College Table Tennis National Championships

Columbus, OH, March 30-April 1, 2007 By Liang Liu, NCTTA Public Relations Director It was the weekend of NCAA basketball’s Final Four and the aura of excitement was palpable across the largest college campus in the United States. Inside the school’s brand new 500,000 square foot recreation facility, the enthusiasm of the student spectators was evident. Students stood on the upper floors, faces pressed against the glass, mesmerized by the rapid-fire pace of the top college players in the country. But they weren’t watching basketball. Instead, they were watching a much smaller, lighter, white ball fly back and forth at the College Table Tennis National Championships, which had brought more than 230 players from 30 universities across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico to Columbus, Ohio to compete for the glory of the Championships. (photo by Diego Schaaf ©2007)

It was the weekend of NCAA basketball’s Final Four and the aura of excitement was palpable across the largest college campus in the United States. Inside the school’s brand new 500,000 square foot recreation facility, the enthusiasm of the student spectators was evident. Students stood on the upper floors, faces pressed against the glass, mesmerized by the rapid-fire pace of the top college players in the country.

But they weren’t watching basketball. Instead, they were watching a much smaller, lighter, white ball fly back and forth at the College Table Tennis National Championships, which had brought more than 230 players from 30 universities across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico to Columbus, Ohio to compete for the glory of the Championships.

About the NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association started out in 1992 as the League of Northeast Intercollegiate Table Tennis. The division champions were the top seeded teams from each division based on the best regular season record. The league champion was determined by post-season playoff among the top two seeded teams in each division. It wasn’t until 1999 when the league changed its name to the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and expanded into the four corners of the United States and into Canada.

The NCTTA today includes over 120 universities from the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Each university usually includes a Varsity Team I or a Co-ed Team that it sends to divisional and national tournaments, a Varsity Team II, and/or a women’s team whose league started in the 2005-2006 season.
The Johns Hopkins University became the first school to dominate collegiate table tennis (1998 to 2000). The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign won the championships in 2002 and 2003. Ever since 2004, the Texas Wesleyan University has become the dominating figure in collegiate table tennis, winning the Team’s title in 2004, 2005, and 2006.

Special thanks to the NCTTA’s Board of Directors and Divisional Directors, Newgy Industries as the Championship’s Platinum Sponsor, and Coca Cola as the Gold Sponsor for making this event possible. Also, special thanks to the number of volunteers umpiring the games and making the tournament run as flawlessly as it possibly could. Finally, thank you Ohio State University for being such a wonderful host.
NCTTA Co-ed Team Championships

Early Rounds
The majority of the early round matches resulted in the same way as they were predicted. There were few upsets, but three matches were particularly interesting:
University of Wisconsin-Madison d. Stanford University 3-1

Team Captain and Assistant Midwest Division Director for NCTTA Andrew Knips was asked about his team’s ascension to the championship round and their chances against the mighty west coast school. His response was “Trick Shows and Gyros, we will prevail.” Stanford University’s co-ed team strangely sat key player Whitney Ping who could have potentially brought another point and experience. In the end, University of Wisconsin Madison’s co-ed team, winner of the NCTTA Rookie team of the year award, did indeed prevail with a 3-1 win over the Stanford team, supplanting themselves into unfamiliar but exciting territory.
Columbia University d. Cornell University 3-2

The tenth ranked Columbia University faced the fourth ranked Cornell University in the Quarterfinals of the Co-ed Teams Championships. The winner would advance to face second ranked Princeton University. The Columbia contingent was strong with two coaches along for the trip, Karun Singh and Richard Wagner, whom were both ex-players from previous years. Coach Singh stated prior to the match, “We will win the war before even setting foot in the country,” noting that the team’s confidence was high.

Victor Leung, Columbia’s number one player, pulled off an upset facing Cornell’s undefeated number one player, Jorge Escobar, and set the tone for the match as it see-sawed back and forth. Victor and Michelle, rookies of college table tennis from Columbia University, defeated Cornell in doubles to face the Princeton University Tigers in the next round.

Princeton University d. Columbia University 3-2
Despite a total team rating difference of 1478, the Columbia University’s co-ed team (7234) gave the second ranked Princeton University (8712) much trouble in this semifinal match. This was an Ivy-on-Ivy match, as two of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning faced each other in the battle to play in the NCTTA Team College Championship finals. Coach Karun Singh said before the game, “We are here to de-claw them.”
Although Princeton’s Adam Hugh faced some early trouble, he eventually defeated Victor Leung from Columbia. Columbia’s Michelle Yang completed one of the biggest upsets of the tournament by counter hitting Pan Lin into a corner and beating him 3-2. Just a few minutes later, Columbia went up 2-1 with Felix Yu’s win over Anton Koychev. Facing the brink of elimination, Eric Finkelstein of Princeton got the better side of Cedric Wong of Columbia to force a game five. In the decisive fifth game, Adam Hugh teamed up with Pan Lin, who regained his form to defeat the feisty Columbia duo of Leung and Yang to advance to the NCTTA Championship Finals to face the defending champs Texas Wesleyan.
Seventh and Eighth Place Match

The host school Ohio State University took on the No. 17 nationally ranked Kansas State University in the seventh and eighth place match. After barely being edged out by Cornell University just moments ago, the OSU Buckeyes made sure that they would at least come out seventh place in the tournament. The match drew much attention since the host school was playing its final match. With the support of its home crowd, the Ohio State University’s co-ed team defeated Kansas State University’s co-ed team 3-0 to finish seventh overall in the tournament.
Fifth and Sixth Place Match

After losing a heated battle to fellow Ivy League rival Columbia University, Cornell University’s co-ed team defeated the thirteenth ranked University of Wisconsin-Madison 3-1 to finish fifth overall in the tournament. Congratulations to Cornell University.
Third and Fourth Place Match

After a heartbreaking loss to Princeton University, Columbia faced the twelfth ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Columbia won easily 3-0 to finish third overall.

Final
In this highly anticipated rematch of last year’s Gold Medal Match, Princeton University tried to prevent Texas Wesleyan University from completing their fourth championship run. Texas Wesleyan’s Carlos Chiu faced Princeton’s Eric Finkelstein in the first match. Although the game was close early in the first game, Chiu took control of the match and won in three straight games. Princeton’s Michael Hsu then faced TWU’s number one player Mark Hazinski. Hazinski defeated Hsu in the first two games, both 11-6. In the crucial game three, Hsu refused to lose by keeping the game close. However, in the end, Hazinski won the match 3-0 to give Texas Wesleyan a 2-0 lead.

In a critical game three, Princeton’s number one player Adam Hugh faced Texas Wesleyan’s Dinko Kranjac. Adam won easily in three straight games to give Princeton hope in upsetting the defending champs. All eyes rested on most critical match of this series, as Princeton desperately needs a win to force a game five.
Despite a USATT rating difference of 284 between Pan Lin (Princeton) and Ludovic Gombos (TWU), Princeton believed that they could indeed pull off the upset. In a difficult game one, Lin was able to defeat Gombos 11-9 to take a 1-0 lead. Although Gombos lead early in the second game, Lin spectacularly counter looped his way back to take a commanding 2-0 lead over Gombos. However, Gombos was not ready to give up as he dominated in the third game 11-6. In a vital game four, Lin was able to keep the scores close initially at 2-2. But Gombos proved to be too strong as he scored the next nine out of ten points to tie the match at two apiece. In the decisive game five, Gombos appeared to have taken control of the game in the beginning, but great backhand loop from Lin kept the scores close at 6-8. But two critical mistakes from Pan caused him to be on the brink of elimination at 6-10. An edge in the end not only gave Gombos the win, but also crowned the Texas Wesleyan University as the 2007 NCTTA National Collegiate Table Tennis Co-ed Team’s Champion. Congratulations to the Rams, as they have successfully won their fourth consecutive NCTTA Co-ed Team’s Championships.

NCTTA Women Team Championships

The sixth ranked Cornell University faced the third ranked University of Toronto in the third and fourth place match. Cornell’s top gun Felicia Chiu defeated Toronto’s Harini Kaluarachchi in five difficult games. However, Toronto dominated in the other three games to finish third overall in the NCTTA Women’s Championships.

Women’s Final
In the much anticipated repeat of last year’s final match between the Texas Wesleyan University and Stanford University, Texas Wesleyan looked to defeat the defending champs and avoid the upset. Stanford’s Kyna Fong faced TWU’s number one woman and former Olympic bronze medalist Jasna Reed in the first game of the match. Reed dominated in the first game to win 11-3. However, Fong took control of the second game early at 5-3. But the more experienced Jasna Reed tied the game at 8-8, then 9-9, and finally put the finishing moves to take a 2-0 lead. In the third and final game, Reed again dominated, giving the Rams a 1-0 lead over Stanford.

Stanford University’s top player Whitney Ping tied the match up at 1-1 after defeating Pam Fontaine 3-0. Stanford’s Atha Fong then faced Texas Wesleyan’s Ines Perhoc in the match’s most decisive game. Fong took an early lead of 3-1 in the first game. Perhoc came back late in the game to bring it to deuce. But Fong kept her composure to win the game 13-11 and take a one to nothing lead. Perhoc dominated the second game as she started the game off with a seven to nothing lead. Bringing the momentum that she had built in the previous game, Perhoc took control of the match by taking a 2-1 lead. In the critical game four, Atha was not able to easily give up. The game began very tightly at 2-2, which evolved to 5-5, 6-6! A few minutes later, Perhoc took two points from Fong’s mistakes to lead 10-7. Fong then got one point back to make it 8-10…9-10…time out Texas! When both players got back to the table, Fong scores again to force the game into deuce! However, Perhoc proved to be too much as she won 14-12 to give Texas Wesleyan University their first ever Women’s Team Championship. Congratulations!

MEN’S SINGLES
Early Rounds
Jose Pagan (University of Puerto Rico) (1664) won his ACUI Region tournament by beating three 2200 players to finish second in the group knocking off second seed Jordan Fisher (University of Southern California). Aldis Presley (Texas Wesleyan University) (1961) knocked off top seed Pan Lin (Princeton) (2230) to take over the number one spot. And finally, unrated Sagar Gururaj from Auburn University stepped onto the collegiate scene and defeated Portland State’s number one player, Renjith Reinamma (2139) in three easy sets. Sagar has a 2000 college rating, but is unrated by USATT.
Semifinal
Mark Hazinski d. Carlos Chiu -14, 2, 4, 5
Despite having trouble facing his fellow Ram in game one, Hazinski dominated games two, three, and four to win 3-1 to advance to the finals.
Adam Hugh d. Ludovic Gombos 9, 5, 6
The first game started off very close with lots of counter looping. In a difficult first game, Hugh won 11-9. In games two and three, Hugh easily defeated Gombos to face Hazinski in the ACUI finals.
Final
Mark Hazinski d. Adam Hugh -6, 6, 2, 11
Hugh took an early 7-2 lead in the first game, which eventually evolved to a 10-5 lead. Hazinski made a last push, but Hugh got the edge to secure the first game at 11-6. The second game started off in Hazinski’s way as he never looked back to tie the match at one a piece. Hazinski then took control early in the third with a net to be up 3-1 and scores the next eight of nine points to take a 2-1 lead. It looked as if Hazinski would win the fourth easily when he took a 10-6 lead, but Hugh fought back with two great counter loops to make it 10-8, then 10-9, and with a great loop Adam ties it at 10-10. However, Hazinski proved to be too much in the end as he wins the fourth game 13-11 to become the 2007 ACUI Men’s Champion
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Semifinals
Jasna Reed d. Whitney Ping 4, -12, 3, 9
Although Ping opened the first game with a four point lead, Jasna scores the next seven to take control of the game. Coming back from deficit in the second, Ping ends up winning the game in deuce. Reed dominated the third game to take a 2-1 lead. In the fourth game, Ping took control of the game early on to lead 7-3. However, the more experienced Olympian controlled her composure to win 11-9 to advance to the finals.
Ines Perhoc d. Atha Fong 3, 11, 5
The Croatian under-21 year-old National Singles Champion proved to be too much for Fong as she wins the semis in three consecutive games to face her fellow Ram in the finals.
Finals
Jasna Reed d. Ines Perhoc 7, 6, 5
Jasna dominated the first game to take a 1-0 lead in the finals. Although the second game started off very tightly, Jasna dominated again later in the game to win 11-6. In the third game, Jasna starts of with a seven to nothing lead. Perhoc then had an ace and a few other good points, but it wasn’t strong enough to stop Jasna winning the ACUI Women’s Single Championship.

MEN’S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
Final: Texas Wesleyan d. Princeton 3-1
3rd: Columbia University d. Rensselaer Polytechnic 3-0
Semifinal: Texas Wesleyan d. Rensselaer Polytechnic  3-0; Princeton d. Columbia University 3-2 
Final Standings: 1. Texas Wesleyan  2. Princeton  3. Columbia  4. RPI  5. Cornell  6. Wisconsin  7. Ohio State 8. Kansas State  9. Rutgers  10. Northeastern  11. Michigan  12. Stanford 13. UC San Diego 14. Florida 15. Virginia Tech  16. Auburn  17. University of Pennsylvania 18. USC  19. Portland State 20. James Madison 21. North Carolina State 22. University of Toronto 23. Brown 24. University of Southern Mississippi 

WOMEN’S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
FINAL: Texas Wesleyan d. Stanford 3-1; 3rd: University of Toronto d. Cornell 3-2
 Final Standings: 1. Texas Wesleyan  2. Stanford  3. Toronto  4. Cornell   5. Auburn  6. UC Berkeley 7. USC  8. Ohio State  9. Johns Hopkins  10. Maryland  11. Boston University 12. UC San Diego  13. Virginia Tech  14. Cal Tech