In Search of Table Tennis Excellence
By Tong Lee (From Sept/Oct 1999 USA Table Tennis Magazine)

Just turned seventeen, Freddie Gabriel stands nearly 6 feet 1 inch tall, and looks like a slightly smaller version of Jimmy Butler. It has been seven years since came under the tutelage of Coach Bill Lui at Concord Table Tennis Club in Pleasant Hill, California in 1992. He has certainly come a long way since then.

The odds against Freddie becoming a top junior were long. Bill was a relatively inexperienced coach then and Freddie was his first student. And, Freddie comes from a tough neighborhood in the city of Richmond. It could have been so easy for him to be on the streets in his neighborhood, had it not been for table tennis. I have known him for nearly five years; yet, have never set eyes on his mother. I have seen him play in numerous training classes and tournaments, but have seen his dad watch him play only once. That was nearly four years ago in a Berkeley Table Tennis Club tournament in Albany.

Despite the odds, Freddie, with a current rating of 2444, has developed into the second highest rated player in Northern California after Khoa Nguyen. Two players partially contributed to his development: Piotr "Peter" Zajac and Terrence Lee, who joined the Concord TTC in 1993 and 1994, respectively. Piotr soon became his training partner and on-the-court rival, and at one point in time had a higher rating than Freddie. They kept pushing each other to greater heights. When Terrence appeared on the scene as a beginner, Freddie took him under his wing. He spent hours a week training regularly with him, and unselfishly taught him just about everything he knew. In a couple of years, Terrence had narrowed the gap to within 200, and thus was in a position to contribute as a training partner to Freddie's table tennis development.

Without direct parental involvement, Freddie has somehow found ways to get around to play in various San Francisco Bay Area clubs five to six times a week. He has also played in practically all local tournaments and traveled to national and major tournaments all over the country. These are possible because his coach and a team of Concord TT Club members have extended more than a helping hand to support him in his pursuit of table tennis excellence. This is a result of his tenacity to solicit help from others and of their willingness to reach out to him.

Freddie's strengths are his all-round game and his consistency. According to women's national coach Doru Gheorghe, he is in the best physical condition among the elite juniors who have attended training camps at the Oakbrook National Training Center. He uses inverted rubber and can loop consistently from both sides. Without great power, he more than compensates for it with a good defense, serve, and return of serve. His mental toughness and intelligent placement of shots are two of his strong suits.

On the way to the top, Freddie has won numerous national titles in age and rating events. Among the highlights of his career was the 1995 Nationals where he won Under 2000, Under 2100, made the semifinals of Under 2200, quarterfinals of Under 2300, and won the Junior High School Doubles with Terrence Lee. He emerged from the tournament with a rating of 2273, which made him #1 in the country for both U-14 and U-16 age groups.

Another memorable win occurred on one of his two trips to Sweden with the U.S. Junior National Team. He defeated the top defensive Swedish junior player who was playing in the Division One league that Keith Alban will be playing in when he returns to Sweden this Fall.

Despite these achievements, Freddie's rating has stalled during the past 12 months. His highest rating of 2473 came after the 1998 Sun TV (now Macy Block) tournament. Nonetheless, he feels that he is playing better than ever before. In many matches, it's a matter of just a point or two that would have made a difference in defeating 2500+ players and winning many rating points. In recent months, he has been training with Fan Yi Yong in Portland, Oregon. Freddie hopes that Fan will be able to set him up with a club or with one of Fan's friends in Europe or Asia. Training overseas full-time is perhaps his best hope in his pursuit of excellence in table tennis, and to realize his aspirations to be a world-class player.