National Collegiate Table Tennis Association 2017 NYC Divisional Championship Wrap-Up
Although Saturday’s New York metropolitan region’s sports headlines may have been dominated by NCAA contests featuring Rutgers, Princeton, Columbia and Stony Brook football along with Yale and New York University men’s and women’s soccer, there was a another intercollegiate competition going on pitting all of these schools along with Brooklyn College and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Over 60 athletes from these eight schools participated in the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association’s (NCTTA) 2017 New York City Uptown and Downtown Division Tournament held at the Westchester Table Tennis Center in Pleasantville, N.Y.
Above: First and Second Place teams from NYU and Yale at the Westchester Table Tennis Center.
After a day of spirited but collegial competition, the NYU team took home both the Women’s Division and Coed Division championship titles. Competing as club sport, NYU Table Tennis was founded in 2006 and, fielding its team from among the university’s undergraduate and graduate populations, has been ranked as high as 3rd nationally in the super-competitive NCTTA. The NYU team roster lists 47 members including freshmen Adar Alguetti, holder of multiple USA and international medals and Mudit Dani, one of only three players from his native India to hold a top ten ranking in the International Table Tennis Federation World Junior Circuit.
Above: Members of NYU's championship team with their eyes on the ball
NYU’s Violets claimed their titles by defeating talented teams from Yale University led, in part, by the performance of pre-med student Angus Fong. Fong’s competitive style of play qualified him as the only member of Yale’s team to compete in last year’s NCTTA national championship in Round Rock, Texas.
Above: Yale University team members in action
Rounding out the four podium positions were Rutgers University, claiming third place, and the Fashion Institute of Technology placing fourth. While it's tough to compete for local media coverage against the Rutgers football program, particularly on the day of an unexpected Rutgers football win against Maryland, the Rutgers Table Tennis team had a solid showing and we're pleased to provide coverage in MetroSports Magazine.
Above: Rutgers University
In holding its own against powerhouse NCAA athletic programs like Rutgers and internationally-known research universities and Ivy League teams from Yale, Columbia and Princeton, the FIT Tigers brought a well-deserved sense of pride, matching the fourth place finish that day of the college's women's cross country team in a national championship race.
Above: Fashion Institute of Technology
Above: Princeton University
Above: Brooklyn College
Above: Columbia University
Above: SUNY Stony Brook
NCTTA Media Chairman, Andy Kanengiser told us that the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association, the governing body in charge of this fast-paced Olympic sport, overseen programs at more than 150 colleges across the USA and Canada. NCTTA roots extend back to 1992 as the League of Northeast Intercollegiate Table Tennis. Over the past decade, national tournaments have taken hundreds of NCTTA players to Eau Claire, Wisconsin (in 2015), Monroeville, Pennsylvania (in 2014) and Rockford, Illinois in 2013.
Additional tournament photos at www.nyspg.com
See last year’s Northeast Regional Finals coverage at: https://issuu.com/suburbansports/docs/nctta_2016c
