Emporia State MBA student captures National Collegiate Table Tennis title
Make way for yet another national championship-caliber athlete in Kansas.
Alfred Najem, a 24-year-old master’s of business administration student at Emporia State University, has captured the 2008 National Collegiate Table Tennis Association’s (NCTTA) men’s singles championship.
That’s right. Table tennis. A giant step up from the ping-pong table in your basement recreation room, this game pits athletes from across the world in deep topspin exchanges, full-court defense, and intense concentration.
It’s a game that Najem picked up in his native Lebanon, watching his mother play. “I’ve played since I was six years old,” Najem said. “My mother was the champion of the community where we used to live. She taught me how to play, then her coach was my coach.”
When Najem was 11 years old, he was the champion in Lebanon in his age group. Najem is also a three-time national championship winner in Lebanon.
Najem won the men’s singles title during the 2008 NCTTA tournament, April 11-13 in Rochester, Minn. The sole entrant from ESU, Najem bested a field of competitors from institutions such as Princeton, Virginia Tech and the University of Michigan.
“They were really tough matches, and I had to play well to win,” Najem said. The typical table tennis competition features simultaneous play on 25 to 30 tables in an arena, which demands a high level of concentration. For Najem, though, it comes easily. “When you’re in the match, you’re focused only on the ball and what it’s doing,” he explained.
Sponsored by Emporia State’s Memorial Union, Najem returned with the men’s singles championship trophy, which he plans to offer to the Union in exchange for its sponsorship.
When he’s not studying for classes leading to the MBA he hopes to receive in May, 2009, Najem works at the ESU Student Recreation Center. It’s at the rec center that Najem hones his game with a few community residents who also play competitive table tennis.
Last Updated April 24, 2008>