Do you ever want to see heart and passion for something you love?

Imagine the joy of watching international athletes sweating it out for the last time in 2007. Instead of eating and partying, dedicated players converged in Chicago, Illinois to determine who will end the year as a champion.

Regarded as the largest table tennis event in the United States, Killerspin’s Spinvitational Tournament was held on December 28-30. It proved to be a fitting end to a great year for table tennis enthusiasts.

The tournament featured some of the world’s top players from around the globe. Filled with Olympic medalists, National Champions, and world champions, the McCormick Place hosted some of the finest action one can witness.

Close to 10,000 spectators saw Chen Qi of China, Aleksandar Karakasevic of Serbia, and Ilija Lupulesku of the United States, among others, go head to head in combat.

I got the privilege of watching the hot action from this major tournament from a friend who recorded some of the action. You can imagine how exciting it was for me to see what was going on. It was a thrill to me to see such wonderful talent on display. Here is footage of one of the matches that took place:

This match featured Patrick Chila who is a 7-time Pro Tour Doubles Champion and an Olympic Bronze Medalist vs. Xu Ruifeng, a 2-time Olympian, European and Chinese Junior Champion.

In this best of five games, Xu wins the series 3-2.

There were several rallies that enthused the audience. One particular rally at 1:55 features Xu executing a series of vicious loop kills. Notice how far Patrick drifts away from the table as Xu unleashes loop after loop to overpower his opponent and eventually take the point.

For all the left-handed players around the globe, Patrick demonstrates how he cleverly disguises his serves. This makes it harder for his opponent to see what spin was placed on the ball.

Overall, the match was well played with many spectators witnessing the finest in table tennis action.

Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment!

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.