Junior of the Month: Barbara Wei

·        U.S. #2 Under 16 Girls, #3 Under 18 Girls

·        Member, USA Cadet Team, 2002-2004

·        1st alternate USA Junior Team, 2004

·        2002 National Under 16 Girls’ Singles Champion

·        2002 Junior Olympic Under 14 Girls’ Singles Champion

·        2002 National Under 14 Girls’ Teams Champion

·        1999 Junior Olympic Under 12 Girls’ Singles Champion

Rating/Ranking:        Highest: 2059 before US Open. Current: Dropped to 1965 after Baaaaad! U.S. Open

Age/Date of Birth:     15: DOB: 3-11-89

Hometown:                  Gaithersburg, MD

Home Club:                 Maryland Table Tennis Center

Equipment:                  Bryce Red 2.0 on forehand, Speedy P.O. 1.9 pips on backhand. Sponsored by Butterfly

Coach:                         Jack Huang (since I started playing), and some USA cadet team/junior team coaches on USATT trips

Barbara was originally a figure skater. She got started in table tennis when one of her skater friends brought her to the Maryland Table Tennis Center, which was close to her house.  The friend quit playing soon after, but Barbara, then 8 years old, was hooked – even though she said, “…it took almost three weeks for me to hit the ball, then three more to hit it on the table! But I liked it so much I stuck with it.”

During the school year, she practices 4-5 times per week, including three private lessons, Friday night league and Saturday group camp – where she has been recently taking this writer more and more to the cleaners! She says she hits a lot with Raghu Nadmichettu, James Duan, Kevin Ma and Marcus Jackson. During the summer, she said she usually “gets shipped off to China” – which is where she was this summer. While in China, she trains nearly every day for 5-7 hours.

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