On Saturday, January 29, 90 players gathered to compete in the 2022 January Butterfly Teams Robin Round Tournament.

The Tournament was hosted at a local “We Are Butterfly Club”, Triangle Badminton and Table Tennis. The club welcomed local players from Asheville, and Charlotte, and as far away as Westchester, New York. This sold-out event was somewhat of a practice for the upcoming team’s tournament organized by Butterfly North America in Puerto Rico on April 8-10.  Although Robin Rounds Tournaments are notorious for their long play format, this event faced only minor delays.

For many of the players this was the first time in a while that they had competed in a tournament set-up, especially in the Robin Rounds format.

“The tournament was very well organized. Seeing the club with Butterfly advertisements everywhere was exciting. There were cool screens available for players to see the results—plus the QR code was very neat,” said Jhon Mendoza, whose team competed in Division B. ” It was great to see old friends and all the other table tennis players after a long time with no tournament play. I have the feeling that people are more dedicated and excited to play tournaments now.  There are a lot of good players in these tournaments, and the level and how people are improving is awesome.”

It is very touching to see players from all ages enjoying themselves and having fun on the table. Despite having a wide range of seed rating between players, many of the competitors knew each other and had played together before. Although they were a part of the competition, competitors were seen cheering each other on– something you might not expect when competing for prize money.

“The format of this tournament really brings a team together. I have never had so much fun playing tournaments with my friends and making more friends (even though I lost to many friends),” said Xizi (Stephanie) Sun.

No matter the outcome, the day was not only about winning, for many it was also about having fun, playing a game that they love in a community they love

Though local teams played well, they were defeated by visiting team players: Connor Lee, and the Alguetti brothers; Gal and Sharon, who won all nine of their team matches. Local teams cleaned up well though with Team Carney-Yu, placing second, and Team Wang-Xu placing third in the Division A Draws.

For more information on results click the link here

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