Juniors of the Month: Mark Wei, Steven Chan & Lin Jeff Huang

By Bobby Roberts

Imagine three young teammates from the same table tennis club, whose goal is to make the USA National Cadet team. Most of us would consider this goal highly unlikely, due to the fact that there are only four spots on the team and many good young players around the country have the same goal in mind. All these young table tennis players were attending the 2003 U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas during their Christmas break, fighting hard to make the 2004 USA Cadet team. Mark Wei, Steven Chan and Jeff Lin Huang, all from the San Gabriel Valley Table Tennis Club (SGVTTC) in California. Each believed they could make the team, and they were not to be denied! Mark, Steven and Jeff all placed in the top four and all became members of the 2004 USA National Cadet Team. I think it’s safe to say that the success they shared as teammates is extraordinary and will be tough to duplicate. 

Mark, Steven and Jeff are coached by Grace Lin at the SGVTTC. USATT Executive Vice President Dr. Jiing Wang is the club president. The club has five tables and is open seven days a week, from 8 a.m. until late in the evening. Coach Grace Lin is extremely dedicated and devoted to her coaching and can be found teaching students aged 6 to 60, during all hours of the day and night. Most locals would probably consider the SGVTTC to be a junior training center, due to the large number of juniors that train at the club under the watchful eye of Coach Lin. She has many good up-and-coming students that are following in the footsteps of players like Mark, Steven and Jeff.

[To read the rest of this article, join USA Table Tennis, and get a free subscription to USATT Magazine!]