Intro: North America's premier table tennis event
With a name like Killerspin US Open, you know this week-long professional and recreational table tennis competition in Chicago will not be your father's pingpong game. Today's table tennis is a high intensity and physically challenging sport that requires lightning fast reflexes and incredible agility. With balls flying at up to 118 miles per hour, athletes must react in fractions of a second and demonstrate world-class hand-eye coordination throughout the entire match.
"The City of Chicago is pleased to welcome the 2004 Killerspin US Open and SPINvitational Table Tennis Championships," said Mayor Richard M. Daley. "With the 2004 Summer Olympic Games only one month away, we couldn't be more delighted to host these world and national champions from countries around the globe. This event is a great example of the diverse porting events being held in Chicago."
The Killerspin US Open consists of three events:
the SPINvitational Table Tennis Championships, a charity invitational event featuring 13 of the world's best players in a fun-filled evening that will be taped and broadcast around the world; the Killerspin US Open, the largest table tennis recreational competition in the US featuring more than 50 categories of competitions for every age, gender and skill level; and the Killerspin ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) Pro Tour, the last stop on the professional circuit before the 2004 Olympic Games. Player seedings for the Olympics will be impacted following this competition. Combined, close to 1,000 professional and recreational players are expected to compete in these events for more than $100,000 in prize money.
"These Killerspin events are expected to draw thousands of athletes and fans to Chicago and attract international media attention," says Robert Blackwell, founder of Killerspin. "The world's most renowned table tennis players are psyched for these competitions and will showcase dynamic skills, speed, agility and reflexes."
The Competitions:
The SPINvitational launches the week of table tennis festivities on Wednesday, June 30 at Chicago's UIC Pavilion with a high-action table tennis charity challenge featuring world and national champions from countries including Greece, Korea, Serbia, Sweden and the United States. The professional and recreational competitions of the 2004 Killerspin US Open will take place throughout the week at Navy Pier with the Pro Tour Finals happening on Saturday night. The various competitions feature top professional and recreational players from approximately 40 countries.
USA Olympic Team members:
Gao Jun (Gaithersburg, Md.), Jasna Reed (Clinton Twp., Mich.), Tawny Banh (San Gabriel, Calif.), Whitney Ping (Beaverton, Ore.), Ilija Lupulesku (Chicago, Ill.), Khoa Nguyen (San Jose, Calif.), and Mark Hazinski (Mishawaka, Ind.) will be a part of this sensational multi-event. The USA Table Tennis National Junior and Cadet teams will also be on-site competing.
"The Chicago events are some of the most exciting and highly competitive in table tennis," says five-time Olympian, Ilija Lupulesku (Lupi), who's a member of the 2004 Summer Olympic Table Tennis team." "As I prepare to compete in Athens next month, I am honored to have the opportunity to compete in my hometown and against some of the world's best players. The skill and excitement levels are going to be just wild."
Killerspin is a Chicago-based retailer of table tennis equipment and producer of table tennis events and media. Killerspin is viewed globally as the most innovative table tennis brand, producing and broadcasting events with worldwide exposure. Killerspin also endorses many of the world's top players, including four who will be participating in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
ITTF consists of the affiliated table tennis organizations who govern the sport in accordance with the principles of the ITTF. The objects of the ITTF are to uphold the principles of the ITTF and to develop the spirit of friendship and mutual assistance among Associations and players; to regulate relations between Associations and between Associations and other organizations and to seek continual improvement in the technical standard of table tennis and in participation in the sport throughout the world.
USATT is the national organizing body for table tennis in the United States. Created in 1933 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, its staff serves the over 8,000 members and 240 clubs that are affiliated with USATT. The USATT is affiliated with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the world governing body for table tennis, as well as the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
Table tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world, with more than 300 million people playing the sport worldwide (source: English Table Tennis Association) including 13.5 million people in the US (source: Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association). Based on the current participation base, Killerspin is working with the USATT and ITTF, to raise the profile of table tennis in the US to that experienced internationally. Producer of the 2003 Killerspin Extreme Table Tennis Championships and through its partnership with ESPN, which broadcasts to more than 200 million households around the world, Killerspin continues to raise awareness for this sport.