2000 North American Olympic Trials
   Rochester, NY • April 6-8, 2000

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Day Three: Saturday, April 8
By Larry Hodges

The North American Olympic Table Tennis Singles Trials came to an end today with five USA players and four Canadians making the Olympic Team. The final teams are:

• USA Men: Cheng Yinghua, David Zhuang
• USA Women: Gao Jun, Jasna Reed, Tawny Banh
• Canadian Men: Johnny Huang, Kurt Liu
• Canadian Women: Lijuan Geng, Wen Xiao Wang

Note: USA’s Gao Jun and Canada’s Lijuan Geng and Johnny Huang pre-qualified, and so did not take part in these trials.

The women’s side had a classic finish, with 7 of the 8 women still in the running for the team going into the final round. In the end, USA’s Jasna Reed defeated Canadian Marie-Christine Roussy to clinch one spot, and USA’s Tawny Banh defeated Canada’s Wen Xiao Wang to clinch a second spot. If Reed had lost her final match, there would have been a 4-way tie for second and third. As it was, it came right down to the end, with Banh playing Wang, Yip playing Canada’s Chris Xu, Reed playing Canada’s Marie-Christine Roussy, and USA Virginia Sung playing Canada’s Petra Cada. If Cada had beaten Sung, or Roussy beaten Reed, there would have been a very complicated finish. In the end, Banh had to beat Wang or Yip lose to Xu for Banh to make the team; if she lost to Wang and Yip defeated Xu (as she did), then Yip would have gotten the spot.

USA’s Virginia Sung actually finished third, giving USA a 1-2-3 sweep on the women’s side. However, because countries are limited to three players, and USA’s Gao Jun had pre-qualified, that gave USA a maximum of three players, so the final continental spot went to the highest finishing Canadian, Wen Xiao Wang. In fact, the moment Reed defeated Roussy (which happened while Wang was still playing Banh), both Reed and Wang qualified for a spot, although it is unlikely that Wang knew this at the time.

On the men’s side, Cheng, Zhuang and Liu clinched their spots in the next-to-last round (round six). Cheng, who had not lost a game in the final eight until this round, had some difficulties with Canada’s Horatio Pintea. Up 2-1 in games but down 15-10 in the fourth, Cheng came back to clinch his spot. David Zhuang defeated Canada’s Hai Tao Geng to clinch his spot, while Kurt Liu defeated USA’s Todd Sweeris to clinch his spot. Sweeris and Geng both had hopes of making the team until the final day, but Sweeris’ loss to Liu, and Geng’s losses to Zhuang and Sweeris, ended their hopes. Sweeris and Geng both finished 3-4, but Sweeris came in fourth by winning head-to-head against Geng.

1. Cheng Yinghua (USA) 7-0
2. David Zhuang (USA) 6-1
3. Kurt Liu (CAN) 5-2
4. Todd Sweeris (USA) 3-4
5. Hai Tao Geng (CAN) 3-4
6. Horatio Pintea (CAN) 2-5
7. Eric Owens (USA) 1-6
8. Pradeeban Peter-Paul (CAN) 1-6

1. Jasna Reed (USA) 5-2
2. Tawny Banh (USA) 5-2
3. Virginia Sung (USA) 4-3
4. Wen Xiao Wang (CAN) 4-3
5. Lily Yip (USA) 4-3
6. Chris Xu (CAN) 3-4
7. Petra Cada (CAN) 3-4
8. Marie-Christine Roussy (CAN) 0-7

For the players who did not make the Olympic team in singles, there is still hope. The Olympic Doubles Trials are next week (April 13-15), and two North American teams will qualify. Teams will be announced later.