Table tennis continues to grow

By By Ryan Satcher/staff writer
June 22, 2003
Table Tennis' second year in the State Games of Mississippi turned out to be even better than its debut.
The competition was held at Frank Cochran Center on Saturday morning and drew a nice crowd.
Twenty-six competitors came from around the state to participate in the event and helped make it a success.
The event was set up as a double-elimination tournament in each age division and used USTT rules.
In the women's competition, Dot Fortenberry of Columbia defeated Debbie Chambers of Hattiesburg to pick up the gold medal.
In the girls' 10-14-year-old division, Caitlyn Chambers of Hattiesburg beat Lakeyia Anderson of Meridian for the gold medal. Jennifer Hearn picked up the bronze medal.
Herb Bennett of Hattiesburg defeated Clinton's Ya Lee for the gold medal in the men's 46-49-year-old division.
In the men's 26-39 age category, Nara "Tiger" Ramakrishnan beat Chris Register for gold while Ma Owen took the bronze.
Mark Kneipp of Laurel held off Kyle Dew in a very exciting match to pick up gold in the teen division. Paris Hearn came away with the bronze.
In the 12-14 boys' division, Matt Morgan defeated Andrew Watkins for gold while Brandon Kneipp took bronze.
Emmanuel Hayes of Meridian took the gold in the 17-18-year-old boys' division over Thornton Tucker. Jack Norton rounded out the top three.
Austin Davis took gold with a victory against Eric Smith in the 14-16 boys' division. Brian Hayes finished with a bronze in the division.
Doubles competition made its debut in the table tennis event this season with three pairs competing.
Bennett and Ramakrishnan took the gold with a win over Register and Owen. James Hearn and Lee took the bronze.