By Larry Hodges
First, an interesting observation. When lefty Barney J. Reed (#5 seed) lost in the 16ths on Thursday in the top quarter of the draw, he lost to lefty De Tran. De then lost to lefty Darko Rop, who then lost to lefty Lupulesku, who the round before had defeated lefty Loc Ngo, who the round before had defeated lefty Lim Ming Chui. In the round of 16, all four players in the first quarter were lefties, as well as two in the second quarter (Dan Seemiller and Richard Lee). In the bottom half of the draw, all eight players were righties.
Khoa Nguyen, 40, was inducted into the USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame on Thursday night. So at least there was that consolation as he became the second top seed to fall, after Barney J. Reed (#5) the round before. Seeded 7th, Khoa, rated 2583, faced Samson Dubina. Samson's rated "only" 2421, but has been training with the Canadian team for the past year at their training center, practicing with players such as Wilson Zhang, Pradeeban Peter-Paul and others. Plus, the only other time the two had played had been at the Western Open in Berkeley in February, where Samson had upset Khoa, 4-3. This time was similar, with Samson the aggressor throughout. "He missed a lot of shots," Samson said. Of his own game, he said, "I'm blocking better than before. Before, when someone attacked, I always missed. Now I feel like I can block well. Also, Khoa plays a lot like the Canadians I practice with - killer forehands, average backhands for their level." Match to Samson, -8,9,2,9,-9,6.
8ths results, from the top of the draw:
Ilija Lupulesku d. Darko Rop, 6,4,8,6
It was a topspinner's delight, pure counterlooping and fishing all the way, but the result was never in doubt. Often Darko would rip forehand after forehand, but Lupi's invincible topspin defense was . . . invincible, at least in this match.
Cheng Yinghua d. Shao Yu, 7,9,9,4
Shao plays right up at the table with a vicious pips-out backhand hit that few can keep up with. Cheng is one of the few USA players who can backup and topspin from both wings against this shot. Yet, when Shao gets hot, he can be unstoppable at times. In game two, he led 9-6 before losing five in a row. In game three, down 10-4, he made it to 10-9 before another hard backhand ticked the net and went off.
Mark Hazinski d. Han Xiao, 10,9,8,-4,9
This was almost a replay of their earlier Under 21 Men's final, where Mark won 3-2. Once again Mark won the big points, with Han leading at the end of nearly every game, often. Han's close-to-the-table looping, especially with his backhand, often dominates play as he ends the points quickly with off-the-bounce loops, often going on runs where no lead is safe. Mark can end the point at any time with sheer power from both wings, plus he wins most counter-looping rallies. Yet, the key to the match was Mark's composure under pressure, while Han often seemed more nervous. (When I asked about it, Han said, "A lot of people say I look nervous, but I don't think I'm that nervous. The problem is that I make a lot of bad tactical decisions at the end of games because I don't have confidence in what worked before. When I played Mark, I had a serve that was giving him trouble over and over. When I served at 9-all, I didn't use it. That was a bad mistake.") In game one, Mark jumped to an 8-1 lead - then Han reeled off eight in a row (the last with an edge ball) to serve with a 9-8 lead! In game two, Han served leading 8-6. In game three, Mark led 6-1 only to see Han go on another run, this time scoring seven in a row to lead 8-6. Han dominated game four, 11-4. In game five, Han served up 9-7. "When it's 9-all, balls that hit earlier always go two inches off," Han said. In the end, Mark outscored Han 49-47. A closer look gives a better outlook. In the four close games, all won by Mark, Han led 9-8, 8-6, 8-6 and 9-7 - and was outscored the rest of the way 18-2.
David Zhuang d. Samson Dubina, -9,5,9,5,5
This really was two matches - the first three games, where a pair of 2650 players went at it, and the last two, where David upped the ante to 2700, while Samson dropped back to the sub-2600 strata. For three games, the two went at it at full pace. The harder the pips-out penholder David blocked or hit, the better Samson seemed to loop from both wings. Samson led most of the first game, and was at 9-all in the third. What did David do differently the last two games? "In the first game, I was trying to get comfortable. I was still having trouble reading the ball in the thinner air, and he was playing really well. In the last two games, I played with more control. He's better when I go at him fast." With the change of pace with more steady side-to-side blocks, the hard blocks became more effective, and in the last two games Samson made far more mistakes than before.
And so the top four seeds in Men's Singles are the Final Four. In the semifinals, to be played Saturday night, Lupulesku will face Cheng, and Zhuang will face Hazinski.
Wang Chen d. Diane Chen, 7,4,2,6
Diane Chen used to be a province player in China, but that was as a pips-out penholder. After years away from the game, she'd returned, but now as a shakehander with short pips on both sides. There were some nice rallies, but the lefty Chen, against the righty Wang Chen (also with pips on the backhand) wasn't steady enough in the battle of the Chens.
Nan Li d. Huang Yao "Crystal" Xi, 4,9,10,-10,9
It was another pips-out battle. Nan Li has medium pips on the backhand, while the lefty penholder Crystal uses pips on her forehand, with an inverted reverse penhold backhand. Nan easily won game one. In game two, Nan led 10-6 before pulling it out, 11-9. In game three, Crystal led 10-9, but Nan did a gutsy serve & smash to deuce it and win, 12-10, in what was probably the key point in the match. In game four, it was 9-7 for Crystal, then 9-all, then 10-9, finally 12-10. In game five, Nan kept leading, and Crystal kept coming back. Nan led 4-1, then 4-all; then it was 9-5 for Nan, then 9-8, 10-8, and finally 11-9. Said Nan's coach, Stefan Feth, "She played very high level today. It's her first win over Crystal. They've played several times, and each time it's been closer. The games were very close today, but Nan won the close points."
Tawny Banh d. Judy Hugh, -6,-8,-12,3,3,3,9
What a match! Junior star Judy Hugh could not miss for much of three games as she attacked and out-steadied the veteran Tawny's blitzing pips-out backhand attack and over-the-table forehand loops. Judy is an all-around player who can do it all - looping, hitting and blocking from both wings. (Her backhand loop is especially impressive.) And then, starting in game four, Tawny raised her level, and suddenly, for three games, her blitzkrieg attacks did not miss. And so it went to the final game. Tawny continued to dominate, going up 8-4, and then 10-7 match point. Judy pulled out a serve which Tawny awkwardly flipped off. Then Tawny served & looped in the net, and it was 10-9 in the seventh. Now it was Tawny's turn to pull out a tricky serve, which Judy mis-hit off the edge of her racket as she tried to backhand loop - and so the veteran was into the semifinals.
Jasna Reed d. Jackie Lee, 8,-8,8,9,-8,6
Every game was a battle, with the fastest rallies of the quarterfinals. Each game went to the end, but Jasna's seemed to pull out the big shots when she needed them.
And so, just as with the men, the top four seeds in Women's Singles were into the Final Four. In the semifinals, Wang will play Nan, Jasna will play Tawny.
The crossovers were played for final positioning. Congratulations to all the players, and especially to the members of the 2007 USA Cadet Teams:
Cadet Boys:
Justen Yao (MO)
Marcus Jackson (MD)
A.J. Brewer (IN)
Peter Li (MD)
Cadet Girls:
Ariel Hsing (CA)
Lily Zhang (CA)
Alicia Wei (CA)
Janice Lan (MD)
The Final Twelve girls were in two groups of six. In both groups, there was a three-way tie for first, with six of them finishing with records of 4-1. It seemed unfair to the two who would lose only one match, and yet not make the team, but that's the way it is.
In Group A, Judy Hugh (rated 2330), fresh off losing to Tawny Banh in the quarterfinals of women's singles (after leading 3-0 in games), lost to a red-hot Stephanie Shih (2000), who lost to Ariel Hsing (2029), who lost to Judy Hugh. In the tie-breaker, Judy was 5-4, Stephanie 5-5, and Ariel (who was already the #1 finisher on the Cadet team) 4-5, so Ariel did not advance.
In Group B, It was Atha Fong losing to Barbara Wei, who lost to Olena Sowers, who lost to Atha, and so another three-way tie. In the tie-breaker, Olena was 5-4, Atha 5-5 and Barbara 4-5 - and so it was Barbara, a member of the junior or cadet team for several years, who did not advance.
And so making the team (with the order to be decided in playoffs on Saturday) are Judy Hugh, Stephanie Shih, Olena Sowers and Atha Fong.