2004 U.S. Nationals
Las Vegas, Nevada • December 15-18, 2004

It was the ultimate contrast in styles, with the lefty two-winged spinning & lobbing "Lupi" versus the at-the-table pips-out-penholder blocker/hitter David. Lupi was the defending champion, winning the past two years, while David was a four-time champion - but at 41, four years older than Lupi's 37. 

For the first three games, Lupi mostly served short, and David would drop it short, usually to the forehand. This would bring Lupi in, and then David would attack his backhand. The result was David won the first three games, although not easily. David won the first 11-8. In the second, it was 8-8, then 11-8 again. Lupi seemed to get it together in game three, leading 8-5 - but he'd only score one more point that game. David, who usually plays a lot of change of pace, was playing a much faster game, blocking hard side to side, making Lupulesku move all over. Lupi seems to have gained some weight this past year, and was noticeably slower, with less range. Yet Lupi often seemed to dominate the rallies, and yet was down 0-3. Could he stage a comeback?

Lupi started serving more out in game four, taking away David's short receive. Lupi went up 5-0, and while David pulled to 7-5, Lupi won 11-7. In game five, David led 7-6, but didn't score another point. Amazingly, in losing 11-7, David scored five points when Lupi missed his serve - otherwise, he'd have lost 11-2! David was mixing in short, angled serves to Lupi's forehand - outside the forehand corner, usually just off the side - and deep serves to the backhand. 

Now down only 3-2, Lupi was back in the match, and he seemed once again to be dominating the rallies. But in the sixth, David's side-to-side blocking wore Lupi down, and from 3-3, David - helped by an edge - went up 6-3. Lupi played two great points to get to 6-5. Soon David led 9-7, but Lupi tied it on his serve, 9-all. So David would be serving for the match. And with two quick points, the match is David's, 8,8,9,-7,-7,9. David jumped in the air in victory, and raced to his wife/coach Joannie Fu's arm's, followed by a victory lap around the court where he shook hands with all six umpires/officials, as well as Lupi and his coach, Sasa Drinic. 

Cheng Yinghua vs. Khoa Nguyen

This was a match of Cheng's all-around steady game versus Khoa's greater power. Ultimately, Cheng's control was too great, and he was only threatened once in the match, in the first game. Up 7-5, Cheng lost four in a row as Khoa led 9-7, then 10-9. But Cheng backhand spun Khoa's serve off the bounce to deuce it as Khoa blocked off, and the rally was repeated exactly two points later when Khoa served from down 10-11 as Cheng won game one, 12-10. In the next two games, Cheng would dominate, winning at 7 & 6. Cheng was all over the court looping, while Khoa was erratic. Cheng's forehand flip was also taking its toll as he relentlessly went after most balls that Khoa dropped short. In the fourth, Cheng led 8-5, but Khoa - perhaps spurred on by the cheering California section of the crowd - battled back to 9-all. But it was not to be as he popped up Cheng's serve, and then backhand looped off as Cheng won, 10,7,6,9.

Men's Singles Final: Cheng Yinghua vs. David Zhuang

How many times have these two played? Who knows. Cheng had defeated David the day before, 4-1, but this was a whole new day as they prepared to play for the umpteenth time. 

Is this the first men's (or women's) final ever between two players over age 40? Cheng and David, age 46 and 41, had defeated youngsters Nguyen and Lupulesku, age 38 and 37, in the semifinals - with the average age of the four semifinalists/U.S. team members 40.5. Average age of the finalists? 43.5. Not a great day for USA youth development, but a great day for seniors - there is hope! 

This would be the first men's (or women's) final between two current members of the USATT Hall of Fame. 

Cheng started out routing David, leading 7-2, then 9-7, 10-7, 10-9. 

Cheng's starting nearly every rally to David's forehand (both returning serves there, and serving long there), and then blocking back to the backhand - the classic way of playing penholders. He's doing it over and over and over and over to the point where sometimes David's waiting for it - and yet it's still effective. What fueled David's comeback here, and the difficulties Cheng would face over the next few games, were a new strategy David and coach/wife Joannie Fu had cooked up. 

The day before, Cheng had also gone after David's forehand to start the rallies, and David's pips-out returns hadn't been effective. What 90% of the audience probably didn't notice, but what Cheng definitely noticed, and had great difficulty with, was that just as Cheng would serve, David would flip his racket to the inverted side, and loop with his forehand. Said wife/coach Joannie Fu, "Yesterday, Cheng served to David's forehand over ad over, and David's pips returns weren't very good. So we decided to use the inverted and loop many of his serves." Sometimes Cheng would have to deal with a pips-out loop or drive, sometimes an inverted loop, and he didn't look too comfortable against it. The new strategy worked, fueling Zhuang's near-comeback in game one, and leading to his 11-6 win in game two. Sometimes David would loop two in a row with inverted before switching back to the pips. David also started using sudden reverse penhold backhands - with the inverted side - and this too caught Cheng off-guard. Cheng wouldn't miss these shots too much, but his returns became tentative, and David would become the aggressor. 

But you can only ride a strategy like this so far, and while it was effective throughout the match, Cheng grew used to it, and the two battled it out. Cheng led throughout game three in winning 11-8, but David led throughout game four, also winning 11-8. However, at 10-6 for David, he called a time-out - a pulled groin muscle in his right leg. After the one-minute time-out was over, he was given an injury time-out, and had Joannie work on it for three minutes. Then David limped back to the table in noticeable pain. Cheng won the next two points, but David won 11-8. 

Over the next two games, David limped between points, often hopping on one foot between points. He seemed fast enough during the points, but it looked like he was in pain as he winced when he was moving, often very loudly. Cheng's strategy of moving him side to side didn't help - and David seemed to especially have trouble moving to his wide forehand, where Cheng liked to attack. Still, David stayed with Cheng, blocking and hitting, but Cheng slowly pulled away in winning 11-8. In the sixth, Cheng leads 8-5, but David pulls to 8-all, and actually limps to a 10-9 lead. But Cheng's loops and counters are just too steady, and helped by a net ball at 10-10, Cheng wins the game and match, 9,-6,8,-8,8,10. 

It is Cheng's fourth Men's Singles title, and the least likely. Who really thought that at age 46, he'd be able to go through the tournament undefeated in singles? He'd also win Over 40 Men's Singles and Mixed Doubles with Gao Jun. He didn't play Men's Doubles, but he played Over 40 Doubles with Dave Sakai, losing in the final to Barry Dattel/Lily Yip, his only loss of the tournament. But Cheng said he had extra incentive: he wanted to both be on the USA National Team and be National Champion when the 2005 Worlds are held in his native China. 

Of his match with David, Cheng said, "I served deep to his forehand and middle, and sometimes his backhand, sometimes topspin, sometimes backspin. It's because I have no power off his push, so I let him open and move him around." 

Men's 3-4 Playoff

There was a scheduled playoff between semifinalists Ilija Lupulesku and Khoa Nguyen, but Khoa defaulted, so Lupi came in third, Khoa fourth.

Men's 5-8 Playoffs

There is an unfunded fifth spot on the U.S. team. The crossovers were between the four players who finished 3rd and 4th in the quarterfinal round robins. In the first crossover, Han Xiao defeated Barney J. Reed 1,5,12,4, while Mark Hazinski defeated Eric Owens by default. However, Mark had an injury and defaulted his match to Han, so the final order of finish was:
5th Han Xiao; 6th Mark Hazinski; 7th Barney J. Reed; 8th Eric Owens

Women's Singles - Semifinals

Gao Jun vs. Tawny Banh

"To really have a chance against her, I need to play her more often," said Tawny Banh of Gao Jun. Gao's change-of-pace game does take time to get used to, and Gao doesn't usually give opponent's much time as she makes short work of them, mixing in jab blocks, dead blocks, sidespin blocks, quick pushes, and the ever-ready sudden forehand smash. "She smashed more than usual this time," Tawny said of Gao's hitting. Add in great serves and a probably even better return of serve, and it's no wonder Gao hasn't lost to a U.S. player in eight Nationals. Match to Gao, 5,7,4,9. But Tawny could take pride that she'd score more points - 25 - then Jasna would in the final....

Jasna Reed vs. Jackie Lee

...But first  Jasna would need to reach the final, and Jackie was hot this tournament. For two games, Jack stayed with Jasna, losing the first at 8, but storming back to win the second easily, 11-5. But from there on, Jasna's all-around topspin game, with forehand looping and backhand hitting and looping, dominated as she won the last three games easily in winning the match, 8,-5,5,5,2.

Final: Gao Jun vs. Jasna Reed

Like Tawny, you could see that Jasna simply wasn't comfortable against Gao's varied pips-out blocks and sudden hits. She warmed up for the match with coach Sasa Drinic, who was using inverted; perhaps they should have gotten a sheet of pips for her to warm up against? On the other hand, she did start out fast.  

Jasna went up 6-3 in the first, but would only score another 16 points the rest of the match as Gao won, 8,5,3,6. In game three, Gao led 10-1; in game four, Gao led 10-4 - and while many expected an exhibition point to end it, Jasna fought back, winning the next two points with nice rallies before Gao took the last point. 

It was Gao's eighth USA Women's Singles title, to go along with eight Women's Doubles titles (winning here with Tawny Banh) and seven Mixed Doubles titles (winning here with Cheng Yinghua, but not playing in it one year). Overall, she's 23 for 23 in events entered at the USA Nationals - a somewhat unbelievable record. 

Said Gao of her undefeated play, "I was so nervous!" When asked why she, who so dominated the competition, would be nervous, she said, "It's been two years since I played in the Nationals, and so I was worried about winning." She has been a student/athlete in China for three years (at the Eastern China University of Science and Technology), studying Economics Trade, and has one more year to go. (She still spends a month or so each year in Maryland, where she lived for six years before starting school in China.) She also said that this might be her last Nationals, although she's not yet sure what she'll do after she graduates. But she mentioned that the women's competition in the U.S. would be going up the following year, even in her absence, with Wang Chen and Crystal Huang both expected to become citizens by then. 

Women's 3-4 Playoff

Tawny Banh went up 2-1 in games against Jackie Lee, but had to come back the next two games. In game four, Jackie led 10-9 and 12-11, but Tawny wins, 14-12. In game five, Jackie again leads, this time 9-4 and 10-8, but helped by Jackie's missed smash at 10-9, Tawny wins, 12-10, to win 9,-9,5,12,12, and finish 3rd.

Women's 5-8 Playoffs

In the crossovers, Lily Yip defeated Virginia Sung, while Whitney Ping defeated Chen Dongye. In the match for 5th, Lily defeated Whitney. In the match for 7th, Chen defeated Virginia. So the order of finish was: 5th Lily Yip; 6th Whitney Ping; 7th Chen Dongye; 8th Virginia Sung. Here are the actual results:

Over 30

In the absence of the four semifinalists in Men's Singles - all well over age 30 - Shao Yu romped through the events, not losing a game. Tuan Le pushed him in the semifinals, but Shao won at 3,15,10. In a spectacular final, Shao defeated lobber/all-around topspinner James Therriault, 2,5,7. 

Junior Girls' Trials

These Trials had started the night before, but didn't finish until today. As expected, top-seed Judy came in first at 7-0, but she had to overcome a shaky start to do so.  In the first match of the trials, she played Wendy Eav, and lost the first two games at 5 & 4! But she won the next three at 6,8,3. Coming in second was Barbara Wei, 5-2, who had come in seeded seventh. She'd been a hitter for many years, but had been working hard on looping for the past year, and after a number of poor showings, finally made a major breakthrough. She said her return of serve was also greatly improved. Coming in third was Laura Xiao, also 5-2, but losing to Barbara head-to-head. Taking the last spot at 4-3 was Sophia Dan Dan Yi. So the final 2005 USA Junior Girls Team is: 1st Judy Hugh, 7-0; 2nd Barbara Wei, 5-2; 3rd Laura Xiao, 5-2; 4th Sophia Dan Dan Yi, 4-3. (See complete results of these and the other junior & cadet team trials.)

Boy's Primary School (Under 13) Singles

Marcus Jackson defeated Justen Yao in the final (-7,9,8,6), but it was in the semifinals, against sometimes-practice partner Joseph Wang, that he almost fell. Joseph won the first two games, and was up 10-8 match point in the fifth before Marcus pulled it out, -9,-8,6,4,11. 

Boys' Elementary School (Under 10) Singles

Neither Austin Preiss nor Alexander Yao lost a game in reaching the final, and the two dynamos (seeded #1 and #2) clashed in the final, which went the full distance, with Austin winning, 8,-10,4,-8,6. 

Girls' Primary School (Under 13) Singles

#2 seed Alicia Wei didn't lose a game in reaching the final, while #1 seed Olena Sowers lost only one (and pulled out a 15-13 game in winning the semifinal over Willa Tammy Gu, 1,13,8). In the final, after splitting a pair of 11-6 games, Sowers won the last two easily in winning at 6,-6,7,7.

Girls' Elementary School (Under 10) Singles

In an all-Bay Area matchup, Ariel Hsing defeated Lily Zhang in the final, 3,9,-8,4. Ariel earlier had won Under 1100 in front of a huge cheering crowd over a good-natured and three time her size Jon Shields, who hopefully got Ariel to autograph the photo of the two so he'll have it someday when Ariel goes on to table tennis greatness. 

Other Happenings

Ruben Kairy won the Dr. Michael Scott Umpire award, while Julian Waters once again won the Ironman Award for playing the most USATT tournament matches for the year. And USATT Vice President George Brathwaite, on winning Over 70 Singles and feeling charitable, donated his $300 prize money as prize money for the disabled events. 

Other Saturday Results

Under 2200 - Final: Earl James Alto d. Michael Wang, 6,10,11; SF: Alto d. Lloyd McQueen, 3,5,9; Wang d. Roland Bozo, -11,3,2,9; QF: Alto d. Ray Mack, -9,9,-9,9,5; McQueen d. Vineet Agarwal, 5,5,7; Bozo d. John Allen, def.; Wang d. Kit Jeerapaet, 8,-11,-8,17,7.

Under 2100 - Final: Kevin Phung d. Joseph Cochran, 7,-4,12,9; SF: Phung d. Wallace Liu, 5,9,9; Cochran d. Matthew Lee, -11,6,5,-5,9; QF: Lee d. Victor Leaung, -6,7,6,10; Cochran d. Don James Alto, 9,9,7; Phung d. Brent Swanson, 13,-4,10,10; Liu d. Masaru Hashimoto, -5,8,-9,7,7.

Under 1900 - Final: Brana Vlasic d. Josh Kuhn, 7,-9,-11,9,13; SF: Vlasic d. Gordon Cochran, 3,-8,9,9; Kuhn d. Chris Doyle, 8,10,-6,6.

Under 1700 - Final: Robert Trudell d. Willy Castillo Jr., 6,12,7; SF: Trudell d. Dan Seemiller Jr., 9,-9,-10,14,3; Castillo d. Jerry Marcum, 15,-11,7,13.

Under 1600/Over 40 - Final: Ronald Albright d. Jim Raymond, 4,2,3; SF: Albright d. Winston Ngai, 5,9,2; Raymond d. Martin Ventura, 8,7,-14,6.

Under 1100 - Final: Ariel Hsing d. Jon Shields, -9,15,6,8; SF: Hsing d. John James Alto, 7,9,8; Shields d. Arkadiy Ravin, 5,-9,7,7.

Standing Disabled Class 6-7 - Final: Norman Bass d. Robert Bowlander, 10,6,6

Standing Disabled Class 8-10 - Final: Ashraf Moustafa d. Mitch Seidenfeld, -12,11,-0,5,7.

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