OXFORD, AL — Table tennis players will return to Oxford on Saturday, Aug. 22, for the fifth annual Oxford Alabama Open, a USA Table Tennis event scheduled at the Friendship Community Center.
The tournament is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at Friendship Community Center, located at 2930 Friendship Road in Oxford. The event is organized by Alabama Table Tennis, with Michael S. Harris serving as tournament director and Michael Wetzel as tournament referee.
Competition will use a two-tier, double round-robin format similar to the Decatur Open. According to tournament information, the first round is planned to include five upper-tier groups and five lower-tier groups, with groups of five players. The top 25 rated players will compete in the upper tier, while the remaining players will compete in the second tier.
All players will advance to a second round, where competitors will again be divided into groups of five. The top two finishers from each first-round group will advance to the Open division for the upper tier and BBB for the second tier. Third- and fourth-place finishers will advance to AA or BB, while fifth-place finishers will move into A or B divisions.
Single-elimination playoffs will follow second-round round-robin competition in the Open, AA, BBB and BB divisions. The A and B divisions will not have playoffs.
Matches will generally be played as best three out of five games, while the Open final will be best four out of seven.
Current USA Table Tennis ratings will be used to determine the draw, or officials may provide an estimated rating when necessary. Players are required to register at least 30 minutes before their scheduled start time, and late players may be defaulted.
The playing facility is expected to be open for practice from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday and again beginning at 7 a.m. Saturday. Tournament organizers also plan to provide a light pizza lunch or sandwiches following the first round.
The Oxford Alabama Open continues a series of organized table tennis competitions held at the Friendship Community Center, which has previously hosted USA Table Tennis-sanctioned events and state-level competition.
Players interested in participating can view tournament information and register through USA Table Tennis:
Register for the 2026 Oxford Alabama Open through USA Table Tennis
