2003 USA Table Tennis World and Pan Am Trials Update 

November 26, 2002 - Due to unforeseen development in our Selection Procedure's approval process by the U.S. Olympic Committee, it has become necessary to cancel the National Team Trials and Pre-Qualification Tournament scheduled to be held in Las Vegas on December 18th and shift the selection process timeline to comply with the procedures as being resubmitted for review by the USOC.

Pending USOC approval, The Pan Am and 2003 National Teams selection procedures will be as follows.  

Selection Criteria

The top 10 eligible athletes who enter before the entry deadline (to be established) will qualify directly into the Trials.   The 2 (two) remaining spots will be decided in the Qualifying Tournament.

The USATT Rating List (results through the Nationals to be held in December 18-21 included) will be used in order to decide the top 10 eligible athletes entitled to be qualified directly into the Trials, and for seeding in the Qualifying Tournament.

Competition Format

• Trials- 12 players single round robin in which each athlete will compete against every other athlete. Each match will be the best of seven games.
• Qualifying Tournament- to be decided according to the number of entries 

Date 

The Qualifying Tournament (for 2 spots) is scheduled for March 18, 2003 (depending on the number of entries there may also be matches played on March 17)

The Trials (12 players round robin) is scheduled for March 19-22, 2003

Location

The Sporting Club at Windy Hill, 135 Interstate North Parkway, NW, Atlanta, GA 30339 for both the Trials and the Qualifying Tournament.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible to participate in the 2003 USA Table Tennis World and Pan Am Team Trials, an athlete must:  

1. Be a U.S. Citizen, with the exception of those who were nominated to compete for the U.S. in international championships prior to August 31, 1997.  There is some very technical fine print, which accompanies this basic rule.  If you are unsure of your eligibility, please contact USA Table Tennis for clarification. 

2. Have on file at USA Table Tennis headquarters or submit with the entry form verification of eligibility (copy of photo page of U.S. passport, copy of U.S. birth certificate, etc).

3. Be a current member of USA Table Tennis.

Entry Process

To be announced upon USOC approval of the Selection Procedures expected in the middle of December.

For information regarding the Selection Procedures for 2003 Pan Am and National Team you can contact Teodor ( Doru) Gheorghe at phone no. 810-653-1744 e-mail address tgheorghe@hotmail.com or Bill Lui at phone no. 925-825-6816, e-mail address WCLui@aol.com.