2004 USA Olympic Singles Trials

Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania · Jan. 13-18, 2004

 

 

Men's and Women's Final Twelve

By Larry Hodges

Day Four - Sunday, Jan. 18

 

Men's Round Ten

The Lupi-Barney match became the morning's controversy. Lupi led 9-2, but Barney scored 7 in a row, 9-all. Lupi led 10-9, Barney led 11-10, and then Lupi led 12-11. Barney then mishit a ball that hit both his racket and finger. The rulebook says that it is a lost point if the ball is hit "successively" - so if the shot hit the racket and finger at the same time, it's not a double hit, it's a legitimate return, and so counts. Umpire Chris Lehman ruled it hit both simultaneously, but Lupi does not agree, and argues the point strongly, asking spectators their opinion. When he does not return to the table to play when asked to, he is yellow carded. Finally, he returns, and play continues. It's Barney's serve - and he intentionally serves off, and then swats Lupi's serve way off the end, losing the game intentionally. "I didn't want to win and have people say I took the point," Barney explained afterwards. Lupi would go on to win 4-0. 

 

"Mark's having trouble with his long serves, and he's just not as sharp or confident as he was at the Nationals," said USA Men's Coach Dan Seemiller of Mark Hazinski's match with David Zhuang. And what a contrast with their Nationals' match! In the semifinals of men's singles at the Nationals, Mark won 7,6,9,3; this time, David wins 2,8,8,6. David was blocking and hitting superbly, much better than at the Nationals, and Mark definitely is not dominating play with his two-winged loops as he had before. 

 

Han Xiao had the edge on Adam Hugh for most of the first three games, leading 8-7 in the first, at 7-7 in the second, and up 9-7 in the third. The problem was finishing - and the fired up Adam outscored him 12-1 at the end of those games. The rallies breathtakingly fast, with Han looping all-out from both sides, barely backing up, while Adam would block and pick shots to counterloop. 

 

Tahl Leibovitz continued his sudden "rise" in the tournament. After losing his first six matches, Tahl has now won three of his last four, with wins over Ashu Jain, Darko Rop, and now Eric Owens. Eric led 3-1 in games, but Tahl kept fighting back, and won the last three relatively easily. "I'm just trying to play Sean's tactics," said Tahl afterwards, of Coach Sean O'Neill. "Sean won that match."

 

Khoa had to battle with Ashu Jain, but won the last three games at 9 or deuce to stay on track. 

 

Darko Rop came back from down 1-2 to win in six, dominating at the end with his return of serve and consistent topspinning and blocking. 

 

Women's Round Ten

Tawny was on fire against Gao - she dominated the first game, battled the second, and in the third, won from down 7-10. Not too many people can do this with Gao. Tawny was attacking all-out, but her relentless forehand attack seemed especially effective. In the fifth, Tawny went up 6-1, but Gao tied it at 7-all and won at 8. Tawny was also strong in the sixth, but Gao was now at the top of her game as well - almost never missing, mixing the speeds, spins and directions up, and smashing more. 

 

Virginia Sung, who hasn't really played well these Trials, suddenly was playing much better in her match against Michelle Do. She still tended to play to passively, rarely attacking, but her chopping was much steadier than before. 

 

The other matches went as seeded, all 4-0. Laura Leach went up 7-0 in the first game against Whitney Ping, but couldn't pull it out. 

 

With her win over Judy Hugh, Jackie is now 6-3. Even if she loses to Virginia Sun in the last round, and Lily Yip wins against daughter Judy Hugh, Jackie will get the fourth spot on the USA National Team, since she'd be tied in this case with Lily at 6-4, but won head to head. So the USA Women's National Team is set - Gao Jun, Jasna Reed, Tawny Banh and Jackie Lee. Going to Canada for the North American Trials will be Jasna Reed and Tawny Banh (Gao pre-qualified). At the North American Trials, the two USA women will play off against three Canadian women (Petra Cada, Chris Xu, and one other not known yet) for the three North American spots. (Canada has a trials for the top two, and the coaches pick the third.)

 

Men's Round Eleven

Lupi and David Zhuang didn't want to play this match, said it was a meaningless match since both advanced anyway, and it wouldn't even affect the order of finish. But the players had been told at the team meeting before the tournament that all matches must be played, and anyone intentionally defaulting would be out of the Trials. As the match is about to begin, David protests a video camera that is going to record the match - by a Canadian scout! Canada had sent two coaches to watch the USA players, and had been videotaping during the tournament - but few even noticed until today. So David protested, but the referee ruled that since videotaping had been allowed throughout the tournament, and no restrictions had been set up, to allow the taping. So play they did, with Lupi winning easily this time - but neither really seemed to be going all-out, either because the match was meaningless, or because it was being taped by the Canadians.. (David had won two of the last three times they'd played.) 

 

The two big matches this round were Han Xiao versus Khoa Nguyen, and Adam Hugh versus Darko Rop.  Han is 6-4, Adam 5-5, but Adam won head-to-head, and so wins if the two are tied. (If Eric wins this round, he's 6-5, and could force a 3-way tie, but in the three-way tie, it'd be Adam, Han then Eric.) If Han wins his match, or if Adam loses his, then Han gets the fourth spot on the USA National Team, Adam the fifth spot. If Han loses, and Adam wins, then Adam is fourth, Han fifth. Some thought Han was in trouble - Khoa's been playing hot. However, Han dominated the start of most rallies with his backhand loop and varied receive, and forced Khoa to block more than he'd like. Han leads the first two games from start to finish. In the third, Khoa leads 10-7, wins 11-9. In the fourth, Khoa leads 9-6, but Han ties it at 9-all - but Khoa gets two net points in a row (!) to win 11-9. In the fifth, it's close all the way, but from 9-all, Han wins the last two. In the sixth, the two raise the pace of play - whoever attacks is ripping it harder and harder, and the blocks are faster and quicker. But Han is still mostly the aggressor, pinning Khoa down on the backhand with his backhand loop. Khoa pulls off several great counterloops, but Han gradually pulls away. Up 9-5, Han rips a backhand loop down the line, Khoa absolutely rips it with a forehand off-the-bounce counterloop - and Han absolutely rips it right back with a forehand counterloops right off the bounce. The three shots happened so fast that a normal person couldn't have even reacted. "I saw him swinging, and anticipated where he'd go," Han said.) Han wins, and clinches the fourth spot on the USA National Team with a 7-4 record. 

 

Adam, of course, is battling with Darko Rop, and knows half his fate is in his hands. Darko almost runs away with the first, leading 5-0, and wins 11-8. Adam romps in the second. The third game is the key game of the match. Adam leads 6-3, loses four in a row, and soon it's 9-9. Darko then has three straight game points - 10-9, 11-10 and 12-11, but can't convert, and ends up losing 14-12. The two battle for three more games, with Adam pulling another close 11-9 win in game four to go up 3-1, and finally winning in six. 

 

After Mark Hazinski won the first three games against Ashu Jain, it looked over, but Ashu won the next two. If Ashu does win, Mark drops to fourth on the USA National Team, and suddenly Han Xiao would be playing ahead of him. But Mark wins the sixth easily. 

 

Tahl continued to surprise with his near win over Barney J. Reed. Tahl has three wins, over Eric Owens, Darko Rop and Ashu Jain - and all three were 7-gamers, and the last two were deuce-in-the-7th, with Tahl down match point both times (four times with Darko, once with Ashu). Against Barney, it was another 7-gamer - but Barney pulled it out, 11-9 in the 7th. 

 

Brian Pace has a history of doing very well against certain players - Jim Butler and Eric Owens to name two. (Han Xiao is another.) It was a meaningless match for both, as they played for placement, rating and pride, with Brian winning this time - in seven. 

 

So the USA Men's National Team is set - David Zhuang, Khoa Nguyen, Mark Hazinski and Han Xiao. Going to Canada for the North American Trials will be Ilija Lupulesku (who's not eligible for the USA National Team since he represented Yugoslavia in the past three years), David Zhuang and Khoa Nguyen. At the North American Trials, the three USA men will play off against three Canadian men (Johnny Huang, Pradeeban Peter-Paul, and one other not known yet, but probably Bence Csaba) for the three North American spots. (As mentioned above, Canada has a trials for the top two, and the coaches pick the third. Csaba was sick and didn't play, and presumably will be picked over Faazil Kassam, who finished third.) 

 

Women's Round Eleven

This round did not affect the teams, and had only minor effect on the final standings. Virginia continued her stronger play, defeating Jackie Lee, while Lily Yip won against daughter Judy Hugh, and so Jackie and Lily were tied - but Jackie won head-to-head, and so finishes fourth. Whitney won surprisingly easily against Michelle Do, and so finished sixth, tied with Virginia (seventh, since she lost head-to-head against Whitney). Complete standings are below. 

 

Final Standings

Women

Men
1. Gao Jun 10-0 1. Ilija Lupulesku 11-0
2. Jasna Reed 8-2 2. David Zhuang 9-2
3. Tawny Banh  8-2 3. Khoa Nguyen 8-3
4. Jackie Lee 6-4 4. Mark Hazinski 7-4
5. Lily Yip 6-4 5. Han Xiao 7-4
6. Whitney Ping 5-5 6. Adam Hugh 6-5
7. Virginia Sung 5-5 7. Eric Owens 5-6
8. Michelle Do 4-6 8. Barney J. Reed 4-7
9. Judy Hugh 2-8 9. Tahl Leibovitz 3-8
10. Laura Leach 1-9 10. Darko Rop 3-8
11. Wan Yee Cheung 0-10 11. Brian Pace 2-9
12. Ashu Jain 1-10

 

Pre-Qualified for Olympics Gao Jun
Women going to North American Olympic Trials Jasna Reed, Tawny Banh
Men going to North American Olympic Trials Ilija Lupulesku, David Zhuang, Khoa Nguyen
USA National Women's Team Gao Jun, Jasna Reed, Tawny Banh, Jackie Lee
USA National Men's Team David Zhuang, Khoa Nguyen, Mark Hazinski, Han Xiao

 

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