College Profile: Texas Wesleyan University

By Michael Meier

Coaching Staff

Head Coach Christian Lillieroos
Current USATT Rating:        2199
Highest USATT Rating:        2284 (10/27/96)

Lillieroos has been head coach for Texas Wesleyan University since the program’s inception on August 2, 2001.  He coached the Rams to third place finishes at the 2002 and 2004 North American Open Team Championships and NCTTA collegiate titles in 2004 and 2005.  During his tenure, Texas Wesleyan has won 16 of 25 college titles.  Lillieroos was the main driving force for Texas Wesleyan to host the college championships in 2005 and 2006.  He also started the first scholarship-based table tennis team in the United States (Anderson College, SC, 1986-1988).

Lillieroos has worked in table tennis for over 30 years in 35 countries.  In the past he has coached national teams in Sweden, Canada, USA, and Mexico, and was named USATT Coach of the Year in both 1997 and 2002.

Since 1996 Lillieroos has been the chairman for the International Paralympic Table Tennis Committee.  In nine years, he has overseen tournament hosting increase from three to 31 per year, participants on the tour from 496 to 2500, and a large increase in staff and budget. 

Assistant Coach Keith Evans
Current USATT Rating:        2394
Highest USATT Rating:        2453 (09/07/03)

Evans, assistant table tennis coach for Texas Wesleyan, has over 20 years of professional table tennis experience.  He coached the Rams to the NCTTA college team title in 2005.  Formerly, Evans was the Jamaica Table Tennis Association National Coach.

Evans represented his native Jamaica from 1984-1999 at various international events,  including the Pan-American Games, U.S. Open, Central America and Caribbean Games, and Latin American Championships. 

As a player, Evans won three Caribbean Team Championships, two Jamaica national titles, and three Caribbean men’s doubles titles.  At the 2002 U.S. Open, he won the over-40 and U-4200 doubles titles.

Top Players

Eric Owens
Current USATT Rating:        2524 (#10 in U.S.)
Highest USATT Rating:        2712 (05/26/02)

From Houston, Texas, Owens led Texas Wesleyan to third place finishes at the 2002 and 2004 North American Open Team Championships and NCTTA collegiate titles in 2004 and 2005.  He is a three-time defending and current college men’s singles champion (2003-2005).  Owens teamed up with Courtney Roberts to win college men’s doubles titles in 2003 and 2005, and won college mixed doubles titles with teammate Sabrina Worrell in 2005 and Biba Golic in 2004.

Recently, Owens won the 2005 Buckeye Open, 2004 Southern California Open, and 2004 Buckeye Open elite singles titles.  In 2003 he qualified for the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic.  Owens is a many-time U.S. Team Member. He was a semifinalist at the 2002 North American Championships and North American Open Team Championships.

Prior to that, Owens garnered acclaim at the 2001 U.S. Nationals.  He won men’s singles & doubles, and placed second in mixed doubles with Jasna Reed.  In 1999 Owens and the U.S. won the gold medal in the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, Canada.  He won the 1998 U.S. Nationals men’s doubles title and the 1996 U-22 U.S. Nationals singles title. 

Owens is a senior majoring in biochemistry.  He has earned Dean’s List honors three consecutive years and is a member of the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society, limited to the top 10 percent of college juniors and seniors.

Ludovic Gombos
Current USATT Rating:        2496 (#19 in U.S.)
Highest USATT Rating:        2555 (5/14/05)

Gombos is a new addition to Texas Wesleyan Table Tennis.  Since moving from Romania in 2004, he has won several tournaments in the United States.  In 2005 he won the 4-Star Stiga Open in Atlanta, Paddle Palace Seattle Open, Rose City Open (OR), and Sacramento Spring Open.  He also took several U-2500 titles, including the Lechi/West Covina TTC Open (CA), St. Joseph Valley Open (IN), Pacific Rim Open (OR), Western Open (CA), and New Jersey Open.

Prior to coming to Wesleyan, Gombos competed professionally in France (2002-2004).  He won the Marseille Open in 2002 and was runner-up at that same event in 2003.  He qualified for the Pro B team championships in 2004 and the national team championships in 2003.    

Gombos also played table tennis in his native Romania.  He was a member of the Romanian National Team B, and placed 6^th at the Romanian Top 12 in 2002.  Prior to that, he won medals in doubles at the Romanian National Championships – bronze in 2002 and silver in 2000.  Gombos was a member of the Romanian Cadet and Junior National Teams (1989-1992), winning gold in singles and bronze in doubles at the Romanian National Championships.

Gombos is a freshman majoring in business administration.

Carlos Chiu
Current USATT Rating:        2341
Highest USATT Rating:        2390 (07/04/04)

Chiu is a new addition to the Texas Wesleyan squad, hailing from Mexico City, Mexico.  He has been a member of the Mexico National Team for the past six years (1999-2005).  Chiu competed in the 2005 World Championships in Shanghai, China and 2003 World Championships in Paris, France.

In 2004 he was the U-21 Mexico singles champion, U-21 Central America Championships runner-up, and U-21 Latin America Doubles Champion.  Chiu made the final 16 in the Brazilian Pro Tour in 2003.

Chiu is a freshman majoring in business administration.        

Courtney Roberts
Current USATT Rating:        2273
Highest USATT Rating:        2612 (#5) (6/16/02)

Originally from Jamaica, Roberts guided Texas Wesleyan to a third place finish at the 2004 North American Open Team Championships and NCTTA collegiate titles in 2004 and 2005.  Roberts placed second in college men’s singles in 2003 and 2005, and placed first in college men’s doubles with Eric Owens in 2003 and 2005. 

In 2002 Roberts won the Pacific Coast Open and was ranked as high as fifth in the United States.  He was also a U-22 singles semifinalist in the 1995 U.S. Open, and is currently the defending U.S. National Hardbat champion.

Continuing to represent the country in which he was born, Roberts is a member of the Jamaica National Team, and competed in the 2005 World Championships in Shanghai, China.  Before that Roberts competed on the junior national team and was Jamaica Junior Champion in 1991.

Roberts is a junior majoring in sports management.

Dinko Kranjac
Current USATT Rating:        2256
Highest USATT Rating:        2392 (11/28/04)

Born and raised in Croatia, Kranjac (KRAWN-yatz) guided Texas Wesleyan to a to a third place finish at the 2004 North American Open Team Championships and NCTTA collegiate titles in 2004 and 2005.  In 2005 he placed second in college men’s singles.

One of the youngest players ever to participate in Croatia’s First Division, Kranjac played on the U-14 Croatian Cadet National Team (1995-1998) and the U-18 Junior National Team (1999-2001).  In 1998 he ranked #13 in the world U-16, and placed fifth in doubles in the Youth Olympic Games in Moscow.

Kranjac is a sophomore majoring in psychology.

Abdul Rahman Khan
Current USATT Rating:        2161
Highest USATT Rating:        2283 (10/09/04)

Previously attending an Indian school in Saudi Arabia, Khan is playing his second season on the Texas Wesleyan team.  In 2004 he placed second in both the Killerspin Holiday Classic Open and Texas Wesleyan Fall Open. 

Before coming to Wesleyan, Khan was a four-time state champion in Andhna Pradesh (1998-2002).  He also qualified for the Cadet Team in 1998.

Khan is a sophomore majoring in business administration.

Top Woman

Sabrina Worrell
Current USATT Rating:        1864
Highest USATT Rating:        2045 (04/10/04)

Worrell is the lone female member of the Texas Wesleyan team, and helped win NCTTA collegiate titles in 2004 and 2005.  She won the 2005 college mixed doubles title with Eric Owens, 2004 college women’s doubles with Biba Golic, and placed third in women’s singles in 2004.  In 2003 she won women’s singles in the U.S. Open Warmup Tournament, and in 2001 won the U-18 U.S. Open doubles title.

Born and raised in Barbados, Worrell continues to represent her country.  Recently, she placed 5^th in mixed doubles at 2005 Caribbean Championships. Before that she placed third in doubles at the 2002 Caribbean Championships.  In Barbados she won the 2003 women’s doubles title and 2002 U-20 women’s singles title. 

Worrell is a senior majoring in accounting.