Hardbat Students and the Ping Pong World Cup

January 6, 2024

Sponsored by Mecano Sports, presented by Caliente.mx, sanctioned by ICTTF

(by Larry Hodges, photo by Larry Hodges: “Finalist Sara Gulabani Serving to Hardbat Junior Champion Bryce Milford”)

As with Sandpaper, this event was originally an Under 18 event. But there was interest in Under 23 students (i.e. college students), and so they combined the events. There were four players under 18, with the other four under 23. They were divided into two groups of four, with two under 18 players in each group. The higher finishing junior in each group would play the Under 18 Student Final, with $500 for first, $250 for second. For Under 23 Students, all eight players advanced to single elimination, with the RR play to set the seeding and give them more match play. As with Sandpaper, the Under 23 event, since it was unplanned, had no prize money, but they played for the title and trophy.

Group 1: Top seed Bryce Milford (USA) easily won his three matches, including a default, to advance to the Under 18 final and to get the top seed position for Under 23. Second seed Bjarke Krog (DEN) came in second at 2-1. His big battle was with fourth seed Daniel Vitasek (CZE), winning -17,17,13. Daniel advanced in third, while Mattheiu Gonnin (FRA) defaulted out of the event.

Group 2: Top seed Adam Vitasek (not related to Daniel from group 1) went 3-0 to advance in first in Under 23 (and so second seed in the draw after Bryce). However, he had some battles. He defeated second seed Beau Devos (BEL) at -16,18,16, and fourth seed Saulo Juarez (MEX) at 17,-19,15. Beau advanced in second. Sara Gulabani (USA) defeated Saulo at 15,19, to advance to the Under 18 final, with Sara advancing in third, and Saulo in fourth.

Under 18 Student Final: In a repeat of the Sandpaper Under 18 Student Final, it was again Bryce Milford vs. Sara Gulabani, both from North Carolina (USA) and students of AJ Carney. Both play extremely aggressive and usually close to the table. Sara led 15-11 in the first game, but Bryce tied it 15-all. Sara’s last lead was 17-16. At 18-all, Bryce won the last three. In the second, Bryce pulled away, and so won the match at 18,14. So, just as with sandpaper, Bryce won $500, Sara $250.

Under 23 Student Final: Bryce Milford (USA) was also top seed in the Under 23 playoffs, which he earned by winning Group 1. In the quarters, he defeated Saulo Juarez (MEX), 13,19; in the semifinals, he “beat” Sara Gulabani in their “third” matchup of the tournament – but I put that in quotes because they had agreed that their Under 18 Final (see above) would count for both. And so Bryce won by the same score, 18-14. On the other half of the draw, Adam Vitasek (CZE) defeated Mattheiu Gonnin (FRA) in the quarters by default (he had defaulted out of the round robin portion). In the semifinals, in a battle of non-brothers (though many assumed they were), Adam Vitasek (CZE) defeated Daniel Vitasek (CZE), 7,-13,17. (Daniel had a quarterfinal battle with chopper Beau Devos of BEL, winning at -20,17,18.) In the final, it was Adam Vitasek over Bryce Milford, 16,15.

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