Mark Hazinski, pulling off upsets.
(Photo by John Oros Copyright 1999)
MEN’S SINGLES
In the 16ths, there was only one major upset: 14-year-old Mark Hazinski (IN), the 33rd seed, rated 2185, over Brian Masters (MD), the 11th seed, rated 2493. Hazinski, however, had already shown that rating to be way out of date, having won the Under 2400 event. In the fifth game, Masters took a 9-1 lead – and then Hazinski was up, 17-10! A 16-1 run for the 6’1" two-winged looper. Masters, who seemed exhausted by this time, staged a small comeback that came up just short. Match to Hazinski, 22-20, 18-21, 21-16, 18-21, 21-18.

The only closely contested eighths match again involved Hazinski, this time up against 5th seed Brian Pace, rated 2545. Again Hazinski pushed the match to five games (and led 2-1 in games), but this time he came up short, as Pace advanced to the quarters, 21-14, 17-21, 18-21, 21-15, 21-16.

The top eight seeds all advanced to the quarterfinals:
Cheng Yinghua d. Peter Zajac, 8,8,7
Keith Alban d. T.J. Beebe, 8,17,-19,15
Sean Lonergan d. Freddie Gabriel, 17,18,17
Eric Owens d. Randy Cohen, 19,15,10
Todd Sweeris d. Barney J. Reed, 17,19,20
Khoa Nguyen d. Derek May, 15,19,10
Brian Pace d. Mark Hazinski, 14,-17,-18,15,16
David Zhuang d. Shashin Shodhan, 13,10,18

Jackie Lee upset 3rd seed Diana Gee to reach the semifinals of Women's Singles.
(Photo by John Oros Copyright 1999)

WOMEN’S SINGLES
There were no surprises up to the quarterfinals, with the top eight seeds all advancing to that round. In the quarters, top seed Gao Jun defeated her doubles partner, Michelle Do, with Do playing well enough to win one game – something few USA women have done. Second-seed Tawny Banh defeated Simone Yang in straight games. The two other quarterfinal matches were more closely contested.

Lily Yip just edged out fellow-U.S. team member Virginia Sung, 19-in-the fifth, in a classic comfrontation between pips-out penholder Yip and chopper Sung. 15-year-old Jackie Lee pulled off the first major upset of the event, defeating third seed Diana Gee.

Quarterfinal results:
Gao Jun d. Michelle Do, 8,8,-18,13
Lily Yip d. Virginia Sung, -21,9,-20,14,19
Jackie Lee d. Diana Gee, -13,19,18,18
Tawny Banh d. Simone Yang, 14,6,11

Hardbat action.  Left: Steve Berger, upset winner over top seed Jim Butler (middle).  Right: Freddie Gabriel will face Berger in the quarterfinals
(Photo by John Oros Copyright 1999)

HARDBAT SINGLES
The 8ths of hardbat singles featured one huge upset: chopper Steve Berger’s win over Jim Butler, 21-14, 20-22, 21-16. Butler, who has retired from sponge play, was competing in the hardbat event only. Said Berger, "I had to play a brick-wall defense, vary the spin, keep the ball low, and not let him go through him. When I pick-hit, I had to go after his body, since his counter-driving is strong from the corners."

A number of former hardbat champions all lost in the 8ths. Brandon Olson, a hardbat national champion from the 1980s, lost to Freddie Gabriel. Marty Reisman, 1997 National Champion, lost to Dean Doyle, another champion from the early 1980s making a comeback. Larry Hodges, former National and Open champion from 1991-92, lost to Barry Dattel. Defending Champion Ty Hoff won his match, but it was a struggle against Loc Ngo, who won the first against him and led much of the second.

Eighths results:
Steve Berger d. Jim Butler, 14,-20,16
Freddie Gabriel d. Brandon Olson, 18,18
Dean Doyle d. Marty Reisman, -19,19,16
Derek May d. Nick Mintsiveris, 13,15
Ty Hoff d. Loc Ngo, -15,18,13
Barry Dattel d. Larry Hodges, -11,15,17
Brian Masters d. Ralph Stadelman, 16,14
Lily Yip d. Mitch Seidenfeld, 7,13

MEN’S DOUBLES
David Zhuang (NJ) and Todd Sweeris (MD), seeded #1, proved to be a potent doubles team, probably the dominant team for the forseeable future. No team scored more than 13 points in a game against them as they won $250 each. Both play close to the table, Zhuang as a pips-out penholder, Sweeris as a shakehander with pips on the backhand and a close-to-the-table forehand loop. Both are receive specialists, and dominated the start of most rallies, no matter who served.

In the semifinals, Zhuang and Sweeris downed Barney J. Reed (TN) and Eric Owens (TX), 21-8, 21-13. In the final, they defeated Cheng Yinghua (MD) and Sean Lonergan (MD), 21-11, 21-12. Cheng and Lonergan (each winning $150) had defeated Randy Cohen (FL) and Shashin Shodhan (CA) ($100 each) in the other semifinal, 21-13, 21-14. Cohen and Shodhan had upset the team of Keith Alban (FL) and Brian Pace (FL) in the quarterfinals, 21-14, 21-19.

Women's Doubles Champions Michelle Do and Gao Jun.
(Photo by John Oros Copyright 1999)
WOMEN’S DOUBLES
The top-seeded team of Gao Jun (MD) and Michelle Do (CA), playing together for the first time, easily won the event and $100 each, defeating Tawny Banh (CA) and Lily Yip (NJ) ($75 each) in the final, 21-15, 21-15. Gao, the overwhelming favorite in women’s singles, had been Do’s coach in a recent training and tournament trip to Taiwan. Although Banh and Yip were ranked considerably higher than Do, she more than held her own. In fact, since Gao played a mostly control game, Do was often the point-scoring force for the team. However, it was Gao’s ball placement and control that dominated the match, just as it does in her singles matches. Gao (former World Women’s Doubles Champion and Olympic Silver Medalist in Women’s Doubles) will be going for her fourth straight women’s singles title on Saturday to go along with her now four consecutive women’s doubles title.

O ver 50 Men's Finalists George Brathwaite (L) and Rey Domingo (R).  Domingo won, 11,-21,20.
(Photo by John Oros Copyright 1999)
OVER 50 MEN
Rey Domingo (NJ) and George Brathwaite (NY), long-time east coast adversaries who have dominated their age groups nationally for many years, played one of the best finals of the tournament. Playing one long topspin rally after another, the two elder players often counterlooped, lobbed and smashed in rallies that seemed more suited to players half their age. The scores tell the story: Domingo over Braithwaite, 21-11, 21-23, 22-20.

SENIOR DOUBLES
Cheng Yinghua (MD) and Dave Sakai (MD) easily outdistanced the competition for $100 each without coming close to losing a game – the most scored against them was 15. In the final, they defeated Barry Dattel (NJ) and Masaru Hashimoto (CA), 21-9, 21-14. With Sakai playing his steady countering, pushing and blocking game, Cheng, the top seed in the tournament, was able to dominate the rallies almost at will.

UNDER 2000 HARDBAT SINGLES
Ralph Stadelman (NV) won the nail-biting match over Tim Boggan (NY), 15-21, 21-17, 23-21, but it was Boggan’s action at 17-all in the third that will be remembered. Stadelman got an edge ball, and Boggan let out a loud cry of disgust. However, he simultaneously managed to make a reflex return of the ball. Stadelman returned the shot, but Boggan caught the ball, awarding the point to Stadelman for so distracting his opponent. For Boggan, it was the third nail-biter in a row. In the quarterfinals, he had defeated Allen McDermott (CO), 22-24, 21-15, 21-18; in the semifinals he had defeated Bernard Savitz (CA), 19-21, 23-21, 21-19. In the other semifinal, Stadelman had defeated Pete May, 21-18, 21-14.

Under 1900 Women's Champion Allison Seibel.
(Photo by John Oros Copyright 1999)
RATING EVENTS
In Under 1800, Alex Vizelman (CO) defeated top-seeded Sam Ignazzitto (OR) in the final, 18-21, 21-11, 21-10. In the semifinal, Vizelman had defeated junior Allison Seibel (CA), 21-15, 21-18. However, Seibel responded by winning Under 1900 Women, defeating Priscilla Umel (CA) in the final, 21-16, 21-8. In Under 1600, Simon Gendler (CA) defeated John Dart (CA) in the final, 21-11, 21-7. Bruce Liu (CA) won Under 1300 over Gordon Cochran (IN), 21-10, 8-21, 21-13.

UNDER 4200 DOUBLES
U.S. Team Member Lily Yip (NJ) joined forces with New York junior girl’s star Stacy Schoenberg to defeat Masaru Hashimoto (CA) and John Schneider (CA) in the final, 21-18, 21-12, with both Yip and Schoenberg hitting or looping winners at will. In the semifinals, they had had a harder time, upsetting the topspinning team of George Brathwaite (NY) and Wally Green (NY).

UNDER 3700 DOUBLES
Texans John Dorn and Rick Mueller, seeded #1, escaped one close game after another to win the event, 21-19, 21-19 in the final over Dana Jeffries (CO) and Tulio Wolford (CO).

UNDER 3200 DOUBLES
Jesus Sanchez (CA) and Dennis Shapiro (CA), after pulling out early round struggles, romped through the last two rounds to win the event. In the final, they defeated Yukio Kamizuru (IN) and Andrew Cochran (IN), 21-15, 21-15. In the semifinals, they defeated Ramon Giron (CA) and Corazon Valenzuela (CA), 21-3, 21-13. However, it was their match back in the 8ths that was the key match, when they survived against the team of John Curd (MI) and Joseph Cochran (IN), 19-21, 21-16, 26-24.