Pingpong hits math department
Players compete in the final match of the mathematics department’s pingpong tournament on Wednesday in the Mathematical Sciences building. Exchange student Carlos Alfonso Ruiz (left) competes against mathematics Professor Kefeng Liu, a two-time winner of the event.
By Andrea Barreto
June 2, 2011 2:22 a.m.
Mathematics Professor Kefeng Liu competes in the final match of the mathematics department’s pingpong tournament. Liu, known for his pingpong skills, won the championship for the second year in a row.
Wiping the sweat that dripped off his face, Carlos Alfonso Ruiz walked away from his opponent in defeat after three matches.
His game did not take place in Drake Stadium or Spaulding Field, but on the sixth floor lounge of the Mathematical Sciences building.
Ruiz, an undergraduate exchange student in mathematics, was the latest casualty to two-time defending champion and mathematics Professor Kefeng Liu, who reaffirmed his prowess at the pingpong table in the math department’s annual tournament Wednesday night.
The tournaments started at UCLA in 2009 when former mathematics graduate student Paul Bunn donated his roommate’s pingpong table to the math department. Since then, the department’s lounge has been the backdrop for many games, with skill sets that range from expert players to others who barely know how to hold a paddle.
Mathematics graduate students Tye Lidman and Justin Palumbo now run the events, facilitating an otherwise self-sustained process.
Though the majority of players are graduate students, undergraduates and even professors are welcome, Lidman said.
Participants signed up on a sheet posted in the lounge at the beginning of spring quarter and organized themselves into games throughout the following weeks, culminating in the final match Wednesday.
About 40 people turned out to watch the showdown, which lasted about 40 minutes, between Liu and Ruiz.
Before his academic appointment at UCLA, Liu was also the vice president of the Table Tennis Association in 2003 when he was at Zhejiang University in China.
Mathematics graduate student Gabe Merton said he never attended a game before the final match, but Liu’s dominance on the pingpong table is common knowledge among students.
“He’s a legend,” Merton said.
Palumbo’s hand gestures, already animated, became frantic as he described Liu’s skill.
As defending champion, Liu was able to forego initial matches and automatically enter the final stages of the tournament.
“I don’t think anyone wants to play in the same group as me,” Liu said with a smile.
Liu remained calm throughout the game, even after hitting his hand against the table.
Opposite him, Ruiz bounced left and right, attempting to deflect all the hits.
Ruiz said he remembers the first time he played pingpong with his father as a child.
“I realized I (played badly), so I started to train,” he said.
Ruiz stopped playing pingpong two years ago, but his interest renewed when he came to UCLA fall quarter.
He said he heard about the tournament from friends and other members of the department.
Word-of-mouth has been the main mode of communication when it comes to the matches, organizers of the event said.
Palumbo said he attributes the tournament’s popularity to the sense of community it provides within the department.
“Math is not particularly collaborative,” he said. “It’s important for departmental camaraderie.”
