GBC is establishing a table tennis league and running a tournament in the coming months. The program is established for the encouragement, promotion and maintenance of the sport of table tennis as a wholesome form of physical recreation and promotion. It promotes sportsmanship, social gathering, friendship formation and friendly competition. But, more importantly, it can give our members the opportunity to extend our witness and the fellowship of our church to others. This is a great ministry tool that will help to connect us to those we wish to reach.

The GBC Table Tennis League will be starting in February, 2008. The league is set up on a ranking system that allows players to improve while playing against others at a similar level. New league sequences start at the beginning of every month or when the current league sequence has been completed.

General information for league play/tournament play:

• If you wish to play in the league, please contact Sue Fong or Tong Yu.
• Both the league and tournament are open to members and friends of GBC.ALL ages, Male and Female.
• Ranking will be based on both tournament and league play. At the end of the tournament, the ranking will be redone based on those results. Throughout the year, the ranking list will be adjusted as the league play carries out.
• There will be 2 tables reserved for league play at the church. Unfinished league matches must be played and have priority on any other play on those tables. If there are insufficient people to fill the tables, these rules will not apply. These tables are marked with a note on the side of the table.

League play:

• Players are broken down into groups of 4 (or 5) starting with the top ranked players. The top 4 ranked players will be in the first group, players ranked 5-8 will be in the next group, etc.
• Every week, there will be a round robin for each group. Each player plays each other, resulting in 3 matches for each person which they must complete within 4 weeks, the sooner the better. Each match is best of 3 out of 5 games; each game is played up to 11 points; USATT rules apply.
• The due date for matches will be listed on the league results sheets.
• Players will be responsible for getting their own matches done on time.
• Results of the matches will be written into the league play sheets at the church.
• Matches not played will be forfeited.
• At the end of the league cycle, the results are compiled. Each player in their group of 4 is ranked 1-4 based on the results. The #1 player in their group will move 1 placement up, at the same time the lowest placement on the table above him will be dropped 1 ranking. Therefore the lowest ranked player on the 2nd grouping will drop below the best ranked player on the 3rd group. This normally results in 1 player moving up a group and 1 player moving down a group, but as new players are added, this may not necessarily apply.
• Group standings are calculated based on the following tiebreak priority:
  1. # of matches won.
  2. # of wins/# of losses ratio
  3. If there is a tie at this point, the previous ranking will be used.

Tournament:

We shall run a tournament in June, 2008. The seeding of the players is based on their league play results.