Clarkson University is a small private research university in Potsdam, New York and before this year their table tennis team wasn’t very well known outside of the Upstate New York division. Enter: Japanese international, Kota Tamura. Tamura was the second best player from his region when he trained in Japan. He is a short pips chopper that can vary the spin and speed with his game.

Tamura at first wasn’t going to play College TT but says, “I didn’t know Clarkson has a TT club and I was not going to play here anyways but I found out they wanted to go to regionals, so I decided to play to help the team.”

Clarkson didn’t qualify as a team ultimately but finished their highest in recent seasons (finished in 3^rd in their division).  Tamura helped incredibly by going 21-2 this season and qualified for the TMS 2017 College Table Tennis Championships in Men’s singles.

Tamura is a leader in the club as well. Clarkson’s coach, Joe Revai says this about Kota, “He has had world class coaching in his teenage years back in Japan and graciously works with any of them students sharing knowledge with perfect form.”

Tamura is looking forward to the NCTTA Champs, “my policy is I do what I love to do, I want to enjoy the games with great players coming from all over America and even other countries. I am also looking to make great friends through the tournament.”

There aren’t too many student athletes with Tamura’s style, so it will be a pleasure to see how he adapts to all of the student athletes from around the globe. The TMS 2017 College Table Tennis Championships is lucky to have such a friendly spirit and leader from Clarkson University at the event.

(Pictured here is the Clarkson University Table Tennis Team)

The 2017 TMS College Table Tennis Championships is hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Eau Claire CVB and is one of the premier table tennis tournaments in North America featuring 6 events: Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams.  The event is sponsored by TMS International, Gerflor, Double Fish

Players and spectators alike will enjoy a jam-packed weekend of table tennis at the TMS College Table Tennis Championships. The event starts Friday April 7th and continues through Sunday April 9th. 

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively for promoting the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org

About USA Table Tennis

Headquartered in Colorado Springs, USATT is the national organizing body for table tennis in the United States, serving 9,000+ members and nearly 300 clubs. USATT sanctions 200+ events a year including the US Open and US Nationals. USATT is affiliated with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), as well as the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). www.usatt.org