Juniors of the Month: Oliver & Lani Lei

By Don Patch

Lani Lei. Photo by Oliver Lei ©2003.

How old were you when you started to play and how did you get started?

Lani: I was 8. I started to play in Keelung, Taiwan on the varsity team at my elementary school. I came to the United States two years ago. I joined the team because Oliver played on it first and I followed him.

Oliver: I was about 9 when I started. There was a teacher at our school who played ping-pong very well and wanted to form a team. He asked me to join so I did.

Who were your coaches when you started and who are your coaches now?

Lani & Oliver: The teacher who started our school team in Taiwan coached us then but we have no coach now.

Who do you practice with and how often?

Lani & Oliver: We practice about twice each week at the club in Richland. We practice with each other because there is no one else around here to practice with.

Oliver Lei. Photo by Lani Lei ©2003.

What are your best titles, tournament results or rankings?

Lani: I was on the USA Team as the first alternate, and I got third place in the North American Cadet Girls’ Team. I won the 2001 Stiga Western Open, U13 Girls’ division, and I placed second in the 2001 Stiga Open in the Under 1900 division.

Oliver: First alternate for Junior Boy’s Team. I was a semifinalist at the 2002 North American Cadet Challenge. And I was 2001-02 Stiga North American Tour Under 16 Boys’ Champion.

What techniques are you working on to improve your game?

Lani: Probably my forehand loop because I don’t loop very well.

Oliver: My backhand loop.

What hobbies do you have outside of table tennis?

Lani: I swim, skate, and ride my bicycle.

Oliver: Tennis. I play for my varsity school team.

What are your table tennis goals?

Lani: I want to make the North American Junior Team.

Oliver: I want to make the USA Team.

What are your non-table tennis goals?

Lani: I want to get straight A’s in school. I haven’t decided what I want to be when I grow up.

Oliver: Get a better GPA.

Anything else?

Lani & Oliver: The Tri Cities Table Tennis Club that we play at is about five minutes away from our house. We live on the edge of Kennewick, next to Richland, so it is very close. There are only adults playing at the club. It is open three times a week and located in a community recreation center.

Our parents play table tennis for fun only. We don’t have a table at our house and there are no coaches in our area. When we practice at the club we help each other by talking about what technique we should be working on and try to improve by ourselves. Lani says her brother "needs to stop lobbing to improve his game. He is always lobbing because he is really good at it," she adds. Oliver says, "Lani needs to work on her footwork and her backhand. Her forehand is much better than her backhand. She needs to improve her backhand so she can use it more as a weapon."

They get adult coaching only occasionally when they attend a camp like the USATT Star Camp or when they go back to Taiwan for fun about once every two years.

Lani says, "Friends from school don’t really know about table tennis, but they think it’s cool that we play. Most don’t even know that it is an Olympic sport." Oliver added that, "There are some tables at school but they are really bad."