Oaks (Thousand Oaks TTC) defeated The Westside International (Westside TTC) 5-0

Zhi Hao Lao defeated Peter Clarke 3-1 (7, -5, 4, 6)
Eric Wang defeated Ryousuke Adachi 3-0 (9, 6, 11)
Eric Wang/Zhi Hao Lao defeated Ryousuke Adachi/Peter Clarke 3-2 (9, 4, -9, -3, 9)
Zhi Hao Lao defeated Ryousuke Adachi 3-2 (5, 4, -9, -3, 9)
Eric Wang defeated Peter Clarke 3-1 (-8, 8, 8, 3)

ZeZheng, ZhiHao, Adachi, Peter

Zhihao and Peter

The Westside International (Westside TTC) defeated Santa Barbara TTC (Thousand Oaks TTC) 3-2

Mark Hezinger defeated Albert Alexandrov 3-0 (6, 8, 10)
Ryousuke Adachi defeated Florian Winterstein 3-2 (-6, 9, 8, -8, 8)
Mark Hezinger/Milan Obradovic lost to Albert Alexandrov/Florian Winterstein 1-3 (9, 7, -6, 7)
Mark Hezinger defeated Florian Winterstein 3-1 (10, 4, -9, 4)
Peter Clarke lost to Albert Alexandrov 0-3 (6, 7, 9)

Ryousuke Adachi, Milan Obradovic, Peter Clarke, Mark Hezinger, Albert Alexandrov, Florian Winterstein

Mark returns serve in doubles with Milan ready for action.

The Westside International (Westside TTC) lost to Hitmen (USA Valley TTC) 1-4

Milan Obradovic lost to Sasanka Budhavarapu 0-3 (1, 2, 7)
Ryousuke Adachi defeated Kenneth Seiple 3-0 (4, 9, 10)
Peter Clarke/Milan Obradovic lost to Simone Cecchini/Josh Bornstein 0-3 (2, 5, 3)
Peter Clarke lost to Michael Baggott 0-3 (11, 7, 8)
Ryousuke Adachi lost to Sasanka Budhavarapu 1-3 (-9, 7, 1, 5)

Ryousuke Adachi, Milan Obradovic, Peter Clarke, Simone Cecchini, Josh Bornstein, Ken Seiple, Mike Baggott, Sasanka Budhavarapu

Milan about to rip a forehand to Josh, while Simone and Peter are at the ready

A recent team contest in Division 2A featured defending Division 2 champion Flip Side hosting The Westside International at Song Jeho’s Club in Koreatown. The Westside International have been fixtures in LATTF competition since the league’s inception, but since the teams were in different divisions last season, for some of the players, this was their first time competing at Song Jeho Table Tennis Club.

“It’s a nice, clean facility, and it was exciting playing there,” said Mark Hezinger, of The Westside International.

Despite being the underdogs, Mark started fearlessly, taking the first match for his team 3-1 (with scores of 10, -7, 10, 6). This initial confidence boost for the visitors proved short-lived as Flip Side used their home court advantage to capture the remaining matches, winning the team contest by a final score of 4-1.

Mark Hezinger in action for The Westside International

“In the first match, I was able to stick to my strategy and play to my strengths,” Hezinger mused after the team contest. “But in the doubles match they kept looping at the middle of the table, and the ball was so spinny … it tricked me.”

Mark and teammate Milan Obradovic eventually succumbed 0-3 in that match (by scores of 5, 10, and 6) to Flip Side’s pairing of John Eseo and Mike Tadiaman.

As great as it is to win, Mark pointed out that really, the most important part of participating in the league is was all the fun his team has had of visiting different clubs, meeting new people, and playing a variety of opponents. And in keeping with their team’s LATTF tradition, after their league match, the Westside players got together with their spouses and children and went out to dinner together at a local restaurant.

“It’s really nice having these experiences that bring people together and to be able to share quality time with your teammates and loved ones,” Mark reflected. After all, isn’t that really what the league is all about?

 Full results of the team contest: Flip Side vs. The Westside International (on 03/23/2013)

The Westside International (Westside TTC) lost to Oaks (Thousand Oaks TTC) 1-4

Ryousuke Adachi defeated Grace Zhou 3-2 (7, -7, 7, -8, 7)
Mark Hezinger lost to Zhi Hao Lao 1-3 (9, 8, -5, 8)
Mark Hezinger/Milan Obradovic lost to Liyang Zhang/Zhi Hao Lao 2-3 (-8, -5, 7, 11, 8)
Peter Clarke lost to Liyang Zhang 0-3 (4, 4, 1)
Milan Obradovic lost to Eric Wang 0-3 (2, 3, 5)

Milan Obradovic, Mark Hezinger, Ryousuke Adachi, Peter Clarke, Liyang Zhang, Grace Zhou, Eric Wang, Zhi Hao Lao

Milan Obradovic serves while Mark Hezinger is at the ready

Flip Side (Song Jeho TTC) defeated The Westside International (Westside TTC) 4-1

John Eseo lost to Mark Hezinger 1-3 (10, -7, 10, 6)
Eric Trillo defeated Peter Clarke 3-0 (6, 1, 7)
John Eseo/Mike Tadiaman defeated Mark Hezinger/Milan Obradovic 3-0 (5, 10, 6)
Mike Tadiaman defeated Peter Clarke 3-0 (4, 5, 4)
Jay Tiu defeated Milan Obradovic 3-0 (7, 4, 7)

Flipside with John, Peter, Milan & Eric (Abby)

Peter playing Eric

The Westside International (Westside TTC) defeated Perfect Storm (Gilbert TTC) 3-2

Mark Hezinger defeated Alex Polovinchik 3-1 (-13, 9, 7, 9)
Ryousuke Adachi lost to Kee Lee 0-3 (5, 7, 8)
Mark Hezinger/Ryousuke Adachi defeated Kee Lee/Alex Polovinchik 3-0 (8, 8, 9)
Mark Hezinger defeated Kee Lee 3-1 (17, 8, -9, 5)
Ryousuke Adachi lost to Alex Polovinchik 2-3 (-7, 3, 5, -3, 9)

Kee, Alex, Mark, Adachi

Perfect Storm (Gilbert TTC) lost to The Westside International (Westside TTC) 2-3

Alex Polovinchik lost to Mark Hezinger 0-3 (7, 4, 11)
Kee Lee defeated Ryousuke Adachi 3-0 (9, 8, 9)
Alex Polovinchik/Kee Lee lost to Milan Obradovic/Mark Hezinger 1-3 (6, 11, -4, 4)
Alex Polovinchik lost to Ryousuke Adachi 1-3 (-3, 9, 12, 9)
Kee Lee defeated Peter Clarke 3-0 (4, 6, 9)

Kee, Alex, Ryousuke, Mark, Peter, Milan

Battle of Penhold, Kee about to return Ryousuke's killer serve

The Westside International (Westside TTC) lost to Got Spin? (Westside TTC) 1-4

Milan Obradovic lost to Julien Moore 2-3 (-7, 6, -9, 9, 3)
Mark Hezinger defeated Simone Cecchini 3-0 (9, 7, 12)
Ryousuke Adachi/Peter Clarke lost to Josh Bornstein/Simone Cecchini 0-3 (7, 3, 2)
Ryousuke Adachi lost to Simone Cecchini 2-3 (8, 8, -7, -9, 5)
Peter Clarke lost to Julien Moore 1-3 (9, -9, 11, 10)

Simone, Peter, Julien, Milan, Josh, Mark, Adachi

Julien crushes another backhand

The Invincibles (Westside TTC) defeated The Westside International (Westside TTC) 4-1

Danny Moreno defeated Milan Obradovic 3-2 (10, -7, 6, -8, 7)
Warren Lee defeated Ryousuke Adachi 3-1 (5, -9, 6, 6)
Warren Lee/Danny Moreno defeated Mark Hezinger/Milan Obradovic 3-1 (-9, 8, 9, 6)
Charles Kim lost to Ryousuke Adachi 0-3 (6, 10, 11)
Warren Lee defeated Peter Clarke 3-0 (3, 8, 8)

Warren, Danny, Charles, Mark, Peter, Ryosuke, and Milan

Size doesn't seem to matter in this 5 game thriller between Milan and Danny