2003 NORTH AMERICAN TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Balboa Park Activity Center, San Diego, California, USA, April 4-6, 2003

Junior Team Competition

Friday, April 4

By Kathy Chin

USA Women's Coach Doru Gheorghe - newly hired as USATT Executive Director as of April 8 - coaches Jackie Lee during a match. Photo by Kathy Chin ©2003.

Competition in the North American Table Tennis Championships began last night in San Diego’s Balboa Park Activity Center. Featuring some of the best players from both the U.S. and Canada, the tournament opened with the Junior Team events. The boys' and girls' teams were made up of 3 players from each country.  The crowd thoroughly enjoyed the high level of competition. In a closely fought duel ending with three straight long deuce games, USA's Jackie Lee outlasted  Canada's Wennin Chiu, -4,11,12,14, in the final match to win the Girls' Team final for USA, 3-1 over Canada. 

Canada's Wennin Chiu serves to Whitney Ping at 12-12 in the fifth. Ping would win the next two points. Photo by Kathy Chin ©2003. 

USA's Mark Hazinski. Photo by Kathy Chin ©2003.

Canada's Bence Csaba serving to USA's Han Xiao. Photo by Kathy Chin ©2003.

Mark Hazinski, the top-rated U.S. male in the N.A.C. competition, beat Canada’s 4^th ranked Faazil Kassam 3-1 and made a go of it against the number 3 from Canada, Bence Csaba. In the 2^nd game, down  4-8, a determined Hazinski reeled off the next 7 straight points to win the game. But Csaba adjusted and won the match, 3,-8,5,-5,7, as Canada won the Junior Boys' Teams, 3-2, with Csaba pulling of both his matches in five games. 

Results

Under 18 Girls' Team Final

• Jackie Lee (USA) d. Sara Yuen (CAN), 7,7,-4,4

• Whitney Ping (USA) d. Wennin Chiu (CAN), 11,-6,8,-8,12

• Stephanie Yuen (CAN) d. Katherine Wu (USA), 7,9,-3,12

• Jackie Lee (USA) d. Wennin Chiu (CAN), -4,11,12,14

Canada's Faazil Kassam. Photo by Kathy Chin ©2003.

Under 18 Boys' Team Final

• Bence Csaba (CAN) d. Han Xiao (USA), -3,8,4,-6,4

• Mark Hazinski (USA) d. Fazzil Kassam (CAN), 6,-6,8,5

• Pierre-Luc Hinse (CAN) d. Misha Kazentsev (USA), 7,6,8

• Bence Csaba (CAN) d. Mark Hazinski (USA), 3,-8,5,-5,7

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