Photos Courtesy of Johnny Alexandre
For the first time in two years, the long-awaited Smith-Burdick Ping Pong Tournament was held in the Smith game room. The players filed in, most of them early, testing out the available paddles, and warming up with a game of King of the Court. King of the Court is a popular game where it takes two points for a challenger to knock out the king, but only one point for the king to knock out the challenger. 2019’s runner-up Emile Smigielski ‘23 was the “King” for the majority of the warm-up, sending the message that it was his tournament to lose.
Also present in all his glory was the defending champion, Chris Duffy ‘22. Fitted in his tennis outfit that included his signature mullet, sweatbands on each forearm, and sunglasses, he exuded a certain intensity that he too believed he was here to win.
The tournament director Meera Narayanan-Pandit ‘23 gathered everybody together, explaining the rules, laying out the bracket, and with that, the tournament began.
Duffy and his opponent Blake Rogers ‘25 were first to play, and Duffy won with swagger by a score of 7-2. Next, Smigielski was called to the table and played against yours truly, Johnny Alexandre ‘22. At first, it looked like Alexandre might send Smigielski to an early exit with the game tied at 4-4. However, Alexandre let a ball bounce just a tad too high, and Smigielski took advantage of it, sending the ball back at a ferocious speed. With that, the game was over as Smigielski won the next two points, winning 7-4. Jordan Groff ‘22 and his close friend Long Ta ‘22 battled in an intense game, resulting in Groff squeaking by 8-6, in a game the two friends are sure to reminisce over lunch for the next week or so. Hometown Smith Floor Governor, Bazeed Shahdad ‘24, escaped the highly-touted Ultimate Frisbee pro, Prosser Friedman ‘25, by a score of 7-5. Tyler Maguire ‘23 defeated “I don’t play racquet sports” Ted Brown ‘23 (which makes this reporter wonder why he was at that moment, in fact, playing a racquet sport) 7-5. Austin Cheng ‘25 advanced by forfeit when his opponent had to go. However, sources report that once his opponent saw Cheng in warm-up with a penhold grip, he quickly walked out with mouth agape, eyes quivering in terror. We at The College Voice cannot confirm whether this is true.
The second round was more of the same for Smigielski who cruised past his opponent Groff by a score of 11-5. Groff had been Smigielski’s student advisor, and the friendly rapport was clearly on display, despite the score. Duffy faced his first test, narrowly defeating Maguire by a score of 11-9. Cheng faced a 10-4 deficit but mounted a very promising comeback. Partially due to a relaxed Shahdad, Cheng started playing with a dominance not previously displayed, controlling the pace of the game. It proved to be too little too late, with Shahdad winning 11-8, but Cheng promises to be a worthy opponent for many semesters into the future as a first-year.
Due to the bracket format, It was Shahdad, Smigielski, and Duffy to play in a round-robin. Whichever two players had the best point differential following the three-person round-robin would advance to the final and championship round.
The tensions were high running into the game between Duffy and Smigielski. It looked to be a rematch of the 2019 championship game, and the potential championship game this time around. Smigielski came out with a vengeance he did not display, according to reports, in his 2019 defeat. Smigielski slammed the table practically every other point. He played a perfect game while Duffy did not get a single point, resulting in a 15-0 victory. To add to it, he defeated Shahdad 15-1. The statement had been made. At this point, the tournament was over. Smigielski had avenged his 2019 defeat, by an impressive margin. While the winner of the tournament had been decided in the minds of the audience and the players, the winner had not been officially decided and Duffy recovered, defeating Shahdad with conviction, 15-4.
The stage was set for a final round, a continuation of the narrative written two years ago in 2019 when Duffy defeated Smigielski to win his crown as the Connecticut College ping-pong champion. Smigielski’s perfect game earlier proved that things would be different this time. One could tell Smigielski was less focused than during his perfect game against Duffy. After all, the statement had already been made. Duffy’s backhanded serve put enough spin on the ball to cause Smigielski to be cautious on the return, but it was only a matter of time before almost every rally would end, courtesy of Smigielski’s vicious, overpowering forehand slam. A slam that produced a gasp from the audience each time it was struck. A slam too much to handle for any player in this tournament, leading Smigielski to his victory, 21-10, and his crown as the new ping-pong champion of Connecticut College.
