Photo of Viren Patel, Photo credit to Grant Bergmann

By Michael Reff
NCTTA Media Committee

NCTTA is all about the team spirit, but sometimes players make it to the champs individually, without their team and must channel the spirit alone (or so we think!) These are the “lone rangers,” the “solo warriors,” representing their respective schools for all the glory! Each lone ranger’s story is unique and some actually do have a lot of support coming to the champs even without making it with their team.

For example, Cameron Smith of the University of North Carolina, Charlotte is quite certain his fans will be the loudest and proudest of the whole National Championships.

“I definitely won't be alone; [I’]ll have a whole cheering section rooting for me that I will be bringing along with me and a few fans from some other universities as well,” Smith said. He previously got to the Nationals the year before with his team and did quite well, reaching the quarterfinals of the Coed team event.

Another lone ranger, Viren Patel, of Texas A&M University, in Corpus Christi is incredibly grateful for the experience to play at the champs:

“I am really happy and proud that I could qualify for the nationals", Patel said. "This ‘Lone Ranger’ status is like an achievement for me, and I am really fortunate to get amazing support from my school to achieve this status.”

In honor of all those Lone Rangers coming this year, here’s a brief poem:

These paddlers embrace their passions solo,
In the face of adversity, they preach YOLO,
Their hearts beat up and down like a pogo,
But when the first serve drops, it’s ready to go go!

Representing one’s school without your teams’ tough,
But you made it this far so you’ve got the right stuff,
The passion to play and perform well’s enough,
So bring home the hardware, you’re a diamond in the rough!

About 2023 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Round Rock CVB. Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams.
The event is sponsored by Double Happiness, PongSpace, Major League Table Tennis.
Watch the event on live stream starting Friday April 14th on champs.nctta.org

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 elite intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org