(Larry Hodges)

Sorry about the delay in putting up articles from Saturday night, and no new photos. Bruce Liu's computer, camcorder, and camera were lost or stolen. All the photos he took are gone. If you took any photos during the women's semifinal and final or the men's final that we could use, please contact Bruce at bay_tt@yahoo.com.

Men’s Singles Quarterfinals & Semifinals . . . Sort of

By Larry Hodges

***See Addendum at end, added on Monday, Dec. 21.***

Let’s get straight to the quarterfinal and semifinal, um, results.

Quarterfinals

Ilija Lupulesku (IL, 2780) vs. Han Xiao (MD, 2602), Double Default

David Zhuang (NJ, 2697) vs. Mark Hazinski (IN, 2604), Double Default

Samson Dubina (OH, 2476) d. Raghu Nadmichettu (MD, 2380), Default

Michael Landers (NY, 2361) d. Fan Yi Yong (WA, 2748), Default

Semifinals

Samson Dubina (OH, 2476) advances by Default

Michael Landers (NY, 2361) advances by Default

Final (to be played tonight)

Samson Dubina (OH, 2476) vs. Michael Landers (NY, 2361)

Now that your mouth is hanging to the floor with your eyes as wide as ping-pong balls, here’s what happened. Led by Player Rep Han Xiao, the eight men’s quarterfinalists had a meeting on Friday, and decided to protest the low prize money at the Nationals. (Men’s Singles: 1^st $3000, 2^nd $1700, 3-4 $1000, 5-8: $500, 9-16: $225.) Han thought USATT had the money available, though there were of course different opinions (from USATT's point of view) on how that money should be allocated. They voted 7-1 (Dubina opposed) to refuse to continue unless the prize money was increased. They asked for 1^st $10,000, 2^nd $6000, 3-4: $3000, and 5-8: $1500. From the perspective of most of the players, striking now was the only time they’d have leverage; from the USATT’s perspective, they had entered the tournament knowing the prize money.

USATT officials met extensively. They refused at this last minute to increase the prize money at this Nationals, but after negotiating with Han, agreed that for the next Nationals, USATT would try to double prize money in the major events, as well as some other items the players requested, such as a players’ lounge. USATT Player Rep Han cautioned that they would still have to go through a budgeting process and look for ways to raise money, so there would be a lot of details to work out. However, he thought he had a deal.

Most of the quarterfinal men didn’t like the deal, and the discussions grew rather heated. Han said that he thought he made it clear that their original request or demand (it’s not clear which word better fits) was just a starting point, and that they were willing to negotiate. Others thought he was firm that they should not continue unless USATT met their demands. Several accused Han of backing down, while Han thought he had gotten the best possible deal.

Five of the men refused the deal: Lupulesku, Fan, Zhuang, Hazinski, and Nadmichettu refused to play. Dubina, who had never supported the walkout, would play. Xiao, after reaching the agreement with USATT, was going to play, but decided that it would be a conflict of interest to play—it would look pretty bad—and so defaulted as well. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Michael Landers, the only junior in the quarters (he’d just won the Youth Olympic Game Trials and finished second in the Junior Singles & Team Trials) was in a difficult position. Several of the players put pressure on him to withdraw as well, but Han told me that Michael thought the concessions by USATT were enough, and so he continued. (I wasn’t able to find Michael to speak with him directly; hopefully I will be able to do so tonight.) So the six were out. They were given their $500 for making the quarterfinals, though there was discussion and a close reading of the rules to see if defaulting players should receive prize money.

The men were scheduled to play at 12:45 PM. About 20 minutes afterwards, they were told they had five minutes to play or they would be defaulted. Five minutes later, six were defaulted, and so the final will be Samson Dubina vs. Michael Landers. (Side note: It so happened that Samson and Michael were on opposite sides of the draw. I checked with the referee, and if they had been on the same side, he would have authorized a redraw to put them on opposite sides so that there would be a final.)

On to the Final!!! With one other interesting note—if 15-year-old Michael wins, he will apparently become, by a few days, the youngest USA Men’s Singles Champion ever, beating Eric Boggan’s record from 1978. The reason we put in “apparently” is because Michael Landers was born on Aug. 16, 1994, while Eric Boggan was born on Aug. 14, 1963. Today is Dec. 19; if the final of the USA Nationals in 1978 was on Dec. 17, they will be tied; if after Dec. 17 (as some here believe, though none are sure), Michael will be younger when/if he wins. (If you have this info, email me at larry@larrytt.com!)

Addendum added on Monday, Dec. 21

On Monday, Dec. 21 (two days after the Nationals), I spoke at length with David Zhuang on the phone, and afterwards with Han Xiao. Here is the gist of these discussions.

David believed strongly that Han had assured them that USATT had the extra funding available, and that if they stuck together, USATT would increase the prize money fund. He said that he questioned Han closely on this, and decided to follow his lead. He was adamant that he did so for the sport, believing the prize money had been too low for many years, and not just for himself. (The other players I spoke to at the tournament also had emphasized this, including Han.) He felt that Han was clear that they should not play unless the prize money was increased for this year.

He also said that when Han told him of the deal by phone on Friday night, he thought the others were in agreement. When he came in Saturday morning, he said he was ready to play if the others played, and was surprised others did not want to play. He thought Han should have called a meeting to go over the deal, and wondered if Han had contacted everyone. He felt that Han had let them down by insisting USATT would agree to their demands, and then backing down when they would not do so for this year.

I then spoke with Han on the phone. Han said that the whole thing started when Barney J. Reed (who was seeded eighth, but defaulted due to a back injury) spoke to him on Friday about the funding that might be available. Han agreed to represent the players as the player rep if there was a meeting of the eight quarterfinalists in men’s singles, and Barney gathered the players, though he was not in the meeting. Once the meeting began, Han said he told the players they would have to ask for more than they expected to be in a good bargaining position. He doesn’t believe he misled the players or said that they absolutely shouldn’t play unless prize money was increased, though Lupi argued this.

He said that he tried contacting everyone on Friday night, and that at that time, only Lupi rejected the deal. (He spoke directly with Lupi, David, and Michael, and left a message for Fan, but couldn’t reach Raghu or Mark.) On Saturday morning, he still thought they would agree to the deal, but led by Lupi, the others rejected it, leading to the defaults.