College Student Conquers Vegas, Wins $100,000 HardBat Classic Table Tennis Tournament

College Student Conquers Vegas, Wins $100,000 HardBat Classic Table Tennis Tournament

Hundreds competed for the top spot in the tournament which aired last night on ESPN

NEW YORK, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The organizers of the HardBat Classic, a sports and lifestyle event created by FremantleMedia Enterprises, @radical.media and the Mark Gordon Company, congratulate Jack Baker, a 23-year-old college student from Mobile, AL on winning the inaugural HardBat Classic Presented by Bud Light. Baker outplayed hundreds of competitors to win the title of HardBat Classic Champion, and took home the $100,000 cash prize, the largest in U.S. table tennis history.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091005/NY86474 )

The tournament, which took place at The Venetian Las Vegas in June and was telecast on ESPN last night, pitted hundreds of pros, amateurs and enthusiasts against each other in one of the biggest, most exciting table tennis events on U.S. soil.

Baker, who earned a spot in the tournament by winning a Bud Light qualifying event, used his tennis background to beat 73-year old Wayne Obertone in the finals.

"The HardBat Classic really helped put table tennis back in the public eye, and we are incredibly excited to call Jack Baker the first-ever HardBat Classic Champion," said Robert Friedman, president of Media & Entertainment, @radical.media. "Jack Baker played like a champion throughout the tournament and really earned his $100,000 prize. We hope he spends a little bit of that money on getting ready for next year, as we know the competition will only get tougher as more people start playing this great sport again."

The HardBat Classic was a joint venture lifestyle brand initiative between FremantleMedia Enterprises, a leader in TV show brand development through its own shows American Idol on Fox, America's Got Talent on NBC and The Price Is Right on CBS; @radical.media, the global media production and distribution company behind award-winning programs such as Iconoclasts and the pilot episode of Mad Men; and the Mark Gordon Company, producer of feature films, including Saving Private Ryan, the upcoming 2012 and hit shows like Grey's Anatomy and Criminal Minds.

To learn more about the HardBat Classic or watch videos from the inaugural event, please visit www.hardbatclassic.com.

ABOUT FREMANTLEMEDIA ENTERPRISES & FREMANTLEMEDIA

FremantleMedia is one of the leading creators and producers of entertainment brands in the world. FremantleMedia is part of the RTL Group, Europe's largest television and radio broadcast company, which is in turn 90 percent owned by Bertelsmann AG, one of the world's major media and entertainment companies. FremantleMedia's worldwide production arm is responsible for many of the world's highest rated prime time entertainment, drama, serial drama and factual entertainment programmes. FremantleMedia Enterprises is the brand extension arm of FremantleMedia, offering a one-stop-shop for all Licensing, Distribution and Home Entertainment around the world. The FremantleMedia Group (which includes talkbackTHAMES, UFA and Grundy amongst others) has operations in 22 countries, one of the most comprehensive global networks, creating over 14,000 hours of programming a year, rolling out more than 60 formats and managing over 300 individual titles. FremantleMedia has some of the world's most sought after and long running formats in its catalogue, and globally, produces such programmes as: Idols (co-produced with 19 Productions in the US), The X Factor (co-produced with Syco in the UK), Got Talent (co-produced with Syco in the UK and the US), Neighbours, The Bill, Family Feud, The Price is Right, Farmer Wants A Wife and Hole In The Wall.

ABOUT @radical.media

@radical.media is a multi-platform integrated entertainment and media company that produces and distributes television, feature films, commercials, digital content and design. @radical.media has produced award-winning projects, including the Academy Award®-winning documentary "The Fog of War"; the Grammy Award-winning "Concert for George"; the pilot episode of the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning series "Mad Men"; the Emmy-winning "10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America" for the History Channel; the critically acclaimed series "Iconoclasts" for the Sundance Channel and the recent MTV documentary "Britney: For The Record," among many others.

ABOUT THE MARK GORDON COMPANY

MARK GORDON has over 60 motion pictures to his credit, including the upcoming 2012, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, THE PATRIOT, SPEED and the multi-award winning SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. MGC also currently has four television series on the air including Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice for ABC, Criminal Minds for CBS and Army Wives on Lifetime. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and is the recipient of multiple Emmy, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Producers Guild of America awards.

   CONTACT:   Evan Parker   Edelman for FremantleMedia Enterprises   PH: +1-323-202-1052   Email: evan.parker@matter-edelman.com  

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Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091005/NY86474
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Source: FremantleMedia Enterprises

CONTACT: Evan Parker, Edelman for FremantleMedia Enterprises,
+1-323-202-1052, evan.parker@matter-edelman.com

Web Site: http://www.hardbatclassic.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment