By Alan Williams (From July/Aug 1999 USA Table Tennis Magazine)

Photo by John Oros Copyright 1999

Keith Alban at 15 already claims an impressive string of accomplishments, a string that got no shorter with his performance at the 1999 U.S. Open in Fort Lauderdale. What's next for the boy who's won everything? Sweden.

"Sean Lonergan helped us get in touch with the Angby Club of Sweden back in 1997," Keith's mom, Ronnie, recalls, "because Keith had just hit the ceiling here. There was just not enough competition to help him grow."

No brag, just fact. In 1995, at the age of 11, Keith scored an unprecedented series of Junior victories, winning the U.S. Open U-12, U-14 and U-16 titles. With his parents' support and the coaching of the legendary Marty Prager and Terese Terranova, Keith had in three years gone from interested child to Junior Olympic Champ to a sweep of three age groups at the U.S. Open. "If Keith will do the work, I can show him the rest," Prager had promised, truthfully as it turns out.

Now Keith pursues his HS diploma through correspondence courses in Sweden as he rooms with the Morin family and their son Robin, another table tennis hopeful. Both Robin, "like a brother to me," and Keith came back to Florida last month to test themselves against the U.S. Open competition. The result is a clear indication that Keith Alban is 'still on track' to be a U.S. Olympian.

Alban won the U-16 Boy's Singles, with straight game wins over Jamaica's Alphanso Murray in the quarters, Indiana's Mark Hazinski in the semis, and Californian Terrence Lee in the Final.

Alban won the U-18 Men's Singles, with a three-gamer against Hazinski in the quarters, a 12,-18,16 win over the Pride of Georgia, T.J. Beebe, in the semis, and a straight-game win in the final against his Swedish housemate, Robin Morin.

Alban won the All-Star Junior Men's title by disposing of Terrence Lee, T.J. Beebe and Freddie Gabriel, losing only one game from the quarters onward.

Cheng went on to win the event in a final with Todd Sweeris. Sweeris had this to say about Alban. "He's 2550 ... right now." No one argued with Todd's assertion. (News flash: Alban's new rating after the U.S. Open is 2537, making him #16 in the country.)

Keith's parents are content with their decision of two years past to allow their son to train in Sweden. What began as a 10-week trial has lengthened into a full-blown attempt for Olympic status. Keith's mother Ronnie points to several factors that make the Swedish environment more effective for Junior training.

"It's the sheer number of good players in Sweden that is the main difference. We have maybe half a dozen top juniors between 15 and 18 years old. In Sweden there must be 100. In season, (September to April) there are many tournaments each weekend, and the events are carrying 30 to 40 players each. At really big tournaments, like Safir, which attracts an International field, there were 100 players in the U-15."

"League play is another difference between the state of the sport in America and in Sweden. Since his arrival there, Keith has been playing in Division 3, but when he returns this fall he'll play in Division 1. That's just a notch below the elite division, which includes Waldner and Persson. They also have more international play for juniors. Robin, for instance, represented Sweden this year in match play in France, Slovokia and Luxembourg. Training methods are similar, but the increased match play and its frequency makes a decisive difference."

Ronnie points out that Sweden uses a ranking, rather than a rating system, an approach she considers superior. "Rankings come out every three months, and are less prone to fluctuations than our system. You can have several bad losses without much change in your ranking. There is less pressure on the Swedes."

Keith is making good progress on his schoolwork - in fact, Mom wishes he would slow down somewhat. The Swedes allow students from the 10th grade forward to schedule less time in school by eliminating gym, study hall and lunch, freeing their mornings for table tennis instruction.

Ronnie Alban added this statement about the contrast in the sport between the two countries. "You don't need a population the size of China for the sport to be popular. Sweden's population is about the same as New York City's. But they do recruit in the schools. They have hundreds of good clubs, with fine coaches in each. If we could have an equal number of good clubs, we could form successful leagues as well. We need to follow the Swedish example and allow our juniors to train with the top players, the National Team, and the best coaches. Our juniors have to be exposed to more styles of play. They need more international match experience, on a regular basis. Our high-level training needs to be more consistent."

From an 8-year-old boy with an interest in 'ping-pong,' to an 11-year-old junior record-breaker to a 15-year-old Olympic hopeful, Keith Alban is still on track. There was no indication from his performance in Fort Lauderdale that this train is slowing down. And if that track runs through Sweden, that's just where the train will go.