One dollar beverages, half priced goodies, and free stuff were just a few aspects of Robeks’ grand opening in the Student Recreation and Wellness Center on Tuesday.
The event gave away free t-shirts, car mugs, henna tattoos and balloon animals to visiting students. The main attraction, however, was a table tennis tournament, which offered prizes such as 50-dollar gift certificates to Robeks and an Apple iPad.
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Robeks CEO Steve Davidson spoke about the history of Robeks and the owners of this franchise, Daniel Kwoh and Jessie Hao. After the ribbon ceremony, giveaways for the first 100 guests were passed out.
“I’m glad they put another Robeks up,” sophomore nursing major Jasmine Jones said. “It’s great after a workout.”
The table tennis tournament was held in the lobby of Robeks in between a divider and the sitting area, where the sport could be viewed from both sides.
Every 30 minutes, students had the chance to play a mini tournament. The winner of each tournament would then play against either Kwoh or Kevin Wui, a freshman at Saddleback Community College and a table tennis student of Hao. If a student beat either Kwho or Wui, he or she would receive a $50 gift certificate to Robeks.
Along with that win and gift certificate would come the opportunity to play against Hao, who was on the national provincial team in China and is a world-class table tennis champion. If the student beat Hao, he or she would win an iPad.
Some tournament competitors said their performances were hindered by the tight setting of the game.
“The problem is that there’s no room to play,” junior criminal justice major Apolinar Mena said.
Lance Evans, a senior recreation and leisure studies major, said he thought the grand opening was very successful.
“Anytime you give smoothies for a dollar, it’s always successful,” he said. He also said that the jug and t-shirt giveaway was his favorite part of the event.
Hao said she was pleased by the outcome of the event. She also agreed that there was not enough room to play table tennis.
However, despite many mini tournaments and multiple efforts by students, Hao remained undefeated at the event, thus no one won an iPad.
If enough interest in the iPad and certificates is shown, then Kwoh will host another tournament located elsewhere in the SRWC or in the University Student Union.