U.S. Men’s and Women’s Table Tennis Teams Notch Strong Day One
at 2007 Pan American Games

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 22, 2007
Contact: Lindsay DeWall
lindsay.dewall@usoc.org

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – In the first round of table tennis action at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , the U.S. men’s and women’s table tennis teams both played two team matches apiece, winning all four. The U.S. Teams have byes during Monday morning’s pool play and will move on to compete in the quarterfinals Monday afternoon.

In the team competition, each player on the three-member team plays twice, split between four singles matches and one doubles match. Each match consists of five games, which go to 11 points.

The U.S. women started out strong at Pavilion 4B of the Riocentro Convention Center against Columbia , winning three matches to zero. Jun Gao Chang ( Gaithersburg , Md. ) won the first individual match in three games, as did Tawny Banh (San Gabriel, Calif.) in the second. Chang and Chen Wang ( New York , N.Y. ) won the doubles match in three games, securing victory over Columbia .

The U.S. women met El Salvador in the afternoon, also winning three matches to zero. Wang and Chang won their individual matches in three games. Banh joined Chang for the doubles match, which they won three games to one (11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7).

“We knew we could beat these teams, but you can’t underestimate them,” Banh said. “We just had to get out there and do our thing and get the wins.”

On the men’s side, the U.S. squad took on Guatamala in the morning, winning three matches to zero. Eric Owens was down two games to zero in the first individual match, but came back to snag the win (6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9). Mark Hazinkski handily won his match in three games. In doubles, Owens and Han Xiao ( Germantown , Md. ) lost the first game 9-11, but won the next three – 11-3, 11-7 and 11-9 – to win and secure victory in the team match.

Their second meeting of the day was against the Dominican Republic , which took more finesse, with 2003 Pan American singles table tennis champion Luis Ju Lin heading up the team. Owens took Lin on in the first individual match and fought hard, but ultimately succumbed (10-12, 6-11, 8-11) in what was the U.S. Team’s only loss of the day in an individual match. Up next, Hazinski had a close individual match, but held on to win in five games (7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4).

“It was definitely an important win, because with Lin competing, we knew we needed to win the next two singles and the doubles match,” Hazinski said. “In the fifth game I told myself to calm down and let it come. I played a little looser and that seemed to work.”

In doubles, Xiao and Owens won in four games (11-5, 11-4, 12-14, 11-6), before Hazinski returned to clinch the team match by winning his second individual match in three games.

The U.S. women compete in the quarterfinals Monday at 2 p.m., followed by the U.S. men at 4 p.m.