STIGA Canadian Junior Open on the ITTF World Junior Circuit

Edmonton, Canada · Aug. 28-31, 2003

By Coach Dennis Davis

     Coach Lily Yip's Report

This article focuses on the U.S. Junior Team (under 18) performance and not the tournament as a whole.

USA Gold, Silver & Bronze Medalist Judy Hugh. File photo by Jerry Mintz ©2003.

ITTF Training Camp

The ITTF organized a training camp that preceded the Canadian Junior Open.  The training camp began for the Junior Girls on Sunday, August 24.  There was one morning session and one late afternoon session at the same time as the cadet girls.  The second day Lily Yip and I were asked to organize the training for the morning session in which we only had five minutes to prepare.  The first day the Korean team trained amongst themselves so I asked the Korean coaches to join us and they did.  I was able to pair our girls with the Koreans.  Their level was clearly high and we wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.  We also played games toward the end of the training sessions.

Mark Hazinski and Han Xiao arrived Monday August 25 in the early afternoon and joined the junior boys evening training.  Mark was able to train with the Koreans both Monday and Tuesday.

The ITTF Junior Training Camps are a good opportunity for our juniors to get acquainted with other juniors from around the world both as friends and competitors.  Our juniors realize that they are closer to the level of the other juniors than they had anticipated and gain confidence before the tournament begins.  These camps also provide a good opportunity to feel very comfortable with the playing conditions before the tournament.  I would recommend that with any Junior Circuit event we participate in that we should also participate in the training camp as well.

Team and Individual Competition

Under 18 Boys' Champion Bence Csaba of Canada. Photo care of ITTF ©2003.

Junior Boys’ Team

The junior team competition started with teams in round robin groups with two teams advancing into the single KO quarterfinals draw.  The U.S. junior boys were seeded in the group with Canada and South Africa.  Mark and Han were a little nervous and lost to Canada 3-0.  We defeated South Africa 3-1 to place second in the group and advance to the quarters.  We were placed into the quarterfinals with Korea 1.  Korea 1 had not dropped a set thus far so we knew we had our hands full.  Mark played brilliantly and took the first match against the player who would eventually get to the final the boys’ singles.  Han was a bit inconsistent against the strong chopper and lost 3-0.  The doubles match was critical and both Mark and Han played freely and intelligently and took it 3-1.  Mark played the chopper next and felt comfortable and won 3-1.  USA defeated Korea 1 and advanced to the semi-finals.  This was a big surprise for the ITTF officials as well as the Korean coaches.

USA had to play Brazil, which had the #11 and #14 junior ranked players in the World.  Mark lost a close match with Cazuo Matsumoto 3-2 (11-9 in the fifth) and USA lost 3-0.

USA had to play Korea 2 for the Bronze Medal.   This was the most exciting team match of the tournament for us.  The entire USA junior girls and cadet teams were there to cheer them on, showing great team spirit.  Mark started out winning the first two games at deuce versus his left-handed opponent.  The Korean came back and won the third game 11-9, but Mark came out in the fourth game firing and very focused and crushed him 11-2 to put USA in the lead.   Han’s match was the critical match for us because the Korean doubles team was the best in the tournament (later they won the boys’ doubles crown) and it would be unlikely we could take them down.  The first two games were not pretty.  The Korean won easily without giving his best effort and sort of played Han in a nonchalant disrespectful way (my opinion), turning and smiling to his teammates and joking around.  Han was very tight and did not seem confident at all.  I told him that the tactics were right and to not be apprehensive when the shot is there.  Trust your instincts and take the shot!  He then took it to the Korean winning the next game, 11-3.  I told him that if he stays close in the next two games that I felt the Korean would choke.  Han played brilliantly and with confidence in the most critical moments and won the next two games, 12-10 and 11-9.  The entire U.S. team exploded after Han delivered the last point.  High fives for Han from everyone.  We were up 2-0 but we were not finished yet.  The doubles was a blow out with the Koreans easily winning 3-0.  Now Mark was up against the player Han beat.  I knew the Korean would be nervous after the tongue-lashing he took from the Korean coach after losing to Han.  Mark won 3-0 with the first two games being close.  USA wins the Bronze Medal!  It was a very exciting and very proud moment.

Junior Girls’ Teams

USA 1

Whitney Ping and Jackie Lee played together as USA 1 Team.  In the preliminary groups we had to play against India 2 and Korea 2.  The first match was against India 2.  The entire match was quite tense.  Both Whitney and Jackie knew they were not playing their best but when the game was close at the end their experience and nerves were better than the Indians and they pulled out most of the close games.  They took a hard fought match 3-1.

USA 1 next had to play the Korea 2 team.  They were a strong team and I knew our team had to play better to have a chance.  Jackie took the first game from her opponent but the Korean raised her level and won the next three games.  Whitney started strong and took the first two games and almost finished it off in the third game but it slipped away at deuce.  The Korean came back to win the next two games to even the match at 2-2.  The fifth and final game went back and forth the whole way with Whitney delivering the points when she had to and winning 11-9.  Team match was now 1-1.  The first game in the doubles match went our way, 11-6, but after that it didn’t go well.  The Koreans won the next three games without a scare.  Jackie then played the girl Whitney defeated.  Jackie needed her “A” game and thus far she had yet to play with confidence.  Each point seemed to be a struggle.  The Korean played very well and won 3-0 with the second game going to deuce.  Korean 2 defeats USA 1, 3-1.

Because USA 1 finished second in their group they advanced to the quarterfinal and had to play Korea 1.  Korea 1 was a very strong team and they won the first two singles matches without either Whitney or Jackie scoring more than six points in any of the games.  The doubles also went 3-0.  Korea 1 ended up winning the Girls’ Team event quite easily, defeating India 1 in the semis and Korea 2 in the final.  Both Whitney and Jackie fought all the way even when they were down quite far.  I was proud of their effort. 

USA 2

Sophia Yi and Katherine Wu had Korea 1 and Canada 2 in their group.  They played Korea 1 first and only Katherine was able to get to a deuce game.  Unfortunately, the Koreans were stronger and the girls’ confidence was not very high.  Korea 1 defeated USA 2, 3-0.

They next played Canada 2.  They certainly would have a chance in this match.  Katherine competed well in the first match but lost 3-1 to Anna Ngan.  Sophia then defeated Sara Yuen, winning the last two games 12-10 and 11-9.  The doubles was a very close match but the Canadians prevailed 11-6 in the fifth and deciding game.  Katherine had to play Sara Yuen next.  Sara had medium pips that Katherine felt uncomfortable playing.   I tried to help her adjust to the pips and it seemed she was feeling a little more comfortable but not confident.  She played well but lost, 9,10,8.  I believe that if she were to train against medium pips a little more she would win this match.  Since USA 2 lost both team matches they did not advance out of the group.

Junior Boys’ Doubles

Mark Hazinski and Han Xiao were seeded into the quarterfinals of the junior boys’ doubles.  They had to play an Indian team which had defeated a Canadian team in the previous round.  Mark and Han took the first two games but they were not able to finish it off with the Indians coming back and winning the last three games, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8.

Junior Girls’ Doubles

Katherine Wu and Sophia Dan Dan Yi had to play the best Korean doubles team and had a tough time of it losing 3-0 with the second game 11-9.  This Korean team later won the doubles event.

Whitney Ping and Jackie Lee were defeated by the Indian team 3-1.  Jackie still did not feel confident in her game but I saw some signs of it turning around.

Junior Girls’ Singles

The first stage was RR’s of five players, with 3 players advancing from each group; all best of 5 games.  The second stage was RR’s of 3 players, with two players advancing to a single elimination stage (quarterfinal); best of 7 games.

Whitney Ping

Whitney had a very tough group for the first stage.  She was in the only group that had two Korean players.  She started by defeating the Indian player in a close match, 3-2.  She then had a very close match with one of the Korean players and was unable to pull it out, losing 3-2.  She then played the Canadian Junior champion, Wennin Chiu.  Whitney played very well and won the first two games.  The third game went to deuce but the Canadian eked out the game, 14-12.  Whitney was not able to gain the needed momentum again and lost the last two games.  Whitney was now in a very difficult situation.   She needed to win her next match to have a chance of advancing out of her group; unfortunately she was to play the Korean who had defeated all the other players in her group easily.  This was quite a tense and exciting match.  Each game was close with Whitney pulling out the victory 11-9 in the fifth and deciding game.  This win enabled her to advance by the narrowest of margins.  There was a three-way tie for second place in the group between her and the Canadian and Indian players.  It came down to counting games between the three players to find out who advanced.  The Indian finished second and Whitney finished third.  The Canadian, Wennin Chiu was the odd girl out.  Whitney had originally thought she did not advance and was quite upset.  After I informed her she had advanced she was very happy and relieved. 

In the second stage, Whitney had another Indian player as well as the Korean chopper in her group.  Her first match was against the chopper.  Whitney was looping her chop quite well but the chopper was very consistent and it was going to be difficult to loop through her.  There were some quite close games but the chopper took the match 4-0.  The chopper eventually won the Junior Girls Singles event.  Her next match was against the Indian player.  Whitney was in control of this match from the start and won the match 4-1.  Whitney finished second in her group so she advanced into the quarterfinals to play yet another Korean.  She was able to win the fourth game but finally succumbed 4-1. 

Jackie Lee

Jackie had yet to play with a lot of confidence thus far in the tournament but if she was able to advance out of her group I knew she would be quite happy.  She had the top Indian player in her group as well as one of the best Koreans as well as two Canadian girls.  She first played one of the Canadian girls.  She struggled a bit but still won the match 3-1.  She had to play the second Canadian girl, Stephanie Yuen, next.  Yuen has medium pips on her backhand and is very affective at using it.  Jackie struggled through again winning in five games.  She then had to play the Korean girl.  I told her she can’t hold back and play too safe or you will have no chance.  It was a very good match with Jackie finally breaking though with a very solid performance.  Her footwork was very good and her forehand was landing this match.  She won the first two games 11-9 but lost the next two games.  In the deciding set Jackie was able to take an early lead and hold on for a tough 3-2 victory.  She was sitting pretty with a 3-0 record thus far.  She had to play the #1 Indian girl, Sushmita Roy, next.  The Indian girl, Sushmita Roy, is clever and has an excellent push and counter-drive game.  The first game went to deuce with Jackie pulling it out 13-11.  The Indian girl won the second game at 6 and then Jackie came back and won the third game 14-12.  Roy came back and won game four handily.  In the deciding game I was confident Jackie would pull it out.  Her confidence was growing after winning quite a few close games so far that day.  She indeed won the deciding game and finished first in her group. 

In the second stage Jackie had to play the best Canadian girl, Zhang Mo, as well as the #2 Indian girl, Mousumi Paul.  Jackie had to play Zhang Mo first and she was worried about playing her because she had heard she defeated Canadian Women’s Team player Petra Cada at a recent tournament easily.  Her lack of confidence against her was evident but Jackie still made a match out of it, finally losing 4-2.  She then had to play the #2 Indian player.  The Indian player surprisingly defeated Zhang Mo of Canada so Jackie needed to win 4-2 to be able to advance out of the group.  She played fiercely and pulled it out 4-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals to play yet another Korean.  Jackie had to play the Korean she had defeated in the first stage of the Girls Singles event.  This time the Korean stepped up her game and won 4-1, with most games being very close.  This Korean girl lost in the final of the Girls Singles’ event to the Korean chopper.

Katherine Wu

Katherine had a very difficult group in stage 1.  Between the games I would try to coach her, but she would always say how bad she is.  She may not believe this but she is much better than she thinks she is.  A little belief would go a long way.  She always fought hard but she unfortunately was unable to take any of the matches in her group.

Sophia Dan Dan Yi

Sophia was able to defeat both Canadian girls in her stage 1 group but was unable to beat the Indian and Korean players.  She advanced out of her stage one group.  In the second stage she had to play one Korean and another Indian player.  The Korean girl had no problem with Sophia’s chopping game and lost 4-0.  Sophia had trouble with the Indian girl as well.  She had a strong loop and was able to power through Sophia quite often.  Sophia’s run ended with a 4-0 loss.

Junior Boys’ Singles

Han Xiao

In Han’s stage one group he had to play #1 Indian Junior Sourav Chakraborty as well as two tough Canadian players.  Han won the first match against Michel Ulatowski from Canada, 3-1.  He then had to play Sourav from India who was ranked #20 in the junior world rankings.  Han took the first game 11-7 but then Sourav gained control and won the next three games to take the match 3-1.  Han then had to play Ignacio Cabrera from Canada to decide who advanced out of the group.  Han lost the first game at deuce and it seemed to make him nervous.  Han can play very well at times but needs to learn to forget about the last point and focus on the next one only.  Unfortunately the Canadian took the next two games and closed out the match.

Mark Hazinski

In stage one Mark had in his group a Swedish player, a Korean player and two Canadian players.  He had very little problem with the Canadian players, Enoch Yiu and David Der.  He then had to play a Korean player who was very motivated to try to take Mark down because none of his teammates were able to do so in the team competition.  Mark started slowly and lost the first game 11-9 but was able to be more aggressive in the next game and won it easily 11-1. I think he relaxed a bit after such an easy game and lost the next at 11-9 as well.  He was a little tired but held his concentration and took the next two games 11-7 and 11-3 to win.  His last match was against the Swede, Ilirian Krasniqi.  Mark played well in this match and won 3-1 to finish first in his group. 

In the second stage there were four groups with three players in each group.  Two players will advance out of each group into the quarterfinals.  Mark was in a group with Sourav Chakraborty of India as well as Han Ji Min of Korea.  Sourav beat the Korean in the first match 4-2.  Mark then had to play Sourav.  Mark took a quick lead by taking the first two games but the Indian player responded by taking the next two and evening the match.  The fifth game went back and forth the whole way with excellent rallies.  Mark had very good nerves at the end of this game and finally won it 16-14.  The Indian responded again by winning the next game to even the match at 3-3.  Mark was not to be denied and won because he was more willing to take risks and go for his shots.  He finished first in his group but had to play a Korean again.  He had played and beaten this Korean before, Lee Soon Woo, and it was the most difficult match for Mark thus far. So far his record was 6-0 vs. the Koreans and he was the only player in the tournament who had not lost to anyone on the Korean team.  The entire Korean group was there to cheer him on and the USA team was there as well.  This was a very well played match with many excellent rallies.  The left-handed Korean had great footwork and it was difficult to keep him from looping forehands.  Mark was able to find the backhand enough to keep the match very close.  The match went the entire seven games with five of them being 11-9 or deuce games.  The Korean finally prevailed 13-11 in the seventh game, ending Mark’s impressive run.

The performance of the U.S. team was impressive and gave me hope for our future on the International stage.  The ITTF has created a wonderful opportunity for Junior players to compete internationally and the USATT should take every advantage of it.

The USA team spirit was tremendous and I was very proud of everyone’s effort.  A special thanks to Coach Lily Yip for her partnership on this trip.  She did a wonderful job with the Cadet Teams as well as helping out with coaching the junior team as well.  It was great to work with someone so passionate about table tennis and the improvement of the U.S. juniors.  Her energy and positive attitude was infectious.

USA Medal Winners

Junior Boys’ Singles - Final: Bence Csaba (CAN) d. Lee Soon Woo (KOR), 6,7,8,-8,5; SF: Lee Soon Woo d. Yeo In Ho (KOR) 4-3; Bence Csaba d. Cazuo Matsumoto (BRA) 4-2; QF: Yeo In Ho d. Lee Jung Choon (KOR) 4-1; Lee Soon Woo d. Mark Hazinski (USA) 4-3 (11-9 in the 7th); Cazuo Matsumoto d. Lee Bum Hyung (KOR) 4-2; Bence Csaba d. Saurav Chakravorthy (IND) 4-2.

Junior Girls’ Singles - Final: Choi Moon Young (KOR) d. Moon Bo Sun (KOR), -7,12,-7,9,7,8; SF: Choi Moon Young d. Nam Hye Jin (KOR) 4-2; Moon Bo Sun d. Shim Se Rom (KOR) 4-1; QF: Nam Hye Jin d. Mo Zhang (CAN) 4-2; Choi Moon Young d. S. Seshadri (IND) 4-0; Moon Bo Sun d. Jackie Lee (USA) 4-1; Shim Se Rom d. Whitney Ping (USA) 4-1.

Cadet Boys’ Singles - Final: [No Results Available]

Cadet Girls’ Singles - Final: Judy Hugh (USA) d. Shirley Yan (CAN), n.s. [Other Results Not Available].

Junior Boys’ Doubles Final: Lee Jung Choon/Lee Bum Hyung (KOR) d. Bence Csaba/Faazil Kassam (CAN), -6,5,11,-9,7; SF: Lee/Lee d. A. Amal Raj/Sameer Prabhu (IND), 6,3,9; Csaba/Kassam d. Lee Soon Woo/Yeo In Ho (KOR), 2,7,-4,-5,14.

Junior Girls’ Doubles Final: Bo Sun Moon/Nam Hye Jin (KOR) d. Choi Moon Young/Shim Se Rom (KOR), 10,-4,-6,2,6; SF: Bo/Nam d. Mousumi Paul/Sushmita Roy (IND), 13,2,8; Choi/Shim d. Madhurika Patkar/Sangeetha Seshadri (IND), 4,6,5.

Cadet Boys’ Doubles Final: Seo Myung Duk/Lee Sang Soo (KOR) d. Arikel Koparker/Devesh Karia (IND), 4,8,7; SF: Seo/Lee d. Adam Hugh/Misha Kazantsev (USA), 3,5,5; Koparker/Karia d. Patanawanichkul/Vipawatanakul (THA), 7,7,9.

Cadet Girls’ Doubles Final: Choi Bo La/Moon Seul Gi (KOR) d. Mahalanc Salankara/Bodas Ashiesha (IND), 8,13,-9,-9,6; SF: Choi/Moon d. Fanni Csaba/Shelley Chan (CAN), 5,3,-10,5; Salankara/Ashiesha d. Judy Hugh/Lani Lei (USA), 8,13,-9,-9,6.

Junior Boys’ Teams - Final: Brazil d. Canada, 2-0; Third: USA (Mark Hazinski, Han Xiao) d. Korea 2, 3-1; SF: Brazil d. USA, 3-0; Canada d. Korea, 3-0; QF: Brazil d. Canada 2, 3-0; USA d. Korea 1, 3-1; Korea 2 d. India, 3-0; Canada d. Sweden, 3-0.

Junior Girls’ Teams - Final: Korea 1 d. Korea 2, 3-1; Third: India d. Canada, 3-1; SF: Korea 1 d. India, 3-1; Korea 2 d. Canada, 3-0; QF: Korea 1 d. USA (Jackie Lee/Whitney Ping), 3-0; Canada d. Canada 2, 3-0; Korea 2 & India - Byes. 

Cadet Boys’ Teams - Final: Korea 1 d. India, 3-0; Third: USA (Adam Hugh, Misha Kazantsev) d. Thailand, 3-0; SF: Korea 1 d. USA, 3-0; India d. Thailand, 3-0; QF: USA d. Korea 2, 3-1; Korea 1 d. Canada QC/BC, 3-0; Thailand d. Canada 1, 3-2; India d. Canada 2, 3-0. 

Cadet Girls’ Teams - Final: Korea d. USA (Judy Hugh/Lani Lei), 3-2; Third: India d. Canada, 3-1; SF: USA d. India, 3-1; Korea d. Canada 1, 3-1; QF: Canada 1 d. Canada AB, 3-0; India d. Canada 2, 3-0; USA, Korea - Byes.