Interview With Junior Star Han Xiao

By Dennis Taylor (From Nov/Dec 2000 USA Table Tennis Magazine)

Han Xiao (pronounced "chow") is one of three U.S. Juniors playing at the USATT Youth Committee’s Olympic Developmental Level, its highest level. (Mark Hazinski and Adam Hugh are the other two.) With a rating of 2368, he is ranked #1 in the U.S. in Under 14, #2 in Under 16, and #3 in Under 18. He recently won six events at the Junior Olympics/Junior Nationals: Junior Olympic Under 14 Boys’ Singles, Junior Nationals Under 16, 18 and 22 Boys’ Singles, and Under 14 Boys’ Doubles & Teams. USATT Magazine sat down with this quietly precocious thirteen-year-old to get a glimpse of the future of our sport.

USATTM: You look like you have had a growth spurt lately. How big are you now?

Han: 5'2" and 103 lbs.

USATTM: What equipment are you using these days?

Han: I use a Butterfly Biside blade covered with Sriver 2.1 rubber. The Biside is like the old Keyshot, but it has more control.

USATTM: Do you have any sponsors, and what do those sponsorships provide?

Han: Butterfly is my only current sponsor. The sponsorship covers blades, rubber, and clothing, but no balls or rubber cleaner.

USATTM: How would you describe your table tennis style?

Han: I am a fast all-around player who generally loops to set up my attack, although that depends upon the strengths of my opponent.

USATTM: What are your strengths that opponents try to avoid, and what are the weaknesses that opponents try to exploit?

Han: My biggest strength is keeping opponents from opening and my countering. They try to vary the spin as much as possible to slow down my counter game. On the other hand, they seem to use fairly standard techniques against me, particularly in trying to pin me down on the backhand corner. That is where I think my increased consistency in backhand looping the 40mm ball will really come in handy. Also, like most players, I need to improve my serve returns and my reading of spin.

USATTM: I understand you switched your training to the 40mm ball around the first of September. Will the change to the 40mm ball have an effect on your game?

Han: Oh, yes. I find the 40mm ball easier to loop and easier to counter. I think it will lead to my doing more looping, especially on the backhand, and relying less on my serves.

Han in action. Copyright 2000 by John Oros.

USATTM: Who are your favorite players to watch?

Han: I really like Werner Schlager and Kim Taek Soo. They can really rip any ball and always fight hard.

USATTM: So are they the players you tend to emulate?

Han: No, everyone says that I play like Cheng [Yinghua], but I don’t know. I can’t block like him, and I don’t yet have his command of playing strategies. Also, I started out as a penholder, playing in our basement. But I had to change to shakehands when I started getting coaching at age six and a half. I was too short to hit penhold! I couldn’t get the ball over the edge of the table.

USATTM: What are the new techniques you are seeing in the sport?

Han: There are a lot of them. Two of the most popular are sidespin blocks and serving long just to get the chance to counterloop. And a lot of these counterloops are inside out and off the bounce. The game is getting faster because there is less time between the ball hitting the table and when it is hit.

USATTM: What tournament results make you the most proud?

Han: I really enjoyed winning the Under 2125 event at the 1998 U.S. Open, largely because there were so many people in the event. And a while ago I finally beat Nazruddin Asgarali. He’s really tough. He has a really consistent spin game, countering forever until finding the right ball to attack. He also has really spinny serves.

USATTM: Who is your biggest rival?

Han: Now it’s Adam Hugh and Mark Hazinski. I’ve also been playing Michael Liu since I was eight.

USATTM: What are your table tennis goals?

Han: Right now I am trying to get comfortable with the 40mm ball and make it feel normal, and I want to do well in the Baltimore Teams where I’ll be playing with Mark Hazinski and Cheng. In two years, I’d like to be 2450, or at least around 2400, and in 2004 I hope to be on the Olympic team.

USATTM: Tell us about your training regimen, both on the table and off.

Han: I drill for about an hour a day at home with my dad. As much as I can I go to the club [MDTTC] and Potomac [PCTTC] to play matches. And then there’s the time with Cheng. He likes to run me around, giving me multi-ball where I have to hit everything with the forehand. He also gives me a lot of practice with serve returns and third-ball drills. Off the table, I run two miles a day around the block where I live, jump rope, and do about 30-60 minutes of footwork drills for endurance.

USATTM: How many times have you gone overseas to train and why?

Han: I’ve gone twice to China, once mainly to look around and once to train with a Beijing junior team. I find it hard to focus here in the summer. Cheng is often gone and it’s hard to find people to practice with. It’s not that the players or coaches are better in China; it’s more that I can train all day without having distractions.

USATTM: The U.S. has a pattern of developing players who play at a world-class level up to around the age of 15, but then plateau. How do you plan to avoid that happening to you?

Han: It seems that they level off either because their foundation isn’t that good, or they lose focus, often panicking over college. That’s why I really admire Todd Sweeris. He has gone through college and is now working as an accountant and still has the discipline to practice consistently and keep improving. But it might happen to me. I probably don’t train as hard as a lot of players overseas.

USATTM: Given that, how do you think USATT should go about training a future national team?

Han: Definitely more summer work for 16-18 year olds. And there needs to be more coordination between the players, less individual training.

USATTM: Tell us about your high school.

Han: I’m in the International Baccalaureate program at Richard Montgomery High. I chose it over the math/science curriculum at Blair because it is a preferred program for international college programs. The Montgomery program is headquartered in Wales. You get to take a trip there when you are a senior.

USATTM: Does that mean you have already made a career choice?

Han: Right now I think either computers or electrical engineering.

USATTM: Will table tennis affect your choice of a college?

Han: Certainly! I’d like an Olympic scholarship, hopefully at a school close to home and Cheng. And I’ll need a schedule that’s flexible, so I can keep in training.

USATTM: So, when will you be able to beat Cheng?

Han: If I don’t train hard, I might beat him in twenty or so years. If I try hard and train efficiently whenever I can, I hope it’s about four to five years.

USATTM: Just in time for the 2004 Olympic trials! Thank you for spending time with our readers.

Han: You’re welcome.