$45,000 Los Angeles Open Entry Form!

It should be about 300-400 when all is said and done...

As far as I know, the venue won't be available until tournament date.  However, there will be lots of great players warming up at our club for this event. 

Any top players in Japan are joining this tournament?

Does Anyone know if US number 17 Zaman Molla is going to play in this tournament ?

 to people running this event.

Originally posted by Mdman Originally posted by roundrobin Originally posted by Mdman Does Anyone know if US number 17 Zaman Molla is going to play in this tournament ? Yes, he is. Great, now I can buy my tickets to watch. I really enjoy watching him play, by the way he used to be number 7 , what happened?

Zaman has been coaching a lot instead of training... The only practice he gets in the U.S. is at our LATTA weekly open round robins.  As a matter of fact he just played the finals this evening against a much-improved Rodel Valle of the Philippines national team... Rodel was down 0-2 in games and came back to 2-2, then down 3-7 in the fifth and stormed back for the win.  It was a very exciting match with lots of powerful counterlooping exchanges.  Regardless of his loss to Rodel, Zaman remains one of the most exciting players in the U.S. to watch in person, because of his all-out attacking style.

He also likes to keep things on the light side, even when us spectators get a little nervous for him.

Originally posted by drclaude1 He also likes to keep things on the light side, even when us spectators get a little nervous for him.

Yep, that him!  He's actually a funny person, very jovial.  Some people think he's too cocky, but that's far from the truth.  At our weekly tournaments he would hug any player he fought hard with after the match, win or lose.  He is a classy guy who trained with Timo Boll in Germany for two months during his peak.

Tonight's picture with Rodel Valle of the Philippines National Team:





Edited by roundrobin - 08/21/2011 at 10:01pm

You guys should be really proud of this event. This is going to be the best event in a long time in the USA. I bet if you can get this going every year it will really start to bring some big named players to our country, which is something that needs to happen- desperately.

Edited by beeray1 - 08/21/2011 at 6:25pm

I just did a search on LA Badminton Club to view photos of the facility.  Here is what I found on Yelp.
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/G-CINfPjPZYBiwu5gkftTQ?select=pNY84MWmSKmZUe0SbxeVnw

Do you think the lights will have an effect?  Most table tennis tournaments domestic or international have lights from the top to shine downwards.  The lighting inside this facility is directed at an angle.  I wonder for players that like to lob if this will be to their advantage?  Will the lighting be even where it does not cause shadows?

Originally posted by roundrobin Originally posted by assasin8 I just did a search on LA Badminton Club to view photos of the facility.  Here is what I found on Yelp. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/G-CINfPjPZYBiwu5gkftTQ?select=pNY84MWmSKmZUe0SbxeVnw Do you think the lights will have an effect?  Most table tennis tournaments domestic or international have lights from the top to shine downwards.  The lighting inside this facility is directed at an angle.  I wonder for players that like to lob if this will be to their advantage?  Will the lighting be even where it does not cause shadows? The lighting at this facility is of the highest standards for badminton tournaments, but unusual for a table tennis event.  However, we already have many local players visiting this venue (since it's only 50 yards away from LATTA), and their opinion is it won't be a problem for most players.

I wish our club had lights like that. 10% of my overheads hit the net because I can't see the shuttle and am blinded by light.

In response to this thread at another forum that criticizes LA Open's $200 VIP ticket package:

http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&webtag=ab-tabletennis&tid=32920

I would like to point out that we have always had this kind of fund-raising "VIP" tickets for our sports and cultural events for many years.  We market them exclusively to local business leaders who are more than willing to show their appreciation by purchasing such tickets.  On some occasions, the buyers of this kind of tickets are also privately invited to special banquets to meet with our top players, performers and officials.  It's been our traditional way of raising money and identifying future donors for our local events for as long as I can remember. 

I am truly sorry if it looks way out of line for the OP.


Edited by roundrobin - 08/23/2011 at 2:45pm

Originally posted by roundrobin Rodel was about 2324 in 2007 and apparently now is over 2600 since he defeated Zaman. Zaman was also a national team player. His friend said if he trained, he could be a 2700 level player. So Rodel will play LA Open? Do you have some more update on the top players? The website's information seems out dated. Yes, along with Zaman, Rodel has also entered the LA Open.  I do have the access to the list of top players entered so far, but at this moment the TD has his hands full and does not have the time to update the website.

Originally posted by kenboi Why is the ticket for Sunday twice as much as saturday's? Is the single open final held on sunday?

Later rounds (including finals) for both Open and Womens Singles start and finish on Sunday.

Originally posted by roundrobin Originally posted by kenboi Why is the ticket for Sunday twice as much as saturday's? Is the single open final held on sunday?  Later rounds (including finals) for both Open and Womens Singles start and finish on Sunday.

Edited by apflor323 - 08/25/2011 at 2:44pm

Originally posted by kenboi Laguna Beach is so beautiful. Last time I've been there was long time ago. I miss that Beach! I was told Chuan Chih Yuan won't be able to make it because of his VISA. He's one of my favorite players. So sad. I bought the ticket on sunday just to watch him. I hope there are other good players to watch.

Yes, as unbelievable as it sounds, Chuan's application for American visa was denied by the U.S Embassy in Taiwan.  I guess Uncle Sam is really afraid that Chuan may remain in the U.S. illegally after the visa expires!  This is a player who travels around the world playing table tennis tournaments for a living...

So who wants the $12,000.00 now?