Local table tennis players were back on their paddles this weekend for the fifth running of the Yukon-Alaska Challenge.

With only three players from the Fairbanks Interior Table Tennis Club making the trip, Yukoners were able to sweep all three divisions of the two-day tournament.

Kevin Murphy, the current Yukon men's champion, and Ryan Bachli, the former champion, dominated the field together in the team event.

Fairbanks' Rick Robertson and Stefan Krist, an Austrian studying at the University of Alaska, placed second in the team category.

The singles division was decided in a rematch from the Yukon Table Tennis Championships, with Murphy squaring off against Bachli.

Murphy once again took home the honours, defeating Bachli 11-7, 9-11, 11-8.

Myrna Bruns and Mehrnoush Mahdavi emerged as the champions in the random doubles category.

"It's a very competitive tournament,” said David Stockdale, president of Yukon Table Tennis.

"We had a smaller group this year so you get to play more consistently and more often, but you don't get much time to rest.”

The tournament operates on a handicap system, with the players U.S.A. Table Tennis ratings accounting for the point differential.

For every 50 points that a player holds over their opponent, they are assessed one negative game point and have to work their way back to zero.

A system that Stockdale said keeps the tournament competitive year after year.

"When it's a handicap tournament the games are really competitive,” he said.

"They have to really, really concentrate to get back to zero and get into the game.

Even a poor player can beat a good player, you don't have to be consistently good, you just need a few breaks and you can upset top players and that happens along the way.”

Stockdale said the excitement in a tournament like the Yukon-Alaska Challenge is provided by the fact that anyone can take home the trophy.

"You can't know who is going to win,” he said. "It makes it very competitive and makes the trophy up for grabs for everybody. It's a great tournament.”

The first Yukon-Alaska Challenge was hosted in Fairbanks five years ago and was organized by Fairbanks' Diann Darnall.

The tournament made its way to Whitehorse in 2008, where Fairbanks' Jerry Smith won the team tournament for players with rankings less than 1,000 USATT points.

After capturing the win, Smith returned to Fairbanks to undergo a minor surgical procedure. Ensuing complications from the surgery resulted in Smith's unexpected and tragic passing.

In honour of Smith, the Jerry Smith Spirit of the Game Award is handed out at the tournament.

This year, the award was presented to Stockdale.

"The award is a nice touch on the tournament and remembering Jerry,” said Stockdale. "He was such an enthusiastic guy and just loved the game, he was so friendly to everyone and he thoroughly enjoyed being there (at the Yukon-Alaska Challenge).

Darnall announced Stockdale with the recognition as members of the tournament got together on Saturday evening for dinner.

"She recognized what was done with Arctic Winter Games and with this tournament so they figured I was worthy of the award so it was a nice touch at the dinner,” he said.

The tournament puts a wrap on the table tennis regular season with the summer league scheduled to begin in the next few weeks.