With No Shabbos Conflict, Orthodox Jewish Girl Wins Table Tennis Championship

The 12-year-old West Hempstead girl who made headlines last year for forfeiting a championship table tennis match that conflicted with Shabbos has returned once again to Las Vegas for the annual tournament, this time walking away with high honors.

Estee Ackerman won the under 1800 rating event at the United States Nationals Tennis Table Championship, which took place from December 17th to 21st at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  For Estee, a seventh grader at the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County, having the ability to win the tournament was particularly sweet after having to forfeit last year’s match.

“I was very happy that I won because when I look back,  I think to myself that all this training, all the practice has really paid off,” Estee told VIN News, adding that she normally trains for two to four hours, three to five days a week.

Estee recently took first place in the Jewish Kids Got Talent Competition for refusing to compete on Shabbos in the 2012 tournament.

USA Table Tennis players are ranked by ability and according to the USATT website, the average tournament player is rated at approximately 1700.  While Estee is currently rated at 1935, ratings for the tournament were calculated at the end of September when Estee’s rating was 1792, qualifying her for the under 1800 event.  According to Estee’s father, Glenn Ackerman, Estee was the only Orthodox Jewish player out of the 716 entrants in this year’s tournament.

“Because this was a rated event which is based on ability only, I could have been playing people from ages seven through 75,” said Estee, who beat 13 year old Patrick Kuo of California to take the title. Estee and her partner Sharon Alguetti also took home the bronze in the under 4200 doubles rating event.

While Estee did not manage to snag one of four coveted spots on the US National Team, she was pleased with her top twelve ranking. Estee is rated by the USATT as number 77 for women in the United States and, according to her father, she is ranked number four in her age group.

Having returned to New York after a week in Las Vegas with her father, Estee, who has been playing table tennis competitively since she was eight, is back at school.

“My school has been very supportive and very cooperative and even though I was missing tests and homework, I told them I hoped to make it all up as soon as possible,” said Estee.  “Even though I care about table tennis a lot, school is very important to me and for the past two weeks I have been working hard to make up everything that I missed.”