Judy
Bochenski-Hoarfrost
was only 15 when she
made history as part
of the “Ping Pong
Diplomacy”
delegation that made
an unprecedented
trip behind the
Great Wall of China.
As a member of the
U.S. Team at the
1971 World
Championships in
Nagoya, Japan, Judy
got the opportunity
to travel to China
to play a series of
matches against the
Chinese team. The
following year, the
Chinese team
traveled to the
United States for
another series of
Friendship Matches.
She began her
table tennis
competitions early,
playing in her first
U.S. Open at age 11.
By the time she
was 25, she had been
a member of the four
consecutive World
Championship Teams
(1971-1977), one pan
Am Games team (1978)
and an invitational
team traveling to
Cuba in 1980. She
won several U.S.
Junior Girls
championships, two
State of Oregon
Men’s and Women’s
Championships (1972,
1973) and was the
Women’s Singles
Runner-Up in 1979.
She began playing
competitively again
in the mid-1990’s
and has dominated
the Senior divisions
as the Senior
Women’s Champion in
1996, 1997 and 1998
and the 1996 U.S.
Senior Mixed Doubles
Champion. In 1998
and 1999, she was
the U.S. Open Senior
Women’s Champion.
In 1997 she was
inducted into the
U.S.A. Table Tennis
Hall of Fame. She is
still involved in
the sport of table
tennis today, as a
co-owner of Paddle
Palace, a leading
mail-order company
specializing in
table tennis
equipment.