To make a pong story short…

The event took place on June 3rd in the sports hall of the Primus Foundation on ul. Zoltana Balo in Warsaw’s Ursynów district. Experienced players as well as beginners faced each across sixteen tables in a competitive but friendly spirit. The tournament attracted entire families, thanks to which the junior as well as the senior categories were strongly represented. “This is a great initiative and a pleasant way to spend the morning, so I am taking part in the tournament together with my children,” commented Paulina Kostecka of Think Project Polska. “You don’t need to spend a lot of money or to be the most skilful player – a sports outfit, a paddle and a good mood are all that’s required,” she added.

The first few players arrived before 9am with plenty of time to have a decent warm-up. The sets were played up to 11 points with the winner being the first to take three sets. “We organise the tournament so that people working in the real estate and construction market can have a good time and get to know and integrate with each other,” explained Ferdinand Baggeroer, a member of the management board of CmT. “I’m glad the event attracts entire families and everyone could have fun regardless of their age,” he added.

The extraordinary final of the tournament, which sent those watching almost into a frenzy of excitement, certainly confirmed this view. The final match was played out between 13-year-old Filip Kostecki and the much more experienced Jarosław Hasiuk, who ultimately triumphed in what was an evenly balanced game. Third place in the adult category went to Artur Kietliński. “I won with a slight advantage, as sometimes happens in final games,” admitted Jarosław Hasiuk. “But I won because I was never complacent about the young age of my opponent. I’m sure that Filip has a great career ahead of him in table tennis.”

“Today’s tournament was mostly about having fun, but still, many of the contestants were of a standard not much below professional,” insisted Marek Kozłowski, the referee of the competition. “The absolutely most important thing was that all those taking part entered into the spirit of the event and thanked each other with smiles after each match.

The sight of the barbecued food laid on by the organisers after the tournament had finished was welcomed with even bigger smiles. And the food also gave everyone a chance to share their impressions of the tournament, outside in the sunshine. “I only regret one thing: that I found out about the event so late, so I didn’t manage to encourage my friends to enter this fantastic tournament,” remarked Monika Woźniak-Zawioła of MWZ Group. “I came to the tournament with my son and we both had a great time. Next year we will certainly be bringing more people along and I will have practised a lot more by then,” she added.

We would like to thank the main organiser of the tournament, CmT, as well as the sponsors: the Berendowicz & Kublin hairdressing salon, table tennis website uStefiego.pl, the MSTS Stefański tennis school and the Miłomłyn Zdrój hotel.