DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE
What territorial sport organization Table Tennis North is calling the first territorial table tennis championship ever held kicked off in Fort Providence on April 15.

Table Tennis North vice-president Mike Johnston, left, hangs an award around the neck of Taneisha Sangris. Sangris was on the first-place team for the school team event and placed second in the under 18 doubles category. - photo courtesy of Thorsten Gohl

The championship, which ran for three days, brought together players from schools across the NWT, including teams from Yellowknife, Ndilo and Hay River - as well as two home teams from Deh Gah School.

Hosted by Table Tennis North, the weekend included singles, doubles and school team events.

Sir John Franklin High School of Yellowknife took first place in the school event, followed by Deh Gah School of Fort Providence in second and K'Alemi Dene School of Ndilo in third.

Doubles open saw Thorsten Gohl and Kaydens Rabesca take the lead, followed by Mikaela Vandell and James Snider in second place and Aurora Fraser and Tamara Jovic in third.

Singles open was won by Jeremy Kielstra. Nick Jovic took second while Mike Pickles took third place.

Mikaela Vandell seized first place in the under 18 girls singles, with Tarama Jovic and Aurora Fraser placing second and third, respectively.

Brian Liang nabbed first place in the under 18 boys singles, followed by Riis Schaub and Neilson Vandell.

Under 18 doubles saw Aurora Fraser and David Sangris place first. Riss Schaub and Taneisha Sangris came in second, while Mikaela Vandell and Amy Betsina placed third.

Gohl, who organized the event along with Table Tennis North vice-president Mike Johnston, Jeremy Kielstra, Jim Snider and other members of Table Tennis North, said the weekend was excellent.

Turnout for the tournament was good, he said, although players from Whati, Fort Smith and Fort Simpson couldn't make the event.

"We wanted to make it bigger than it was," he said, adding more communities may make it out in future years.

Gohl said the best part of the tournament was the evening of April 15, where adults and youth played together. The evening was devoted to Open Doubles and as players arrived, names were added to a hat and drawn to create teams.

"They just had a big blast. They had fun - they pretended they were professional players and just made fun around that," Gohl said.

The evening of April 16 was devoted to the Champion's Table, which Gohl described as one top table and seven other tennis tables. Winners at the seven tables got a shot at the Champion's Table.

"Every winner goes up to the Champion's Table and if you lose, you go back down," he explained.

"We looked at the rankings after and tallied up how many points everyone made. At the end, that's how we identified the doubles for the next day."

That may change in the future, he said. Next year, competitors will be able to choose their partners.

Mikaela Vandell, who competed in Greenland as part of the Arctic Winter Games table tennis team, said her game against fellow athlete Tamara Jovic proved to be a tough one.

"I expected a good performance but it was not easy this time," she said.

"(Jovic) was very strong."

Table Tennis North president Jim Snider said he was happy to see so many participants come out for the championships. Community members trickled in to watch as well, with some youth playing friendly games on free tables on April 15.

"There was a good chance we would have to cancel this event but we talked about it with the board and decided to go ahead," he said.

"Start small, and get bigger and bigger. That so many came out to participate was beyond our expectations."