The 2004 USA Olympic Table Tennis Team

Athens, Greece · Aug. 14-23, 2004

Email from USA Olympian Tawny Banh on Aug. 14, 2004

Hello Everyone,

I just won my match against a So. Korean girl.  She was up 2-1 & 3-2 in games, but I came back to defeat her in the 7th game.  Gosh, it was such an exciting match!  The other 3 tables had already finished when my match was just going into the 3rd or 4th game.  All eyes were on my match.  Also, my match was displayed on the big screen monitor.  There were lots of Korean spectators cheering against me of course.  However, I had a little American crowd going on too.  The Greek spectators started to chant

K-O-R-E-A, K-O-R-E-A in the last 2 games, especially in the 7th.  It was very apparent that they were cheering against me because of the US war in Irag.  However, I didn't let it get to me.  It even led me to want to win and fight even more.  It pushed me to be more energized.  As a result, I started to even scream more and pump my fist.  When I led 10-6 in the 7th game, I was jumping and screaming.  Finally, I was running around when I won the match!

Bravo will air my match and Lupi's match today.  Please check your cable listings. 

-Tawny Banh