Las Vegas Weekly

July 1, 2009 · 9:55 AM

Photo Gallery: HardBat Classic at The Venetian is not your mother’s table tennis

By Robin Leach

Judah Friedlander, Biljana "Biba" Golic and Anna Kournikova at the HardBat Classic Annual Table Tennis Tournament at The Venetian.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

It was a star-studded turnout as celebrities joined table tennis players and fans from around the world for the HardBat Classic Tournament at The Venetian.

Among the VIPs joining in the action were tennis star Anna Kournikova, who showed up on the red carpet in a tan mini-dress and stilettos while carrying her ping-pong paddle, and Spike TV’s sexiest athlete award winner and table tennis phenomenon Biba Golic. Also there was handsome Antonio Sabato Jr. talking about his new reality TV show on VH1, Judah Friedlander of 30 Rock in his signature large glasses, Big Love star Aaron Paul, and Autumn Reeser of The O.C. and Entourage and her husband, who told everybody they were celebrating a second honeymoon weekend -- and they skipped off to Azure Pool at the Palazzo to prove it!

Reality TV star Brittny Gastineau, with guest Jorge Perez, said she is a ping-pong enthusiast and that it’s become her favorite hobby. In between watching and playing, actor Johnathon Schaech enjoyed a massage at the Canyon Ranch Spa Club at the Palazzo and took a VIP cabana at Azure, too.

The largest-ever prize in the history of U.S. table tennis -- $100,000 -- was up for grabs over the course of three days of elimination play. Finally, it came down to one professional player, one HardBat all-star, one casual player and one Bud Light tournament playoff winner. Jack Baker, a 23-year-old from Alabama who won a neighborhood bar contest, wound up the prince of ping pong!

Photo: Bob Brye/Las Vegas News Bureau

Actor Antonio Sabato Jr. of General Hospital practices table tennis at the HardBat Classic Annual Table Tennis Tournament at The Venetian.

Table tennis is becoming a celebrity rage on the East Coast, and Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins are opening the first of several neighborhood ping-pong parlors in Manhattan to meet the demand. Looks like billiards and darts are being replaced!

The first-ever HardBat event in Las Vegas was sponsored by Freemantle International TV, who handles American Idol and Grey’s Anatomy,, among many others. Executives say the debut success of the tournament will make it an annual sports challenge for worldwide broadcast.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter HERE.

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