The OHS ping-pong club sponsored the “I Heart Ping-Pong Tournament” on Valentine’s Day, Wednesday Feb. 14, 2018.

“Nothing is more romantic than a competitive ping-pong tournament,” junior Marawan Elgohry said.

The tournament was open to all students at OHS, not just ping-pong club members.

“I was really just looking forward to people showing an interest and getting competitive in such a great sport,” junior Bennet Brown said. “It’s not so much about the actual level of competition, but rather the effort that you put in.”

The ping-pong club hoped to attract new members with this tournament.

“I have many friends that I got into table tennis over the past two or so years, and they still show an interest in it,” Brown said. “The club has struggled this year since many of our very active members were seniors that graduated last year, but I definitely see a bright future for this club at OHS.”

The tournament had a two dollar entry fee, and the winner got 10 dollars and a trophy as a prize

“My favorite thing about playing ping-pong is winning,” sophomore Edward Hu said. “I was excited about the extremely large cash prize.”

Players were glad to be able to show off their ping-pong skills against their friends.

“I enjoy the fact that I can hang out with my friends and have a little bit of competitive fun with it,” Elgohry said.  “It’s also relatively low effort, which makes it a nice way to unwind.”

After some close games, junior Mark McManus won the tournament.

“It was great, but the most important part was just having fun and raising money for the ping-pong club,” McManus said. “It was a lot of fun competing with guys that I know and have classes with. I love when it comes down to the wire, and you and the person you are playing are going back and forth, good shot after good shot.”

Many students showed up to the tournament and were excited to spend their Power Hour playing ping-pong.

“Getting into a good, fast and hard rally really gets my adrenaline racing and renews my love for the game,” Brown said. “I find it jaw-dropping that you can have a twenty-ball rally with a piece of plastic going over 80 mph with someone standing eight feet away.”