Today I played in my first table tennis tournament, a big annual tourney in South Bend, Ind. Since I am unrated (you need to play in a sanctioned tournament to get a rating with the USA Table Tennis association), I played in the two lower categories, for persons rated under 1000 and under 1200.

They put you in groups of four, and you play a round robin--three matches, best of five games each. Whoever wins that table advances to the next round. Unless you're unrated, in which case you can't advance. Such was my lot. I won my table in both categories, the under 1000 and under 1200 (actually had much tougher competition in the under 1000). So I felt quite pleased with myself.

My toughest competition came from two girls--or, one teenage girl (who beat me) and a thirty-something woman who took me to a fifth game and I had to come from behind. We don't have any females in the Fort Wayne club.

So it was an interesting, fun experience for me. Next tournament, I'll be able to advance after winning my table (should that happen again).