Tournament No. 27 was like the all-star game of this ping pong league. Not only were all ten players really freakin' good, they all showed up on time! Well, almost... Travis Howell was late even know he was the first match of the night which made up my entire synopsis for this tournament's preview. But that's neither here nor there.
It's not often Cody Watters finishes in third place but that is exactly what happened last night as DJ Mez fought off his semifinal loss to Vance (21-10) to defeat Cody in a final loser's bracket game, 21-18. Even with his third place finish, Cody makes more ground on his number 1 power ranking spot in our Top 10.
The talk of the night was the runner-up, DJ Mez. Mez hadn't played in our league for almost a year but he shook the rust off quick and got stronger as the tournament progressed. After losing a semifinal match to Vance 21-10 nobody gave Mez a shot in the Championship. However, he rebounded and beat Vance in a 21-19 match that was as good as underground ping pong gets! Unfortunately for Mez he was brought down by the same score (21-19) in the final championship match as Vance poured in the victory.
Vance wins his sixth tournament and jumps a spot in the rankings above Logan Mayville into 5th place. He is not far behind Alan Blount (Mothergoose) now who even though only had one match win played impressively well. He lost his first match to Vance 21-14 and set the tone for others who knew they would have to face the man they call "No Chance." Who knows? Without Alan's hard fought match against Vance, maybe Mez doesn't even win that first championship match.
Mike Ottersen played well in Tournament No. 27 which earned him a jump in the rankings to number 6, eventually bringing Logan Mayville down to 7th. New-to-be Daddy, Mr. Blazing Paddles himself also had an impressive night earning him a jump in the rankings to number 8 and bumping Eric (PingPong101) to 9th. Mclovin (Chris Parillo) gets two match wins and secures his number 10 spot in the rankings. Travis stays 'on the brink' and Cedric (TroubleMan916) earns more points and inches closer to being 'on the brink.'
Thanks to all our players for signing up early and showing up on time. We hadn't had a full 10 player tournament in quite some time, so this one was fun. Moving into the spring we will try and host tournaments more often. Look for two tournaments possibly taking place in March. Buckle up folks, the Timeless Thrills® Ping Pong League is moving!