2000 USA Table Tennis Nationals 
Thursday, December 14

Las Vegas, Nevada
December 13-17, 2000
By Larry Hodges

Day Two: Thursday, December 14, 2000

USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame

At the annual Hall of Fame Banquet tonight, Cheng Yinghua, Attila Malek and Bob Green were inducted into the USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame. Sol Schiff was awarded the Mark Matthews Lifetime Achievement Award.

Right: Over 40 Men's Singles Champion Avishy Schmidt. Photo copyright 2000 by kausphoto.com

The final, between third-seeded Avishy Schmidt (CA) and top-seeded Barry Dattel (NJ) was a doozy and a half. In the first, Barry led by about 12 points, according to Schmidt. Up 20-15, Barry couldn’t quite hold on – deuce! But Barry screamed in relief when he won the next two points. After Schmidt won the second at 17, Barry went up 20-19 championship point in the third. Schmidt looped a ball that Barry seemed to think for a second missed – but it smacked cleanly on the white line, deuce! Schmidt followed with two more winners, and pulled out the match and his first national senior championship, -20, 17, 20.

Left: Over 40 and Over 50 Women's Singles Champion Mahin Roufeh. Photo copyright 2000 by kausphoto.com

Mahin Roufeh swept both of these events without losing a game. She played a lot of close games, but whenever it got close, she always pulled it out. In Over 40, she defeated Donna Chen in the final in an all-Texan final, 18 & 20. In the second game, Chen led 20-14 – but Roufeh scored eight straight points to win! In Over 50 Women, Roufeh played Barbara Kaminsky (VA) in the final – who she’d beaten in the Over 40 semifinals, 17 & 16, with Kaminsky leading almost the entire second game before Roufeh ran it out at the end. This time around, Roufeh won the first at 18. In the second, Kaminsky led most of the way, but Roufeh finally pulled ahead 20-17. Kaminsky scored two in a row, but Roufeh won the last point to win, 18 & 19.

Right: Ivan Slade and George Hendry: members of the English and U.S. National Teams, respectively, in the 1930s. Photo copyright 2000 by kausphoto.com

It was George Hendry (MO) over Ivan Slade (CA) in both finals – 12 & 6 and 7 & 16, respectively. However, far more interesting were the stories these two told of the past. Both had been out of action for three years due to injuries, but as Hendry said, table tennis is like a family, and as soon as they were able, they were back. Slade, 84, had last played a tournament in 1997, where he’d injured himself in a match against Marty Reisman in the hardbat event. It wasn’t the only time they’d played – they’d played before, to be specific at the 1947 English Open 50 years before. The youngster Hendry, 80, had also been out of action for these three years, but was obviously back with a vengeance. How long had these two been playing? In the 1930s – yes, that long ago! – Slade had been on the English team, Hendry on the U.S. team.

The top four seeds made it to the semifinals. Top-seeded Ashu Jain (NJ, rated 2445) won the final over Lee McCool (GA, rated 2370) relatively easily, 15 & 12. However, it was the semifinals that had the better matches. In one semifinal, McCool upset second-seeded 15-year-old Mark Hazinksi (U.S. #1 under 16, #2 under 18, rated 2408)) at 18 & 11. In the other semifinal, 13-year-old Han Xiao (U.S. #1 under 14, #2 under 16, #3 under 18, rated 2368) led 20-15 match point against Ashu – but Ashu pulled out the match with some great serving at the end, -17, 15, 20.

In the final round robin, Jackie Lee upset Olympian Michelle Do, -16, 16, 16, to win the title. Coming in third and fourth, respectively, were Whitney Ping and Stacey Lee.

Nison Aronov (NY) pulled out an excruciatingly close final over Duc Au (CA), -21, 12, 20.

Top-seeded Loc Ngo (2291 rated) defeated Rudy Miranda –seeded 20th with a 2172 rating - in the final in an all-California final.

Right: Under 2000 Champion Mikhail Kazantsev. Photo copyright 2000 by kausphoto.com

12-year-old Mikhail Kazantsev lost only one game – in the quarterfinals against Larry Hawkins Sr. (6,-17,12) in his march to the championship. He and Scott Gordon – the Under 2000 Hardbat Champion – called themselves the "co-champions." In the final, Kazantsev defeated Lin Zuo in another all-California final, 18 & 7.

Peter Randall (CA) defeated Joseph Cochran (IN), 16, -18, 17.

Left: Hardbat Doubles Champions Ty Hoff and partner. Photo copyright 2000 by kausphoto.com

Ty Hoff (GA), the dominant player in hardbat these days, teamed up with his partner (see photo) to win their fourth Nationals or U.S. Open Hardbat Doubles title. This time they faced the chopping father/son team of Pete & Derek May (GA) in the final – with the Mays being two of Ty’s regular practice partners. With Ty playing his usual aggressive all-around game, and looping hardbat winners (yes, you can do that with hardbat), and with his partner smacking in winners now and then, they won the final at 13 & 10.

Right: Hardbat Guru and Under 2000 Hardbat Champion Scott Gordon doing your basic behind-the-back counterdrive. Photo copyright 2000 by kausphoto.com

There’s getting to be almost an underground under 2000 hardbat circuit, with a number of tournaments running this event, and a group of players traveling around and battling for the prize. Scott Gordon, John Oros, Tim Boggan, Pete May, Julian Waters, Bruce Liu, Lorin Benedict – these players are the heart of this event. But the winner this time was … the hardbat guru himself, the chair of the USATT Hardbat Committee, Scott Gordon (CA). After a semifinal scare against Tim Boggan (-14, 19, 10), Scott cruised in the final, winning against John Oros (IL), who probably was thinking about the great photos he wasn’t taking since men’s doubles was played at the same time.

Below: Defending Men's Singles Champion and U.S. #1 Cheng Yinghua is teamed up in Men's Doubles with his student, 13-year-old Han Xiao, the U.S. #1 Under 14 with a 2368 rating. They are in the semifinals, playing Eric Owens and Barney J. Reed on Friday. Photo copyright 2000 by kausphoto.com

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