The 4th Aurora Cup – 2017 Aurora Cup – will be held on January 13, 14 & 15, 2017 at Vaughan Athletic Center in Aurora, IL. This 4-star USATT sanctioned tournament is expanded again by adding more table time on Friday night, for a total of 944 available event spots in 24 events.
Changes for 2017
- Prize money total has been increased from $8,600 to $10,000 to make it more worthwhile for highly rated players to sign up.
- Doubles events were moved to Saturday and Sunday. In 2016 these events were scheduled on Friday and barely filled up.
- The breaks between each pair of consecutive events were eliminated to make longer break after between the next pair of events. For example the 9 am events are followed by 10:30 am events creating 1 hour break at 1 pm. The 1 hour break should be sufficient to play the single elimination round matches from both groups of events. Another similar break is created at 5 pm. Most events will be using 2 tables per group of 4 players in the round robin phase which should allow to complete these matches.
- 2 to 6 tables are reserved for playing mostly single elimination round matches relieving pressure to find available table to play those matches.
- Friday night events will start at 6:30 pm to allow players a bit more time to get to the venue after work. Events starting after 6 PM may carryover playoff round to the next day.
Trophies
The trophies that will be offered in 2017 to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners have been redesigned to make them even more appealing. The trophies are made of solid crystal (not acrylic) and are pretty heavy. The paddle part has dimensions of a normal paddle. The whole trophy is 9 inches tall. All events will have matches for 3rd and 4th place to decide who gets the trophy or the prize money.
Events and Prizes
Registration
Online registration will let you register and pay via PayPal using a credit card or PayPal account. The traditional mail-in registration blank entry form can be downloaded here. If this is the first time you are playing in a sanctioned tournament please read this page.
Note to Canadian and other foreign players. Please read if you want to avoid paying USATT membership fee.
Sponsors
We are pleased to announce that JOOLA has agreed again to be the official tournament’s equipment sponsor of the 2017 Aurora Cup.
Additional sponsors are
 Infogix Inc.
|
 Aurora Area Convention and Visitors Bureau |
Venue
The Vaughan Athletic Center is located at 2121 West Indian Trail in Aurora, IL and was built in 2006. The Field House, where the tournament will take place is a 33,000 ft facility with non-slippery blue floor similar to Gerflor. To get a sense of the venue conditions please visit this page.
Equipment
We will have 38 JOOLA 3000 SC tables and fully barriered courts as seen in the picture above. Here is the gym layout showing how tables will be setup and numbered.
All tables will be available for sale after the tournament at prices shown above. To reserve yours please contact Steven Chan at JOOLA directly.
We will use white 40 mm plastic JOOLA Flash balls – the seamless kind.
Driving and Parking
Vaughan Athletic Center is located just a mile south of the Orchard Rd. exit off of the I-88 tollway. It is about 40 miles west of downtown Chicago. The parking around the venue can accommodate about 260 cars. In the event the venue parking fills up, additional parking will be available offsite at the Party City parking lot just 1/2 mile west of the venue (2292 W. Indian Trail Rd). Please visit the venue page to see the parking arrangement.
Dining
There are several restaurants along the Orchard Rd near the venue but more restaurants are located in the vicinity of the Fox Valley Mall on the east side of Aurora. The maps of restaurants locations is here.
Hotels
There are several hotels within 2 miles from the venue. All properties charge a tax of 9% on top of the price. These hotels confirmed a discount.
Holiday Inn Aurora North-Naperville – 2424 W Sullivan Rd, Aurora – (630) 806-7400 – $110 for King bed & $110 for 2 Queen beds room. Discount (group code) AC7. Discount expires January 6th, 2017. Book directly via this link.
Candlewood Suites – 2625 W Sullivan Rd, Aurora – (630) 907-9977 – $89.99 for Studio Suite with Queen size bed, fully furnished. $99.99 for 2 Queen Size beds, fully furnished. Book directly via this link. Discount expires December 13, 2016. Discount group code is 2017AC.
Hampton Inn & Suites Aurora – 2423 Bushwood Dr, Aurora – (630) 907-2600 – $110.94 for king bed and $128.14 per night for 2 queen beds. Free breakfast included. Discount expires December 24, 2016. Discount group code is 2017AC.
These hotels have not offered the discount, but the rates listed below are last year’s rates so you can get an idea of the cost.
North Aurora Hotel – 201 Smoketree Ln, North Aurora (i.e. 3 miles from venue) – (331)-205-1700 – Double bed room for $65.00/night. King Bed $55 and Queen bed $50. More information at this link.
Baymont Inn & Suites Chicago/Aurora – 308 S Lincolnway St, North Aurora – (630)-897-7695 – no discount, $75 per night for 2 queen beds room
Further from the venue – 11 miles – but closer to Fox Valley Mall with more restaurant options is this hotel:
Staybridge Suites – 4320 Meridian Parkway, Aurora – (630)-978-2222 – a special rate of $84.00 for a one queen studio and $94.00 for a one king bedroom.
Air Travel
If you are flying in, the Chicago O’Hare International airport is 38 miles from the venue. Chicago Midway International Airport is 45 miles from the venue. Most of the travel from the airport to the venue is on tollways & freeways. For example I-294, I-355 and I-88 are all tollways. Cash tolls are twice the amount of electronic toll. E.g. 75 cents vs $1.50.
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding the tournament please contact Tournament Director Swavek Lorenc – 630-251-8860 – swaveklorenc@yahoo.com.
I hope you can join us for this great event.
Swavek Lorenc
Tournament Director
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