The
2004 USA Paralympic Table Tennis GamesThe
2004 USA Paralympic Table Tennis GamesAthens, Greece · Sept. 18-27, 2004
We decided to take the 7:15am bus to the venue late last night to guarantee
we wouldn't have any difficulties with potential traffic. Both Tahl and
Wayne said, "Better to be safe then to sit in traffic and give up practice
time." We left our dorm at 6:45am in the dark and grabbed a
McDonald's for the road.
Jennifer and TR arrived at 8:30 to help us for our final and pivotal match
against Japan in pool play. We decided to really mix up the order by
playing Tahl as our weak player to put instant pressure on their #1 player,
Tomioka. Tahl had lost to Tomioka in the singles in the round robin 3-0.
Lucky for Tahl he was moved to the other side of the draw and although he had to
play an extra singles match he advanced all the way to the semi's before winning
the bronze.
In the USA-Japan match it was critical for both Tahl and Wayne to beat the #2
Japanese player and then to take the doubles. Tahl's match against Tomioka
was a freebie opportunity to beat them badly. After a very good warm-up
which included doubles, Tahl blazed through his first match mixing up his
attacks and angled shots very similar to his bronze medal singles match against
the #2 player in the world from Hungary. The final score was 3-0 in Tahl's
match and it wasn't event that close! Tahl showed everyone that his bronze
in the singles was no fluke by beating the #3 player so sounding.
Next match appeared to be a gimme with Wayne playing their #2 player. Wayne
dominated the first two games and then built a lead in the 3rd. Japan knew it
had to pull an upset to get back to ground zero. Call it nerves or lack of
international experience but Japan managed to claw back and tie the team match
up 1-1. The ever important doubles was next up and this was now a must win
for us. Tahl and Wayne played perfectly to go up 2-0 in games, but then we
returned to unpleasantville. Easy mistakes, poor shot selection and just
awful execution created an even 2-2 game match. Japan took the first point in
the final game and I could feel our golden chances of advancing going right down
the tubes.
Tahl's decided he wanted to play more and stepped up and took control of the
table and the match. 11-4 to USA and now we had some real breathing room leading
2-1 in matches. Wayne went down to Tomioka and then Tahl dispatched of the
#2 Japanese player in straight games for the victory. During the Doubles I go my
first yellow card for excessive cheering but that wasn't as bad as TR getting
the "shush" from the umpire for cheering from the stands!
We came back at 2pm and ate lunch and caught up on e-mail. We just found
out the US Men's team lost in the quarters of the wheelchair basketball. The
women coached by my roommate are in the semi's versus Canada at 7:45pm tonight.
We'll be cheering at the athletes' lounge instead of heading over to the game.
We finished up the day by watching video's of our previous match with the Dutch
from the US Open in Colorado Springs last year.
Today started the team event for us even though one round had already been
played. Since two teams will be advancing from our group the #2 vs. #3
seed match will be last this is the reason we are facing the #1 seed in our
first match. If we could steal this match against #1 seed Austria it would
really make life in the semi-finals easier. But then again no match is
easy here and Tahl showed that sometimes a tougher draw can turn out to be a
better one if you are playing well.
Our match was at 2pm and we left the village at 10am. It seems we go
through the same rituals each time. Wayne meets us at the bus; I take his
bag on wheels to save time. We arrive at the venue and Tahl heads for the
racket preparation room to glue up both his primary and back-up paddles. I
start with Wayne in the training hall and then Tahl joins us. So far 2
players have been disqualified for illegal glue; one standing player from Czech
and one wheelchair player from Hong Kong.
Both teams used our strong order with the 4th match pitting Tahl and Fraczyk in
a rematch of the semi's in class 9. Since they had AB and we had XY, Wayne
started out against Fraczyk. Wayne played very well be was over matched by
a player who has won as many able body tournaments as he has disabled.
Austria 1 USA 0. Tahl went out and evened the score but dropped a game in
the process. Austria 1 USA 1. The doubles was a must win if we were
to steal a victory. We started well and had game point but lost it with a
long serve to the #2 Austria. From there it was downhill in the doubles,
they cruised in games two and three without to much resistance from us.
Austria 2 USA 1. Tahl and Fraczyk then headed to center court to have
their first rematch of the tournament. Each game was tight but Tahl still
couldn't finish off the veteran player originally from Poland. In the
final game Tahl had a little lead that evaporated as quickly as Stanislaw's
ripping forehand loop drive. Game, Set, Match and Tie to Austria 3-1.
We are now in a must win situation with our next and final round robin match
with Japan. The are very beatable but we are going to need to place
pressure on their second player and win the doubles to ensure victory.
We came back to the village around 5pm and took naps as we were mentally spent.
A late night dinner and visit to the laundry gave us a little exercise in the
cool breeze of Athens. We found out that the USA Rugby team lost to Canada
24-21 and now must play for the bronze after going undefeated in pool play.
Today the team event started, but we had a bye since there are only 3 teams
in our pool. The other pool has 4 teams and the top two teams will advance
to the medal round. In our round robin are Austria and Japan and in the
other are Holland, Iran, Croatia and Taiwan.
The team went over at 9:15 am to get an extra morning practice. Wayne and
I worked on blocking and attack while Jenn scoped out the Women's class 4-5 team
event. Tahl came over in time for the 1pm match between Japan and Austria
so we could watch it as a team and analyze the players.
Austria won 3-0 as Japan pulled the old switcharoo and placed their #1 player
Tomioka in the weaker position and he was beaten sounding by Frazyck 3-0.
The second player from Japan is rather weak and both Wayne and Tahl should do
fine against him. Their #1 player Tomioka beat Tahl easily in the singles
round robin 3-0 so it might come down to the doubles. If Tahl can get some
revenge, we should do well.
Tomorrow's match is with Austria and Tahl will have another shot of Class 9 Gold
Medalist Stanislaw Frazyck. Match time is 2pm at Galatsi Stadium. If
we can surprise Austria and take care of Japan then we can get the upper hand in
the semi's and play the #2 team from the other group.
The team came back around 5pm and I stayed around to attend IPTTC meetings until
6pm. The US women's wheelchair basketball team beat Japan 70-33. We
ate dinner with coach Ron Lykins and discussed the game. He is really
enjoying Tahl's company and we are talking about inviting him to the US Open
next summer since he visits Chicago often.
We had a day off in between the singles and team event and went out to
support our teammates. We cheered for the US tennis and women's wheelchair
basketball team at Aoka. David Wagner who played for the table tennis team
at the 2002 World Championships won highly contested semi-finals over teammate
Nick Taylor to guarantee a silver medal in quad singles.
The women's wheelchair basketball team dominated Great Britain by the score of
74-24. Coach Ron asked Tahl if he wanted to sit on the bench! Ron
was pulling Tahl's leg, but they still went through what Tahl would say in the
time-outs just in case.
After the game Tahl congratulated the team as they left the court. Even
funnier, at half-time he went to give them some encouragement as they headed for
the locker room and said, "Great Game!" Which one player
replied, "We have another half!" Tahl is kind of their official
mascot as many of them know his story and are cheering for him and Wayne in the
Teams.
We took it easy in the evening and did emails and blogs and got to bed at a
reasonable time.
Jennifer headed over to watch the morning competition while the boys slept in. Tahl and I went for a 20 minute run to help him get his feet moving for tonight's 5pm Bronze Medal match with the #2 player in the World from Hungary in Class 9.
After we got back in the room we went over Brad Gilbert's book, "Winning Ugly" to put together our mental game plan and to use some strategies for dealing with pressure. This book is a must read for those wanting to win big matches when it counts.
We ate lunch and then visited the village laundry service to get Tahl's 40 pairs of socks for the day! The entire team (Jenn, Wayne, TR, Tahl and I) loaded the bus at 3pm to get to the venue in plenty of time for a reglue, stretch, warm-up and visit to Rule 61 area. Rule 61 is where they check all the clothing of the coaches and players for trademark violations plus ball selection and service flip.
After a very strong warm-up we made our way to the staging area and got our game faces on. It really helped to have Jennifer, Wayne and TR in our corner supporting Tahl. When a whole team is there to support you it really makes a difference. TR (our trainer) yelled from the stand great words of encouragement while Jenn and I did our best from behind the table.
Tahl started out strong and was on the balls of his feet the entire match. The game plan was to keep Zborai off balanced and out of his blocking game by mixing up the openings and the amount of spin on Tahl's shots. The plan worked perfectly and Zboria was completely perplexed at how to get his game going. Tahl had a number of combination loopkills where he set the finishing ball up with 4 strong heavy loops. Zboria is known for his amazing blocking skills and strong will. I guess Leibovitz will now be known for his heavy rips and strong touch game on the short balls! The match was very similar to my first win over Eric Boggan in the 1987 US Nationals for $5000. I changed my game plan to force the great blocking Eric to attack first and then counterattack. Tahl did the exact same. Let the Hungarian open up and then ripped him to the corners. A classic shutout. The match was over in less than 15 minutes and TEAM USA had its first medal of Athens for table tennis. The awards ceremony was pretty awesome with the American flag next to the Austrian flag of Stanislaw Fraczyk, the Class 9 winner.
We all stayed and watch the class 10 and 4 finals before departed for the Village. My roommate Ron Lykins was the first face we saw when we got to our compound and he was thoroughly impressed by Tahl's achievement and performance. Ron is one of our unofficial teammates and fits in perfectly with our daily antics. Tomorrow we will go and watch tennis and then some women's basketball where Ron will be coaching on our day off.
The Chef de Mission, Jeanne Picarillo and Scott Douglas both congratulated Tahl along with Joe Walsh and Laura Ryan of USOC Paralympics. Everyone is so proud of his efforts, especially me. Hard work and dedication to pay off and Tahl has a beautiful Medal to prove it. This should really make a great impact on the kids of AYTTO as they look up to Tahl as a role model in their after school table tennis programs. Our team really rallied around him and I know he appreciates it as he has thanked all of us for our support.
A real great day for USA Table Tennis.
Tahl is the only US player left in singles so everyone along with "TR" St. Charles our trainer headed over to Galatsi Olympic Stadium to support our legendary and most colorful player. Tahl's opponent from Taipei, Chih Shan Hsu won the last time they played and is a excellent server and has great touch. Chih's side to side mobility is his Achilles heal and the primary weakness we targeted. Tahl also focused on staying close to the table and opening with heavy spin at every opportunity.
After trailing 6-2 Tahl stormed back to take the first game. After winning the first, Tahl was able to continue to exploit the wide angles and won 3-0, earning his a slot in the semi-finals and medal round. This was easily Tahl's best performance against a very capable opponent that won his round robin group convincingly.
We all came back to the village for some R & R prior to the semi-finals match. Tahl's semi final opponent was Stanislaw Fraczyk from Austria. I played Fraczyk in the 1989 Worlds when USA beat Austria 5-3 to move into the top division. Fraczyk even played Danny Seemiller in the 1975 Worlds in Calcutta along with being the Polish national champion 10 times. His style is very similar to the older Europeans (Jonyer, Klampar. etc) with a very heavy sidespin serve and a monster forehand rip to either corner. His disability has to do with his right ankle where he wears a brace for support. Oh, I forgot to mention he has beaten JO Waldner in a European Grand Prix event!
Our game plan was very simple to follow, but more difficult to execute. Open off of each long serve with good spin and stay on offense. The first two games were over before you could say, "pushing side-top serves isn't going to help." In game three Tahl decided he was going to attack the serves and it paid off with a 6-2 early lead. However, Fraczyk had other plans and looped two of Tahl's half long serves to get back into the game. The streak continued and the game and match were over with the final game going to the Austrian 11-6.
There was no dishonor losing to a player of Fraczyk's ability other than the missed chance to go for the gold in the event. On the other side a Chinese player, Xiao Lei Lu destroyed Hungary's Gyula Zborai 11-1, 7-11, 11-1 and 11-3. This will set up a finals of Fraczyk and Xiao and a bronze medal match of Tahl and Zborai.
We had a group morning practice in the main hall and then headed for the Acropolis. This was my second time to see this ancient wonder. The city of Athens recently made the Acropolis wheelchair accessible for the first time. It was a little scary to go up the side of the wall with Jennifer but we made it safely. We took plenty of pictures and then visited the museum. Tahl didn't seem to appreciate the 300-500 B.C. artwork but the others of us did. We did some shopping at the bottom of the street for some Paralympic gear before taking taxi's back to the venue to watch the draws being done.
The draws look fine but the competition is tougher than ever. There really are no easy matches for anyone. The qualification system is very similar to the Olympics with world rankings and regional tournaments, for us it was the Para Pan Am Games in Brazil last November.
After the draws I had a team leader meeting explaining the procedures for Rule 61 for the Paralympics. Basically it limits the advertising on any article of clothing or object going onto the field of play. I had to fold my socks over; while Tahl had to place black tape over the logos on his shoes which were deemed too large. Even bottles of water had to have their labels removed. The funniest story was one that an official told me when he had the logo on his laptop covered when he wasn't looking.
I took the bus back alone from the venue (the players took an earlier bus after getting a second practice in on the training tables) and went to bed at a reasonable hour - midnight.
Got up at 5:55am with my roommate Ron Lykins for biking and running at the Village Gym. This is my down time to help me focus for the day.
We had a great team practice today. Everyone was fighting hard and we had a chance to play in the main tournament hall. I worked out with Jennifer and Tahl and Wayne did drills. We have a wonderful athletic trainer named "TR" St. Charles. He has been a real great help with our sore and tight muscles. We also have many great USOC resources helping our team from our own Press Liaison, Transportation Coordinator, Sports Science, Athlete Service Coordinators and many more.
Tahl got a chance to work with Dr. Hilyer a sports psychologist for the first time. I can see it already helping Tahl in his approach to the conditions and competition. We also got cell phones today which will make my job easier as a combo team leader and coach.
After practice we came back and our suitemate John Kessel coach of seated Volleyball treated us to some free leftover gear from the Olympic Volleyball team. We got some official shorts and shoes. The one thing you can say about the US delegation is that we are an entire team. All sports are pulling for each other and we always wish each other luck. Jennifer is sharing a room with Lindsey from Archery and the two are really supporting each other. This is Jennifer's 11th Paralympics so her experience is invaluable for a first timer like Lindsey.
After dinner Tahl and I finished up converting video tapes to DVDs and Wayne got a free haircut in the village. Jennifer represented table tennis at the Team Captain's meeting where the flag bearer was chosen. It is a secret so we will have to wait until Opening Ceremonies to find out.
Answered a few emails and got to bed a bit early 11:45pm for once.
Managed to wake up on only a few hours of sleep to work out at the gym and felt much better for the effort.
Traveling back and forth from the village is getting a little tiring, but our touch is coming along. I practiced with Tahl and Wayne and Jennifer hit. Wayne and Tahl decided to train a little longer with the Mexican team members while Jennifer came back early and visited with some of her former teammates from Jamaica.
Tahl and Wayne watched a number of matches on DVD of our opponents and I helped point out strengths and weaknesses. Wayne really got a ton of benefit as he hadn't seen some of these matches before. Our confidence in a solid game plan for the team event will benefit from this extra preparation.
Chatted with roomate Ron about his day's trip to the Acropolis with the Women's wheelchair basketball team and it looks like we will attempt a trip of our own based on his recommendation.
I went to bed a bit late (2am) last night due to answering emails and starting up this Athens blog for USATT. On the way back to the dorm I ran into Ron Lykins (USA's Women's Wheelchair Basketball Coach) and he asked if I wanted to workout at 6am in the Village Gym. Without thinking I said sure as I knew an extra 40 minute workout would help burn off some of the great Village food I had been eating.
I woke up before the alarm clock went off at 5:55 and headed out in the dark to meet up with Ron. We walked up to the gym with two other athletic trainers from wheelchair basketball for some stationary bike and elliptical runners. Got back sweaty, sprayed our bathroom walls and floor with the flopping shower nozzle and had to squeegee the floor to clean up. Dropped off laundry and headed for breakfast. McDonald's looks tempting but I chose Greek food for breakfast. Back to the Dorms by 8am to head back after waking the boys (Tahl and Wayne) up. Headed back to dining hall to meet up with Jennifer to let her know we had team photos at 11:15. I ran around doing team leader duties (checking for cell phones, upcoming meetings, video tape to DVD conversions, and flag raising ceremonies. We had our team pictures taken in front of our dorm and an American flag before heading to lunch at noon.
Our scheduled practice was from 2pm until 4pm at Galatsi. This is probably the nicest table tennis hall I have ever been in. It is so cool to see Denis (www.tabletennis.de) daily as he makes sure all our forms are correct. We got players' numbers today and had a very good practice. Back to the Village by 4:45 and then to watch the American flag raised with virtually the entire US Delegation of 300 athletes and support staff. The US Ambassador to Greece was there and they had a reception for us afterwards. We opted for a bigger dinner instead and then back to the dorms for some R & R. I headed to the coaches' Lounge and converted 6 hours of video tape from the US Open Paralympic Championships in Colorado Springs last September to DVD for coaching analysis with the players. These tapes have a number of our opponents on them and should really help with the doubles strategies in the team event for Tahl and Wayne.
I will leave the lounge (I am only here) at 1:30am and hopefully won't wake up my suite mates. Big day tomorrow!
The Team woke up a little cold (they haven't turned on the heating in the Village yet) but made it to breakfast at 8am. I had a team leader meeting at 9am so the rest of the team took it easy until our first official practice at Galatsi. Tahl got his load of socks into the free laundry so they would be ready by dinner time.
We headed over to lunch at 1pm and then to practice at 2:30pm with our Sports Medicine Trainer, TJ St. Charles from San Antonio. We got there an hour before our scheduled time (it always pays to be early at Olympic and Paralympic Games due to traffic) thanks to a police escort and watched some of the countries like China and Mexico practice.
China looked very impressive in both the wheelchair and standing divisions and there will be no easy victories here. To qualify you must win a regional competition or be ranked in the top 10 or so in the world based on your class. This is again very similar to the Olympics trials. The team mixed it up with all four of us playing for 30 minutes with each other and then Wayne and Tahl played some doubles against me.
Back from practice we rode with the South African team and made some new friends. Jennifer competing in her 5th Paralympics knew the women's team and got reacquainted with some old friends. We scooted over to dinner after getting off the bus and then Tahl and I went for free a free haircut. After a few snips we headed for the laundry service to pick up the early morning drop-off and retired to our dorm rooms. Our internal clocks are still on east coast time so we packed it in early.
Tomorrow we have team practice at Galatsi earlier in the day and the official US Flag Raising Ceremony in the village.
The team arrived in the Paralympic Village and got settled into our rooms. We flew in from Dulles International Airport on a charter flight after going through team processing at the Dulles Marriot. While at Dulles, we had two little scares. I lost my PDA cell phone in San Francisco at the airport and someone moved Jennifer's main suitcase into another guest's room by mistake. After a little searching and a few phone calls to United both items were relocated and we had two very happy campers. Getting our team uniforms and leisure wear was a real treat as the outfits were basically the same as the Olympic team with our Paralympic logo added. We should look extremely sharp during Opening Ceremonies and during competition courtesy of Adidas, Roots and STIGA.
We got through the airport in record time and had a chance to visit the Dining Hall after getting our credentials. Wow! Great food of all different types and even a free McDonalds. Often it is a tough decision to eat Greek, Asian, salads, sandwiches or to head over for something new. We had a chance to begin to run into many old friends from previous international competitions as we enjoyed the great Greek Yogurt.
After dinner, Tahl and Wayne scoped out the international zone while Jennifer and I checked email and headed over to sports medicine for some preventive stretching. The USOC has a great staff that is looking out for us and is geared to making sure we are "fit for fight."
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