In April 1995, Khoa Nguyen, at age 28, apparently was at the height of his table tennis career. He was ranked #2 in the U.S. behind Cheng Yinghua and had a rating of over 2700. At the Louisiana Open in March, he had beaten Jimmy Butler twice and had split two matches against Cheng. Although he had finished only fourth behind Cheng Yinghua, David Zhuang and Jimmy Butler in the Team Trials, he was peaking and looking forward to the Worlds in Tianjin, China in early May.

At the Worlds, things did not turn out as he had expected. Although Team USA played nine ties and was 10-1 (including two defaults), Khoa did not play a single team match. In the doubles competition, Coach Zhenshi Li fielded Cheng/Butler and Zhuang/Darko Rop. In the singles event, Khoa won three qualifying matches, including a win over Atikovic of Croatia who had beaten Cheng in the Teams. Thus, he went home with memories of only four matches in the 1995 Worlds: three wins and one loss.

But successes at the Nationals in which Khoa made it to three finals eased the disappointment of the Worlds in 1995. He won Men’s doubles and was 2nd in Men’s Singles and Mixed doubles. To cap a remarkable year, he also won the Rich Livingston Sportsmanship award and the USA Table Tennis Player of the Year award.

Going into the 1996 USA Olympic Trials, Khoa was seeded third, with the top three to make the team. The fourth seed, Todd Sweeris, had never beaten Khoa. But in the match to make the team, the all-important match, Khoa lost to Todd, ending his 1996 Olympic hopes. It was a bitter disappointment.

Khoa barely played over the next three years, concentrating on work. In the interval, he was elected to the USATT Board of Directors as the West Coast Representative. However, the itch to try again – for the 2000 Olympic Team – became stronger and stronger.

It’s now the year 2000, and Khoa is back on top of his game, and on track to make the 2000 Olympic Team after going undefeated at the U.S. Olympic Qualifier. Here is his story, in his own words.

Tong: How old were you when you started to play, and how did you start?
Khoa: I started playing when I was nine years old. My Dad encouraged me to play.

Tong: Did your brothers start to play before or after you did?
Khoa: My older brothers, Khai and Roger, started playing first. Khoi, my younger brother, also played for a few years.

Tong: Who were your coaches?
Khoa: My Dad was my main coach when I started playing. He coached me until I reached a 2500 rating. He was always there during practice sessions and competitions. In the mid-90s, Per Johansson was instrumental in taking my game to the next level. I reached my highest rating during this time. Currently, my brother, Roger, is my competition coach. Per is still my training and technique coach.

Tong: When, where and how long did you train overseas?
Khoa: I trained in China with the US Junior Team in 1982 for about two months. I didn’t train overseas again until 1995. I trained and played for three months for the Angby club in Stockholm, Sweden. It was a great experience because this was my first "real" training. I played for Angby’s Elite and the First division in Oct 95 and Jan 96. My record was 0-4 in the Elite and 8-2 in the First division.

Tong: Any major disappointments?
Khoa: My two biggest disappointments were not winning the ‘95 USA Nationals and not making the ‘96 Olympic Team.

Tong: Cheng paid you a great compliment when (around the time of the 1995 Worlds) he told a good friend of his that he could not understand how you could get so good without high-level training partners, extensive coaching and training overseas. How did you accomplish this?
Khoa: I had a lot of support. I had an array of practice partners. I was able to integrate their strengths into my training program. I also had support from my family and my wife Pauline. Per was a major contributor to my success. He changed my game to focus on placement and staying closer to the table. He also put me on a weight-training program to improve my speed.

My sponsor, Dr. Ngai Nguyen helped with all my training expenses. With his support, I was able to play tournaments in Europe and train extensively in Stockholm.

Tong: You stopped training and played very little for a couple of years and your rating and skill level dropped to the low 2500. Now, you seem to be playing some of the best table tennis in your life. This is very unusual. What made you want to come back and what did you do to accomplish this?
Khoa: I felt that I didn’t accomplish what I had originally set out to do. I also feel that with a good training plan and lots of extra practice time I can get back to or exceed the level that I was at in 96. It was a very difficult decision to start playing again because that meant I had to spend less time with family, especially my two young daughters.

When I first brought up the idea of trying out for Olympics in late 1998, my manager Dave Juszczyk was very supportive. He had coached an Olympic Silver Medalist in Gymnastics in 1996 so he understood that I needed to work flexible hours in order to accomplish my goal. Since then, the company Neoforma.com has also been providing moral support. Neoforma.com is an Internet company providing medical products and supplies for the Healthcare industry.

I also had excellent practice partners: Kevin Au and Michelle Do. I planned a grueling training schedule, but I didn’t want to disrupt my other responsibilities. I had to somehow balance practice, work (including USATT Board responsibilities), and a family at the same time. Working for an Internet startup didn’t help either. There were many nights when I had fewer than 4 hours of sleep. So far my plan has worked, but there were some days when I wasn’t sure if it was worth it all.

Tong: Who is you favorite player and why?
Khoa: Jan-Ove Waldner is my favorite player. He’s the most exciting player to watch because his strokes are so smooth; they almost seem effortless. He always seems so calm and cool when he’s under a lot of pressure.