{"id":198553,"date":"2026-01-19T08:40:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T06:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=198553"},"modified":"2026-01-19T08:40:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T06:40:31","slug":"in-chicago-ping-pong-is-played-even-in-cassocks-serbian-priests-joined-a-humanitarian-tournament-to-help-a-club-from-republika-srpska-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/in-chicago-ping-pong-is-played-even-in-cassocks-serbian-priests-joined-a-humanitarian-tournament-to-help-a-club-from-republika-srpska-video\/","title":{"rendered":"IN CHICAGO, PING-PONG IS PLAYED EVEN IN CASSOCKS: Serbian priests joined a humanitarian tournament to help a club from Republika Srpska! (VIDEO)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yesterday, a humanitarian table tennis tournament was held in the old Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Chicago, and all proceeds will be used to purchase equipment and gear for young competitors of \u201cPeru\u0107ica\u201d from Fo\u010da, once champions of Yugoslavia and a club from which many national team members and medal winners have emerged. Among them is Nada Kujund\u017ei\u0107, who was also a special guest at the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Serbian community from Chicago once again showed solidarity when it was most needed, so the otherwise traditional tournament gathered a record number of participants \u2013 as many as 35 competitors were registered, and local priests also joined in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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THE TOURNAMENT SUCCEEDED, HUMANITY WON: A detail from the final match<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only did they join, but Archpriests Nemanja Te\u0161i\u0107 and Dragan Arsi\u0107 also demonstrated enviable skill in sending the ping-pong ball over the net, as evidenced by the footage you can watch later in the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All together, including the widely known orchestra \u201cTamburitza,\u201d which encouraged the competitors with song and music, contributed to fulfilling the goal; the diaspora and the homeland were once again connected, and the collected funds will help a great club from a small town continue its rich tradition of working with youth and producing new champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was also emphasized in a conversation with Serbian Times by Nada Kujund\u017ei\u0107, the legendary player and coach of \u201cPeru\u0107ica\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am overjoyed that we gathered and showed that together we can do anything. This tournament will be a great encouragement for us to continue quality work and provide our children with what they deserve. More than the money, that feeling means a lot to us \u2013 that in Chicago we have someone of our own who thinks of us and is always ready to help us. Thank you to the wonderful people from the church, thank you to everyone who competed and contributed to making this tournament so successful. We would love for our friends from Chicago to be our guests at the tournament in Fo\u010da next year,\u201d said Kujund\u017ei\u0107, who reminded that the greatest club success of \u201cPeru\u0107ica\u201d was achieved in 1987, when they played the final of the largest European club competition, the Nancy Evans Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nada was a national team member of SFR Yugoslavia and a medal winner, and was once proclaimed an Olympic hopeful, but the civil war in the former Yugoslavia cut short great dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2003, she has revived the work of the club, and she was also the head coach of the women\u2019s senior national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a member of the Olympic Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this tournament, there were no cash prizes, which all participants renounced in advance for humanitarian purposes, in favor of the table tennis club from Fo\u010da.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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