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December 20, 2008 |
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Men's Singles Semifinals and Final By Larry Hodges Semifinals Cheng Yinghua vs. Eric Owens Both of these players are very steady, but Cheng's about as steady as you can get, both blocking and looping. Eric has the edge in power. Sasa Drinic is coaching Eric; Cheng, as usual, has no coach. He doesn't need one; he's the coach.
(Cheng Yinghua. Photo courtesy of Steve Hopkins) In the first, Cheng leads 10-8. Eric serve and rips two forehand winners, then loops in Cheng's serve, and now he's up 11-10. They have a great point where Cheng loops about eight in a row, with Eric mostly blocking, counterlooping one, and Cheng finally misses. Game one a comeback win for Eric, 12-10. Eric's on a roll, now goes up 8-4 in the second. Now it's Cheng's turn to come back, 8-7, 9-7, then 9-all. Eric finally misses a loop, and misses another against Cheng's aggressive flip, and game two is a comeback win for Cheng, 11-9. It seems to be a match of streaks. At 4-all, Cheng scores four in a row, 8-4, then Eric pulls to 9-8. The way-too-experienced Cheng catches Eric with a down-the-line ace that Eric barely waves at, 10-8, and Cheng wins with a flip kill off Eric's serve, 11-8. When Eric wins, he's winning with steady blocks and powerful forehand loops. When Cheng wins, he's looping and blocking with his backhand, with sudden forehand loops. When Cheng blocks, he often topspins off the bounce, so the ball jumps as it bounces toward the opponent. Up 2-1 in games, Cheng quickly falls 0-3 behind in game four. But it's a streaky match, and he ties it 4-all, then leads 8-4. They play another point, which Eric wins, and the scorekeepers flip the score to 8-5 - but the umpire calls it a let, the scorekeepers flip the score back to 8-4, and the players don't notice. Cheng wins the next point, thinks he's up 9-5, but scoreboard says it's 9-4. After some discussion, Cheng and Eric convince the umpires that the previous point wasn't a let, and the score becomes 9-5. Did you get all at? Cheng goes on to win the game, 11-7, and now leads 3-1 in games. Is Eric done? Down 10-1, Cheng gets a net dribbler, pulls to 10-2, loses 11-2. Eric's not done. Eric's a long way from done. In the sixth, Cheng wins the first two, Eric the next six. Eric leads 6-2 (that's a 17-4 run for Eric), 7-3, 7-6 (lots of counterlooping around here), 8-6, then it's 8-all. Cheng backhand loops in Eric's serve, then they play a really nice point where Eric fishes balls back over and over until Cheng rips one by him, 10-8. Eric blocks a clean winner to Cheng's forehand, but Cheng flips in Eric's next serve for his own winner, and Cheng has advanced to the final, -10,9,8,7,-2,9. "I gave it everything I possibly could," Eric said later. "With my school commitments," (he's a second year medical student), "I'm happy with my performance, but disappointed because I came so close." David Zhuang vs. Shao Yu These two are practice partners, doubles partners (they won Men's Doubles here), and, as Shao would later say, they know each other's games. Or, to be more specific, David knows Shao's game. And yet, for much of the match, it could have gone either way.
(David Zhuang. Photo courtesy of Steve Hopkins) Shao is a shakehander with a powerful pips-out backhand hitting game. His forehand, where he mostly loops with inverted, is not as strong, and most players try to play there, as David did this match. But that's easier said then done. David is a vintage pips-out penholder with a very nice change-of-pace backhand block and tricky serves and receives. Both here and in the final, David would often flip his racket to loop with the inverted side. David would often catch Shao by dropping the ball short to his forehand, often off the serve.
(Shao Yu. Photo courtesy of Steve Hopkins) Shao leads all the way and wins game one, 11-8. In game two, David is up 7-6, and a blink later, 11-6. With his backhand giving David fits, Shao goes up 6-4 in the third, and then David is up 10-8, and wins 11-9 when Shao misses a backhand kill. The fourth is where things got . . . interesting. David led 8-5. Next thing you know, Shao has won ten in a row, winning this game 11-8, and leading 4-0 in game five! But the way he won the points - David seems to be lapsing off. The last six points of game four: David misses a backhand kill, serves into the net, pops a ball up, pushes into the net, pushes into the net again, then puts a backhand into the net. All six points seem careless mistakes - David is human! The first four points of game five also are careless - David pops one up, serves into the net, pops another up, then loops off! This is very un-Davidlike. Now it's Shao's turn to get careless. Up 4-0, he misses three straight loops, 4-3. Then David pushes off, serves off, loops off, and loops off again! It's now 8-3 for Shao, but both players suddenly are playing sloppy. How sloppy? With David playing to his forehand (often short), Shao misses four straight loops, then misses a backhand kill, and now it's 8-all. Shao loops in a winner (9-8), but then pops one up - and David misses! Shao leads 10-8. They finally have a good rally - there were plenty earlier - and Shao misses a backhand kill, 10-9. But Shao misses three straight loops - not easy ones, David's really going after his forehand - and David wins, 12-10, and leads 3-2 in games. And now we get to the best game of the match. The roughly 1.5 games of sloppy play are over, both are back to form. David goes up 6-4, then Shao is up 9-7. Shao is now making his loops, but David is mixing things up, often catching Shao with short balls to the forehand. Anything to the backhand Shao pretty much kills. David ties it at 9-all. Shao takes a timeout. From here on, it's breathtaking and nerve-wracking play. David leads 10-9, 11-10, 12-11 (all match points); Shao leads 13-12 and 14-13. Finally, at 14-all, Shao misses a backhand kill. Up 15-14 (match point #4), David takes a timeout. Then he does a fast serve to Shao's forehand, catches him off guard, and Shao chops the ball into the net. Match to David Zhuang, -8,6,9,-8,10,14, and he's into the final. Afterwards, Shao said, "Once I'm in a rally, I'm fine, but he beat me with his short game." Final David Zhuang vs. Cheng Yinghua How many times have these two played each other? A lot. David has won Men's Singles five times (tied with Dan Seemiller and Sean O'Neill for the most times), in 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000 and 2006. Cheng, who wasn't eligible until he was 38, has won it four times, in 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2004. David is 45. Cheng is 50. At the higher levels, this is a young man's game, or so they say. The two are about as steady as players can be, and yet, if either gives an inch, the other promptly ends the point. There's a reason why these two still dominate table tennis in this country. Cheng takes a quick 2-0 lead in game one, then quickly loses, 11-4. When David goes up 4-1, it looks like a David victory. Cheng ties it at 4-all, then at 5-6 runs off six in a row to win game two, 11-6. Game three was one of several major turning points. How might things have turned out if Cheng had won from up 10-7? But David plays five straight brilliant points to win, 12-10. And a suddenly dominant David's not through. He goes up 5-0 in game four, wins 11-2, and leads game five 4-0 and 7-1. That's a 10-0, 20-2, 23-3 run! Up 3-1 in games and 8-2 in the fourth, it's over. Nope. Cheng's been playing a counter-driving game, not confident that he can loop through David at age 50 - after all, no one else has. But now he's back spinning, over and over, mostly with his backhand, side to side until David misses or Cheng sees an easy one to rip. From down 2-8, it's suddenly 8-all. David smashes a winner to go up 9-8, but Cheng rips a forehand - his first in a while. David, knowing that he has to do something different to stop Cheng's relentless topspins, serve and loops, and serve and smashes - but misses both. With this incredible comeback, Cheng wins game five, 11-9. In the sixth, Cheng goes up 4-1, but in this never-ending series of twists and turns, David, now attacking, keeping Cheng more on the defensive, scores six in a row, leads 7-4. Then he's up 9-7. Cheng loops a forehand winner, then a backhand winner, and it's 9-all. And then, anticlimactically, Cheng blocks one into the net, and then pushes David's serve off - and David has (4,-6,10,2,-9,9) won his sixth Men's Singles, more than any other U.S. player. He runs to his wife and coach, Joanie Fu, and hugs her. Congratulations on this landmark victory! "It's been a great year for David," said Joanie afterwards. "He made the Olympic Team, and now this." He was also named USATT's Male Athlete of the Year. She added, "People don't realize how hard it is to beat Cheng." "I have to give Cheng credit," David said. "He gets everything back, so I have to keep getting it back, try to control the points, changing speeds, spins and placements." Cheng said of the match, "I don't have power like I used to. My loop is too soft, so I couldn't get through him." To the crowd he said, when he received the second-place award, "Next year!" Here are the final placements for the USA Men's Trials. 1. David Zhuang (NJ) 2. Cheng Yinghua (MD) 3. Shao Yu (NY) 4. Eric Owens (TX) 5. Samson Dubina (OH) 6. Niraj Oak (TX) 7. John Leach (CO) 8. Mark Hazinski (TX) 9. Timothy Wang (TX) 10. Tahl Leibovitz (NY) 11. Marcus Jackson (MD) 12. Adam Hugh (NJ) In the playoff for third and fourth, Eric Owens defaulted to Shao Yu Lee. The top three automatically are on USA Team; the fourth player will be selected by USATT Coaches. Eric was playing for the singles title, but said he would not be able to go to the Worlds. Playoffs for Positions 5-12 Crossovers: 5-8: Samson Dubina d. John Leach, -10,-9,4,5,-9,1,6 5-8: Niraj Oak d. Mark Hazinski, def. Final Placement: 5-6: Samson Dubina d. Niraj Oak, 7,13,7,-9,-8,10 7-8: John Leach d. Mark Hazinski, def. Crossovers: 9-12: Timothy Wang d. Adam Hugh, def. 9-12: Tahl Leibovitz d. Marcus Jackson, def. Final Placement: 9-10: Timothy Wang d. Tahl Leibovitz, -7,8,9,7,8 11-12: Adam Hugh and Marcus Jackson - double def. |
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Womens Singles Semifinals and Final By Larry Hodges Semifinals Crystal Huang vs. Jasna Reed
(Crystal Huang. Photo courtesy of Steve Hopkins) Crystal is a tricky player to play; she's a lefty pips-out penholder with a reverse penhold inverted backhand. (She never plays a conventional penhold backhand.) She's a master at changing directions, spins and speeds. Jasna is at the opposite end of the spectrum - an inverted shakehander known for her shot-making ability, especially on the backhand.
(Jasna Reed. Photo courtesy of Steve Hopkins) Throughout the match, Jasna dictated play, with most points won or lost on her shots. Crystal didn't force anything, she just quietly played the percentages, mixed things up, and kept scoring. Neither were in great practice, with Crystal coaching full-time, and Jasna helping run the Texas Wesleyan program, as well as fighting off an ulcer that she said bothered her throughout the match. "It's why I couldn't really fight all the time," she said. Crystal's best serve in the match was a conventional forehand pendulum serve, and she seemed to serve only with the pips-out, though she might have used the inverted sometimes as a variation. Jasna has a more unorthodox serving motion, a sort of modified forehand tomahawk serve, where she can sidespin either direction. Crystal mostly ran away with game one, and yet, at 10-6, it wasn't over until Jasna, not happy with her play, swatted Crystal's serve away to lose, 11-6. Down 2-6 in the second, Jasna brings the ball over to the umpire, says the ball isn't good. The umpire checks it and agrees, and brings out a new ball. Jasna seems to like the new one - down 3-7, she ties it 7-all. But Crystal runs it out when Jasna misses two forehands and a backhand, 11-8. Down 4-8 in the third, Crystal pulled to within one at 8-9 before Jasna won the last two points to win 11-8. Jasna went up 3-1 in the fourth, but blinked, and was suddenly down 3-6. Down 5-10, a spectator said, "Watch out for another swat." Sure enough, a disgusted Jasna smacked the next ball off halfheartedly. At 2-2 in the fifth, they had a vicious point, but no matter how hard Jasna attacked, Crystal returned, and Jasna finally missed. Down 2-6, Jasna seemed to stop playing seriously, threw up a few hangers, and fell behind 2-8. Suddenly her nonchalant play seemed to pay off as she began a comeback, got to 5-9. But Crystal was still playing the percentages and mixing things up, and when Jasna missed two backhand smashes, Crystal was in the final, 6,8,-8,5,5. Jackie Lee vs. Ariel Hsing What's a 13-year-old girl doing in the final of Women's Singles? Answer: smacking in backhand winners, yelling what sounds like "Suh!" (Chinese for "kill"), and maybe, just maybe, moving on to the final!
(Jackie Lee. Photo courtesy of Steve Hopkins) Ariel is trying for the triple crown - Cadet Girls' Team, Junior Girls' Team, Women's Team. She's made the first two, and is one match away from clinching a spot on the third. With her hitting from both sides, her game reminded me of Johnny Huang's, Canada's #1 player in the 1990s, who reached the top ten in the world hitting all-out with pips on both sides. Of course, nobody plays like that anymore, not in this age of gluing - oops, no more of that! Ariel has inverted on both sides, and can also loop, but her shots, especially her backhands, are so much like Huang's. Both have good, varied serves. Jackie's best seems to be her backhand serve, though she also serves forehand, while Ariel mostly serves forehand pendulum serves. Up 7-6 in the first, Ariel wins the last four. Tied at 6-6 in the second, Ariel wins the last five. She's dominating the exchanges with her backhand. In game three, Jackie seems to adjust to Ariel's pace - just as players from the 1990s use to take a few games to adjust to Johnny Huang's before they could compete. Jackie's steadier now, looping a lot more, often playing a step back so she can spin her backhand more, often into the middle. This gives Ariel trouble, and her attacks start to miss - just as Huang's would start to miss when, say, Cheng Yinghua's backhand loops began to find their mark. Jackie runs away with the game, 7-1, 9-3, 11-5. Jackie loses some of her consistency in the fourth as Ariel continues her onslaught, taking a 7-3 lead. Jackie responds with a series of forehand attacks, looking more comfortable than she had earlier in the tournament, when she sometimes seemed tentative on that side. She pulls to 8-9. At 8-10, they have a great point, with Jackie looping over and over from both wings until Ariel finally misses a block (though a block for Ariel is like a smash for most of us). Ariel flips the serve off, and it's 10-all. Ariel serves long, and Jackie backhand loops off, 10-11. And now comes the strangest point of the match, possibly the tournament. Jackie backhand loops a net dribbler. Ariel lunges forward, just gets her racket on the ball, pops it up - and it comes down on the net and dribbles over! Game to Ariel, 12-10. There is more bad luck and frustration ahead for Jackie. In the sixth, she is controlling the points with loops from both sides, and goes up 10-6. At 10-8, she takes a timeout. When she returns, Ariel gets another net dribbler, 10-9. An Ariel fast serve and faster backhand kill later, and we're a 10-all again. This time it's an Ariel loop and a missed Jackie backhand that ends the match, 6,6,-5,10,10 for Ariel. And so Ariel, age 13, has made the U.S. Team (and so got the "triple crown"), and is into the final of the U.S. Women's Singles Championship! If she wins, she'll be able to drink Champaign to toast her victory . . . in eight years. Final Crystal Huang vs. Ariel Hsing
(Ariel Hsing listened to her dad Michael Hsing bwteen games. Photo courtesy of Steve Hopkins) This is the ultimate in age & experience versus youth and skill. Or perhaps that should be steadiness and variation versus a blistering backhand. The first game was a game for the ages, or actually about two. It didn't start that way. Perhaps Ariel was nervous, but Crystal quickly led 6-0, 9-4 and 10-7. But three shouts of "Suh!" later, and it's 10-10. And they were barely halfway through the game. Things might have been different if Ariel's fast & deep serves didn't go off the end at both 13-all and 14-all. But finally, after seven ads for Crystal, and four ads for Ariel, Crystal serves long to Ariel, and she backhand loops off. Crystal has won the marathon, 19-17 - and it's only game one! (For perspective, if you win 11-7, 11-7, you would play the same number of points - 36 - as these two did in game one. And trust me, you wouldn't be playing the rallies as fast.) Because of Ariel's dominant backhand, Crystal has to stay out of normal backhand rallies. One very good strategy she uses over and over is to backhand loop (with her inverted reverse penhold backhand) to Ariel's wide forehand. Ariel usually tried smashing it, but the timing is difficult, and she often missed. In general, Crystal is always mixing her shots up, forcing Ariel to miss - just as in the semifinals, where Jasna seemed to dominate the rallies even though Crystal was winning the points. Game two is a seemingly quick affair as Crystal, from 7-all, wins 11-8. In the third, Crystal leads 6-3, then it's 6-6, then 9-6 for Crystal again. But likes to bounce the ball on the table a number of times before serving, then is stationary for a moment as she prepares to serve - too long for the umpires. She is yellow-carded for stalling as the umpire says, "Huang, do not delay again," and she loses the next three points, 9-9. Crystal goes up 10-9. She backhand loops to Ariel's forehand, and Ariel makes the smash - and we're back into deuce-world, 10-all. How long this time? Ariel serve and backhand kills, 11-10. She backhand kills again, but this time Crystal counter-hits a winner, 11-all. Ariel serve and backhand kills again - into the net. They have another nice exchange, and Ariel misses finally, and Crystal has won game three, 13-11. Game four is back and forth right up to 9-8 Crystal, then 9-all after an Arial backhand kill. Ariel catches Crystal off guard with a serve and forehand loop kill, but Crystal deuces it with net ball, 10-all. Ariel goes up 11-10, then Crystal is up 12-11 when her serve down the line catches Ariel, possibly hitting the edge and bouncing off awkwardly. (Ariel points at the edge after the point.) A serve and backhand kill by (you guessed it) Ariel deuces it again. Finally, Ariel backhand loops the serve off, and then misses an awkward forehand smash, and Crystal has won four straight (17,8,11,12) in a match that, somehow, seemed dead even, with Ariel even dominating the match. Winning a match like that takes more than skill; it takes craftiness. A huge congratulations to our new National Champion, Crystal Huang! And an equal congratulations to Ariel Hsing, who played so well, and who will no doubt be in many more such finals. After the match, I asked Crystal's coach, Tawny Banh, what tactics were effective in the match. She said, "I think Crystal's down the line serve was really effective. Also her backhand loop to Ariel's forehand." She also said that Crystal had said that the key was to stay tough at the end of each game, since three of them went deuce. Ariel said of the match, "It was very close. I played well. Against Crystal, I need to!" She said that to win, she needed to improve her backhand return of serve, and flip against short serves more often. I also noted the same slogan written on her arm that she'd had in previous major tournaments, written in black marker: "Let go. Have fun." Here are the final placements for the USA Women's Trials. 1. Crystal Huang (CA) 2. Ariel Hsing (CA) 3. Jackie Lee (CA) 4. Jasna Reed (TX) 5. Judy Hugh (NJ) 6. Erica Wu (CA) 7. Lily Zhang (CA) 8. Jasmine Nguyen (CA) 9. Connie Chen (TX) 10. Charlene Liu (MD) 11. Heather Wang (MD) 12. Anne Deng (TX) In the playoff for third and fourth, Jasna Reed defaulted to Jackie Lee. The top three automatically are on USA Team; the fourth player will be selected by USATT Coaches. Jasna was playing for the singles title, but said she would not be able to go to the Worlds. Playoffs for Positions 5-12 Crossovers: 5-8: Judy Hugh d. Lily Zhang, -9,7,-7,6,8,7 5-8: Erica Wu d. Jasmine Nguyen, -6,11,10,-7,1,-14,9 Final Placement: 5-6: Judy Hugh d. Erica Wu, 3,3,6,-5,7 7-8: Lily Zhang d. Jasmine Nguyen, 4,4,3,-9,7 Crossovers: 9-12: Connie Chen d. Anne Deng, def. 9-12: Charlene Liu d. Heather Wang, def. Final Placement: 9-10: Connie Chen and Charlene Liu, double def. 11-12: Anne Deng and Heather Wang, double def. |
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A New Young Dynasty By Bruce H. Liu
(Jackie Lee vs Ariel Hsing in the semi-final) We may have the youngest Women's Singles finalist in the USATT history! Ariel Hsing already made the 2009 US Cadet and Junior team and now the adult team. Wow! Women's Singles:
(The microphone handed by the new USATT CEO Mike Cavanaugh during the award ceremony surprised Ariel. She was all smiley and just said, "Thank you all.") Men's Singles:
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Men's Doubles By Larry Hodges The Men's Doubles might better have been played at a hospital. The top-seeded team of Ilija Lupulesku/Mark Hazinski withdrew, with Lupi sick and Mark with an injured leg. The second-seeded team had David Zhuang, with two knee braces and (the day before) ace bandages around his injured thigh. Adam Hugh, who had withdrawn from singles due to his injured knee (torn left ACL), teamed with Standing Disabled Champion Tahl Leibovitz (let's not get started on how many injury problems he has) to make the final. All in all, they looked like a football team after the big game. In the semifinals, Hugh/Leibovitz played the legendary Seemiller brothers, Dan and Rick, who had won Men's Doubles here eight consecutive times, 1976-83. They are a little older, a little slower, and let's face it, didn't score many points this time around, as Hugh/Leibovitz advanced with a 4,2,5 victory. In the other semifinals, David Zhuang and Shao took on Eric Owens and Han Xiao, who seemed the only team able to walk without grimacing. Han was only playing doubles here, though he said he'll probably play singles next year. Zhuang/Shao won, 8,-10,6,5.
You had to favor Zhuang/Shao in the final over Hugh/Leibovitz, with both the rating discrepancy, because Adam's injury was worse than David's, and because Adam was also out of practice. But nobody told them as Hugh/Leibovitz won the first game, 11-8, and led 10-8 in the second. Such are missed opportunities . . . they also led 12-11 before losing the second, 14-12. The next two games were mostly Zhuang/Shao as they won the match and the title, -8,12,7,5. Said David afterwards, "We adjusted to them, played steadier." |
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Awards Given During the Finals By Larry Hodges A number of awards were given out between the big men's and women's semifinal and final matches. Hopefully more can be written on these later. Athletes of the Year It was noted that there had been no awards presentation for the Athletes of the Year in 2006 and 2007. And so they were given here: á 2006 Male Athlete of the Year: Tahl Leibovitz á 2006 Female Athlete of the Year: Gao Jun á 2007 Male Athlete of the Year: Justin Yao á 2007 Female Athlete of the Year: Gao Jun á 2008 Male Athlete of the Year: David Zhuang á 2008 Female Athlete of the Year: Gao Jun á 2008 Paralympic Athlete of the Year: Mitch Seidenfeld $5000 Cy Wasserman Junior Award Junior Boys 1st Justin Yao (MO), $1000 2nd Marcus Jackson (MD), $500 Junior Girls 1st Natalie Sun (CA), $1000 2nd Olena Sowers (OH), $500 Cadet Boys 1st Alex Yao (MO), $500 2nd Justin Yao (MO), $200 Cadet Girls 1st Natalie Sun (CA), $500 2nd Nina Shen (MD), $200 Pre-Cadet Boys 1st Alex Yao (MO), $200 2nd Nathan Hsu (MD), $100 Pre-Cadet Girls 1st Danielle Mitroi (MI), $200 2nd Olivia Long (MO), $100 |
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Junior Boys and Girls Crossover Results By Larry Hodges Here are the final placements of the USA Junior Boys' Combined Team Trials and Singles (See yesterday's write-ups and results for the Top Twelve qualifying matches.) The Top Four (in bold) are on the USA National Junior Boys' Team. Congratulations to our new National Team Members! 1.
Timothy Wang (TX) 2.
Yahao Zhang (CO) 3.
Peter Li (MD) 4.
Preston Chin (GA) 5. Alexander Yao (MO) 6. Chance Friend (TX) 7. Emile Goldstein (NY) 8. Amaresh Sahu (MD) 9. Stephen Clyde (IN) 10. Mark Croitoroo (NY) 11. Kevin Kuznetzow (NJ) 12. Michael Landers (NY) Here are the results of the crossover matches that decided the above order of finish. Crossovers: 1-4: Yahao Zhang (CO) d. Peter Li (MD), 10,-6,9,8 1-4: Timothy Wang (TX) d. Preston Chin (GA), 5,-8,12,2 Final Placement: 1-2: Timothy Wang (TX) d. Yahao Zhang (CO), 7,8,10 3-4: Peter Li (MD) d. Preston Chin, (GA) 5,8,11 Crossovers: 5-8: Chance Friend (TX) d. Emile Goldstein (NY), 3,2,8 5-8: Alexander Yao (MO) d. Amaresh Sahu (MD), def. Final Placement: 5-6: Alexander Yao (MO) d. Chance Friend (TX), 7,-9,6,-9,7 7-8: Emile Goldstein (NY)d. Amaresh Sahu (MD), def. Crossovers: 9-12: Stephen Clyde (IN) d. Michael Landers (NY), def. 9-12: Mark Croitoroo (NY) d. Kevin Kuznetzow (NJ), 6,-6,8,8 Final Placement: 9-10: Stephen Clyde IN) d. Mark Croitoroo (NY), 8,-9,11,5 11-12: Kevin Kuznetzow (NJ) d. Michael Landers (NY), def. Here are the final placements of the USA Junior Girls' Combined Team Trials and Singles (See yesterday's write-ups and results for the Top Twelve qualifying matches.) The Top Four (in bold) are on the USA National Junior Girls' Team. Congratulations to our new National Team Members! 1.
Lily Zhang (CA) 2.
Ariel Hsing (CA) 3.
Erica Wu (CA) 4.
Sylvan Guo (CA) 5. Olena Sowers (OH) 6. Natalie Sun (CA) 7. Annie Guo (NY) 8. Alison Wu (MA) 9. Ellen Hwang (CA) 10. Charleen Hsieh (CA) 11. Nina Zhen (MD) 12. Anne Deng (TX) After the Junior Girls' Final, where Lily Zhang (2229) upset Ariel Hsing (2316, soon to be in the final of Women's Singles) at -9,7,8,-8,8, I spoke with Han Xiao, who had coached Lily in the match. He said, "At 8-8 in the fourth, Lily made a nice backhand loop, but Ariel smashed it to lead 9-8. This got in Lily's head, rattled her a bit, and got her off her game plan, and she lost the next two points. Between games, I told her not to let it bother her if Ariel makes a great shot, to stick to her game plan." In the fifth game, Lily led 10-6 match point, but lost the next two points, and Han called a timeout. "I told her she was playing too safe, to stay with her game plan." The next point, Lily backhand looped and followed with a backhand smash to win the match. (What was the secret "game plan"? That Han can't give out!) Here are the results of the crossover matches that decided the above order of finish. Crossovers: 1-4: Lily Zhang (CA) d. Sylvan Guo (CA), 8,9,9 1-4: Ariel Hsing (CA) d. Erica Wu (CA), 5,-4,4,5 Final Placement: 1-2: Lily Zhang (CA) d. Ariel Hsing (CA), -9,7,8,-8,8 3-4: Erica Wu (CA) d. Sylvan Guo (CA), 9,3,-7,8 Crossovers: 5-8: Olena Sowers (OH) d. Annie Guo (NY), 5,-7,4,5 5-8: Natalie Sun (CA) d. Alison Wu (MA), 7,-11,9,2 Final Placement: 5-6: Olena Sowers (OH) d. Natalie Sun (CA), 9,7,-9,9 7-8: Annie Guo (NY) d. Alison Wu (MA), def. Crossovers: 9-12: Ellen Hwang (CA) d. Anne Deng (TX), def. 9-12: Charleen Hsieh (CA) d. Nina Zhen (MD), 5,-11,5,8 Final Placement: 9-10: Ellen Hwang (CA) d. Charleen Hsieh (CA), 9,6,-9,8 11-12: Nina Zhen (MD) d. Anne Deng (TX), def. |
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Primary and Elementary School Singles By Larry Hodges Boys' Primary School Singles (13 & Under) Feng Yijun, who had already won Under 2300 and Under 2200, added this to his bag of prizes, defeating Andrew Chen in the final, 10,6,10. Feng did not lose a game in his five matches in the event. Boys' Elementary School Singles (10 & Under) Ethan Chua (CA), with his spinny serves and even spinnier loops, won the final over Allen Wang (NJ), 5,-8,10,2. In the semifinals, Ethan defeated James Yang (TX), 7,-6,9,4, while Allen defeated Aarsh Shah (CA), -9,9,8,9. Girls' Primary School Singles (13 & Under) Natalie Sun (CA), with Coach Zhang Li in her corner (two-time World Women's Singles Finalist, Women's Doubles Champion, three-time Women's Team Champion), imparted her knowledge in winning the event over Judy Yang (TX), -7,9,6,8. In the semifinals, Natalie defeated Ellen Hwang (CA), 3,7,12; in the other semifinals, Judy defeated Annie Guo (NY), 7,12,9. Girls' Elementary School Singles (10 & Under) Emmy Cheng (CA) didn't lose a game in winning the event over Diane Jiang (CA), 5,12,7. In the semifinals, Emmy defeated Anushka Oak, 7,5,4, while Diane defeated Joy Li (TX) on the other side, 7,5,4. |
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Racket Testing By Larry Hodges Throughout the tournament, players were randomly selected to have their rackets tested for legality. (Players in the later rounds of major events all had their rackets tested.) While part of this was to check sponge thickness, flatness, making sure it wasn't warped, etc., the main purpose was to check for VOCs, i.e. Volatile Organic Compounds. These come primarily from gluing, which is now illegal in table tennis. Kagin Lee, one of the two umpires in charge of racket testing, demonstrated the new ENEZ device that did the VOC testing. The edge tape of the racket was pulled up about two inches to allow more vapors to release, as well as to allow a visual inspection of the wood. Then it was placed in the ENEZ device for sixty seconds. At the end of that time, a small screen flashed, "Racket passed, okay clean." If the racket had been illegal, it would have said, "Racket failed, VOCs detected." |
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Senior Men's Events By Larry Hodges Note - there'll be a far more extensive write-up of the senior events both online and in USATT Magazine by Tim Boggan. Also note that Over 30, Over 75, Over 80, and the doubles events, are men's and women's combined. Over 30 Things went wide open in the top half of the draw when the #1, #3 and #4 seeds in that half all dropped out for varying reasons: Barney J. Reed, Nison Aronov and Rocky Wang. Out of the ashes arose Robert Shahnazari, who upset the #2 seed, De Tran, in the second round (round of 32, the first match for both), at -4,5,8,10, and went on to reach the final. On the other half, the top two seeds - "fresh" from playing in the Men's Top Twelve - battled it out, With Tahl Leibovitz (2452) upsetting Shao Yu (2562), at -4,2,9,-9,7. In the final, it was all Tahl, 8,8,4. Over 40 Men Both Over 40 Men and Over 40 Hardbat were covered on Day One, with Dan Seemiller winning the first, 5,6,7 over Niraj Oak, and Loc Ngo winning the second, 21-13, 21-11 over Ty Hoff.
(Liu, Hui Yuan)
(Barry Dattel) Over 50 Men Dan Seemiller made it a double, winning the final at 10,7,-8,6 over penholder Liu Hui Yuan. It was the only game Dan would lose - he made the final by scores of 6,3,9,6,3,1,3,3,4,10,6,8 (with Barry Dattel the one who pushed him to deuce in the semifinals). Liu had a battle in his semifinals before defeating 1979 U.S. Men's Singles Champion Attila Malek, -8,6,-8,11,4.
(David Sakai) Over 60 Men Jiri Hlava won over Leung Che-Him, 7,9,8. Jiri took out many-time senior age group champion and Hall of Famer David Sakai in the semifinals, -9,6,8,9, while Leung took out many-time champin in this event and Hall of Famer George Brathwaite in the other semifinals, 7,9,8. Leung's real test, however, was in the quarterfinals, where he took out the top seed, Duan Changping, 11-9 in the fifth: -7,9,-6,8,9. Over 70 Men Richard Hicks chopped and pick hit his way to dominating the event, defeating Tay Chong Keng in the final, 7,3,-6,4. Over 75 Mark Shapiro battled his way through first-game blues and some long deuce games in winning over Al Miller in the semifinals, -4,7,15,5, and Bill Neely in the final, -11,10,7,8. Frank Suran gave Neely a battle in the other semifinal before losing at 5,6,-9,10. Over 80 Mac Horn won the marathon final over Cornelius Smyth, 6,-7,-5,4,7. Over 40 Doubles The top-seeded New Yorkers, lefty-looping De Tran and topspinning lobber virtuoso Nison Aronov, dominated the event, losing only one game in the event. They won the final over Barry Dattel and Liu Hui Yuan, 10,8,-4,5. The New Yorkers took out the legendary Cheng Yinghua and Liu Xuan in the semifinals, 6,10,4. In the other semifinals were two legends - Dan & Rick Seemiller, who together had once won Men's Doubles at the Nationals eight times in a row. Barry and Liu had their hands full, and it went the distance and beyond before they pulled it off, 2,-4,-10,8,13. De Tran had entered a number of events, but had been snowed in at the airport, and so arrived late. He'd been defaulted out of all his other events, so this was his only one - and he made it count. Over 50 Doubles Dan Seemiller pulled off his third senior title, partnering with Dave Sakai to dominate the final over Richard Hicks and Hank McCoullum, 5,4,3. The big battle for Seemiller/Sakai, however, was in the semifinals, where they had to go five before taking charge in the last game against George Brathwaite and Barry Dattel, 5,-4,6,-10,2. Over 60 Doubles The 60's singles champion teamed with the 70's singles champion as Jiri Hlava and Richard Hicks won the event without losing a game. They won the final over legends (that word keeps coming up, but it fits) and hall of famers Dave Sakai and Dell Sweeris, 7,6,9. Over 70 Doubles The top two seeded teams met in the final, with the second seeds winning the key points at the end of the last two games as Richard Hicks/Jerry Marcum d. Tay Chong Keng/Andy Phan, 8,-6,9,9. |
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Hardbat Events By Larry Hodges Note that all hardbat matches are games to 21, as in the good old days. Hardbat Singles There's usually a good crowd watching the Hardbat Singles Final. However, Trevor Runyan had a flight to catch, and asked if they could play it early. So they played it a couple hours early, to a rather small audience. The match-up was between the attacking Trevor, the defending champions, and A.J. Carney, a lefty chopper with sudden counter-attacks, especially on the forehand. A.J. won the first at 16, but from there on Trevor mostly dominated in winning -16,16,12,5. Said Trevor, "He has a good feel for the ball, is very consistent. I stopped missing after the first game, began topspinning my forehand more." During the match, a spectator walked by, watched for a few minutes, then said, "They can really hit the ball!" Hardbat Doubles The top two seeded teams, Loc Ngo/Scott Gordon and A.J. Carney/Timothy Kelly, made it to the final without losing a game. In the final, Ngo/Gordon, the top seeds and defending champions, came from behind to win,-11,13,18.
(L-R: Ty Hoff and Loc Ngo) Over 40 Hardbat This event was covered on Day One, with defending champion Loc Ngo defeating Ty Hoff in the final, 21-13, 21-11. Hardbat Rating Events There were three hardbat rating events. Ed Ball won the marathon match of the three events, defeating Robert Palgon in Under 2000, -19,20,19. Robert, however, would win Under 1800 over Dean Johnson, 12,19. In Under 1500, they played a best of five, with Dave Edwards winning over Andrew Wai, 12,12,11. |
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Mixed Doubles By Larry Hodges Things got wide open when top seeds David Zhuang and Crystal Huang dropped out, due to David's leg injury. Samson Dubina was allowed to take David's place, and so teamed up with Crystal. They had never played together before. The two met the second-seeded and defending champions, Han Xiao and Jackie Lee, in the final. (Han and Jackie defeated Brian Pace and Janice Lan in the semifinals, 7,-8,5,5, while Samson and Crystal received a default from Alison Wu and Grant Li.) Samson said that, early on, Han and Jackie returned most serves long (pushing or flipping), allowing Crystal and him to attack first. After losing the first two, Han and Jackie did more short receive, but against Samson's and Crystal's no-spin serves, they often popped up. By returning short from the start, Samson and Crystal were able to take much of the attack, and won the final, 10,8,7. |
