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2024. 03. 01 -

FTMC scientists took 1st and 3rd place in the Vilnius Higher Education Table Tennis Tournament!

Matas Vilkas, Dr. Žilvinas Ežerinskis and Dr. Egidijus Auksorius. Photos from personal archive
26 February, VILNIUS TECH Sports and Art Center hosted a table tennis tournament for employees of Vilnius City higher education institutions. This year, for the first time, FTMC scientists took part in the competition, and they went out with a bang - Dr. Žilvinas Ežerinskis became champion and Dr. Egidijus Auksorius took 3rd place.
 
Congratulations to our dear colleagues!
 
After the success of the competition, the organisers invited our Center representatives to play together more often - and now it is planned that the staff of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH), Vilnius University and FTMC will meet in one or another hall every month to practice.
 
A victory for newcomers
 
In Monday's tournament, our representativess initially competed in two different groups, where they lost once and finished second. The semi-finals and finals for 1st and 3rd place followed. The games were played to two wins, refereed by one of the best table tennis professionals in Lithuania Matas Vilkas.
 
 
(Dr. Žilvinas Ežerinskis. Photo from personal archive)
 
"When we got to the next round, there was already excitement... At first we thought we'd just go to see what our level was here, to win at least one game, but it turned out pretty good... We fought honourably for FTMC", smiles Ž. Ežerinskis, a physicist of the Department of Nuclear Research. It was the first time ever that both he and E. Auksorius took part in such a competition!
 
"I'm glad that Žilvinas and I had the courage to come there," laughs E. Auksorius, a researcher from the Deparment of Optoelectronics. - Even though there weren‘t a lot of participants, it was not easy to play against them. It's a serious tournament, the excitement was quite high..."
 
Wanna play table tennis? Join us!
 
By the way, it turns out that table tennis is an old hobby of FTMC "nuclearists"! Žilvinas remembers that Prof. Dr. habil. Vidmantas Remeikis, a scientist of the Department of Nuclear Research, was one of those who "infected" his colleagues with table tennis... and used to win against them.
 
Ž. Ežerinskis says that he has been playing table tennis since his school days, but then his interest in this sport disappeared. However, the scientist picked up the racket again five years ago, when he started playing with Dr. Darius Jurčiukonis, a scientist at the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy of Vilnius University, in the FTMC building. Gradually, more scientists joined them, and today up to eight people gather for table tennis.
 
They play in the evenings after work, every Tuesday and Thursday at 7 PM, 1st floor, next to the bar and A101 hall. Ž. Ežerinskis thanks the FTMC administration for the opportunity and for the table tennis tables - and invites everyone to join the game!
 
 
(Dr. Egidijus Auksorius. Photo: FTMC)
 
"I used to play basketball, but not anymore. But when I came back from abroad two years ago [after 16 years of studying and working in the UK, the US, France and Poland - S.B.], I saw that one friend of mine used to play table tennis there. So I thought: I should try it too. I was shy at first, but then I saw that it was quite fun. And now I play every time.
 
Žilvinas is a good player, and so are the others. When you play with them all the time, you get better. And after Monday's tournament, I have more enthusiasm and confidence," says Egidijus.
 
Written by Simonas Bendžius
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