2003 USA Table Tennis World and Pan Am Trials

Atlanta, GA • March 17-22, 2003

Final Twelve - Round Ten

By Larry Hodges

Women

• Chang Jun Gao d. Tawny Banh, -4,-6,8,2,9,7
• Jasna Reed d. Amanda Dubina, 4,9,3,6
• Simone Yang d. Judy Hugh, 8,7,9,7
• Virginia Sung d. Moji Kuye, 4,4,6,11

The players and umpires line up before Round Ten. In the back, it's Jasna Reed vs. Amanda Dubina; in the front, it's Tawny Banh vs. Chang Jun Gao. Photo by Larry Hodges ©2003.

The "big" match here was Gao versus Banh - but it wasn't really "BIG" since both had already clinched spots on the team - they were playing for position: 1st $2750, 2nd $2500, 3rd $2250, 4th $1500. (All receive insurance as well.) It started out looking like a possible upset, with Banh - attacking viciously, helped by some timely nets & edges - raced to an 11-4 win in the first. In the second, Banh continued her all-out attack, often starting out going to Gao's backhand, and finishing the point to the forehand. (If you open to Gao's forehand, she may smash, so it's risky.) The two continued to play close to 7-7 in the third. At that point, Gao finally pulled away, 9-7, 11-8. The fourth was all Gao (7-0, 11-2). The fifth, from 5-5, Gao went up 10-7; Banh pulled to 10-9 before putting Gao's serve in the net. The sixth was also close most of the way, to 6-6. Gao pulled off a nice backhand chop block against Banh's hard backhand, and Banh hit it into the net. Banh tied it at 7-7, but Gao won the last four and the match, -4,-6,8,2,9,7.

Jasna Reed, Simone Yang and Virginia Sung all won 4-0. Reed (7-1), along with Gao (8-0) and Banh (6-2), have already clinched their spots on the team. Yang, Sung, and Jackie Lee are all at 4-4, and are in contention for the final spot, with Lily Yip (5-3) in the lead with one round to go. In the final round, Yip will play Sung; Lee will play Banh; and Yang will play Reed. Lee and Yang have the difficult task of upsetting the #2 and #3 seeds to have a chance to make the team. If they do not, then the final spot on the team will be the winner of the Yip-Sung match. (If Sung wins, she and Yip will both be 5-4, but Sung gets the final spot since she won head-to-head.)

Most interesting scenario: Virginia Sung defeats Lily Yip; Simone Yang defeats Jasna Reed; and Jackie Lee defeats Tawny Banh. Then there would be a four-way tie between Sung, Yip, Yang and Lee!

Men

• David Zhuang d. Ilija Lupulesku, 10,9,7,5
• Eric Owens d. Jiachen Wang, 2,-9,7,3,7
• Brian Pace d. Darko Rop, -7,-8,6,-7,11,6,8
• Adam Hugh d. Ashu Jain, 5,-7,9,8,7
• Mark Hazinski d. De Tran, 10,7,-11,4,12

Ilija Lupulesku shows his great looping form. Photo by Ernesto Kawamoto ©2003.

This was the meeting of the top two seeds, the lefty spinning Lupulesku versus the pips-out penhold blocking & hitting Zhuang. Most favored Luplesku, but Zhuang had won the last time out. This time, Lupi took a 10-7 lead in the first - but Zhuang scored five in a row to win, with Lupi's backhand erratic at the end, and Zhuang playing right into it, like a guided missile. In the second, it was 9-all, and again it was Zhuang who won the next two. The last two were all Zhuang who wins the match, 10,9,7,5.

Eric Owens took his spot on the Teams. Photo by Michael Wetzel ©2003. 

Eric Owens clinched a spot on both the World and Pan Am Teams with a win over Wang, 2,-9,7,3,7, to go to 6-3. 

Brian Pace broke through with his win over Darko Rop. Photo by Ernesto Kawamoto ©2003.

The match that may have had the most impact was Brian Pace's win over Darko Rop. Pace hadn't been playing well, and hadn't won a match. That trend almost continued, as Rop won the first two, and goes up 3-1 in games. In the fifth, Pace goes up 9-5, then it's 9-8, 10-8 ... 10-all! Pace looks slightly tentative on some of his shots, and they miss, while Rop keeps putting pressure on his with steady loops and blocks. At deuce, Pace is up 11-10 and 12-11, and rips a winning counterloop to win. He then runs away with the sixth, so it's on to the seventh. Pace jumps to a 5-0 lead, but soon it's 7-7. The Pace goes up 10-7, and wins 11-8 with a tremendous loop which Rop can't counterloop. Match to Pace, -7,-8,6,-7,11,6,8. The loss drops Rop to 4-5, who clinches at least a 3-way tie for the fourth and fifth spots on the U.S. Team. There are a number of possibilities left, but the most interesting is that IF Tran loses in the final round (he's playing Lupulesku), and IF Rop wins (over Zhuang) and IF Nguyen wins (over Hazinski), then Tran, Rop and Nguyen would all be 5-5. Among the three of them, they are 6-6 in games, and it would go to points. (We'll let readers work that out!) Among the three of them, Tran defeated Rop, who defeated Nguyen, who defeated Tran - and all three matches were 4-2.

De Tran could have clinched his spot, but Mark Hazinski continued his run, going to 7-2 and clinching the third spot on the U.S. Team with a win over Tran, 10,7,-11,4,12. 

2003 USA Team Trials Home Page