Timpanogos Table Tennis Club

Noel Huermann & John Pratt awarded semifinalist medals in Hardbat Doubles at U.S. National Championships, Las Vegas, Dec. 2004. Noel was also the Under-2000 Hardbat Champion.

John Pratt warms up with his hardbat friend Bob Palgon at the Huntsman Senior Games, Oct. 2007

The Timpanogos Table Tennis Club is now closed. It was in operation from Sept. 27, 2000 until Aug. 3, 2009. During that period 375 players participated, and role was taken and a ranking kept every week. Ranking was accomplished by allowing any player to challenge the two players immediately above on the ranking list. Winning a challenge match caused those two players to change places on the ranking list. Two players could only play one challenge match per night. Players also dropped in ranking due to non-attendance, dropping one place per month of absence. The weekly rating lists were tabuated and put into a database for future access.

The club met at the Pleasant Grove Community Center from 8:00-10:30 pm on Wednesday nights. It was located on the northwest corner of 100 East and 200 South in Pleasant Grove, Utah. The cost was $3 per night. There was no other membership fee; play was open to players of all skill levels. Play was limited to twelve players per night on four tables. About five visitors per night could play, the other seven players were regular members.

A current ranking of active players was updated weekly. We also had one annual tournament, the Utah Valley Open in the spring. Tournament results from 2001 through 2009 are posted on this web site.

Club Founder, President and Webmaster was Dr. John P. Pratt, who could be contacted at jp at johnpratt dot com (use symbols for "at" and "dot"). He wrote an article entitled "Attacker's Minimum" mathematically showing that if you are an attacker, you should make at least 2/3 of your "kill" shots, such that less than half can be returned. He has also invented a new tournament format to replace the double elimination, which is described in an article entitled "The Rapid Ranker Tournament." For entry forms for both the Round Robin and Rapid Ranker click here.

Hardbat Challenge. During the last few years, anyone who defeated Club President John Pratt in a best 3 of 5 series to 21 with a hardbat (short pips, no sponge, wooden blade) would win a box of three 3-star Premium Nitakku balls! No one ever did, but Noel Huermann never tried (he could easily have done so).