Photo by John Oros Copyright 1999

16-year-old Michelle pulled off quite a treasure heist at the Nationals, winning Under 22 Women's Singles and High School Girl's Singles. Was that enough, sweeping the girls' events? Noooooo! She then teamed with Gao Jun to win Women's Doubles over Tawny Banh and Lily Yip, and then made it to the quarters of Women's Singles, where she would be the only one to get a game against Gao in singles in the past four Nationals!

Michelle's brother, Andrew, got her started in table tennis in 1992 when she was nine. She's been practicing and improving ever since, with Dennis Davis and Roger Nguyen her major coaches, mostly at the Palo Alto club in California. She practices 4-5 times/week, with numerous practice partners - either with her coaches, or with players such as Khoa Nguyen, Shashin Shodhan, Kevin Au, Jackie Lee or Steve Nguyen. The training has paid off, leading to her making the USA National Team as the "coaches pick" at the last world championships. She is currently rated 2188, and sponsored by Butterfly.

The Women's Doubles final was something of a breakthrough. Besides being her first major non-junior national championship (she has many national junior titles), she was able to hold her own at the table against such formidable opponents as Tawny Banh and Lily Yip. True, having Gao as a partner was a huge advantage - or should we say an overwhelming advantage? - but the experience can only help her progress.

Sweeping Under 22 Women's Singles and High School Girls' Singles were simply "expected" - she was the top seed. Only arch-rival (at the table) Jackie Lee got a game off her, in the Under 22 final, with Michelle coming back strong to win, -18, 15, 6.

Michelle also got a lot of experience in the recent USA Table Tennis sponsored trip to Taiwan. She was most proud of defeating one of the "good" Taiwan girls. She also got to know USA Junior Coach Gao Jun, which help lead to Gao asking her to play doubles at the Nationals.

She plays a very aggressive forehand looping, backhand hitting game. She can also spin with her backhand. She can play both a strong looping game or a more at the table hitting/counter-hitting game, when needed.

She "admits" that she does like school, with math her favorite subject. She is an 11th grader at a private school - Notre Dame High School (in her hometown, Milpitas, California, not its namesake in Indiana). When she graduates, she hopes to go to Stanford University, where she wants to study to be a pediatrician. She said that even if she goes to college, she will continue with her table tennis.

At first, she claimed that school and table tennis were all she did. But when pressed, she admitted she liked going out with friends, shopping, seeing movies, reading and playing piano. But she's obviously the driven type, putting in long hours, which is the cost for excellence, whether in sports or school. The cost for excellence in both at the same time can be prohibitive in terms of work.

Besides going to Stanford, she hopes to make the 2004 Olympic team - and maybe someday be the best pediatrician table tennis player in the world! So far, she has been able to balance school and table tennis, and is right on track for both of her goals