Chicago’s Killerspin Wins Second Straight Stiga North American Teams Title

Baltimore, MD, Nov. 29-Dec. 1 – Chicago’s Killerspin dominated the competition at this weekend’s Stiga North American Teams Championships for the second year in a row. The Final, between Killerspin and Seattle Juic, ended three days of hotly contested play by 754 players on 128 tables. The $14,000 tournament was run by North American Table Tennis.

This year’s Championship Killerspin Team was made up of:

·        Aleksandar Karakasevic, 3-time Yugoslavian Men’s Singles Champion, 2000 European Mixed Doubles Champion

·        Ilija Lupulesku, top seed at the upcoming USA Nationals, U.S. Open Over 30 Champion, and 1988 Silver Medalist for Men’s Doubles

·        Johnny Huang, 1992 U.S. Open Champion and Canada’s #1 player

·        Geir Erlandsen, Norway National Champion, Northern European Men’s and Mixed Doubles Champion, 1996 U.S. Open Under 21 Men’s Singles Champion

·        Mark Hazinski, U.S. Under 18 Champion

In the final they defeated Juic Seattle, which was made up of three former top Chinese players: 3-time U.S. National and 2-time U.S. Open Champion Cheng Yinghua; 4-time U.S. National Champion David Zhuang; and U.S. #1 rated player Fan Yi Yong. In the best-of-five format, Killerspin won all three matches: Karakasevic defeated Fan, -8,3,4,8,7; Huang defeated Zhuang, 7,2,-10,5,6; and Erlandsen defeated Cheng, 10,4,13,-9,9.

In the semifinals, Killerspin defeated Texas Wesleyan University, 3-0, while Seattle Juic defeated Canada, 3-0.

For more information, contact North American Table Tennis.