2003 Pan Am Games - Men

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic · Aug. 7-13, 2003

By USA Men’s Coach Dan Seemiller

Eric Owens in action at the Pan Ams. Photo by Bob Fox ©2003.

The Pan Am Games were held this year in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.  The venue was a new building specifically built for table tennis.

The weather in Santo Domingo year round averages 83 degrees with 85% humidity.  The playing hall had eight beautiful courts; excellent lighting, good flooring etc. … couldn’t be better, right?  The problem: no air conditioning at the hall.  Imagine playing the U.S. Open at Ft. Lauderdale with no a/c and the sweat flying.  The heat seemed to affect our Men’s players and the Canadians more than others from Central and South America.  Needless to say, there were many wet and moist balls in play.  To the credit of the umpires and players there were no major disputes and in the end our players adjusted well as the tourney went on.

We were scheduled to leave August 2 to meet in Tampa, FL, where we went through team processing. We would leave the next day on a charter down to Santo Domingo.

On August 1 our team received some bad news.  I was coaching at the Junior Olympics in Detroit that morning when I received a phone call, from USATT Executive Director Doru Gheorghe, that Ilija Lupulesku, our National Champion, was withdrawing from the Pan Am’s.  A friend of Lupulesku’s informed Doru that he had injured his shoulder playing soccer and couldn’t attend.  No call from Ilija directly to our team leader or myself, the coach.  We tried to telephone him but he was overseas.  The Pan Am’s consists of singles and doubles so the loss of Lupulesku hurt our chances.  The very late withdrawal did not allow us to enter our alternate, De Tran.  We needed to give the Pan Am organization three days notice to add an alternate.  So we only had three players instead of four, and worse yet, our best doubles player, David Zhuang, would not be able to play doubles as he was partnered with Lupulesku. 

The doubles would begin on August 7th and Eric Owens and Mark Hazinski drew a pair of Cuban players – Boris Roque and Pavel Oxmendy.  The Cubans lack experience but they are great athletes and are well trained.  Eric and Mark do not play their best as they lose 4 games to 1.  The big advantage the Cubans had was they were a lefty/righty combination and their movements were fluid and they pinned Mark and Eric on the backhand over and over again. 

The Brazilian teams of #1 seed Thiago Monteiro and Hugo Hoyama win the gold medal over Bruno Anjos and Gustavo Tsuboi, 4 games to 2.  In the semifinals Anjos and Tsuboi upset #2 seed Liu Song and Pablo Tabachnik from Argentina, 4 games to 3.  In the other semi, Monteiro and Hoyama beat the Dominican team of Lin Ju and George Brito, 4-2.  After the big upset of the Argentine pair the Brazilian contingent stormed the court knowing they had both teams in the final and Brazil would win the Gold and Silver.  Our women would do the same as both USA teams made it to the final of women’s doubles.

The Pan Am games are like a mini Olympics.  In the village, where 5,000 athletes stayed, there were newly built apartments that will be sold after the games conclude.  The Dominicans are a friendly people and they made everyone feel welcome.  The accommodations and food were excellent and the bus was always on time.  Our venue was in the East Park along with several other sports.  Attendance at the table tennis venue was sparse at times (especially in the morning) but on the weekend and evenings it was mostly full (1,500 max.).

On to the singles events:  First there would be preliminary play with 5 in a group with 3 advancing.  If you won your group you also received a first round bye.

Round One

Eric Owens receives a default as Francisco Mendez of the home country doesn’t show.  Mark Hazinski plays the experienced Juan Salamanca from Chile and wins a close seven-gamer.  Juan has pips on the backhand and Mark is struggling with the heat and “moist” ball.  Salamanca gave Mark a critical point at 12-12 in the second when he caught the ball and said it had hit his shirt.  Mark won that game to even the match.  At 6-all in the 7th, Mark spun a backhand that just fell off Juan’s pips into the net.  Mark then made a couple of forehand re-loops to win 11-7.

David Zhuang was matched up against Dennis Su and he had his hands full.  This was D.Z.’s first match of the tourney since he missed out on the doubles and Dennis is a tough opponent.  David, hanging tough but still trying to find his timing, wins games 1, 2, & 3 (10,9,13), virtually an even match.  Dennis wins game four, 11-6, but it’s a temporary reprieve as David wins the match 4-1.  This was a tough opening test for the defending champion.

Round Two

David’s second match is against Alejandro Rodriguez of Chile and David wins 4-0.  Rodriguez has a good game but David’s pips and serves keep him off balance.

Mark Hazinski in action at the Pan Ams. Photo by Bob Fox ©2003.

Mark plays Gerardo Sanchez of Peru and wins easily 4-0.  Eric Owens plays Omar Flores from Guatemala.  Omar has an awesome backhand and blocks really well.  Eric starts out with a lot of backhand looping and control but Omar wins the big points.  Eric is sweating profusely and the umpire must wipe the ball before each point.  Eric, not playing particularly well, loses 4-2.  This puts Eric in a position of not advancing if he loses to Gaston Alto in his next match.

Round Three

Mark plays Liu Song, the #2 seed from Argentina and the winner will win the group and receive the bye.  Mark is up 7-4 in the first and is blocking Liu’s loops wide to the forehand.  Mark misses a couple forehands and before you know it Liu wins the first 11-8.  Mark leads 10-8 in the third and 10-9 in the fourth but loses both in deuce.  Liu wins 4-0 but Mark showed some promise as he finishes second in the group and will qualify for the singles draw.

Eric wins 4-0 over Gaston Alto (ARG).  Three games were close but Eric moved well and hit some big forehand loops.  Also, because he won 4-0 the sweat and moisture were just starting to be a problem when Eric won the fourth 12-10.

David Zhuang played Trevor Farley from Barbados and he ran his group record to 3-0 with a 4-1 win.

Round Four

To win the group, Eric must beat Pradabeen Peter-Paul from Canada.  They have played several times before and Peter-Paul has won although the matches have been close.  This one is no different. With the match score at 1-1 in games, Eric leads 7-2 in the third and is controlling play.  At this point Peter-Paul really picks up his game while Eric goes in a funk.  The Canadian scores 8 in a row and wins game three, 11-8, to go up 2-1.  Eric never recovers and loses 4-1.  Eric has advanced to the draw but as a #3 player, which means he’ll play a #2 finisher from another group in Round one.

David Zhuang, seeded #4 in the tournament, drew Lin Ju as his #2 player.  Lin plays just like Joo Se Hyuk, the world finalist in Paris.  Ju is an aggressive defender on the backhand and an all-loop forehand.  David usually plays well against this style and he’s looking forward to the match.  David starts and makes easy mistakes, says he’s having trouble reading the spin.  Ju puts tremendous pressure on his opponents with his loop and his defense is so speedy & spinny that it really is offensive, too.  Ju wins easily 4-0 as David is never really in the match.  David will go into the draw as a #2 while Ju will take David’s #4 seeded position with a first round bye.

There are now 24 players left that will continue on to a single elimination draw.  The draw is very important but our players, Mark #2, David #2, Eric #3, can be drawn anywhere as they are not seeded.  David draws Jonathan Pino (VEN) then Liu Song (ARG) in the round of 16.  Mark draws Guillermo Munoz (MEX) then Lin Ju in the round of 16.  Eric has a good draw playing Dimeys Gongora (CUB) then Boris Roque (CUB) in the round of 16.

In the first round all of our men’s players advance: David 4-0 over Pino, Mark 4-1 over Munoz and Eric 4-3 over Gongora.  Eric’s comeback from 0-3 in games was a gutsy performance.  Dimeys Gongora came out and took the offense away from Owens’ winning games one & two (11-7, 11-9).  After Gongora won game three, 11-2 and led game four, 2-0 Eric looked helpless.  To his credit he kept fighting and instead of forcing the offense he concentrated on blocking the Cuban player’s loops.  Eric is moving Dimeys all over the court, blocking three or four of his loops every point.  In this heat, Gongora is looking a little slow and tired as Eric extends the match by taking game four.  Eric wins games 5, 6 & 7 by the narrowest of margins, 13-11, 12-10 and 11-9, to advance.  Sometimes you have to go to plan B and Eric did just that to win.  A tough way to lose for Gongora; he led the whole match and had a 9-7 lead in the seventh.

David takes on Liu Song in the round of 16.  Four years ago this was the final in Winnipeg but because D.Z. lost in his group he drew Liu.  The first game is very important and Dave starts well and leads 8-4.  Liu can’t get his loop going and David’s serves keep him guessing.  Liu scores six in a row to go up 10-8.  Dave deuces it at 10 but loses the game 12-10.  A big first game win for Liu as he uses game one’s comeback to give him momentum and he loops everything.   David can’t find the table as games two & three go easily to the Argentine at 6 & 4.  David’s now down 3-0 and we need to get him going.   The key thing is he needs to force Liu into playing more defense.  D.Z. does just that (he’s a fighter), wins game four, 11-9, and game five, 11-7.  Liu is not so confident now.  A couple early breaks, a net and an edge, and David is down 4-1.  Liu is running around the backhand corner and looping anything his racket touches.  Game six to Liu, 11-7; a small measure of revenge from the last Pan Am games.  David made a valiant comeback to make this a match; he just couldn’t overcome that first game where he lost an 8-4 lead.

Eric is next up against Boris Roque, a left-handed penholder.  Boris defeated Bence Csaba, the 2650 rated Canadian, 4-0 in his group so Eric has his hands full.  In the first, playing smoothly and blocking well, Eric wins 11-6.  Boris’s serves start giving Eric fits and he can’t stop the Cuban’s attack.  Owens’ blocking tactics aren’t working and he’s having trouble getting his loop into play.  Roque wins 4-1 and moves into the quarterfinals.

Last hope for the U.S. is Mark Hazinski against Lin Ju.  Mark played him at the U.S. Open and lost 4-1, so he knows what he’s up against.  The evening session is full of spectators and they cheer loud and support their favorite, Lin Ju.  It’s a great atmosphere.  Lin Ju comes out with that big loop of his and dominates Mark in the first two games.  Haz plays better in games three & four but loses 11-7 and 11-9.  In game four, Mark was down 4-10 when he rallied to 9-10 before losing.  Lin Ju looks like the favorite for the gold medal as he takes Mark out 4-0.

Our three men’s players have been eliminated in this round.  The winner of the Pan Am games will also, besides the gold medal, receive a berth into the Olympic games.  So the remaining eight players have extra incentive to win this event, as any player would love to bypass the nerve-wracking Olympic qualifiers.

In the quarters, Liu Song makes quick work of Roque (Cuba) 4-0 as Boris can’t stop Liu’s serve and attack.  Thiago Monteiro (Brazil) easily defeats fellow-teammate and junior Gustavo Tsuboi 4-1.  Lin Ju struggles against the consistency of Peter-Paul from Canada but prevails 4-2, and in the last quarter, Hugo Hoyama (Brazil), one of the favorites, struggles against Juan Salamanca from Chile but wins 4-3 after being down 3 games to 1.  Juan is a veteran player and this would have been a major upset and a medal for Chile.  But, Juan came up just short of the finish line.

In the first semifinal: Liu Song versus Thiago Monteiro.  The favored veteran up against the rising star.  Monteiro is extremely fit, has great serves and a punishing forehand.  Liu is a lefty looper on the forehand and chops on the backhand.  Thiago wins the first at deuce and rallies in game two from 10-8 down to win that one 12-10.  Liu is a little down after losing the 10-8 lead in game two.  Thiago, sensing that, pounds him 11-5 to go up 3-0.  In game four, Monteiro quickly leads 3-0 and you would think it was over, but amazingly Liu scores 10 in a row and wins game four.  It’s the last stand for Liu as the Brazilian Monteiro wins game five and moves on to the final.

The second semifinal has hometown favorite Lin Ju vs. Hugo Hoyama.  I was surprised to find out that he doesn’t particularly like to play against defense. This is bad because against Ju you cannot hesitate – his spin is phenomenal.  True to form, Ju dominates the match – Hugo is tentative at times and is mis-reading Ju’s underspins.  Ju easily wins the first two games and despite a late rally wins 4-2 as the sellout crowd cheered mightily. 

Final

The Pan Am final; with the champion winning a gold medal for his country and a berth in the 2004 Olympic Games.

Monteiro is powerful with great serves while Lin Ju is crafty with a big forehand of his own. Playing completely even Lin wins game one 12-10, and then again 14-12 to win game two.  Monteiro is looking good but can’t win the big points.  In game three Thiago struts his stuff 11-5 but he’s still down 2-1.  Ju comes right back with an easy 11-6 game to lead 3-1.  Thiago slows the pace a little to win game five.  In game six it’s a war – with the crowd standing on every point.  It’s now 10-8 match point for Ju.  Ju loops and pins Thiago on the backhand where he’s lobbing.  Ju loop kills to the wide forehand but Thiago races over and loops back a high one that Ju misses.  The crowd thought Ju had won and a premature celebration started.  It’s now 9-10, Thiago’s serve.  Ju pops it up and Thiago loop kills down the line but it just misses.  Lin Ju wins the gold 4-2 over Thiago Monteiro.  Great match!  The spectators obviously loved the result – and the quality of play was superb from both players.  There was pandemonium on the court for at least five minutes as the Dominican officials and their fans celebrated the exciting outcome of the match.

Many thanks to our team leader, Bob Fox. Also, thanks to our trainer, Bob Rodriguez and  the rest of the U.S. Olympic Committee staff for the work that they do for the athletes.