Ann Alvarez - Women's Over 60 Champion

2007 US Open Table Tennis Tournament

July 4-7, 2007 - Las Vegas, NV

Hilton Las Vegas Convention Center

Ann Alvarez

Robert Trudell - by Ann Alvarez

Ann wins the Over 60 Women's Singles Title!

Hardbat or Not?

About.com Forum: http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ab-tabletennis&tid=25112

Larry Bavly:

"Definitely long pips. Seemiller block style, so only side is used except when she twirls about once every 3 matches. Someone here may know the exact combo."

Pongrunner:

Ann uses an old Joola White-Spot 5-ply with a narrow straight handle. She "hits" 99.99 % of the time with red Hallmark Super Special no sponge. The neglected black side is Joola Razor no sponge.

Current age 68; rating 2056.

Anticanti:

What is that ? Is it frictionless pips ?

If so, how could she hit with it ?

Anticanti

Marco Borrillo:

Ann uses long pips on both sides. I played her last June and lost 3-1. I would say she is solid 1900, with an ability to beat 2100 level loopers if they have never played her before. Her blocking reflexes are uncanny. I've served underspin wide to one side and did my best rip to the wide opposite side and somehow this 60 year old got there and made the block. She is very impressive.

Marco

Alan Williams:

Yes, she didnt take up the game yesterday. ;-) Her sportsmanship and personal dignity are 2800, her game is about 2100.

Alan

Pongiste:

Why do you have to be so mysterious? Always "teasers", hardly ever just the facts; I guess that's what happens to people in marketing...

Anyway, here's what was in the papers a couple of years ago:

The New York Times
August 1, 2004 Sunday

The Couches Are Lumpy, but the Ping-Pong Stars Don't Care

By FRAN SCHUMER

WHEN Ann Kuklakis and her family moved to a new development on the outskirts of New Brunswick, she and her brother, Michael, were bored. They couldn't walk anywhere, and they didn't know anyone. To ease their adjustment, her uncle bought a 4-by-8 sheet of plywood, balanced it on two sawhorses and helped start the career of the person who is now the top United States table tennis player among women over 60.

Ann, whose married name is Alvarez, attributes her success partly to her brother -- his gentle yet persistent coaching helped her re-enter the sport in middle age -- and the New Jersey Table Tennis Club, one of the less celebrated institutions of downtown Westfield.

''This club has been here for decades, but if you ask the average Westfield resident if they've ever heard of it, they'd say 'no,''' said Daniel Guttman, 51, who joined after watching the 1996 Olympics.

Mention Westfield in Beijing and other capitals of the table tennis world, however, and people will instantly link it to the club, which is not only among the top five in the nation, but home base for international stars. Among them are two former Olympians, Lily Yip of Warren and David Zhuang of West Windsor (an alternate at this year's games); Judy Hugh, 14, the first American junior to win an international tournament in 20 years; and her brother, Adam, 16, one of the top five American players.

''Adam could very well bring the world championship title to New Jersey,'' said John Kilpatrick, 84, the oldest living former state champion, who also works as a massage therapist in Long Branch.

One flight up and across from the train station on North Street West, the club is famous for its lack of amenities. ''It's embarrassing, it really is,'' Mrs. Alvarez said with affection. ''Once they finished most of the floor and moved the tables in, the work stopped and they started playing. For years and years, they never did anything else.''

Still, for $24,625 less than it would cost you to join a golf club -- annual fees are $375 a year for adults; $130 for juniors -- you get access to eight state-of-the-art Stiga-brand tables, lumpy couches, plastic benches left over from when the room was a bowling alley, and bathrooms. And what bathrooms -- the women's, a mix of broken tile, fake flowers and somebody's discarded chandelier, is not the kind you would see at Expo.

Does appearance alone explain the lopsided ratio of male to female players (203 to 17), members were asked?

''We had a lively discussion of why there were no more women,'' one player wrote in an e-mail message. Among the explanations offered: ''The place is a pigsty''; ''Women aren't aggressive or competitive enough to stick it out''; ''There aren't enough girl feeder programs''; and ''The guys aren't good-looking enough.''

Whatever the reason, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. First, there's the bond among people who share a common sport, especially if that sport is out of the mainstream. After all, though table tennis is commonly regarded as the most widely played sport in the world after soccer, it has as much cachet at home as, say, backgammon.

And second, because it attracts players from so many countries, barriers of race and ethnicity fall. A roster of Westfield members reads like a United Nations directory: Elmar Wengert, Germany; Richard Williams, Ghana; Anani Lawson, Togo; David Hecht, Israel. As for status, ''most people don't have a clue as to what anyone else here does for a living,'' Mr. Guttman said.

Even ability isn't an obstacle. ''People are friendly no matter how bad you are,'' he said. ''I'm a perfect example.''

Not that club life is always idyllic. ''The sport tends to attract people who have huge egos,'' a member said. ''For example, I haven't spoken to [name of person] for more than a year.''

Even so, the game has heart, soul and dignity, best embodied perhaps by George Braithwaite, a club icon and part of the first American delegation invited to China in 1971 during the start of Ping-Pong diplomacy.

''The historic significance didn't dawn on me until we arrived in Hong Kong and all we could think about was how to escape reporters -- like the Beatles,'' said Mr. Braithwaite, 67, who now lives in Manhattan.

Looking back on his childhood in Guyana, Mr. Braithwaite recalled a time when children didn't take up a sport because it would win them money, status or admission to a prestigious college, but simply because it was a pleasure to play.

Mrs. Alvarez plays for a similar reason.

''I go on that court and feel like I'm 22,'' she said. ''The sport does that to me.''