2014 Butterfly Badger Open Kicks Off Friday Evening with 51-point Handicap Event

WILSON, N.C. - Sept. 20, 2014 - PRLog -- By Barbara Wei
As over 200 players travel to Waukesha, Wisconsin for this weekend’s 2014 Butterfly Badger Open, local table tennis aficionados and eager early arrivers participated in the tournament’s first ever 51-point Handicap event Friday evening. Seen as a way to increase participation and engage the local table tennis community, the Handicap event was open to on-site registration and free entry for players over a USATT rating of 2300.

The Handicap Event was structured based on USATT ratings so that each pair of competitors could play an “even” game. The 2014 Butterfly Badger Open Handicap event required that competitors play one game to 51, with the lower rated player starting with a score that reflects the assigned handicap (e.g. lower rated starts with a score of 15). Based on the rating difference, the lower rated player could start with 0 points (< 4 rating difference) or up to 43 points (> 1400 rating difference).

Lindenwood University players comprised 3 of the 4 semi-finalists in this event, with Alex Legaria (2395) taking home the title by beating out teammate Ahmed Hendawi (2299) in the final. With over 25 people competing, the 51-Point Handicap event was an exciting event for everyone involved. Tournament director Linda Leaf hopes to continue the event for next year’s tournament given this year’s positive response.

Continual coverage of the 2014 Butterfly Badger Open and stories about the athletes will be available at butterflyonline.com (http://www.butterflyonline.com/), or via Butterfly North America’s Twitter (https://twitter.com/butterflyonline) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/butterflytabletennis) pages.

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As the official table tennis equipment sponsor of the 2014 Butterfly Badger Open, Butterfly will supply professional, ITTF approved Butterfly table tennis tables, net sets, barriers and Butterfly ITTF approved, 3-star 40mm balls. The professional tables used at this tournament are for sale, reserve one today by visiting Butterflyonline.com/Tours.