BALBOA PARK – Chief Electrician’s Mate Rodel Valdoria captured the singles title at Navy Region Southwest’s inaugural MWR Table Tennis Tournament held July 21 and 22, 2001 in the Balboa Recreation Center.
Valdoria, who works in the sound and vibration analysis shop at Ship’s Intermediate Maintenance Activity San Diego, had to hold off a late rally by David Umel Sr., in the second game of the best of three series to take home the first-place trophy in the main event. Umel, ranked 7th in San Diego Table Tennis Association standings, charged back from a 20-15 deficit and almost forced a third and final game.
“Umel came back and scored his 19th point, and I thought he was going to overtake me,” said Valdoria, SDTTA’s 14th ranked singles player. “But he missed his last serve. It was a great win against a nationally-ranked player.”
Umel, who works in the maintenance shop NAS North Island’s Public Works Center, got a little bit of revenge against Valdoria when he teamed with Greg Turner to win the doubles title. Valdoria’s partner was 75-year-old retired Navy Commander Neil Smyth. In the first game, Umel-Turner was down, 15-20, when they rallied to win in deuce, 23-21. The second match also close, with Umel-Turner prevailing, 21-19.
In the novice division, Yeoman 2nd Class Alberto Espinosa of SIMA San Diego battled his way through the round-robin event and defeated retired Chief Petty Officer Emil Parales, 2-1. Espinosa is trained and coached by Valdoria.
“He (Valdoria) has been working with me for 1 1⁄2 years,” said Espinosa. “He taught me the mental game of table tennis. Anybody can hit the ball, but the important part is keeping your mind on the game.”
The first-place trophy is Espinosa’s first, in any sport.
Twenty-two players – active duty, retired, family members and Department of Defense employees – played in the tournament. Besides SIMA, players from other NRSW commands, including USS Peleliu (LHA 5), MCAS Miramar and Naval Medical Center San Diego, played in the two-day tournament.
According to tournament-organizer Smyth, “The tournament was an opportunity for people of all ages to compete. And they competed well.”
“The military discipline and fine sportsmanship of all the players made my job as umpire obsolete,” said Personnelman 1st Class (SW) Raphael Ahmed, a nationally-ranked player who also participated in the event. “The success of this event gave me a ray of hope that many more players would participate regularly in the great sport of table tennis at various Navy bases.
“MWR has a few tables in their inventory, and all they want is for players to make requests for new tables. In San Diego, the San Diego Table Tennis Association is only a 20 minutes drive from many of the Region’s facilities. There are few ideas floating around to form a club or two here. If you are interested in forming a club or a team, contact me at 545-1390, or the NASNI MWR at 545-2876.”
NASNI MWR provided $100 for the event, which paid for balls, snacks and the winner’s trophies.
