PingPongParkinson's 2025 New York Open
by Warren Rosenberg, originally published on MetroSports Magazine - March 1, 2025
On Saturday, March 1 2025, the Westchester Table Tennis Center hosted the first PingPongParkinson New York Open. The event celebrated the 8th anniversary of PingPongParkinson at the site of its founding. Thirty-nine individuals with a Parkinson Diagnosis (PD), 13 women and 26 men, gathered from sites near and far to display their table tennis skills while competing in a sport known to help counter the underlying causes of and symptoms of PD. Members from PingPongParkinson chapters in New York City, Pleasantville NY, River Edge NJ, Oklahoma and Sweden were represented.
Scenes from the 2025 PPP New York Open
A growing body of scientific and clinical evidence supports the role that participation in table tennis, or ping pong, may play in slowing the progression of Parkinson Disease and helping to alleviate some of the symptoms that have already developed for those with a Parkinson Diagnosis. The mission of PingPongParkinson (PPP) is to create a global sports movement that is inclusive and supportive of people with a Parkinson diagnosis centered on the sport of ping pong.
Started in 2017 at the Westchester Table Tennis Center (WTTC) in Pleasantville, New York, by two avid table tennis players: Nenad Bach, Croatian-American recording artist, composer, performer, producer, civil engineer, peace activist and Parkinson patient, and Will Shortz, owner of the WTTC, crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times, and puzzle master for National Public Radio, PPP has grown into a world-wide movement with over 300 chapters in 25 countries. Over 25,000 individual sessions were conducted this past year with more chapters being added.
It was in October 2019 that 60 individuals with PD, representing 20 countries from around the world gathered for the first ever PingPongParkinson World Championship at the WTTC in Pleasantville, NY. The activities and participants of this inaugural world championship is memorialized in the book, ‘It Started With a Tremor and It’s Shaking Up the World’ available from Barnes & Noble at the link below. Since then, regional and annual PPP World Championships have been held in Lasko, Slovenia; Oldenburg, Germany; Eystrup, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Kirchberg, Switzerland; Wels, Austria; Pula, Croatia; Varaždin, Croatia; Israel; and Cascias, Portugal.
Later this year, in September, the PPP French Open 2025 will take place in Le Mans, France.
As noted by PPP Board member, Jan Rose, "Our hope for the New York Open was to bring together regional communities, where many people with Parkinson's were competing for the very first time, to give them a sense of the movement they belong to. As a person living with Parkinson's myself, I felt enormous pride and strength in our athleticism against all stereotypes of this disease, and left with a determination to ride this wave to the end - a world united by a mission to end Parkinson's.”
Musical entertainment at the event was provided by Nenad Bach on keyboard and guitar accompanied by Charles Braue on bass guitar and the event was overseen by Christine Cha of the host WTTC acting as tournament director.
Gold, Silver and Bronze medals were presented to the top three finishers in each category as noted below. All competitors, along with the many volunteers, also received a commemorative medal of the event.
Final results focusing on gold, silver and bronze medalists.
Hi-Lo Doubles
Gold: Michael Berte / Craig Tuttle
Silver: Hamid Ezzat-Ahmadi / Maryann Macdonald
Bronze: Henry Bean / Bill Easterly & Carol Brown / Paul Croitoroo
Men’s Doubles
Gold: Hamid Ezzat-Ahmadi / Nenad Bach
Silver: Dean Surkin / Ken Kopelman
Bronze: Henry Bean / Bill Easterly & Paul Croitoroo / Joe Toscano
Women’s Doubles
Gold: Margie Alley / Tomoko Petrov
Silver: Roseanne Altschuler / Susan Mitchell
Bronze: Joan Greenberg / Jan Rose & Carol Brown / Shira Toren
Men’s Singles
Gold: Hamid Ezzat-Ahmadi
Silver: Nenad Bach
Bronze: Nicholas Chu & Michael Berte
Women’s Singles
Gold: Margie Alley
Silver: Joan Greenberg
Bronze: Jan Rose & Shira Toren
Speaking about the tournament and the greater PingPongParksinson movement, founder Nenad Bach notes that, "With each tournament, regardless of a size, we are closer to finding the cure and celebrating the fear we conquered. Diagnosis itself is the next in line. We will leave no stone unturned. And yes, our meetings feel like family reunions, because we are Family and we care for each other, like it's never seen before among patients of any diagnosis."
Full results including the performance of all competitors can be seen at: https://stadiumcompete.com/tournament/7d363e84-1d49-4c3c-b1a8-fca651e2d316
Tournament photos can be accessed at: https://wr-photo.com/p331598087
