By Larry Hodges
Adam Hugh d. Brian Pace, 11,2,8,7
Khoa Nguyen d. Tahl Leibovitz, 7,6,8,-9,6
Ilija Lupulesku d. Han Xiao, 10,3,5,3
Darko Rop d. Ashu Jain, 7,-9,7,-8,6,7
Eric Owens d. David Zhuang, 5,9,14,7
Barney J. Reed d. Mark Hazinski, 7,6,-7,-9,9,10
A match this round (during which I was recruited to umpire the Nguyen-Leibovitz match) was Barney J. Reed vs. Mark Hazinski. Mark always has trouble with lefty Barney's serves, and no wonder - it's doubtful if he saw contact a single time during the match. (Mark's serves aren't always so legal either as he tends to throw the ball backwards - but that's not as big an advantage as hidden serves.) Barney won the first two, Mark the next two - with Barney almost winning the fourth from down 10-4 before losing 11-9. Barney won the fifth, and Mark was about to win the sixth, leading 10-8 - but Barney won the next four in a row to pull it out.
Eric Owens and David Zhuang played a spectacular match, but Eric won the two close games, winning the third 16-14 after David had three ads.
Virginia Sung d. Judy Hugh, -9,-12,5,-12,4,2,5
Jackie Lee d. Laura Leach, 6,3,6,14
Whitney Ping d. Wan Yee Cheung, 8,4,7,8
Gao Jun d. Lily Yip, -6,7,7,4,6
Jasna Reed d. Tawny Banh, 10,-9,9,9,5
Judy Hugh played a brilliant match against chopper Virginia Sung (with inverted on the forehand, short pips on the backhand), but it wasn't quite enough to pull off the upset. Judy had been practicing against stepfather Barry Dattel's chopping. Judy would loop over and over, moving Virginia around, working for the shot to end with a smash. After winning the first 11-9, Judy was down 3-9 in the second - and won six in a row. Virginia led 10-9, but Judy, with all the other ads, won that game 14-12. In the fourth, Judy led 10-7 and 11-10 before finally winning 13-11. But from there on it was all mostly Virginia.
Jasna Reed won three of the four close games against Tawny Banh, and that was the deciding factor in the match between the #2 and #3 players.
Wan Yee Cheung hasn't won any games yet, but she gave Whitney Ping some good points. Wan is a pips-out penholder, but with inverted on the back of the racket. On the backhand, she attacks with a reverse side penhold backhand, using the inverted.
Lily Yip won the first against Gao Jun, and also led 7-6 in the third - but Gao won the last five, and it was all Gao from there on.
Laura Leach got hot at the end - nothing to lose - and had several ads before losing that last game against Jackie Lee, 16-14.
Ilija Lupulesku d. Adam Hugh, 6,9,5,2
Han Xiao d. Darko Rop, 7,-12,7,7,9
Khoa Nguyen d. Brian Pace, 7,4,9,7
Eric Owens d. Ashu Jain, 9,3,6,4
Mark Hazinski d. Tahl Leibovitz, 2,-10,3,5,1
David Zhuang d. Barney J. Reed, 4,6,-7,5,9
Things went mostly as expected this round, with the only upset Han Xiao's 4-1 win over Darko, a battle of Darko's steady looping and blocking versus Han's two-winged close-to-the-table attack. Darko never gives up a point, seems to never miss - you have to earn every point.
"What were you thinking?!!!" Barney yelled after missing a backhand loop against David Zhuang late in the fifth game, and he slammed a ball out of the court in disgust. Of course, at the time he'd looped about seven or eight in a row that rally, all very hard - and David had systematically blocked them back, all over the table. Getting through David isn't easy. Match to David Zhuang.
Tahl Leibovitz scored more points in the game he won than the four he lost against Mark Hazinski. Tahl's a control player with a nice backhand loop, but when Mark's on, control doesn't fair well against his power, unless you're Lupi - who's only lost one game so far (against Brian Pace).
At this point, Ilija Lupulesku and Khoa Nguyen are undefeated at 5-0; Mark Hazinski and David Zhuang have only one loss.
Jackie Lee d. Michelle Do, -6,11,-9,-5,8,6,8
Whitney Ping d. Judy Hugh, 5,9,6,1
Lily Yip d. Laura Leach, 3,4,4,2
Tawny Banh d. Wan Yee Cheung, 3,8,2,4
Gao Jun d. Jasna Reed, 6,6,3,5
Michelle dominated most of the first four games with her two-winged looping and hitting. In the fifth, she led 6-4, when Jackie, in disgust at losing a point, swatted the ball out of the court. She then called a timeout, calmed down - and proceeded to win three straight. In the seventh, Jackie led 7-4, Michelle tied it at 7-all, then Jackie went up 10-7 match point - and won on a net, 11-8.
As to the other four matches this round ... well ... Gao and Jasna played a great exhibition at the end.
Han Xiao d. Eric Owens, 12,9,4,9
Khoa Nguyen d. Adam Hugh, 13,-4,12,-12,5,6
Ilija Lupulesku d. Darko Rop, 9,9,2,4
David Zhuang d. Tahl Leibovitz, 6,7,8,-10,8
Barney J. Reed d. Ashu Jain, 10,6,8,7
Mark Hazinski d. Brian Pace, 4,7,-9,3,7
The major upset this round was Han Xiao's 4-0 win over Eric Owens. Han's backhand loop and greatly improved short game (with quick, long pushes mixed in) seemed to give Eric trouble, and Eric never was able to consistently get his forehand into play. In the first, Han led 10-7, and had every ad until he finally won, 14-12. (From 10-7 on, until the last point, the receiver won every point.) Han pulled out all three of the close games.
Another match that might have a major impact was Khoa Nguyen's 4-2 win over Adam Hugh, with some of the best rallies of the round. Three of the first four games couldn't have been closer. Adam led the first 10-7 and 12-11, but Khoa wins, 15-13. Adam romps in the second, 11-4. Khoa goes up 6-1 in the third, but Adam comes back and leads 10-9 and 12-11, but again loses, 14-12. In the fourth, Khoa is again about to win, up 10-8 and 11-10, but losing 14-12. Three game points for Khoa to go up 3-1, but now it's only 2-2. (On the other hand, even if Khoa had won that game, Adam would have outscored him at this point, thanks to the 11-4 second game.) From here on, it's mostly Khoa, 5 & 6.
The David Zhuang-Tahl Leibovitz match actually received a protest afterwards. Why? Up 3-0 and leading 8-4 in the fourth, David and Tahl played about three points left-handed. After some exhibition play, Tahl had come back to win the fourth, 12-10! But David is not to be denied in the fifth, although it was 11-8 close.
"I can't win when it gets close!" said Ashu Jain of his match with Barney J. Reed. Barney won all the points at the end of each game, 10,6,8,7.
Darko Rop battled with Lupulesku for two games, then ran out of steam. Before the match, someone predicted he'd battle with Lupi for two games, lose the last two at about 3 and 4. Darko got 9 in each of the first two games, but only 2 and 4 in the last two.
Brian Pace and Mark Hazinski was a power-looping duel, but Mark's backhand and return of serve were just too strong, although Brian won the third game.
Current Standings |
||
| 1-2. | Ilija Lupulesku | 6-0 |
| 1-2. | Khoa Nguyen | 6-0 |
| 3-4. | Mark Hazinski | 5-1 |
| 3-4. | David Zhuang | 5-1 |
| 5-8. | Han Xiao | 3-3 |
| 5-8. | Adam Hugh | 3-3 |
| 5-8. | Barney J. Reed | 3-3 |
| 5-8. | Eric Owens | 3-3 |
| 9-10. | Darko Rop | 1-5 |
| 9-10. | Brian Pace | 1-5 |
| 11-12. | Ashu Jain | 0-6 |
| 11-12 | Tahl Leibovitz | 0-6 |
Whitney Ping d. Virginia Sung, 8,8,6,11
Lily Yip d. Michelle Do, 7,-9,5,9,-8,3
Tawny Banh d. Judy Hugh, -9,11,9,-9,5,6
Jasna Reed d. Laura Leach, -6,6,6,10,5
Gao Jun d. Wan Yee Cheung, 4,3,7,7
Through Round Six, there have been 30 women's matches - and so far, the higher rated player has won 29. The lone "upset"? Jackie Lee (2301) over Whitney Ping (2302). Yes, a one-point upset, and that's it. (However, in new ratings not used for seeding, Jackie's still 2301, but Whitney's up to 2355.)
"I served a lot of dead balls, and attacked her middle," said Whitney Ping of her match with chopper Virginia Sung. It worked, 8,8,6,11. Virginia, who uses short pips on the backhand, has been playing very passive this tournament. She used to attack much more.
Michelle Do battled with Lily Yip, but in game six, Lily's smashes and jab-blocks - right off the bounce - were on fire.
The surprise of the round was Judy's close match with Tawny Banh. You'd think this match was a year or so away, but the two battled dead even the first four games, going 2-2, three 11-9's and a 13-11. Judy won the first at 9, and led 7-2 in the second - then was down 9-10. She had the ad at 11-10, but couldn't pull it out. She won game four to tie the match up at 2-2 - and so had been one point away from possibly being up 3-1. Tawny was able to pull away the last two games, but none of the rallies were easy. Judy's backhand countering and blocking often seemed impregnable, leading to mistakes by Tawny - but often in the 4th or 5th attacking shot in the rally. "My forehand was erratic the first few games," Tawny Banh said of the match. "Her backhand was steady."
Laura Leach had a moment where she was on the verge of really battling it out with Jasna Reed - down 2-1, but 10-all in the fourth.
Gao was Gao.
Current Standings |
||
| 1. | Gao Jun | 6-0 |
| 2-3. | Jasna Reed | 5-1 |
| 2-3. | Tawny Banh | 5-1 |
| 4. | Lily Yip | 4-2 |
| 5. | Jackie Lee | 3-2 |
| 6. | Whitney Ping | 3-3 |
| 7. | Virginia Sung | 2-3 |
| 8-9. | Michelle Do | 1-4 |
| 8-9. | Judy Hugh | 1-4 |
| 10-11. | Laura Leach | 0-5 |
| 10-11. | Wan Yee Cheung | 0-5 |
Back to 2004 USA Olympic Trials Home Page
| |
| USA Table Tennis - Serving the Table Tennis Community |
| |