Bob Mandel

Next PNW profile is Bob Mandel. Bob arrived in Washington in 1977 after finishing college at the University of Houston which included being part of the University of Houston’s Table Tennis team that won their ACU-I college regional division. Was he ever the number 1 player in the region? No. What he was from his arrival in Washington in 1977 till the late 90’s was always rated in the top 10 in Washington and top 20 in the PNW. When you had to play Bob, you were in for a battle. There was no give or taking it easy when you played him. If you were going to beat him you were going to have to match his intensity the whole match. He was Quang Bui’s training partner from the mid 1970’ to mid 80’s as Quang climbed the USTTA rating list helping Quang reach #4 in the U.S. in the mid-late 80’s. Tournament results wise he won multiple Singles and Doubles events during his playing time. At the 1982 U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas Bob and Carl Danner reached the finals of the U-4000 Doubles. They just fell short losing 22-20 in the 5th. Bob and Carl also paired up again in the U-4000 doubles to reach the semifinals at both the 1983 U.S. Open and Nationals. In Singles 3 times he reached the semifinals of the U-2000 Singles at the 1980, 1982 Nationals and 1983 U.S. Open. Fast forward to the inaugural Washington State Games in 1989 Bob takes the Silver medal in singles, doubles (with Ray Lock), and Gold medal in mixed doubles with Aisil Kawamoto.