Day Two: Thursday, July 2, 2009

(Updates throughout the day)

 

By Larry Hodges

 

Over 70

 

(Richard Hicks)

 

Richard Hicks (IN) continued his roll, adding Over 70 Singles to his other title: Over 65 Singles, Over 60 Singles runner-up, and Over 70 Doubles. He wasn't really challenged here, winning the semifinal over Chen Hongzhi (CA), 3,6,2, and the final over Houshang Bozorgzadeh (IA), 3,7,3. Houshang, with his chop-blocking hardbat style, and perhaps worrying about recent events in Iran - he's their former national champion - had a semifinal battle with Jerry Marcum before advancing, 8,9,-9,9. 

 

 

Under 2600

 

(Tanja Hain-Hofman)

 

The Under 2600 event was internationalized as Germany's Tanja Hain-Hofman, rated 2477, won the event. This was her seventh U.S. Open, including the last two - she made the final of Women's Singles in 2007. In the final here, she defeated California's Ting Ledesma (2405), 8,8,10. In another international match, Hain-Hofman defeated Canada's Xavier Therien (2583) in the semifinals, 7,4,7, while Ting defeated Thilina Piyadasa (2561) in an all-California semifinal.

 

 

Junior Events on Thursday

 

Girls' 13 and Under Singles

 

(Parchi Jha)

 

Top-seeded Prachi Jha dominated the event, losing only one game along the way. In the semifinals, fellow Californian Vivian Sun gave her a run for it, 3,-8,7,8. In the other semifinal, still another Californian, second-seeded Erica Tran, took out Canada's Leanne Lee, 5,3,7. In the final, it was all Prachi, 2,6,4, over another Californian, Erica Tran.

 

Girls' 9 and Under Singles

New Jersey's Amy Wang dominated the event without losing a game. In the final RR of three players, she defeated Anushka Oak of Texas (4,8,8) and Li Yan Nadia Chui of Illinois (8,6,6). Anushka defeated Nadia for second in a nail-biting five games, 6,-8,4,-11,8.

 

Cadet Boys' Singles (15 and Under)

This was one of the most tightly contested events in the tournament. The fireworks started in the eighths, where top-seeded Alexander Yao (MO) lost deuce in the fifth to Andrew Chen (TX), 6,7,-8,-10,10. In the quarters, it was India's Rajib Sarkar eeking it out over Michael Landers (NY), -9,9,6,-10,9; Grant Li (MA) over Jonathan Ou (FL), 8,-10,4,10; and Canada's James Fan over 11-year-old Ethan Chua (CA), 3,10,7. In the final quarterfinal, Justin Kung (MD) had a conflict with another match, but rather than go to conflict resolution, he just told someone at the control desk he had a conflict, went out to play one match, and when he returned, had been defaulted out of Cadets. And so Justin was out of his most important event, and we didn't get to see the probable nail-biting match between Justin and Andrew, rated 2104 and 2102, respectively.

 

In the semifinals, Rajib pulled out another 11-9 in the fifth win, this time over James Fan of Canada, 8,-11,-7,5,9. In the other semifinal, it was Andrew Chen over Grant Li, 8,-10,4,10.

 

The final started out almost anticlimactically, Rajib Sarkar winning the first two easily, and Andrew Chen the third with equal ease, all by 11-4 scores. Things got close in the fourth, but Andrew was not able to force a fifth as Rajib won the final, 4,4,-4,10.

 

Boys' 9 and Under Singles

 

(Kanak Jha)

 

Top-seeded Kanak Jha (CA) one-upped sister Prachi, who only lost one game in winning

13 and Under Girls. Kanak didn't lose a game in winning, defeating Xie Tianming (TX) in the semifinals at 5,5,4, and Aniket Matharasi (TX) in the final, 4,6,4. Aniket had defeated Howard Tong (CA) in the semifinals (7,5,7), making the event pretty much an all-California and Texas event.

 

 

Over 30 and Over 40 Women

1,2,2 and 1,2,4. 5,3,5 and 1,3,3. Those were the semifinal and final scores in Over 40 and Over 30 Women against Champion Gao Jun. (And a shout out goes to Elizabeth May, who sort of broke the Gao code by scoring 13 points in three games in the Over 30 semis, almost twice what anyone else got.) Eight-time U.S. Women's Singles Champion, U.S. #1, former world #3, and former China Team member now USA Team member Gao might win both of these events for the next thirty years. Maybe it's time for an Under [Gao's age] event?

 

(Gao Jun and Tawny Banh)

 

 

Hardbat Rating Events

There were two hardbat rating events. In Under 2000, Homer Brown, now in his 41st consecutive U.S. Open, lost his only game in the semifinals against Jon Dorn (-19,14,7), while Mike Lee defeated Ed Ball in the other semifinals, 8,11. Mike Lee took the final, 18,18. In Under 1500, Neal Bergman defeated Jim Weisbecker in the final, 14,9.

 

 

Men's Final 32

 

The round was a bloodbath for USA players as eleven of them lost in the sixteen matches. The three surviving Americans are Sakda Timsuwan (WA), Zhang Weijan (CA), and Stefan Feth (CA). Some interesting matches:

 

 

Chen Weixing (AUT) d. Trevor Runyan (CA), 12,5,8,10

Trevor gave a battle, going to deuce in the first and last games, but chopper/looper Chen, world #23, won the big points when needed. When I asked Trevor what was the most surprising or interesting thing about playing Chen, he said, "When you push his chop back, he rips his forehand every time, and it's almost impossible to get it back." As an observer, I can vouch for this - Chen could get to anything with his forehand, and his inside-out forehand rip off a push is one of the best in the world.

 

Thomas Keinath (SVK) d. Marcus Jackson (MD), 4,4,-9,5,7

Barney Reed Jr., who was coaching Marcus in the match, said, "In any other country in the world, if a 17-year-old won a game off the #62 player in the world, it would be news." He added, "If he didn't make a bunch of 17-year-old mistakes, the match could have been a lot closer."

 

Xavier Therien (CAN) d. Lin Yeong Jun (KOR), 10,10,7,-9,-7,-4,8

This was the match of the round as Canadian Xavier held off the unranked Korean's near comeback.

 

Results for this round:

Chen Weixing (AUT) d. Trevor Runyan (CA), 12,5,8,10

Peter Franz (GER) d. Andre Ho (CAN), 6,8,1,2

Xavier Therien (CAN) d. Lin Yeong Jun (KOR), 10,10,7,-9,-7,-4,8

Wang Zhen (CAN) d. Thomas Bennborn (SWE), 5,1,5,6

Constantin Cioti (FRA) d. Shen HaiLong (CA), 9,5,-11,5,6

Damien Provost (FRA) d. Kim Bong Geun (GA), 3,7,1,6

Son Gyung Bog (KOR) d. Han Xiao (MD), 7,7,5,6

Thomas Keinath (SLK) d. Marcus Jackson (MD), 4,4,-9,5,7

Joerg Rosskopf (GER) d. Justen Yao (MO), 4,9,7.5

Guillermo Munoz (MEX) d. Don James Alto (CA), 6,9,10,-9,8

Kim Sang Soo (KOR) d. Sung Shing-Li (CA), -7,2,3,4,5

Andrei Filimon (ROM) d. Thilina Piyadasa (CA), 9,9,4,10

Sakda Timsuwan (WA) d. David Calquin (UT), 3,5,-9,9,3

Zhang Weijan (CA) d. Ye Routing (CHN), 4,11,2,9

Stefan Feth (CA) d. Du Cheng Yi (CA), -8,6,3,-8,7,4

Adrian Crisan (ROM) d. Homayoun Kamkar-Parsi (CAN), 7,7,4,8

 

 

Women's Singles Final 32

Of these sixteen matches, only one went seven, and two went six, and there were no real upsets. Ten were 4-0, and another was a default for USA's Jackie Lee over Korea's no-show Song Sun Ae. The seven-gamer was Germany's Amelie Solja over Slovenia's Martina Safran, 6,11,-10,-5,5,-7,8. Marina Shumakova of Kazakhstan defeated Canada's Sara Yuen, 6,9,-9,-4,8,5.

 

(Ariel and Tanja)

 

Of more interest to Americans would be USA's Cadet star Ariel Hsing and her six-game battle with Tanja Hain-Hofmann of Germany, world #111 and the 2007 U.S. Open Women's Singles Runner-up. Ariel didn't win, falling to the German star at 8,-9,6,6,-9,6, but her star is rapidly rising.

 

Results for this round:

Gao Jun (MD) d. Anne Deng (TX), 4,6,2,7

Jackie Lee (CA) d. Sun Ae Song (KOR), def.

Mai Gei Jie (CA) d. Sayuri Ohno (CA), 11,5,4,7

Kim Kyung Ha (KOR) d. Stephanie Yuen (CAN), 5,3,3,5

Amelie Solja (GER) d. Martina Safran (SLV), 6,11,-10,-5,5,-7,8

Marina Shumakova (KZT) d. Sara Yuen (CAN), 6,9,-9,-4,8,5

Lee Soo Yeon (CA) d. Janice Lan (MD), 3,6,3,4

Elisabeth Samara (ROM) d. Brana Vlasic (CA), 3,6,3,4

Tanja Hain-Hofmann (GER) d. Ariel Hsing (CA), 8,-9,6,6,-9,6

Dora Kurimay (CA) d. Medha Moitre (IND), -8,6,7,9,2

Wu Yue (NY) d. Sofia Wetholm (SWE), -10,8,3,8,7

Zhang Mo (CAN) d. Elmira Zainabudinova (CA), 3,2,6,6

Zhang Jiaqi (CA) d. Zhong Yin (CA), 3,5,5,8

Li Tao (VA) d. Laura Rosales (CA), 4,7,11,10

Wang XinYue (NY) d. Elizabeth May (ENG), 4,6,5,2

Daniela Dodean (ROM) d. Judy Hugh (NJ), 5,8,5,8

 

Over 65 Men

Richard Hicks, already the Over 60 Runner-up and Over 70 Doubles Champion, added Over 65 to his titles with a win in the final over Errol Resek at 1,5,7. (Errol's a former U.S. star, but only started playing tournaments again the past year and a half.) Richard had a major scare in the  semifinals where he was down 0-2 to Bill Ukapatayasakul before winning, -6,-9,7,5,5.

 

 

Over 80

George Hendry won perhaps the zillionth national title in his career as he defeated long-time rival Ivan Slade in the final, 3,9,4.

 

 

Over 40 Hardbat

 

(Over 40 Hardbat winner Professor Scott Gordon)

 

The day after winning Hardbat Doubles for the fifth time in a row at the Open or Nationals, Scott Gordon won another - less expected? - title by taking Over 40 Hardbat. In the semis, he faced top-seeded Loc Ngo, his doubles partner, in a seeming mismatch. Scott's rated 1951 to Loc's 2399. But this is hardbat, not sponge, so maybe it's different? In the hardbat ratings, Scott's 1936 to Loc's 2324. And so there's no way Scott could have won the first game, 21-13. Or make it to 19-all in the second before losing. Or come back in the third from down 18-11, 19-14, and 20-16 to win the match, 13,-19,20. Impossible.

 

In the final, facing four-time Over 40 Champion Larry Hodges (rated 2193), it was equally impossible for Scott to come back from down 12-18 in the first to get to 19-all before losing. Or to win the second, 21-15. And so there was no way Scott could have won the match, -19,15,17, to become the 2009 U.S. Open Over 40 Hardbat Singles. Impossible. Right? 

 

 

The Chua Family - Table Tennis Players and Photographers

 

If you've played in a U.S. Open or Nationals this millennium, it's likely you've been in Gerry Chua's camera sites. If you are this year's open, you get a double whammy as daughter Marielle joined the family business. Or you might have faced the nightmare of son Ethan Chua's topspin attack.

 (Gerry Chua)

                                                                                                                           

Ethan seems a bit embarrassed when asked what it feels like to be the best player in the family at age 11. He's currently rated 1974, has been rated 2015, and has been trading the #1 and #2 position for his age group back and forth with his main rival and current #1, Allen Wang of New Jersey. "I've been practicing nearly every day this summer with my coach," Ethan says of Coach Grace Lin. To save time on the 140 mile commute to the Grace Lin Table Tennis Club in El Monte, CA, Ethan has been staying at Coach Lin's house since May 28.

 

 

 

Marielle, 16, is rated 1807, and was recently 1843. In 2007, she made the Final Twelve in the Cadet Girls U.S. National Team Trials. However, she's not playing much these days, as Ethan reminds us during the interview. Instead, she's been focusing on photography. She's not entered in the U.S. Open, but like her father, is roving the huge playing area with a huge camera that she balances on a monopod. A second, smaller camera (but still huge by most standards) is slung over her shoulder. The big one is for action shots. The smaller one gives a wider view, and is more convenient for closer shots. "I have to move at least seven feet back to take a picture with the bigger one," she explains as she uses the smaller one to take pictures of a player consulting with he coach between games. She's serious about her photography. "I want to get a degree in photography," she says, then adds, "with a degree in business as a backup."

 

Father Gerry didn't start out as a table tennis player. His sport was soccer, and he played on a Sony semi-pro team in the Philippines. He's played basement ping-pong since he was eight, when his parents bought a table for their living room. That same year they also bought him his first camera. In 1977, Gerry moved to the U.S.  It was on a trip to Yosemite National Park in 1995 that he saw a ping-pong table, and it rekindled his interest. When he returned home, he bought a paddle and table. The table came with a promotional three-month membership in USATT - and soon he was playing at tournaments.

 

Gerry's a good player, with an 1830 rating. However, it is as a table tennis photographer that he has made his name. The cameras he and Marielle carry about have lenses so large you could play table tennis with them. "On a typical day at the Worlds, I'd take 600-1500 pictures," he said. Here, he's taking "only" 500 per day, while Marielle is getting 800-900. It takes a lot of pictures to get that "perfect" shot. Gerry's been taking pictures at tournaments since around 1997. It doesn't pay the bills, so by day he's a sales manager for the R.B. Sandrini Farms where he sells table grapes.

 

The next time you pick up a copy of USA Table Tennis Magazine or other table tennis publications, when you look at the pictures, give the photo copyright a look. Someone probably spent a lot of time and work getting that "perfect" shot . . . and it very likely was a Chua.