Vets and rookies emerge at the top of table tennis championships

Whitehorse Elementary School was buzzing with table tennis action this past weekend for the Yukon Open Table Tennis Championships.

Whitehorse Elementary School was buzzing with table tennis action this past weekend for the Yukon Open Table Tennis Championships.

Players of all ages and skill levels took part in the two-day tournament which was sponsored by East West Health Centre Ltd.

When play wrapped up on Sunday, there were some new names at the top of the list.

In the women’s singles division, Xiu-Mei Zhang took home top honours after defeating 11-time champion Edna Knight.

It was Zhang’s first title.

Myrna Bruns placed third after defeating junior player Grace Anne Janssen in straight games.

It was a busy weekend for Bruns as she also took home the top title in the random doubles division and division ‘B’ team category.

She partnered with Thomas Brenner in the doubles division and Greg Murdoch in the team event.

On the men’s side Kevin Murphy dethroned defending champion Ryan Bachi in five sets.

The win gave Murphy his 18th Yukon singles title.

The top two were not unfamiliar with each other. This year’s match-up marked the fifth consecutive time Bachi and Murphy have met in the finals.

Taras Yurkiv defeated Mehrnoush Mahdavi for third place.

Mahdavi got redemption in the open doubles division, taking home the title along with partner Mark Preston.

The round-robin format of the doubles resulted in a three-way tie for first place.

After counting points for and against, Mahdavi and Preston were crowned champions.

Preston also topped the division ‘A’ team event along with Yurkiv.

Bachli and Kyle Gonder placed second while Murphy and Knight rounded out the top three.

Gonder, who is coached by Murphy and participated in table tennis at the Arctic Winter Games (AWG) in March, also emerged as the top player in the junior boys division.

In the rookie singles division, 10-year-old Jamie Phillips defeated Eddy Gerberding for his first Yukon championships title.

Hassen Rajab beat Sana Syend for third place.