THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 6, 1995 TAG: 9509020218
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAM STARR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
THE HOLLOW WHITE ball bounced back and forth over the net and onto the green table in a slow, rhythmic fashion.
John Kholdiand Gary Blanks volleyed the ball almost politely as they practiced their table tennis at the Great Neck Recreation Center. The steady ka-ping, ka-ping of the ball threatened to lull a spectator into a hypnotic trance, until Kholdi drew his right arm back and wham! smashed the ball into the net with lightning speed. A near-slam.
``That's my favorite shot,'' Kholdi said sheepishly, reaching for the rolling ball. ``Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.''
It's easy to forget that the two men facing each other are in wheelchairs. Blanks, a quadriplegic, and Kholdi, a paraplegic, are ranked among the top disabled table tennis players in the world. They're so good, in fact, that both will represent the U.S. disabled table tennis team in the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta, which will be held two weeks after the regular Olympics.
It will be Blanks' third trip to the world event and Kholdi's first. The Paralympics are held the same year as the Olympics and in the same venue. Blanks, 37, competed in Seoul, South Korea, in 1988 and in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992. But don't ask him how he placed.
``I know all about the agony of defeat, OK?'' said the crew-cut Blanks with a laugh. ``But I think I can beat these guys next year. If I'm concentrating, well I think I can win.''
The duo have been practicing together two nights a week, usually at Kempsville Recreation Center. But it's not really a fair pairing. Kholdi has a distinct advantage over Blanks, because he can use his arms and twist his upper body. Blanks can't grip the paddle and has to wrap an Ace bandage around his wrist and paddle to hold it in place.
``John switches hands when we play - that should be illegal,'' Blanks said good-naturedly. ``John can put much more spin on a ball than I can. I don't have the flexibility in my wrist.''
The men continued playing as they talked. Blanks got the ball to barely skim over the net and glance off the side of the table - a next-to-impossible shot to return. Kholdi chuckled as he maneuvered the wheelchair to pick up the ball.
``You see, Gary has a lot of tricks up his sleeve,'' he said.
Blanks grinned widely.
``You always apologize for those shots but inside you're going `yes'!'' said Blanks.
In a tournament, the men will be paired with athletes of equal limitations. Wheelchair athletes are placed in five different disability classes. The first two classes are for quadriplegics, those paralyzed in four limbs. Paraplegics (paralyzed in two limbs) fall into the next three classes, depending on the severity of the disability. Athletes compete against others in their class during tournaments, except during an open competition. Blanks and Kholdi are ranked as the top two players in the nation in their classes.
Kholdi, 36, is a class IV athlete. His disability occurred while attending college in Kansas in the 1970s. Iranian-born Kholdi was cleaning a gun when it went off, sending a bullet through his side and into his spine. He had started playing table tennis as a youth and won many ``able-bodied'' championships before his injury. A former math professor at the University of Kansas, Kholdi now works as a substitute math teacher at area schools.
Blanks, a class II athlete, has been paralyzed from the chest down since 1975. A baseball player for Kellam High School, Blanks was running headfirst into home plate one day and slammed into the catcher's knees, breaking his fifth and sixth vertebrae. He didn't get involved in wheelchair sports until 1980, after reading an article about the Sun Wheelers, a local wheelchair sports group.
``I knew this was what I wanted to do,'' said Blanks, a civilian staffing and classification specialist at the Norfolk Naval Base. ``This was a way for me to get back into sports.''
As a primer to the Paralympics, Blanks will be traveling to Argentina in November for the 1995 Pan American Wheelchair Games. He hopes to raise his 13th world ranking to at least 12th during these events, because only the top 12 players can play in the Paralympics. That's a rule Blanks says should be changed, although he is confident he will be ranked No. 12 after November.
``Table tennis is the only sport in the world where they pick the top 12 in the world,'' he said. ``All the top players are in Europe where they can pick up points from tournaments. They have distinct advantages. . . . We sent a protest letter but nothing happened.''
In addition to winning in their respective classes, the men hope to make the public more aware of wheelchair athletes, and to dispel any misconceptions. Blanks said that people don't think of table tennis as a sport (especially when it's referred to as ``Ping Pong'') and they don't see them as athletes, only disabled persons.
``People think we're part of the Special Olympics,'' said Blanks, who also plays regular tennis. ``I have to tell them `No, it's not.' '' We don't get hugs when we cross the line. Our sports are a lot more competitive. I'm not knocking them, but we have a different atmosphere.''
That atmosphere can become embroiled with tension during a match. Kholdi likened playing in tournaments to ``two warriors competing.'' You can sense a ``state of war between the two guys,'' he said. Blanks agreed that it can get pretty intense.
``During the match you try to figure out what your opponent will do,'' he said. ``It's blood and guts when it gets down to that time.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by L. TODD SPENCER
John Kholdi, 36, is a paraplegic table tennis player. A former math
professor at the University of Kansas, Kholdi now works as a
substitute math teacher at area schools.
Gary Blanks is a quadriplegic table tennis player. He who can't grip
the paddle and has to wrap an Ace bandage around his wrist and
paddle to hold it in place. The former Kellam High baseball player
now works as a classification specialist at the Norfolk Naval Base.
by CNB