By Larry Hodges
Men's Singles
In the first two rounds of men's singles - rounds of 64 and 32 - there were only two matches that went the distance - and both involved Florida's Kit Jeerapaet (2196). In the first round, he upset Yong Ren (2319), barely holding off Ren's comeback, 9,9,-4,-7,9. In the second round, against former U.S. junior champion Chi-Sun Chui, he almost pulled off the upset, leading 3-1 in a best of seven, with a lot of sevens: -7,7,-7,-7,6,7,7. Other than Kit's upset of Yong, there weren't any serious upsets in these first two rounds, although John Beaumont was up 2-1 on Khoa Nguyen before losing at -9,7,-9,6,4,3.
Men's Doubles
In the eighths, the "comeback kids" of Freddie Gabriel and Peter Zajac - former top juniors from just a few years ago who no longer look like kids - went up 2-0 on Texas Wesleyan's Eric Owens and Courtney Roberts, and had match point in the fourth. But it was not to be as Owens/Roberts came back, winning -9,-8,9,12,10. Three of the quarterfinals were straightforward, with Ilila Lupulesku/Mark Hazinski over Khoa Nguyen, 9,5,4; Santos Shih/Shao Yu over Hrach Javadian/Robert Shahnazari, 8,6,9; and David Zhuang/Barney J. Reed over Eric Owens/Courtney Roberts, 8,6,2. In a battle of the U.S. Junior Team, Misha Kazantsev/Auria Malek upset Han Xiao/Adam Hugh, 9,10,-5,7.
Women's Singles
Only one round of women's singles was played, with most of the top seeds getting a bye. All three matches actually played were quick 3-0's as the women came down to the final 16.
Women's Doubles
Top seeds Gao Jun & Tawny Banh romped, getting a bye in the quarters, a default from Michelle Do/Kyna Fong in the semifinals, and winning the final - their first match - at 9,6,7 over mother/daugher duo Lily Yip/Judy Hugh. It was still a good day for Lily, who was inducted into the USATT Hall of Fame that night.
Mixed Doubles
They played into the semifinals with no upsets - but one match almost didn't go as seeded. Barry Dattel/Judy Hugh won the first two games against #3 seeds Eric Owens/Tawny Banh, were up match point in the third, and led 7-3 in the fifth before losing in the quarterfinals, -8,-9,11,5,10. In the other quarterfinal matches, #1 seeds Cheng Yinghua/Gao Jun defeated Mark Hazinski/Whitney Ping, 8,5,-8,12; #2 seeds and defending champions Ilija Lupulesku/Jasna Reed defeated Auria Malek/Jackie Lee; and #4 seeds Adam Hugh/Lily Yip defeated Barney J. Reed/Michelle Do, 5,8,9.
Junior and Cadet Team Trials
The Junior and Cadet Team Trials for boys and girls played out to the quarterfinals, where there would be a final round robin group of eight. See Final Eight for each event.
Under 2400
After coasting through the first three rounds, #1 seed Samson Dubina found himself down 1-2 in games in the quarters, semis and final. In fact, in all three matches he won the first, then lost the next two. In the quarters, he barely pulled it out, 3,-8,-10,9,9 over Ren Yong. In the semis, it was 9,-8,-5,4,6. In the final he faced red-hot Jackie Lee, fresh off winning Under 22 Women the day before. Just as the day before, she'd battled it out with Judy Hugh in the semis, winning again, this time at 10,5,-10,9.
The final was a streaky match between the two-winged looping Samson versus the at the table, all-out attack of Jackie. Samson won the first 11-7. The key to the whole match may have come at 7-7 in the second when Jackie popped up an easy one - and Samson missed! Starting with that point, Jackie went on an 18-2 run, winning game three 11-1, and going up 3-1 in the fourth. For two rounds in a row, Samson had made his move here, winning the last two games. Once again he made his move, winning 6 of the next 7 go lead 7-4. But then it was Jackie's turn - 5 in a row, and she's leading 9-7! Samson takes a timeout, then wins the next point. Then Jackie serves off, 9-9! But serving up 9-9, it was not to be as Jackie won the next two points and the match, -7,7,1,9.
Over 50 Men - Final: Henry Chan d. Ray Mack, -4,8,-9,8,6; SF: Chan d. Henry McCoullum, 5,-8,3,9; Mack d. Eric Stamp, 7,4,-7,4; QF: Stamp d. Alireza Hejazi, 7,7,-9,8; Mack d. Richard Hicks, 9,6,9; McCoullum d. Tay Chong Keng, -11,-3,7,9,14; Chan d. George Cooper, 8,7,3.
Over 80 - Final: George Hendry d. Arthur Chase, 5,5,4; SF: Hendry d. Wiley Butler, 7,7,1; Chase d. Thelma Tybie Sommer, 5,7,5.
Under 2400 - Final: Jackie Lee d. Samson Dubina, -7,7,1,9; SF: Lee d. Judy Hugh, 10,5,-10,9; Dubina d. Courtney Roberts, 9,-8,-5,4,6; QF: Dubina d. Ren Yong, 3,-8,-10,9,9; Roberts d. Rudy Miranda, -7,7,6,9; Hugh d. Barry Dattel, 9,-10,10,8; Lee d. Tri Dinh, 7,-4,10,4.
Under 2300 - Final: Avishy Schmidt d. James Therriault, 7,5,9; SF: Schmidt d. David Umel Jr., 5,8,4; Therriault d. Tung Phan, -8,8,12,6; QF: Therriault d. Peter Zajac, 5,9,8; Phan d. Pan Lin, 7,2,-5,7; Umel d. David Rosenzweig, -9,8,9,9; Schmidt d. Virginia Sung, 10,6,8.
Under 2000 - Final: Victor Leung d. Ma Trung, 5,3,4; SF: Leung d. Don Alto, 10,-10,5,6; Ma d. Tai Nguyen, 9,7,-14,3; QF: Ma d. Julian Waters, 5,-7,6,0; Nguyen d. Matthew Lee, -6,11,6,11; Alto d. Parul Engineer, 8,10,15; Leung d. Ron von Schimmelmann, -7,7,7,-9,5.
Under 1900 Women - Final: Danuta Andrzejewska d. Chang Wan Yin, -8,7,7,6; SF: Andrzejewska d. Colleen Lee, -9,5,-5,9,4; Chang d. Luz Cordero Castro, 8,11,5.
Under 1400 - Final: Tomas Fuentes-Afflick d. Kevin Spencer, 6,9,7; SF: Fuentes-Afflick d. Ramon Giron,k 5,5,-6,-7,9; Spencer d. Anton Tullisov, 5,-7,8,-7,6.
Under 2000 Hardbat - Final: Noel Huermann d. Allen McDermott, 15,19; SF: Huermann d. James Rautis, 18,17; McDermott d. John Harrington, 14,8.
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