ASTTA Table Tennis Tournament trying to attract new players to the sport
The Department of Parks and Recreation, with the support of the American Samoa Table Tennis Association (ASTTA), held a Table Tennis Tournament this past Saturday at the Tony Solaita Baseball field, that had, according to the ASTTA president Ken Tupa, the best Table Tennis players on island.
“We had this tournament not only to ready our players for the upcoming Tri-Sport Competitions in February, but to try and get people interested in the game as well, such as the young school kids,” said Tupua. “We had a good turnout on Saturday, with great competition. We can always take in more players who want to learn the game. That is why the ASTTA in conjunction with the Department of Parks and Recreation is offering an after school table tennis class right here at the Solaita baseball field. It’s Monday through Friday from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. from beginners to advanced players starting at five years of age.
“We will be having more upcoming tournaments in the future. I encourage everyone, especially the youth, to take advantage of this training. For information you can contact me at 252-6659, or Dave Godinet at 258-9145,” he said.
Here are the results of the tournament from last Saturday:
1st Dave Godinet
2nd Alii Tupua
3rd Daniel Luki
4th Tione Tione
5th Ken Tupua
6th Vagana Saili
7th Isa’ako Tafiti
8th Ed Imo
At the 2011 Pacific Games host country New Caledonia dominated the game, where they garnered 3 golds, 1 silver and 4 bronze medals.