Junior Olympics & Junior Nationals

Newport New, VA • August 2-4, 2001

By Alan Williams

The future of USA Table Tennis was on display August 2-4, 2001. Not one, not two, but three table tennis Championships were held on consecutive days in Newport News, VA, the site of the 2001 AAU Junior Olympics. Over this short span of time, the USATT Junior Nationals, Team Championships and Junior Olympic titles were decided as 138 enthused young people sought national recognition, medals and personal achievement.

The importance of these championships was easily noticed in the depth and quality of the field, nearly 40% larger than last year, and in the expertise of the adults who coached and supervised them. Here, in support of their students, were some of the best and most dedicated coaches in America. You could hardly walk across the gym floor without bumping into a former champion or the coach of champions. Danny Seemiller. Attila Malek. Richard McAfee. Cheng Yinghua. Mark Nordby. Marty Prager. Terese Terranova. Thor Truelson. Larry Hodges. Their presence alone, plus their compatriots from across the country, was proof of the importance of these events.

Here too were USATT Elite Athlete Development Chair Dennis Taylor and USATT President Sheri Pittman. More than just ‘medal-hangers’ at the nightly award ceremonies, they went from table to table for three days, searching to see which juniors had made ‘the great leap forward,’ which ones were willing to do the work required to earn a berth on a future U.S. Olympic squad.

Their matches would be played on 16 brand new, top-of-the-line Butterfly tables, provided by Martin-Kilpatrick’s Chris Burner, who manned the retail booth, mended rackets and dispensed his equipment savvy with patience and good humor. Enlisted to supervise the competition and organize the event was North American Table Tennis, in the persons of Richard Lee, Fong Hsu and myself. With the registration packets and player schedules readied, the draw sheets and brackets posted and the clipboards numbered, play commenced on Thursday at 9AM sharp.

All that was missing were officials. For an event of such obvious importance, it seemed a glaring omission, to me, that players would be expected to supervise their own matches. I had paranoid visions of parents and coaches coming to blows as crucial points were disputed not inside but outside the barriers. In retrospect, I need not have worried, as few matches required an umpire, and the participants, those ‘children,’ showed all the maturity and sense of fair play that would be needed. In fact, the sportsmanship at this event was far superior to that often displayed by adults in USATT rating events! To my mind, that alone qualified each and every entrant to the title ‘Top U.S. Junior.’

Day One

The AAU furnished medals for first, second, third and fourth place in the Jr. Olympics, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Copper. Youngsters from around the country, from both coasts and the heartland, from sweltering Georgia to frigid Minnesota, from the states and the commonwealths, unrateds and veterans of the World Championships, they all brought their best game to the table as the competition began for the AAU titles.

A crowded field of Boys’ Under 10 came down to the quartet of Kevin Ma, Shelby Lane, Preston Chin and Marcus Jackson. Jackson d. Chin 15,10 to determine Gold and Silver, while Lane, after a tough three-game loss to Preston in the semis, beat out Ma for the Bronze, 26,18. The Girls’ U-10 was an all-Florida affair, with the order of finish in their RR producing Amy Huang, Andrea Lin, Adrian Lam and Gillian Wu. There are few forces of nature with the energy and enthusiasm of these ladies from the Sunshine State!

Six RR groups of U-12 Boys’ proved that ratings are secondary to performance. Nathaniel Curran, sporting an 879 rating, narrowly lost to 1396 Andrew Lin, (16,-25,17) in the semifinals, and upset 1305 Michael Mast in the match for the Bronze, 21,-20,17. Completing the upset nature of the category, Andrew Lin defeated Joseph Cochran (1610) for the Gold, 17,-16,17. Yuliya (call me Julie!) Lisova proved her mettle in capturing the Girls’ U-12 Gold. Three Round Robins fed the Quarterfinals, where Lisova squeaked by a determined Linden Li, -20,17,16. In the Semis, Lisova defeated the eventual Bronze Medallist Jennifer Mast, 15,-18,17, and in the Final again went three games, trumping the Silver Medallist, Diana Li (-17,15,18). 986, my foot!

It was a long road and a crowded field that led to the Under-14 Boys’ Semis, where Eric Finkelstein faced A.J. Carney and Yao Xu took on Gordon Cochran. Carney is a notable pitcher in his local Little League, but Eric solved his delivery at the table, 15,8. Cochran plays like a bulldog, tenaciously defending and returning against the aggressive Xu, but comes to grips with the looper too slowly, 6,15. Two well-played matches later, Xu has the Gold (19,16) to Finkelstein’s Silver, while Cochran wears down Carney -17,18,19 to determine Bronze and Copper.

The Girls’ U-14, by contrast, shared a single group, where the order of finish became the medal order. Sarah Zheng was ‘Queen of the Hill’ dropping games only to Jane Li and Barbara Wei. Rita Wu upset practice partner Wei (-14,17,18) to capture Silver, leaving Wei with Bronze and Li in fourth.

The competition became more rarified in the Boys’ U-16, where seven groups fed the SE bracket. It was Peter Randall’s bad fortune to meet event favorite Han Xiao in the Quarterfinals, eliminating his medal chances, 4,11. The Semis pitted Xiao against Khaleel Asgarali, and Han demonstrated the difference between 2400 and ‘merely’ 2000, 7,9. Michael Shao had a terrific match with New Yorker Pan Lin, winning deuce in the third, but settled for Silver in the Final, losing to practice partner Xiao, 11,14. Pan Lin cemented his Bronze finish 12,17 against Khaleel.

Four Under 16 Girls advanced from their RR’s to meet in the Semifinals, a quartet familiar to each other and to anyone who drops by the Maryland TT Center, Chao (Kathy) Wang, Katherine Wu, Sherri Geng and Elaine Kwok. During the competition they were destined to meet repeatedly, and then, their matches decided, put their paddles down and return to their group discussion (of whatever it is Girls’ U-16 discuss). Here, Kwok overturned Wu to reach the Final, joining Wang who dispatched Geng. Wang takes Gold, Kwok, Silver as Wu hands Copper to Geng and keeps Bronze for herself.

Mark Hazinski dominated the Boys’ U-18. No one can claim to be surprised by that statement. A 2600 level player and a member of the U.S. Men’s Team, Mark is a great talent and an excellent sportsman. But he doesn’t win by throwing his paddle on the table and walking away. A determined line of competitors do their best to ‘dethrone the king’ and wrest the Gold medal from his grasp. Four very competitive RRs yielded eight players for the Quarters, where Hazinski beat Joseph Podvin, Cory Eider ended Andrew Cochran’s event, James Duan prevailed against Donald Settle and Jared Lynch over Michael Amren. Eider went out fighting to Hazinski in the Semis, 14,13. He was philosophical after the match. “If you only lose to one guy, you’ve still had a good tournament, right?” Jared Lynch, Mark’s teammate, (and consequently often lost in the glare of Mark’s star) posted an impressive two-gamer over Duan, 15,17, to reach the Final.

Hazinski takes Gold (8,10), Lynch gets Silver, and Cory Eider and James Duan wage a great battle for the third and fourth spots, with Eider victorious, -20,20,17.

Dana Huang did not lose a game in claiming Gold in the U-18 Girls’, Lydia Brekke earning Silver by virtue of three game victories over Louise Giam and Shuai Chen. Head to head, Giam bested Chen to take Bronze.

In contrast to the younger age events, the U-22’s were lightly populated, with Thomas Yost coming to the top against Michael Squires (Silver) and Michael Fan (Bronze). Vivian Lee was a walkover in the U-22 Women.

With the aim of injecting some fun into the event, we heeded Larry Hodges’ suggestion for a ‘Parade of Champions,’ the ‘one game to three points’ format popularized in years past by Pete May. “This will be great,” Larry assured us. Without warming up, the players play a single game to three points, alternating serve, the lower rated player serving first. No deuce games, 3-2 constitutes a winning score, and may the best (or luckiest) player win.

So we put all the names into a coffeepot, and the evening before created, yes, a Single Elimination bracket of 138. Standing in front of the charted bracket, handing out balls and shouting the match-ups, recording the results, Richard and I had that ‘firing squad feeling’ as 138 youngsters jostled, crowded and yelled results at us. Half an hour later, the field was reduced to two players. Richard and I were reduced to something more like Jell-O. Fong just smiled, content to draw the pending doubles match-ups from the safety of the control desk.

But the kids were having a blast, from what we could see. Thomas Yost (1964) made the semifinals, obviously a master of the shorter format. The young people crowded the table, cheering and cat-calling for the 137th match in 30 minutes (someone call the Guinness Book!) the final between Kathy Wang and yes, Mark Hazinski. Kathy serves first, and then gets a net on her first push to take a commanding 1-0 lead. Lucky is good. But Hazinski goes ‘three in a row’ to win the Parade of Champions. A short time later the tall, benevolent presence of Richard McAfee makes itself known at the control desk. “You know, you didn’t have to go to all that trouble. Just divide the kids into two groups on opposite sides of the room. Run them out there a match at a time. Winners go to the back of the line, losers sit down. Much easier.” Slow-dawning looks of comprehension. Thanks, Richard. Where were you last night?

Back to the serious competition. The AAU Doubles Champions for Boys’ U-10, Shelby Lane and Kevin Ma overcame a 500-point rating difference to down Chin and Jackson, 12 and 12. Likewise the Boys’ U-12 Champions, where Andrew Lin and Brian Lam rose up to overcome the favored pair of Joseph Cochran and Michael Mast, 16,19. The Girls’ U-10 was all-Florida, with Amy Huang and Andrea Lin downing Gillian Wu and Adrian Lam. Nor could Linden Li and Chantal Taylor turn the tables on the Girls’ U12 Champion pair, Sheena Mah and Jennifer Mast, going down 16,-21,15.

Yao Xu and Wei Fan absolutely ripped through the U-14 Boys’ Doubles draw to reach the final. Gordon Cochran and Jeffrey Smith, on the other hand, fought off Eric Finkelstein and A.J. Carney in their Semifinal, -13,20,15. Smith and Cochran continued to play with determination and fire, but Xu and Fan were too much for them, 18,19.

Rita Wu and Barbara Wei did not drop a game in claiming the Girls’ U-14 Doubles crown, nor did Katherine Wu and Kathy Wang in copping the Girls’ U-16. Gold for the Wu sisters felt good after the morning’s silver and bronze.

Mike Terao and Raghu Nadmichettu only narrowly escaped Zach Pomer and Mark Magitman (19,23) in the Quarterfinals of the Boys’ U-16, only to narrowly yield to Khaleel Asgarali and Charles Fan in the Semis (18,16). Han Xiao and Michael Shao had no trouble reaching the final as a 4400-rated pair, and turned Asgarali and Fan’s best effort into silver medals (15,16).

Mark Hazinski and Jared Lynch went through the field like a hot knife through butter in the U-18 Boys’ Doubles, reaching the finals without much of a threat being mounted against them. The team of Eli Kahn and Andrew Cochran (3586), however, were continually tested and found their way through adversity. First it was the California pair of Michael Amren and Peter Randall, a very even match at 19,19. Then Khan and Cochran had to play Cory Eider and Joseph Podvin, sporting a 4200 combined rating. In three games, they pulled off the upset, 15,-15,16, to meet Hazinski and Lynch in the Final. Mark and Jared (4786) were just too much for Eli and Andrew, 17,13.

Elaine Kwok and Dana Huang dominated the distaff half of U-18 Girls’ Doubles for the Gold. Shuai Chen and Jane Li rebounded for the silver over Sherri Geng and Louise Giam.

Pan Lin and Carlos Colon claimed gold in the U-22 Doubles with a seesaw win over Michael Squires and Michael Fan, -10,10,19. David Landry and Stephen Wah earned the Bronze.

Day Two

The first day of the tournament had run like clockwork, ending with the day’s medal ceremony. On Friday, after a good night’s sleep, the same cast of characters came together to contest the USATT Junior National titles. Here there would be no Copper medals, but a pair of Bronzes for the Semifinalists, with all the events played as Single Elimination. While a complete list of category winners follows, some situations and matches deserve special notice.

In Boys’ U-10, Preston Chin reversed the previous day’s outcome against Marcus Jackson in a real barnburner of a Final, 21,20. Marcus also added a Silver in the next age group up, the U-12, playing a three-gamer with Andrew Lin, who held on to double his Jr. Olympic Gold. Jennifer Mast stepped up to a Silver in the Girls’ U-12, and pushed Julia Lisova to the limit (19,20) in their final.

Yao Xu and Eric Finkelstein again went Gold/Silver in the Boys’ U-14, but this time it took three games to settle the issue in Yao’s favor, -19,10,16. The Boys’ U-16 was a very crowded field. Silver medallist Michael Shao had to get past Finkelstein in the Quarters (11,-22,19) and Charles Fan in the Semis (8,16) to reach Han Xiao in the Final. Han (9,14) took the Gold and gave Maryland a solid sweep of the category as Asgarali and Fan shared Bronze.

A quintet of Maryland Women swept the U-16, U-18 and U-22’s. In the U-16 the order was Katherine Wu, Elaine Kwok, Sherri Geng and Kathy Wang. In the U-18 it was Katherine Wu, Kathy Wang, Elaine Kwok and Dana Huang. In the U-22 it was Elaine Kwok, Kathy Wang, Katherine Wu and Dana Huang. (I told you they would meet a lot!) And then they all ran off to talk about whatever Junior National Champions talk about.

Early in the Boys’ U-18 (aka ‘Who Can Stop Mark?’), Casey McLeod pulled off a fine upset of Michael Shao, 22,17. In the next round he extended Finkelstein (-12,8,13) in a fine pair of matches. Khaleel Asgarali derailed James Duan ,-11,18,14, but Jared Lynch ends his run, 18,17. Cory Eider needed three to dispatch Finkelstein, 9,-21,15, for the right to meet Hazinski in the Semis. (If you only lose to one player, you’ve still had a good tournament, right?) Meanwhile, Han Xiao is on cruise control until he finds Jared Lynch in his Semifinal match. Lynch takes the first game to deuce, but no further, and drops the second at 13, leaving Han and Mark to settle the last question. Even the AAU organizers find seats to see this battle. “The ball sounds different when these guys hit it,” they observe. Mark takes the first at 18, loses the second at 19 and wins the category, 17 in the third. Eider and Lynch share bronze.

In the Under 22, Jared Lynch is unceremoniously shoved aside in the Eighths by Thomas Yost, 12,18, in a fine upset win. Michael Shao refuses that fate, downing Yost in the Quarters, to make the ‘Final Four’ Han Xiao, Mark Hazinski, Cory Eider, and himself. Han goes through Michael, 6,14 and Mark beats Cory 13,8. (If you only lose to one player...) So again, Xiao and Hazinski. This time, Han takes the first, but can’t get back there as for the second time in a day, Mark (-22,18,18) finishes strong and tough against his friend and rival.

Once again the music plays, the medals are hung and the parents and coaches applaud. But there is no rest for the weary (who’s weary? Where do these kids get the energy?) as tomorrow brings the third and concluding day of competition, the Junior Teams Championship.

Day Three

Again, I had to be impressed with the enthusiasm and good sportsmanship of the juniors as they began play against each other for the third straight day. By golly, if you didn’t know better, you’d swear that they were having ... fun! But the matches certainly counted. Now the format was best of five, four singles and a doubles match, with each team fielding two players for singles and doubles being the third match.

The coaches hoped to see personal growth, the application of tactics and the ability to overcome disappointment

Those qualities were on display when the Potomac Valley (PVA, an AAU region from part of Maryland, part of Virginia, and Washington DC) squad of U-10 Boys beat Georgia for the title. The crucial match was a third encounter between Preston Chin and Marcus Jackson. Marcus goes 2-1 for the week with Preston, 19,12.

Florida gets a boost when they capture both the Girls’ U-10 and Boys’ U-12 Team titles. Brian Lam and Andrew Lin first relegate the Minnesotans, Anders Truelson and Nathaniel Curran to third place, and then surpass the PVA entry of Martin Qian, Max Li, William Wang and Robert Yang to second.

Chantal Taylor and Linden Li (PVA) triumphed over the Californians, Emily Randall, Callie Cargill and Brittany Malek, in the U-12 Girls’, in a light field. PVA also grabs the U-14 Boys’ title on a fine performance by Yao Xu, Eric Ma, Wei Fan and Duncan Chou.

Joe Cochran, Gordon Cochran and Jeff Smith of Indiana provided the opposition the final, with Joe beating Wei, 21 and 17, but Wei breaking back to defeat Gordon 17 in the third to salt away first place (with Yao winning his match, and Yao and Wei once again winning in doubles.)

PVA continued to roll, as Rita Wu, Barbara Wei and Cindy Li took first in the Girls’ U-14, Florida’s Sarah Zheng, Diana Li and Halona Ng coming in second. Barbara Wei had already lost twice to Sarah in the previous two days, but pulled out the win in the fifth match after losing the first game at 14. The PVA ‘Gang of Four,’ Katherine Wu, Chao Wang, Elaine Kwok and Sherri Geng, continued the juggernaut, winning the U-16 against Georgia’s Arianne and Sheenah Mah. PVA’s Louise Giam and Dana Huang made it ‘clean sweep’ by winning the U-18 against Floridians Shuai Chen and Jane Li.

The Boys’ U-18 provided some spectacular shot-making and all-out competition. Indiana’s duo of Mark Hazinski and Jared Lynch waltzed through their Semis with Californians Mike Amren, Ngai Chung and Peter Randall without dropping a game. Minnesota (Cory Eider, Joe Podvin, and Abraham Langseth) put up more resistance against the PVA entry of Han Xiao and James Duan. Cory opened the tie by beating Duan in three games, but Han evened it with a 10,7 trouncing of Podvin. In the doubles, Han and James pull out a 15 in the third decision to rise up 2-1. Now it all rests on the broad shoulders of Cory Eider. Playing with the heart of a lion, Cory goes to deuce in the first with Xiao, but cannot win through. Completely exhausted and drenched, he succumbs at 6 in the second game. PVA will meet Indiana for the Gold.

Hazinski beats Duan, Xiao beats Lynch, and Indiana takes the doubles to establish a 2-1 lead in the tie. Now Mark and Han meet for the third time in two days. Maryland fans are delighted when Han takes a 24-22 win in the first, but it becomes quickly apparent that something is wrong with Han early in the second. Struggling to stay even with Mark in the powerful exchanges, Han pulls a muscle near his elbow, but refuses to default. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, and Hazinski puts Indiana over the top, 8,6.

When Michael Fan, Roger Abbott and Rafael Klein win the U-22 over Michael Squires, Michael Terao and Raghu Nadmichettu, the tournament is nearly over. Nearly, but not quite. The last matches to actually be played went off just before the medal ceremonies, the Final of the Boys’ U-16 Teams.

PVA’s entry of Khaleel Asgarali, Michael Shao and Charles Fan face the NJ entry of Eric Finkelstein, Pan Lin and Jiayi Hao. Shao beats Eric and Pan Lin beats Fan in a nice three-gamer, 19 in the third. PVA takes the doubles to draw ahead 2-1. With no other matches being played, and the medal ceremonies still to come, parents are nervously glancing at their wristwatches and consulting their travel plans. It is decided to start the last two singles side by side, in case a fifth match is needed. Pan Lin delivers an 18-point first game win against Shao. Shao breaks back with 10 in the second game. Eric beats Charles Fan at 13 in their first game. Just as Shao beats Pan again (15 in the third to end the tie), Fan draws even to a game apiece in the now meaningless fifth match.

‘That’s it, gentlemen!” I call out, with all the medals and order of finish decided. But amazingly (to me) Finkelstein and Fan wish to continue. “Is it okay if we finish?” the young man asks. There is nothing on the line. They have been playing for three straight days. But the sparkle in Eric’s eyes brings me up short. They love it. When all is said and done, they are playing because they love it. And this, the final moment of the AAU Junior Olympics is the one that I will always remember most vividly. Who won the match? I have no idea. Our official score sheet shows no third game score. And that doesn’t matter in the least. Because they played it out of sheer joy. And that is what matters most.

Joel Farrell Memiorial Awards

Junior Olympic Singles

Under 10 Boys

1^st: Marcus Jackson (PV)

2^nd: Preston Chin (GA)

3^rd: Shelby Lane (TN)

4^th: Kevin Ma (PV)

Under 10 Girls

1^st: Amy Huang (FL)

2^nd: Andrea Lin (FL)

3^rd: Adrian Lam (FL)

4^th: Gillian Wu (FL)

Under 12 Boys

1^st: Andrew Lin (FL)

2^nd: Joseph Cochran (IN)

3^rd: Nathaniel Curran (MN)

4^th: Michael Mast (OH)

Under 12 Girls

1^st: Yuliya Lisova (NY)

2^nd: Diana Li (FL)

3^rd: Jennifer Mast (OH)

4^th: Sheena Mah (GA)

Under 14 Boys

1^st: Yao Xu (PV)

2^nd: Eric Finkelstein (NJ)

3^rd: A.J. Carney (NY)

4^th: Gordon Cochran (IN)

Under 14 Girls

1^st: Sarah Zheng (FL)

2^nd: Rita Wu (PV)

3^rd: Barbara Wei (PV)

4^th: Jane Li (FL)

Under 16 Boys

1^st: Han Xiao (PV)

2^nd: Michael Shao (PV)

3^rd: Pan Lin (NY)

4^th: Khaleel Asgarali (PV)

Under 16 Girls

1^st: Chao Wang (PV)

2^nd: Elaine Kwok (PV)

3^rd: Katherine Wu (PV)

4^th: Sherri Geng (PV)

Under 18 Boys

1^st: Mark Hazinski (IN)

2^nd: Jared Lynch (IN)

3^rd: Cory Eider (MN)

4^th: James Duan (PV)

Under 18 Girls

1^st: Dana Huang (PV)

2^nd: Lydia Brekke (MN)

3^rd: Louis Giam (PV)

4^th: Shuai Chen (FL)

Under 22 Boys

1^st: Thomas Yost (OH)

2^nd: Michael Squires (PV)

3^rd: Michael Fan (PV)

Under 22 Girls

1^st: Vivian Lee (PV)

Junior Nationals

Under 10 Boys

1^st: Preston Chin (GA)

2^nd: Marcus Jackson (PV)

3-4: Shelby Lane (TN)

3-4: Kevin Ma (PV)

Under 10 Girls

1^st: Amy Huang (FL)

2^nd: Andrea Lin (FL)

3-4: Adrian Lam (FL)

3-4: Gillian Wu (FL)

Under 12 Boys

1^st: Andrew Lin (FL)

2^nd: Marcus Jackson (PV)

3-4: Joseph Cochran (IN)

3-4: Shelby Lane (TN)

Under 12 Girls

1^st: Yuliya Lisova (NY)

2^nd: Jennifer Mast (OH)

3-4: Diana Li (FL)

3-4: Amy Huang (FL)

Under 14 Boys

1^st: Yao Xu (PV)

2^nd: Eric Finkelstein (NJ)

3-4: Andrew Lin (FL)

3-4: A.J. Carney (NY)

Under 14 Girls

1^st: Sarah Zheng (FL)

2^nd: Barbara Wei (PV)

3-4: Rita Wu (PV)

3-4: Diana Li (FL)

Under 16 Boys

1^st: Han Xiao (PV)

2^nd: Michael Shao (PV)

3-4: Khaleel Asgarali (PV)

3-4: Charles Fan (PV)

Under 16 Girls

1^st: Katherine Wu (PV)

2^nd: Elaine Kwok (PV)

3-4: Sherri Geng (PV)

3-4: Chao Wang (PV)

Under 18 Boys

1^st: Mark Hazinski (IN)

2^nd: Han Xiao (PV)

3-4: Cory Eider (MN)

3-4: Jared Lynch (IN)

Under 18 Girls

1^st: Katherine Wu (PV)

2^nd: Chao Wang (PV)

3-4: Elaine Kwok (PV)

3-4: Dana Huang (PV)

Under 22 Boys

1^st: Mark Hazinski (PV)

2^nd: Han Xiao (PV)

3-4: Cory Eider (MN)

3-4: Michael Shao (PV)

Under 22 Girls

1^st: Elaine Kwok (PV)

2^nd: Chao Wang (PV)

3-4: Katherine Wu (PV)

3-4: Dana Huang (PV)

Junior Teams

Under 10 Boys

1^st: Marcus Jackson, Amaresh Sahu, Kevin Ma, Vincent Ning (PV)

2^nd: Preston Chin, Derrick Styles (GA)

3^rd: Michael Chen, Collin McLeod (FL)

4^th: Peter Li, Charlie Sun (MD)

Under 10 Girls

1^st: Amy Huang, Andrea Lin (FL)

2^nd: Gillian Wu, Adrian Lam (FL)

Under 12 Boys

1^st: Brian Lam, Andrew Lin (FL)

2^nd: Martin Qian, William Wang, Max Li, Robert Yang (PV)

3^rd: Anders Truelson, Nathaniel Curran (MN)

4^th: Kevin Chiu, Jonathan Li (FL)

Under 12 Girls

1^st: Linden Li, Chantal Taylor (PV)

2^nd: Brittany Malek, Callie Cargill, Emily Randall (CA)

Under 14 Boys

1^st: Yao Xu, Wei Fan, Eric Ma, Duncan Chou (PV)

2^nd: Gordon Cochran, Joseph Cochran, Jeffrey Smith (IN)

3^rd: Kevin Lam, Cory McLeod, Sutton Ng (FL)

4^th: Justin Mah, Edima Ufot (GA)

Under 14 Girls

1^st: Rita Wu, Barbara Wei, Cindy Li (PV)

2^nd: Diana Li, Sarah Zheng, Halona Ng (FL)

Under 16 Boys

1^st: Michael Shao, Khaleel Asgarali, Charles Fan, Alex Pan (MD)

2^nd: Pan Lin, Eric Finkelstein, Jiayi Hao (NJ)

3^rd: A.J. Carney, Mike Caplan, Chuck Caplan (NY)

4^th: Josh Kuhn, Paul Westhart (CA)

Under 16 Girls

1^st: Katherine Wu, Chao Wang, Elaine Kwok, Sherri Geng (PV)

2^nd: Arianne Mah, Sheena Mah (GA)

Under 18 Boys

1^st: Mark Hazinski, Jared Lynch (IN)

2^nd: Han Xiao, James Duan (PV)

3^rd: Cory Eider, Joseph Podvin, Abraham Langseth (MN)

4^th: Michael Amren, Ngai-Chi Chung, Peter Randall (CA)

Under 18 Girls

1^st: Louise Giam, Dana Huang (PV)

2^nd: Shuai Chen, Jane Li (FL)

Under 22 Boys

1^st: Michael Fan, Roger Abbott, Raphael Klein (PV)

2^nd: Michael Squires, Michael Terao, Raghu Nadmichettu (PV)

Junior Doubles

Under 10 Boys

1^st: Shelby Lane (TN)/Kevin Ma (PV)

2^nd: Preston Chin (FL)/Marcus Jackson (PV)

3^rd: Janiel Li (PV)/Vincent Ning (PV)

4^th: Amaresh Sahu (PV)/Peter Li (PV)

Under 10 Girls

1^st: Amy Huang (FL)/Andrea Lin (FL)

2^nd: Gillian Wu (FL)/Adrian Lam (FL)

Under 12 Boys

1^st: Andrew Lim (FL)/Brian Lam (FL)

2^nd: Michael Mast (OH)/Joseph Cochran (IN)

3^rd: Anders Truelson (MN)/Nathaniel Curran (MN)

4^th: Martin Qian (PV)/William Wang (PV)

Under 12 Girls

1^st: Sheena Mah (GA)/Jennifer Mast (OH)

2^nd: Linden Li (PV)/Chantal Taylor (PV)

3^rd: Callie Cargill (CA)/Emily Randall (CA)

Under 14 Boys

1^st: Yao Xu (PV)/Wei Fan (PV)

2^nd: Gordon Cochran (IN)/Jeffrey Smith (IN)

3^rd: Eric Finkelstein (NJ)/A.J.Carney (NY)

4^th: Eric Ma (PV)/Alan Giam (PV)

Under 14 Girls

1^st: Rita Wu (PV)/Barbara Wei (PV)

2^nd: Diana Li (FL)/Sarah Zheng (FL)

3^rd: Cindy Li (PV)/Halona Ng (FL)

Under 16 Boys

1^st: Michael Shao (PV)/Han Xiao (PV)

2^nd: Khaleel Asgarali (PV)/Charles Fan (PV)

3^rd: Michael Terao (PV)/Raghu Nadmichettu (PV)

4^th: Mike Caplan (NY)/Jiayi Hao (NJ)

Under 16 Girls

1^st: Katherine Wu (PV)/Chao Wang (PV)

2^nd: Arianne Mah (GA)/Melissa Feliciano (PR)

Under 18 Boys

1^st: Jared Lynch (IN)/Mark Hazinski (IN)

2^nd: Eli Kahn (IN)/Andrew Cochran (IN)

3^rd: Roger Abbott (PV)/James Duan (PV)

4^th: Joseph Podvin (MN)/Cory Eider (MN)

Under 18 Girls

1^st: Elaine Kwok (PV)/Dana Huang (PV)

2^nd: Shuai Chen (FL)/Jane Li (FL)

3^rd: Sherri Geng (PV)/Louise Giam (PV)

Under 22 Boys

1^st: Pan Lin (NY)/Carlos Colon (PR)

2^nd: Michael Fan (PV)/Michael Squires (PV)

3^rd: David Landry (AL)/Stephen Wah (AR)

Joel Farrell Memorial Awards

Male: Eric Finkelstein

Female: Katherine Wu

The Joel Farrell Award is presented annually to a player at the Junior Olympics for combined excellence in performance and sportsmanship. The past three winners of the award were Santiago Coste, Mark Hazinski and Han Xiao. These three excellent individuals provide ‘large shoes to fill.’

The tournament committee decided to eliminate the previous award winners for contention in 2001, convinced that the gold medals they won, as well as the previous Farrell Awards, constitute sufficient recognition. We decided to use their excellent example to inspire this year’s winners rather than honor them again, though their performances can only be called ‘excellent.’

We decided also to award both a male and a female participant. There was no shortage of candidates, as so many of the young people showed the required great play and outstanding behavior. We believe in their dedication to training, their skills acquired to this point, and in their ability to be gracious in victory or defeat. We felt that these two people bring honor to their families, their clubs, their states, and we have no doubt they will represent the United States in a manner that would make us proud.

The 2001 Joel Farrell Award was presented to Eric Finkelstein of New Jersey and Katherine Wu of Maryland.

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