MIT Trounces Crimson Paddlers, 2-0

The Harvard ping pong team, in its first-ever intercollegiate match, dropped a 2-0 contest Saturday to cross-town rival MIT.

Under the tournament rules, the first three players for each team play off against each other in a round-robin type competition. These bouts make up the first division. The fourth, fifth and sixth men for each team make up the second division and play off in a similar competition.

Harvard lost both divisions Saturday by 5-1 scores. MIT recovered a point for each division victory.

Harvard's only two points in the divisional contests came from number two man and captain Asders Carbson and from Robbie Farkas at number four.

Carlsson turned back MIT's number three man in an exciting match to give Harvard its only point in the first division. Farkas won his bout against the fifth-ranked MIT paddler, to avoid a Harvard shutout in division two.

Strenger

"They were much stronger and more experienced as a team than we had expected." Harvard's number one man. Jeff Golan said yesterday. "However, the score is not really indicative of the real nature of the match. They weren't that much better than we are."

As is the case with most Harvard club athletics, the ping pong club is hard, pressed for money and facilities. Saturday's match was a good example of the latter, as the tournament was held in the Kirkland, Common Room, a facility that is somewhat less than ideal for intercollegiate athletics.

Shyang Lai Kung found the situation particularly handicapping. "With my style. I play defense a lot more than attack. Therefore, I stand further behind the table. With this place the lighting was so poor that I could hardly see the ball. It's no place for a competition."

"We expected them to be on another plateau," sixth man Rick Climan said yesterday. "But they certainly weren't. If this had been our fourth or fifth match instead of our first, it would have been a lot closer."