Fresno City College sophomore Wilmer Vang stood alone as the champion of the FCC Ping Pong Tournament held in the Student Activities Patio on Tuesday, Sept. 24.

Vang battled through three rounds of competitive ping pong athletes to be granted a Chick-fil-A gift card and, more importantly, the title of FCC Ping Pong Champion.

“There were really good players in this tournament. I tried my hardest and just happened to be the one who came out on top today,” said Vang.

Vang’s modesty shined bright after defeating freshman Jose Orozco in the championship round to claim the victory and the title.

“There’s always next time where I have a chance of also losing. It just depends on the day and how I’m feeling,” he said. 

Orozco was no slouch in the tournament, playing with a passion that was the clear motivation toward his championship appearance. “When someone disrespects it [ping pong], it hurts a lot. It’s one of my favorite games, and I’ll continue to play it,” he said. 

The two competitors have differing histories with the game of ping pong. Orozco grew up playing table tennis, and still plays as often as he can with an ardent dedication.

“I don’t have high hopes of walking away with the gift card, but I’m definitely coming back for my revenge,” Orozco said.

Orozco has always had ping pong in his life, but Vang is relatively new to the game. “I barely started approximately four years ago and I’ve been on and off with it,” said Vang.

While Vang earned the title of ping pong champion, the title will only be guaranteed to him for a month, until the next tournament is played. The tournament is held each month, offering new competitors chances to claim victory of their own multiple times a semester. 

“It’s been going on and off so some semesters didn’t have it, but the first one was about 20 years ago,” said Joao Vitor Deoliveira, the coordinator of the ping pong tournament and other student activities.

“With ping pong, we’re getting more people but it’s not so popular,” said Deoliveira on the popularity of the minor student intramurals.

He added that the Student Activities program has recently revived their social media pages at https://www.fresnocitycollege.edu/campus-life/clubs/student-activities.html to promote their activities. 

“We’ve been posting almost daily trying to get more people to know about it. I feel like a lot of students don’t hear about the intramurals,” said Deoliveira. The students that do hear about it sign up with varying passions for ping pong.

“Everyone here is an amatuer but we have people who are here to have fun and people who are here to actually win,” Deoliveira said.

Students are encouraged to sign up for the next pool table tournament, which will take place in the Game Room on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 11:30 a.m.

The next ping pong tournament will be on Tuesday, Oct. 22 in the Student Activities Patio at 11:30 a.m.