College Profile: University of Maryland

By Larry Hodges

University of Maryland is about 30-minutes (outside rush hour) from the Maryland Table Tennis Center, and a little closer to the Potomac Country Table Tennis Club. These clubs have a long tradition of developing players, and keep the college well supplied with players. Colleges from Maryland have won six national team titles since 1993, including three from University of Maryland.

In the spring, the team was the #2 ranked college in the country by USATT ratings (top four players’ average). The team was anchored by U.S. Team Member and freshman Han Xiao (2565), who along with fellow-freshman and long-time hitting partner Michael Shao (2159), joined senior James Duan (2261) to create a powerful 1-2-3 punch of former Maryland junior stars. In the #4 position was battling Jeff Kleinberg (1360). James has now graduated, but his spot on the team has been taken by still another incoming freshman and former Maryland junior star, Fernando Ramirez (1913).

The University of Maryland Table Tennis Club meets twice a week at the Campus Recreation Center. About 20 players show up each time. President of the club is Roger Fox. The club’s web page is at www.studentorg.umd.edu/tttc.