 Division B Tuesday                         Wins/Loses
Steve Merryman 398 and Deirdre Froehlich 317 (The Wall)             2/2

Emily Vislocky 462 and Nick Atanasov 443 (Pingsov and Pongski)   3/1

Steve Lanigan 589 and Jake Lanigan 320 (The Paralysers)              3/1

Molly Little 594 and Joe Little 351 (Little MoJo)                                 0/4

Erik Piper 384 and Dennis Anderson 430 (Whining Dogs)                 2/2

Zubin Sur 236 and Steve King 375 (Engineered for Victory)             1/3

David Weist est 500 and Stefano Cavalluccini est 500 (Go Left)       3/1

Barry Pinkley 394 and Catherine Thomasson est 500 (Wild Card)     2/2
Subs: Vincent Hart, Jayke Naypalm, Michael Ho, Zach, Mozhgan Mansuri, John Vinh,

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 U2000 Division A   Thursday                 Wins/Loses

Evan Williams 618 and Emily Merryman 748 (E Squared)           3/0

Jan Williams 584 and Keiko est 600 (Nichiei Domie)                   0/3

Angela Ballard 478 and Tamara Olcott 683 (As Balls Go By)       0/4

William Heinz 798 and Ivan Lehecka 630 (The Winners)           3/1

Joe Brunett 545 and Joe Cuffney 720 (The Joe’s)                       0/4

Randi Nosrati 740 and David Popescu 1080 (Double Trouble #1) 4/0

Brian Kimura 596 and Neil Johnson 527 (Hits from the Pong)       4/0

Clayton Pierce 690 and John Delson 823 (Double Trouble #2)     1/3
Subs: Brian Kimura, Terry, Greg Pedersen, Mozhgan Mansuri,
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 Open Division Thursday                                               Wins/Loses

Arturo Zendrere 826 and Adam Mertz 686  (Espinetti)        1/2

Bryna Smith 808 and Joel Sommer 1121 (Wizard’s Sleeve)   1/3

Brian Yoder 1104 and Steve Marcy 858 Spin to Win)              2/2

Dima Raber 667 and Alex Grimaldi 1078 (The Jokers)                4/0

Isaac Zuckerman 1192 and Mike Aguilar1088 (Left Hand, Isaac) 3/1

Majo Ahrens 746 and Wild Card players 845 (Old World Warriors) 0/4

Art Ishii 911 and ?               (Wild Card Team)                               1/0 default

 Subs: Terry, Harry Chavez, Brian Kimura, Art Ishii 911

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Alan Peters, owner of the Melody Ballroom, is starting up his Lunch Time Table Tennis on Tuesdays from 12:00-1:30 pm.
You are invited to come by the Melody Ballroom at Lunch time on Tuesdays to practice, do drills, or just play some fun games. Alan invites all Ambridge players for some fun play without any cost.

The Ambridge Table Tennis Club is located in the beautiful Melody Ballroom at 615 SE Alder Street in Portland, Oregon.

The operating hours are:

Sundays: 10-5 pm; Mondays 3-9 pm,  Tuesdays 3-9 pm, and Thursdays from 5-9 pm.

Coaching Schedule:  (new classes and trainings series start every 6-weeks)

Sundays: 1:30-3:00 – Very Beginning Class Level 1;

Sundays: 3:00-4:30 Beginning/Novice Class Level 1 and 2;

Mondays: 5:30-7:00 pm – TRAINING SESSIONS Level 3:

Mondays: 7:00-8:30 pm – TRAINING SESSION Level 4;

Tuesdays: 5:30-7:00 pm – TRAINING SESSION Level 5, 6, & 7

Thursdays: 5:30-7:00 pm – TRAINING SESSON Level 2-5; starting Aug 3rd

*All classes, TRAINING SESSIONS, and individual lessons are always full, so please sign-up in advance to get a place.

League/Tournament Play 

Tuesdays at 7:00-9:00 pm – Round Robin tournament play all levels, no rating points won or lost in these competitions; these are considered practice matches;

Thursdays, starting August 3rd 2017, the Ambridge TTC at the Melody Ballroom will start it’s 2-Person Team Leagues at 7 – 8:30 pm.

Open Practice hours

Open practice times are anytime the club is open. We will always try our best to keep one or two tables open for open play/practice even when classes and TRAINING SESSIONS are going on.

Future Plans??            MAC and Ambridge TTCs

The MAC 2-Person Team Tournaments – Davis Cup Tennis match format, both singles and doubles, double elimination tournament are being planned in late Summer or early Fall, 2017.

MAC Summer TTC Camp for Kids (under 17) are scheduled for June 19-23 from 9-11 am. This camp is open to both non-MAC members and MAC members. The cost is $96 for non-MAC members and $80 for MAC members. MAC members may sign up on the MAC website. Ambridge players need to contact Jeff to sign up advance.

MAC Clinics (1 1/2 hours clinics) will be coming back to the MAC starting Fall 2017. Exact dates coming soon.

Please call/text if you have any questions: 541.999.0926

Sign-up!!!

Please contact us to sign-up for any of the Classes, TRAINING SESSIONS, tournaments, or individual lessons at: 541.999.0926 or email: jeffmasontabletennis@gmail.com

peace and pong,  Jeff and Sandy Mason