Back to School- Yale Grad Student Returns to College Pong With Renewed Passion

By Michael Reff
Press Committee Chair

Right away I could tell that Piquet Thengtrirat was happy to be back in an NCTTA Championships. Initially observing him interact with NCTTA President Willy Leparulo from afar, the current Yale graduate student’s amiable and jubilant nature was infectious.

Thengtrirat’s table tennis journey started in his homeland of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Several years of practice and training helped him hone his skills.

Later, at 17 years old, he left for a boarding high school in New Mexico in a town 3 hours from Albuquerque. Thengtrirat encountered the reality of USA table tennis that many American players experience: basement ping pong.

However, his impression of table tennis in the States changed upon his attendance at Washington and Lee University in Virginia.

“I always wanted to go back to ping pong,” Thengrirat said.

Well, ask and you shall receive! There he became acquainted with Willy and NCTTA, eventually making it to his first champs during Rochester, MN in 2008.
Life got in the way after those undergrad years, and Thengtrirat left for Japan to pursue an MBA, where he devoted his time to his studies, then work, and competitive table tennis went on the backburner.

“After my first NCTTA tournament experience in 2008, I only got to play casually every now and then,” Thengtrirat said, reflecting on his ponging hiatus.
But as we all know, the itch to play table tennis is too hard not to scratch…

After working 10 years back in his native Thailand, he decided to go back to the US to work in a travel technology company in Connecticut. When 2025 came around, the itch had completely reemerged in both his career goals and table tennis aspirations. Thengtrirat returned to school at Yale University to major in a one-year master’s degree in Advanced Management.
He decided to give NCTTA another shot. Making it onto the team, Thengtrirat participated in both Fall and Spring divisionals, and eventually with his team made it to the Nationals!

Looking back on those initial college pong years, Thengtrirat marvels at NCTTA’s humble volunteer numbers and player quality compared to this year. “The level, the quality of the players… has risen drastically,” he noted. “Table tennis as a sport has grown in popularity.”

He also observed that in 2008 the Champs had a mere 40 volunteers as opposed to a commanding 100 plus unpaid staff for this iteration of Rockford.

Leparulo was very happy to have Thengtrirat return. “I love to see people come back to the sport, because it means we made a good impression on them at a younger age.”

Thengtrirat reflected with a fresh perspective on the difference between his youth in table tennis as opposed to the present. During his early days, he said, I was “so focused on [the] result.” Now it’s different. “The right mindset, we want to have a good time. The result is we do our best, get to make some new friends. By having fun that is the only way you want to continue.”

Wise words from one full of intention and passion. Congrats to Piquet Thengtrirat and the Yale team on strong finishes, and we at NCTTA always welcome new and returning players with open arms!

Photo of Yale's Piquet Thengtrirat in action at the 2026 Rockford NCTTA Champs. Photo credit to Dennis Yanga

About 2026 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and GoRockford (Rockford Convention and Visitors Bureau). The event crowns national champions in Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, Men’s/Coed Teams, and Women’s Teams and Collegiate Peakapong Singles.

PongSpace, Peaka Pong, Major League Table Tennis, Nittaku and Paddle Palace will sponsor the event.

Watch the event on live stream starting Friday, April 10th on https://www.nctta.org/champs/2026/video.html

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to promote the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org