Hitting Its Stride: South Dakota Mines Table Tennis Club Heads to First Regional Championship

As a middle schooler growing up in Peru, Antonio Assante discovered his passion for table tennis, a love he shared with his younger brother, Gian.

The two brothers competed in local and international tournaments in both Peru and Panama before bringing their passion for the sport to South Dakota Mines.

Now, the two brothers and the Mines table tennis club, Ping Pong Rockers, are preparing for their biggest challenge yet – competing in the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association’s (NCTTA) West Regionals Championship in California on March 1-2. This marks the club’s first appearance in one of the nation’s most prestigious collegiate table tennis competitions, a big accomplishment for a club that has existed for less than a year.

“I am truly excited about what we have accomplished and about bringing South Dakota Mines to the big stage,” said Antonio, a junior majoring in mining engineering. He founded the club last spring to share his love for the sport with his peers. Many of the original team members have graduated, making this year’s team mostly first-year students, Antonio said.

“It is truly a historic achievement,” he said.

Antonio and Gian, a sophomore industrial engineering major, secured two of the three direct qualification spots in the singles category at the NCTTA Rocky Mountain Divisional earlier this month. The Mines A Team, consisting of Antonio, Gian, Yupeng Lee, and Sage Solheim, finished in second place and has a chance to qualify for regionals based on the accumulated points throughout the season. The club team also includes Ethan Racette, Noah Herricks, Austin Jacobs, Donovan Day and Chase Lester.

During the West Regional Championship, the Ping Pong Rockers will compete against many larger institutions, including the University of California, Berkley, the University of Southern California, the University of Washington, and the University of British Columbia. Many of these teams have been competing for a decade or more, Antonio said.

The Ping Pong Rockers practice nearly every weekday evening in lower Surbeck with a goal of fostering a welcoming community for players of all levels and backgrounds, he said.

NCTTA is the governing body of Collegiate Table Tennis. The mission of NCTTA is to promote the sport of table tennis by providing collegians an opportunity to compete in this enjoyable lifetime sport and to provide student-athletes the avenues to compete in serious intercollegiate table tennis competitions at a club or varsity level.