By Larry Hodges
The USA Junior Boys' and Cadet Boys' and Girls' Team Trials were held at the USA Nationals. (Junior is under 18; cadet is under 15.) The USA Junior Girls' Team, which had earned the right to go to the World Junior Championships in Chile during the Nationals, couldn't be present at the Nationals, and so the Junior Girls' Trials had been held previously, at the North American Teams Championships in Baltimore.
The format for the trials (all three divisions) was single elimination to the quarterfinals; then the final eight players were put into two groups of four for round robin play. Then the winners would play off for first and second; the runner-ups for third and fourth; and so on until the top eight positions were decided.
Group One in the Final Eight was Han Xiao (2501), Misha Kazentsev (2397), Pan Lin (2195)and Derrick J. Poon (2068). Five of the six matches went as seeded, all 3-0 or 3-1. In the final match for 1st and 2nd in the group, Misha, taking shots with his forehand at every chance, upset the more two-winged but more erratic Han, -5,13,5,-15,9. (Han had earlier also lost 11-9 in the 5th to Auria Malek in the quarterfinals of Under 22 Men.) Both tended to go long too much at key times, allowing the other to loop first. During the match, Misha was the "loud" one, yelling in triumph whenever he won a point - and he was also the one who played without restraint, while the more quiet Han (who would later on make the quarterfinals of Men's Singles by upsetting Barney J. Reed) often seemed more nervous. At the end, down 10-8 match point, Han looped in a serve to reach 10-9; he then looped in another serve (did Misha mean to serve long both times?), but Misha, from way off the table, counterlooped, and Han seemed to freeze, and meekly forehand blocked it into the net.
Group Two in the Final Eight was Adam Hugh (2466), Khaleel Asgarali (2295), Auria Malek (2197) and Kevin Phung (2139). As in group one, all but one matches went as seeded, either 3-0 or 3-1. In the match for 2nd and 3rd, Auria upset Khaleel, 8,9,8, in a match that featured long but furious exchanges.
In the playoff stage, Adam "avenged" his loss to Misha at the U.S. Open, coming in first with a -3,5,10,10 win. Han "avenged" his loss to Auria in Under 22 Men, 3,8,-4,7. Khaleel defeated Pan Lin for the first alternate spot (5th), 4,10,9; and it was Kevin over Derrick for the 7th spot, 8,-8,4,8. Final order of finish was as follows:
1st Adam Hugh; 2nd Misha Kazantsev; 3rd Han Xiao; 4th Auria Malek; 5th Khaleel Asgarali; 6th Pan Lin; 7th Kevin Phung; 8th Derrick Poon
Junior Boys' Team Trials (Under 18) |
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| 1st: Adam Hugh Photo by Gerry Chua ©2003 |
2nd: Misha Kazantsev Photo by Gerry Chua ©2003 |
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| 3rd: Han Xiao Photo by Gerry Chua ©2003 |
4th: Auria Malek Photo by Gerry Chua ©2003 |
Group One in the Final Eight was Danny Ho (2174), Preston Chin (1997), Jeff Huang (1968) and Mark Wei (1861). Mark lost to Danny (-6,3,9,7), but won his other two matches (12,8,6 over Preston, 10,-10,-9,10,8 over Jeff) to finish at 2-1. Jeff also finished 2-1, with both his wins 11-9 or 12-10 in the fifth (4,-7,4,-9,9 over Danny, -12,9,-6,8,10 over Preston), and so also finished 2-1. Due to his head-to-head win over Jeff, Mark came out first, Jeff second in the group. For third place, Preston won over Danny, 9,8,11. So the group finished in exactly the reverse order of the seeding.
Group Two in the Final Eight was John Leach (2149), Alden Fan (1999), Steven Chan (1972), and Joseph Cochran (1955). John won all three matches relatively easily to come in first, and Steven won his other two matches to come in second. None of the matches went five. In the big match to decide 2nd (and so make the team) and 3rd (playing for the alternate positions), Steven "upset" Alden, 2,-9,9,3.
In the playoff stage, John showed that his training Sweden was paying off as he continued to dominated, winning 5,3,5 over Mark for1st. Jeff won a five-gamer over Steven for 3rd (4,4,-6,-9,5). Alden won an even closer five-gamer over Preston for 5th (-7,10,-7,10,12). Joseph finished 7th over Danny, 7,3,6. Final order of finish was as follows:
1st John Leach; 2nd Mark Wei; 3rd Jeff Huang; 4th Steven Chan; 5th Alden Fan; 6th Preston Chin; 7th Joseph Cochran; 8th Danny Ho
Three of the four players who made the Cadet Boys' Team - Mark, Steven and Jeff - all play at the same club, the San Gabriel club in El Monte. Interestingly, this is the same club that became an issue in an election a few years ago, when USATT Executive Vice President Dr. Jiing Wang mentioned in a campaign statement that he was "President of the San Gabriel Valley TTC." He was mocked by some since the "club" only had room for two full-sized courts (but five small courts for practice). However, it has a full-time coach (Grace Lin, coach of Mark, Steven and Jeff) and an active junior program, and now this "club" has one of the more successful junior programs in the country.
Cadet Boys' Team Trials (Under 15) |
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| 1st John Leach Photo by Gerry Chua ©2003 |
2nd Mark Wei Photo by Gerry Chua ©2003 |
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| 3rd Jeff Huang Photo by Gerry Chua ©2003 |
4th Steven Chan Photo by Gerry Chua ©2003 |
Group One in the Final Eight was Wang Chun Yi (2152), Barbara Wei (2003), Stephanie Shih (1862) and Jennifer Mast (1676). All matches went as seeded. The one five-gamer was Stephanie's comeback against Jennifer Mast for 3rd place, -8,-6,7,2,3.
Group Two in the Final Eight was Judy Hugh (2028), Atha Fong (1882), Rita Wu (1840) and Sarah Zheng (1799). As expected, Judy won all three matches, not even losing a game. Atha, however, who more than anyone else here seems to be able to play way above or below her rating, was having difficulties here, and lost to both Rita (8,13,-9,7) and Sarah (-10,9,7,-5,8). Rita came in second, 10,7,5 over Sarah.
In the playoff stage, Chun came in 1st, 8,9,-6,8 over Judy; Barbara placed 3rd over her often doubles & practice partner, Rita, 4,6,9; Sarah barely took 5th over Stephanie, 9,-11,-7,9,10; and Jennifer got 7th when Atha defaulted. Final order of finish was as follows:
1st Chun Yi Wang; 2nd Judy Hugh; 3rd Barbara Wei; 4th Rita Wu; 5th Sarah Zheng; 6th Stephanie Shih; 7th Jennifer Mast; 8th Atha Fong
Cadet Girls' Team Trials (Under 15) |
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| 1st Wang Chun Yi Photo by Gerry Chua ©2003 |
2nd Judy Hugh Photo by Gerry Chua ©2003 |
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| 3rd Barbara Wei Photo by Gerry Chua ©2003 |
4th Rita Wu Photo by Gerry Chua ©2003 |
Junior Boys (U18) Team Trials (Top 4 made the team; next 4 are alternates)
1st Adam Hugh; 2nd Misha Kazantsev; 3rd Han Xiao; 4th Auria Malek; 5th Khaleel Asgarali; 6th Pan Lin; 7th Kevin Phung; 8th Derrick Poon
Preliminary Results
Group 1: 1st Misha Kazantsev, 3-0 (d. Poon, 5,9,5; d. Lin, 12,9,8; d. Xiao, -5,13,5,-15,9); 2nd Han Xiao, 2-1 (d. Lin, 3,5,7; d. Poon, -11,5,6,6); 3rd Pan Lin, 1-2 (d. Poon, 4,5,-6,8); 4th Derrick Poon, 0-3.
Group 2: 1st Adam Hugh, 3-0 (d. Malek, 8,8,7; d. Phung, 6,3,3; d. Asgarali, 8,-9,7,4); 2nd Auria Malek, 2-1 (d. Asgarali, 8,9,8; d. Phung, 5,-3,5,7); 3rd Khaleel Asgarali, 1-2 (d. Phung, 6,3,3); 4th, Kevin Phung, 0-3.
Playoffs: 1-2: Adam Hugh d. Misha Kazantsev, -3,5,10,10; 3-4: Han Xiao d. Auria Malek, 3,8,-4,7; 5-6: Khaleel Asgarali d. Pan Lin, 4,10,9; 7-8: Kevin Phung d. Derrick Poon, 8,-8,4,8.
Junior Girls (U18) Team Trials: Held previously. See Results. (Top 4 made the team; next 4 are alternates)
1st Whitney Ping; 2nd Katherine Wu; 3rd Sophia Yi; 4th Lani Lei; 5th Barbara Wei; 6th Elaine Kwok; 7th Atha Fong; 8th Laura Xiao
Cadet Boys (U15) Team Trials (Top 4 made the team; next 4 are alternates)
Team Photo (L-R: Mark Wei, John Leach, Jeff Huang, Steven Chan)
1st John Leach; 2nd Mark Wei; 3rd Jeff Huang; 4th Steven Chan; 5th Alden Fan; 6th Preston Chin; 7th Joseph Cochran; 8th Danny Ho
Preliminaries Results
Group 1: 1st Mark Wei, 2-1 (d. Chin, 12,8,6; d. Huang, -12,9,-6,8,10); 2nd Lin Jeff Huang, 2-1(d. Ho, 4,-7,4,-9,9; d. Chin, -12,9,-6,8,10); 3rd Preston Chin, 1-2 (d. Ho, 9,8,11); 4th Danny Ho, 1-2 (d. Wei, -6,3,9,7).
Group 2: 1st John Leach, 3-0 (d. Cochran, 3,9,-15,4; d. Chan, -9,8,3,8; d. Fan, 5,9,1); 2nd Steven Chan, 2-1 (d. Fan, 2,-9,9,3; d. Cochran, 6,8,5); 3rd Alden Fan, 1-2 (d. Cochran, 6,8,5); 4th Joseph Cochran, 0-3.
Playoffs: 1-2: John Leach d. Mark Wei, 5,3,5; 3-4: Jeff Huang d. Steven Chan, 4,4,-6,-9,5; 5-6: Alden Fan d. Preston Chin, -7,10,-7,10,12; 7-8: Joseph Cochran d. Danny Ho, 7,3,6.
Cadet Girls (U15) Team Trials (Top 4 made the team; next 4 are alternates)
Team Photo (L-R: Judy Hugh, Wang Chun Li, Barbara Wei, Rita Wu)
1st Chun Yi Wang; 2nd Judy Hugh; 3rd Barbara Wei; 4th Rita Wu; 5th Sarah Zheng; 6th Stephanie Shih; 7th Jennifer Mast; 8th Atha Fong
Preliminary Results
Group 1: 1st Wang Chun Yi, 3-0 (d. Shih, -7,9,10,8; d. Mast, 3,5,6; d. Wei, 10,4,7); 2nd Barbara Wei, 2-1 (d. Mast, 6,10,7; d. Shih, -9,10,6,11); 3rd Stephanie Shih, 1-2 (d. Mast, -8,-6,7,2,3); 4th Jennifer Mast, 0-3.
Group 2: 1st Judy Hugh, 3-0 (d. Wu, 4,5,10; d. Zheng, 7,10,3; d. Fong, 7,6,4); 2nd Rita Wu, 2-1 (d. Fong, 8,13,-9,7; d. Zheng, 10,7,5); 3rd Sarah Zheng, 1-2 (d. Fong, -10,9,7,-5,8); 4th Atha Fong, 0-3.
Playoffs: 1-2: Chun Yi Wang d. Judy Hugh, 8,9,-6,8; 3-4: Barbara Wei d. Rita Wu, 4,6,9; 5-6: Sarah Zheng d. Stephanie Shih, 9,-11,-7,9,10; 7-8: Jennifer Mast d. Atha Fong, def.
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