2024 Arctic Winter Games: Table tennis squad finds early success; Six-member Team Alaska earns medals in singles round

This is definitely not the ping-pong anyone remembers from their parents’ basement.

While their Arctic Winter Games teammates were tearing up the slopes at Skeetawk, and the ice at the Brett and Menard ice rinks, six young Alaskans were representing the state in table tennis. With two different age group divisions – under 19 and under 15 – for boys and girls, and competition in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles, the Wasilla Middle School gym has been jamming to the rhythm of plastic balls caroming off paddles – or “blades”, as they are known – and the four regulation tables spread out across the floor. Billing itself “the premier sporting competition and cultural gathering of and for the Arctic north, the Arctic Winter Games are a biennial multi-sport event hosted in a different location around the Arctic region. This is the first time that Mat-Su has hosted the Games, which were last held in Alaska in 2014, in Fairbanks.

The event brings together around 2,000 athletes representing 20 teams from circumpolar communities across Canada, Alaska, Kalaallit Nunaat, and northern Scandinavia. But at the Arctic Winter Games, it’s not all about the competition. Team Alaska table tennis coach Sophia Feng has emphasized that to her young squad.

“I don’t want them just doing table tennis,” she said. “The main focus has been to have all the kids get to know other people, really understand different cultures, and have lots of fun.”

Feng grew up in China and played competitively there from the age of 5. She was a coach later on. Table tennis is much more serious in China, she said, with lots of pressure to win.

“But that’s not always the best way,” Feng said.

Competition, however, has surely not been neglected by Team Alaska. Medals were awarded Tuesday night in all four divisions of singles play, and four Alaskans did time on the podium. James Peng led the way with gold in the boys under-19 bracket. The 17-year-old Fairbanks phenom swept his opponents 3 sets to none in both the semifinal and final rounds. So dominating was Peng throughout the competition, that he lost only a single set – a close 11-8 decision in his first matchup of the event.

Fellow Fairbanksan Hannah Cho won silver in the girls under-15 bracket, after a closely fought 3-2 match in the championship game. The podium in the boys under-15 bracket featured two Team Alaska members. Isaac Hoffman, a 13-year-old from Palmer, won silver. Jack Williams, 11, from Eagle River, won bronze. Williams and Hoffman train together – and play each other – regularly with the Palmer Table Tennis Club.

Coach Feng’s team emphasis on having fun and meeting new people also factored in to choosing players for the squad. That process began more than a year ago with recruitment notices on social media and through the Anchorage School District, where Feng works as a tutor.

Shortly after, replies began coming in from all over the state, and trial competitions were set up in Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Feng said good skills are essential, but they’re not the only qualification for making the team. Players must also interact well with officials and other players.

“A good player can be nervous in competition,” she said. We want relaxed players who really enjoy the game and have a good personality for sports.”

Training for table tennis is a specific regimen of routine and focus, Feng said. Steps and motions are designed to build muscle memory. Different serving styles must be learned to keep opponents guessing. Palmer resident Doug Hoffman, whose son Isaac won bronze in the singles bracket, echoed Feng about the importance of mental aspects of the game.

“There’s a lot of chess involved,” he said. “You need to find weaknesses and take advantage of them. And you need to minimize unforced errors. That’s what we work on.” Hoffman heads up the Palmer Table Tennis Club, which meets two nights a week for training in his garage, which he finished seven years ago to accommodate two regulation tables and the space needed for competition. “This is not garage ping-pong,” he said. “You need a lot of room for table tennis.”

Arctic Winter Games table tennis action continues through Friday, When coach Feng and assistant coach Lucas Williams will lead their Team Alaska charges in the doubles and mixed doubles brackets. All games are held at the Wasilla Middle School gym. “I feel lucky to have the chance to do this,” Feng said. “I’m glad it’s something we can be experiencing as a team. We are building this memory together.”