Loud cheering, focused faces, swinging paddles. Yesterday, during X-period, SAC hosted the annual homecoming ping pong tournament. A total of 12 duos from all grades and faculty fought it out in a tense and well-matched contest. At the end of the afternoon fun, two teams emerged victorious and advanced to the finals: ping pong club president Rita Li and club member Aidan Williams and two-time defending champions, Seniors Baasit Mahmood and Maik Nguyen. They will face off in a dramatic, tight match during Friday’s homecoming pepfest.

Gallery • 7 Photos

Thomas Chen

LET'S GO. Defending champion Maik Nguyen celebrates a point and engages with friends in the audience. He and partner Baasit Mahmood qualified to the final, where they will try to get their third consecutive tournament win. "I’m very excited going into the final because I have loved playing in it the past few years," he said.

This year, the Student Activity Committee arranged the tournament differently than in previous years. Instead of just one table and one match happening at once, there were three. Henry Choi, who is a long-time participant in the tournament, supported the new format. “SAC did a really good job of setting up and planning it so it ran efficiently. In previous years, it hasn’t been as efficient,” he said. The committee made these changes to complete all the preliminary matches in just one sitting. It also provided more action for the spectators.

Though he and his partner, Senior Humza Murad, were eliminated in the semi-final round, Henry enjoyed the experience and appreciates the fun it has brought him during his time at SPA. “I signed up with Humza because we were like, why not? It’ll be fun. We just wanted to kind of engage in the community and mess around a little bit,” he said. “The people who were watching made it enjoyable. It’s definitely a good overall community bonding experience.”

For Maik Nguyen, the ping pong tournament is more than just fun and games. He and his partner Baasit Mahmood have been reigning champions for two years, since their sophomore year. With a ticket to the finals, they are trying to three-peat, solidifying their names as a legend in this SPA tradition. “I’m very excited going into the final because I have loved playing in it the past few years. This year, our opponents are Aidan and Rita, both of whom are very skilled… it should be a good challenge for us, but I still think we’re going to take it.”

The SPA tennis team has historically dominated the ping pong tournament. Seven of the eight semi-finalists and all four finalists were on the tennis team. In addition, tennis athletes have taken the crown for the past three years. This year will be the fourth.

On Friday afternoon, either defending champions Maik and Baasit will three-peat, or underdog ping pong hobbyists Rita and Aidan will steal the victory. One thing’s for sure: the annual Ping Pong tournament has started homecoming week with a bang.