The Jackie Lee Story

By Greg Sawin (From May/June 2000 USA Table Tennis Magazine)

Photo by John Oros Copyright 2000

In 1985 Jackie was born into a San Francisco Chinese-American family that already enjoyed playing table tennis, so it wasn’t surprising when 8-year-old Jackie wanted to get into the act. Her father saw her keen interest, so in the summer of 1994 he took her to the nearby Sunset Recreation Center Table Tennis Club where she became a student of USATT Coach Masaaki Tajima. Jackie was a serious student right from the start and began playing in local tournaments. At the end of the year, Jackie surprised everyone by winning the Girls’ Under 10 event at the 1994 National Championships in Las Vegas. She got really fired up when she won that title. That victory gave her "big motivation" to become a top player.

During the next few years, Jackie trekked across the country for a number of major tournaments. Often she won titles in events beyond her age group. Here are some highlights of her early accomplishments:

• 1996 National Girls’ Primary School Champion.
• 1997 Tournament of Champions Women’s Under 1900 and Girls’ Primary School.
• 1998 U.S. Open National Allstar Under 18 Girls’ Team Champion, Girls’ Under 16 Champion, Girls’ Under 18 Semifinalist, and Girls’ Under 14 Semifinalist.

In 1998, when Jackie was only 12, she was selected as a member of the U.S. Junior Team that was sent to Sweden for training and competition. In a Swedish junior tournament, she competed in the Girls’ 13 and Under event. She felt good about finishing second in her round robin because the top two in each RR advanced to the single-elimination phase. She was really cooking from that point onward – she never lost. She amazed everyone by winning that event.

From the beginning of her playing career, this spunky 5-foot-2 teenager got a reputation for creating big surprises as she continued to improve:

• 1998 National Women’s Singles Quarterfinalist, Women’s Under 22 Finalist, Girls’ Junior High School Champion.
• 1999 Junior Olympics Girls’ Under 14 Champion.
• 1999 Junior Nationals Girls’ Under 18, Under 16, Under 14, Under 14 Doubles, and Girls’ Team Under 22 Champion.

At the 1999 Sam Lima Memorial Labor Day Tournament, she beat Michelle Do (2209) in winning the Women’s event, and won the Under 17 Junior event. At the 1999 Nationals, she was a finalist in Women Under 22 Singles, won Under 16 Junior Doubles with Mark Hazinski, and beat two-time Olympian Diana Gee (2324) in the quarterfinals of Women’s Singles.

Jackie is a freshman at St. Ignatius College Preparatory High School in San Francisco. Her favorite subjects are math and Spanish. In her physical education class, she plays volleyball and runs half a mile each day, which takes care of her off-table training. In her spare time she likes to read and play the piano. She is considering law or medicine as long-term career goals.

Apart from the usual major tournaments this year, another item appears on her schedule: She will go to Japan and China for training this summer, along with other top Palo Alto Table Tennis Club juniors. Her goals are to make the U.S. Team for the 2001 World Championships in Osaka, and the 2004 Olympics.

Jackie (rated 2146) loops and drives strongly from both sides. She is sponsored by SpinTech Table Tennis. Under the watchful eyes of Jackie’s coaches, Dennis Davis, Wang Zhi-Yong, and Valery Sarkisov, Jackie trains at the Palo Alto club three to four days per week, two hours per day.

Jackie appreciates the support from her family and friends, current coaches, and former coaches Masaaki Tajima, Bill Lui, and Terese Terranova.