1999 USA Nationals Results
Las Vegas, Nevada
By Larry Hodges

Day One: Wednesday, December 15
Only one championship final was completed on the first day of the 1999 USA National: Over 60 Men's doubles.  Under 22 Men, Over 40 Women, Hard Bat Doubles and Under 2400 "A" Singles were all played into the semifinals.

Over 60 Men's Doubles Final:
L-R: Jack Melamed, Nick Mintsiveris, 
Grady Gordon, Richard Hicks
(Photo by Terry Canup Copyright 1999)

OVER 60 MEN'S DOUBLES
 Over 60 doubles was the first championship event to complete at the 1999 Nationals.  Winning the event was the top-seeded team of Richard Hicks of Indiana and Nick Mintsiveris of California over Jack "Buddy" Melamed and Grady Gordon of Texas.  Melamed and Gordon had upset the second seeded team of George Brathwaite and Marty Reisman of New York in the semifinals, 21-12, 21-18.  Mintsiveris and Hicks had defeated Bohdan Dawidowicz of Colorado and Houshang Bozorgzadeh of Iowa in the semifinals, 21-18, 21-12.

Under 22 Men's Quarterfinalist Adam Hugh 
(Photo by Terry Canup Copyright 1999)
UNDER 22 MEN'S SINGLES
In Under 22 Men, 11-year-old Adam Hugh of New Jersey pulled off the day's most noticeable upset, defeating 8th-seeded John Beaumont of Louisiana to reach the quarterfinals, 21-18, 19-21, 21-19.  According to father and coach Barry Dattel, Hugh played a control game, moving the ball around to all parts of the table to put pressure on Beaumont's powerful forehand.  Beaumont also had trouble with Hugh's serves, especially in the first game. Hugh led 9-4 in the third, but Beaumont scored seven in a row to lead 11-9, and soon led 17-14. However, Hugh came back, keeping the ball to wide angles and attacking when needed to win .  In the quarterfinals, young Hugh's roll ended against 1997 champion and fourth-seeded Shashin Shodhan of California, 21-15, 21-6.

In other quarterfinal matches, defending champion and top-seeded Keith Alban of Florida defeated T.J. Beebe of Georgia, 21-18, 16-21, 21-4 (!); second-seeded Barney J. Reed of Tennessee defeated Peter Zajac of California, 21-14, 21-13; and third-seeded Freddie Gabriel of California defeated Richard Lee of Maryland, 21-15, 22-20.  In tomorrow's action, Alban will face Shodhan, while Reed goes up against Gabriel.

OVER 40 WOMEN'S SINGLES
Top-seeded Xiaoying Liu of Maryland reached the semifinals by defeating Tyra Parkins of Washington in the quarterfinals, 21-9, 21-9.  Fourth-seeded Barbara Kaminski, also of Maryland, also reached the semifinals, defeating Violet Bloom of California, 21-13, 19-21, 21-16.  Second-seeded Donna Sakai, also of Maryland, didn't fair as well, losing to Sharlene Wilson of Indiana in the quarters, 21-13, 22-20.  Third-seeded Suzanna Sanders of Florida also was upset, losing to Shelly Hardy of California in the quarters, 21-19, 22-20.  In tomorrow's action, Liu will play Kaminsky in one semifinals while Hardy and Wilson face off in the other.

HARD BAT DOUBLES
Most players in modern table tennis play with a "sponge" racket - a racket with a sponge backing behind a rubber surface.  In hard bat events, players cannot use sponge, and the racket is covered only in a sheet of rubber "pips." This greatly slows the rallies down, creating longer, sometimes more exciting rallies. One of the greatest and most colorful players of all-time, Marty Reisman, 69, reached the semifinals of hard bat doubles with partner Steve Berger, both of New York.  In recent years, he has become the center of attention in many hard bat events, and he won the singles in 1997 at the age of 67.

The top-seeded team of Derek May and Brian Masters rolled into the semifinals, as did the defending champions and second seeds Ty Hoff and Larry Hodges.  Upsetting the fourth-seeded team of Jiri Hlava and Timothy Kelly in a very tight match were Scott Gordon and Lorin Benedict of California, 18-21, 21-15, 21-19.  However, their victory was short-lived as they in turn lost to the team of Tim Boggan of New York and Houshang Bozorgzadeh of Iowa, 21-12, 21-12. In tomorrow's semifinals, May & Masters will face Boggan & Bozorgzadeh, while Hoff & Hodges will face Berger & Reisman.  

UNDER 2400 "A" SINGLES
Richard Lee of Maryland upset top-seeded Rey Domingo of New Jersey in the quarterfinals, 15-21, 21-19, 21-13.  Second-seeded Peter Zajac of California, 17,  made the semifinals easily, defeating USA Women's Team Member Virginia Sung of New York in the quarterfinals, 21-17, 21-15.  Third-seeded Barry Dattel of New Jersey was upset in the quarterfinals by 14-year-old Mark Hazinski of Indiana, one of the top juniors in the U.S.  Mark, who stands well over six feet already, overwhelmed Dattel by attacking with powerful shots from both forehand and backhand.  However, Dattel's wife, U.S. Women's Team Member and former Olympian Lily Yip, upset fourth-seeded Loc Ngo of California in the quarterfinals, 21-14, 21-16, to reach the semifinals.  She will play Lee in one semifinal tomorrow, while Zajac will face Hazinski.

Championship Finals to be played on Thursday:

Other events on Thursday: