When former professional table tennis player Dhadhie Rachmadi first came to Sacramento State, he didn’t expect to run into professor Scott Gordon, the 2000 champion of the USA Table Tennis Nationals in his respective division.

“I recognized him from a table tennis web site, and introduced myself to him,” said Rachmadi, a finance major.

Their meeting in the game room of The University Union led to the formation of a table tennis club on campus.

Rachmadi’s casual formation of a club with five members last fall has now become a following of 35 to 40 students, with a broad range of skills and national origins.

During club meetings and practices, Gordon, a computer science professor, noticed game strategies and a polished style from the club members.

“Most had played in whatever country they came from,” said Gordon, a certified table tennis coach. “You can tell by the way they played that they were trained by an actual coach. Others (were trained by) their friends.”

Rachmadi, 30, had played on club teams in Indonesia since he was 12.

“The club would give pocket money to us, and we would play 30 to 50 different tournaments a year in different states in Indonesia,” Rachmadi said.

Barely missing the quota for the Indonesian national team, Rachmadi ended his table tennis career at 17 years old to pursue a degree in tourism management from the University of Bali. After Rachmadi moved to the U.S. in 1999, he transferred to Sac State from American River Community College last fall.

Practice on the game room’s tables also brought Rachmadi to Avneesh Datta, a masters student in computer science, who first developed his table tennis skills in his native India.

“I didn’t meet him until he played against me, and he was very good,” Rachmadi said. “He has very good strategy and all-around skills.”

Datta served as captain of his table tennis team at North Maharashtra University in Jalgaon, India, leading his team to the top in his region.

Though it was difficult for him to balance school with table tennis, Datta managed to complete his Bachelor’s of Engineering in computer science in 1999, retiring his paddle for three years until he was recruited for the Sac State table tennis club.

While Gordon drilled club members on footwork and efficient execution during club meetings in the game room, Datta, Rachmadi and some of the other more experienced players tried their hands in collegiate and private tournaments.

Datta competed and won first place in his division at the Sacramento Open last November.

Datta, Rachmadi and two other club members represented Sac State as a team at two West Regional National Collegiate Table Tennis tournaments in Fairfield, placing third above teams from Berkeley and Stanford.

Datta and Rachmadi then competed in the Association of College Unions International table tennis regional for singles in Fresno, with Datta placing second after losing to University of Southern California and Rachmadi coming in fifth.

Recreational Sports then sponsored Datta to attend the ACUI National at the University of Pennsylvania.

Datta felt excited by the pressure of being a national table tennis competitor in a foreign country. He was also struck by the diversity of the players at Nationals, not having competed with players from a broad range of nationalities while in India.

“There were mostly Asians, East Indians and Europeans, and even a player from Africa who came in second place,” Datta said. “The first place winner was someone from Europe. Some Russians were there, even Native Americans.”

Though Datta was eliminated during the first round, he hopes to improve his performance next year with more practice. He used to practice daily when competing in India, but can’t now due to his heavy masters course load and his job at the Services to Students with Disabilities department on campus.

Though the club received a grant from Recreational Sports for their own table, the club hasn’t found anywhere on campus to practice. Club members still have to pay game room fees during their meetings and training.

“We’re really looking forward to having our own place,” Datta said. “We get rusty if we don’t practice that much. The club can’t take form until we have a place to practice.”

Rachmadi, president of the club, hopes the club’s members would take the game more seriously, and the club would be more organized in the future.

“I see table tennis as a sport, not just fun,” Rachmadi said. “I hope we can bring this club to the next level — better than it is now.”

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