I hope you're sitting down, because.....

The hardbat ratings are updated! The following events are included:
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Apr 04 Hutchinson Spring Open (KS) 1st - Carl Miller, 2nd - Guy Hendrickson
Apr 04 Sacramento Spring Open (CA) 1st - James Therriault, 2nd - Paul Loscavio
Mar 04 Cary Open (NC) (Open event) 1st - Keith Evans, 2nd - Chris Lehman
(2000 event) 1st - Victor Kan, 2nd - Steve Hitchner
(1500 event) 1st - Gregg Robertshaw, 2nd - Min Hsu
Mar 04 Buckeye Open (OH) (open) 1st - John Tannehill, 2nd - Dan Seemiller
(U1900) 1st - Tadao Inui, 2nd - Scott Barone
Feb 04 Hutchinson Winter Open (KS) 1st - Guy Hendrickson, 2nd - Carl Miller
Feb 04 Arkansas Closed (AK) 1st - Bob Mahler, 2nd - Steve Cates
Feb 04 Sacramento Winter Open (CA) 1st - James Therriault, 2nd - Trevor Runyan
Dec 03 U.S. Nationals (NV) - Open Final - Lily Yip def. Alex Perez
O40 Final - Larry Hodges def. Ray Mack
U2000 Final - Scott Gordon def. Marty Reisman
U1500 Final - Bob Mahler def. Bob Reising
Nov 03 Valley of the Sun Open (AZ) 1st Bernard Savitz
Oct 03 Hutchinson Fall Open (KS) 1st - Carl Miller, 2nd - Guy Hendrickson
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visit http://WWW.HARDBAT.COM for the complete alphabetical list, top-20 lists, etc.

Here are the current top-10 UHRL Hardbat Ratings:

1 -- 2679 NJ Yip, Lily
2 -- 2567 OH Tannehill, John
3 -- 2534 GA Peng, Xin
4 -- 2497 NY Perez, Alexis
5 -- 2418 CA Sun, Angela
6 -- 2415 IN Seemiller, Daniel
7 -- 2369 NJ Jain, Ashu
8 -- 2342 GA Hoff, Ty
9 -- 2339 CA Ngo, Loc Bao
10 -- 2311 CA Miranda, Rudy

The top USATT ratings for hardbatters -vs. sponge- (the "OUTGUNNED" list):

1 -- 2285 NY Berger, Steve
2 -- 2249 OH Tannehill, John
3 -- 2211 OH Schlabach Jr., Roy
4 -- 2123 GA Hoff, Ty
5 -- 2151 GA Cooper, George
6 -- 2120 NJ Rabinovich, Boris
7 -- 2058 NH Kelly, Timothy
8 -- 2057 KY Brazzell, Don
9 -- 2020 GA May, M. M. Pete
10 -- 1998 TX Rautis, James

The average rating of fulltime hardbat players in the U.S. is
considerably higher than the national average for sponge players.

So, consider switching to hardbat:
- it's fun,
- it's less expensive,
- it makes a great sound,
- looping's overrated,
- you'll enjoy great control, and
- you're rating might even go *up*!

But....
of the 650 players with hardbat ratings, about 600 of them
play sponge in regular events. So even if you're a sponge
addict, you're in good company... most of our hardbat players
are sponge addicts too! You can still enjoy playing in a hardbat
event now and then. It's fun and it won't affect your USATT rating.

Support Classic Hardbat Table Tennis... ask your director
to include a Hardbat event in the next tournament!

Scott