Day Two: Sunday, April 4

Complete results

Photo Gallery by Gerry Chua

The Trials were run on time and efficiently, and thanks goes to the staff who put it together. Thanks also goes to the sponsors. 

Coming into the final day of matches, a scary scenario was arising: players might be finding themselves in a situation where they would clinch a spot on the Olympic team ... by losing. If they instead won, they could knock themselves off the Olympic team. The problem was that if a team with one player who qualified for singles at the Olympics came in first, then the next highest finishing team with one player who pre-qualified for Olympic singles would be the next team. (The players here who pre-qualified for singles were Huang and Lupulesku on the men's side, and Reed, Banh and Cada on the women's side.) The reason for this is that the ITTF allows two more players for doubles, and since one in this case would be on the team that came in first, the next highest team could only have one player who didn't already pre-qualify in singles.

This meant that teams would find themselves in a situation where by losing a match, they would clinch first place for their opponent - and if they were the second-highest finishing team with one Olympic singles qualifier, then they would clinch their spot. What they didn't want to happen would be for a team of two players that did not pre-qualify for Olympic singles to come in first, as that team would take both available doubles spots. 

Before we are too quick to judge this problem ... is there a trials procedure that would solve this problem, given the constraint of having two spots open for doubles players, either together or with pre-qualified singles players?

Men's Matches

The Olympic Men's Doubles Teams, L-R: Ilija Lupulesku/Mark Hazinski (USA), and Fazzil Kassam/Johnny Huang (CAN). Photo by Gerry Chua ©2004. 

When all the men's scenarios (outlined in the Day One report) are looked at, what should stand out is that if the team of Ilija Lupulesku/Mark Hazinski were to lose to Johnny Huang/Faazil Kassam in their match today, then the Huang/Kassam team would clinch first place, and so Lupulesku/Hazinski would make it, even if they finished last. If they were to win against Huang/Kassam, then the Peter-Paul/Kamkar-Parsi team could come in first.

Pradeeban Peter-Paul/Homayoun Kamkar-Parsi d. Sean O'Neill/Tahl Leibovitz, 10,9,-9,6,-10,-11,6

This was a potential "spoiler" match, as O'Neill/Leibovitz were already eliminated - but if they won this match, they would greatly simplify things as it would eliminated Peter-Paul/Homayoun. In both the fifth and sixth games, Peter-Paul/Homayoun were up 10-9 match point, and they had another at 11-10 in the sixth. But O'Neill/Leibovitz wouldn't quit, and battled into the seventh. But that's when the Canadians closed the door, and kept their hopes alive. 

David Zhuang/Eric Owens d. Bence Csaba/Xavier Therien, 7,8,7,7

Both of these teams had been eliminated from contention, so it was basically a practice match, with Zhuang/Owens dominating. 

Johnny Huang/Faazil Kassam d. Ilija Lupulesku/Mark Hazinski, 9,-10,12,11,5

This was the BIG match, the one mentioned previously. Yes, by losing, Lupulesku/Hazinski clinched a spot both for themselves and the Huang/Kassam team, eliminating the Peter-Paul/Homayoun team. There was no obvious dump, but it was unfortunate that the players were in this situation. But with this result, the men's teams were set - the last three matches would be relatively meaningless (except for final placement). Huang/Kassam and Lupulesku/Hazinski would be going to the Olympics; the others would not. 

There were some interesting points. In the second, Lupulesku/Hazinski led 10-7, and won 12-10. In the third, Canada took a rather early timeout, down 5-8. From 9-9, the receiver won seven points in a row, giving the Canadians four game points before they won on their serve, 14-12. In the fourth, Lupi/Haz led 10-6, then were down 10-11, and lost 11-13. The fifth was all Canada.  

Johnny Huang/Faazil Kassam d. David Zhuang/Eric Owens, -7,4,8,6,2

This was a match that may have had a major impact on the results - if Lupi/Haz had won against Huang/Kassam. As it was, it too had no affect on the Olympic players which had already been decided. After losing the first, Canada ran away with it, especially toward the end. 

Ilija Lupulesku/Mark Hazinski d. Pradeeban Peter-Paul/Homayoun Kamkar-Parsi, 6,-10,7,9,6

While the Olympic teams were decided, this was a somewhat important match - the winner would finish second. It wouldn't put Peter-Paul/Homayoun in the Olympics, but it might be somewhat of a consolation (or an irritation?) if they finished ahead of Lupi/Haz. Lupi/Haz were equally determined to win - it was a very hard-fought match, and in the close ones, when they won points, Lupi's "Yes, yes!" said it all.  It was not to be for the Canadians, and with this match, Lupi/Haz clinched second place, with Huang/Kassam in first. So the men's teams going to Athens would also finish 1-2 as well. 

Bence Csaba/Xavier Therien d. Sean O'Neill/Tahl Leibovitz, 9,-5,5,6,-7,-8,5

The players really didn't want to finish in the cellar, and this was in some ways one of the hardest fought matches. Once again O'Neill/Leibovitz wouldn't quit, even when they seemed out of it, down 3-1 and only scoring 11 points in the last two games. But they turned things around, with a mixture of attack (especially by Sean) and control (especially by Tahl), and won the next two easily. (Highlighting some of this play were two left-handed counterloops by Tahl! Not exhibition loops, but caught-out-of-position counterloops where Tahl switched hands to reach the ball. Tahl's about 2100 left-handed.)  For the second match in a row, O'Neill/Leibovitz fought back from down 3-1 to force the seventh. However, once again the seventh went against them. 

When asked about what it's like to make the Olympic team, Mark Hazinski said, "It hasn't hit me yet." For his partner, "Lupi," it was just another quadrennial journey - Lupi is one of a very select few who have been to all five Olympics since table tennis became a part in 1988. When asked about their team, Lupi said, "With a little more practice, we could play very well. Mark needs to play a little closer to the table, since I play more away from the table. That's a good combination, one away from the table, one near the table. That's how Primorac and I used to play - he's play closer to the table, while I'd play back." For those not in the know, Lupi and Zoran Primorac won the silver medal for men's doubles at the 1988 Olympics. 

The final men's standings were:

Women's Matches

The Olympic Women's Doubles Teams, L-R: Marie-Christine Roussy/Petra Cada (CAN), and Whitney Ping/Jasna Reed (USA). Photo by Gerry Chua ©2004. 

When all the women's scenarios (outlined in the Day One report) are looked at, what should stand out is that if the team of Petra Cada/Marie-Christine Roussy were to lose to Jasna Reed/Whitney Ping in their match today, then the Reed/Ping team would clinch first place, and so Cada/Roussy would make it, since they had clinched finishing ahead of the Banh/Yang team, the only other team with an Olympic singles qualifier (Banh). If they were to win against Reed/Ping, then the Yip/Hugh team could come in first.

Lily Yip/Judy Hugh d. Wennin Chiu/Sara Yuen, 5,7,-8,7,10

This was sort of a "spoiler" match, as if the Canadian juniors (Chiu/Yuen) won, they would eliminate Yip/Hugh from contention, and the Olympic teams would be set: Reed/Ping and Cada/Roussy. This would also remove the stigma of a team clinching a spot in the Olympics by losing. 

Jasna Reed/Whitney Ping d. Petra Cada/Marie-Christine Roussy, 6,7,-7,-4,5,7

This was the BIG match - the one mentioned previously. If the Cada/Roussy team lost, they would clinch their spot on the Olympic team, both for themselves and for Reed/Ping, while eliminating Yip/Hugh. Again, there was no obvious dumping, and some thought that Cada/Roussy might want to win to impress the Canadian TTA and/or Canadian Olympic Committee of their potential. The games were rather unexciting - they lost the first two badly, won the next two badly, lost the next two badly. And with this match, the women's Olympic teams were set, with these two teams going. 

Wennin Chiu/Sara Yuen d. Tawny Banh/Simone Yang, 9,-9,4,7,-10,-11,9

Both teams wanted to win this one badly as neither wanted to finish last. The Canadian juniors went up 3-1, and were up 10-9 match point in the fifth, but lost. In the sixth, helped by a pair of edges near the end (including one at 11-all), Banh/Yang won again, 13-11. In the seventh, the Canadian juniors went up 10-6 match point - but 1-2-3, and it was 10-9, and Canada called a timeout. When they returned, they had a great point, with Simone and Tawny looping and the Canadian's looping - but a quick angled block ended it for the Canadians. 

Petra Cada/Marie-Christine Roussy d. Lily Yip/Judy Hugh, 4,6,3,8

You could see that there wasn't a lot of enthusiasm in this match - again, the Olympic teams were set. However, there was the matter of who would come in second, and once again the team that had clinched the Olympic berth also came through and clinched second place, with Cada/Roussy winning easily - but how might this match have been if it had been the match for the Olympic team, as it might have been if Cada/Roussy had won against Reed/Ping? 

When asked about what it's like to make the Olympic team, Whitney Ping said, "It hasn't sunk in yet." Almost the same thing Mark Hazinski had said! (No, they weren't coached.) Whitney and Mark - were both asked about this - separately - and both said that they tended to think alike, with the same tastes, etc. They don't train together normally, living over a thousand miles apart, but they had traveled the world together on various training trips. 

On a side note, since Tawny Banh/Simone Yang didn't make the team, Tawny (who pre-qualified in singles) will most likely be playing doubles at the Olympics with Gao Jun (who also pre-qualified in singles). So the USA Olympic women's doubles teams will most likely be Gao Jun/Tawny Banh and Jasna Reed/Whitney Ping. 

The final women's standings were: