The first Malta Open a success

Last July, Malta High School seniors John Waters and Palmer Giblette both medaled in table tennis at the 2015 Big Sky Games in Billings.

This year the duo put together Malta's first table tennis tournament, the Malta Table Tennis Open which was hosted at the "Old Gym," last Saturday.

The idea was sparked after Waters, Giblette, and Giblette's father Thad realized they haven't played much this year. So they called up a few friends from out of town that also like to play.

"We never find the time or have other opponents to play against," Waters said. "It gets really boring when you play against the same person over and over again, so we wanted to host something not only to introduce the sport to the town, but also get some new players and find some new opponents."

Waters won Division A after defeating P. Giblette in the championship round. T. Giblette took third in Division A.

Derek Peigneux won the Division B. title after defeating Whitewater teacher Mindy Perdue in the championship round. Annabelle Giblette took third place.

Peigneux started playing table tennis a couple of years ago at the Giblette house in the family's living room.

"We finally moved his table out into the shop to get more room," Peigneux said.

Before his title run in Division B, Peigneux admitted to being out of game shape.

"I haven't played in about six months because I haven't had a chance to go over there, so I'm a little rusty as it is right now but I'm doing fairly well, I think," Peigneux said.

There were fourteen players entered into the open.

"I think that there was a good turnout for this being the first time," Peigneux said.

The event featured many players from different skill levels, some brand new to the game, some at the pinnacle of their careers and others seasoned but out of practice.

Brandon Rudd is a Malta Border Patrolman who has had a few years of experience at table tennis, but at a much younger age.

"I started playing when I was young but I haven't played for a good ten years," Judd said. "I know Thad and he told my brother and I about this. So we thought we would come down and have a bit of fun."

Judd and his family moved to Malta from Arizona several months ago, but in order to find out about his start in table tennis one would have to go back further in time, when Judd and his brother Ryan were still kids in Korea.

"My father was military, so we started playing table tennis in Korea," Judd said. "That's when I was ten or eleven years old but we haven't played much since then."

Seeing his first action in some time, Judd was impressed by the competition at the Open.

"I'm very rusty," Judd said. "Palmer, Thad and John, they're good."

Judd admitted that even in his prime, he couldn't win a game against the opponents he mentioned.

"I would've been a lot more competitive, but I wouldn't have taken them," Judd said.