New York’s Landers Falls Short in Qualifying for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games

Michael Landers (Old Westbury, N.Y.), who is the youngest to ever win the men’s singles title at the 2009 USA Table Tennis National Championships, was trying to secure a spot at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games International Qualifying Tournament in Valencia, Venezuela, April 24-25. Landers was supreme through the last qualifying event for the United States, but fell short by losing to Germany’s Florian Wagner in the finals, 4-2.

Landers started the tournament by winning the group division by three consecutive 3-0 decisions over Alberto Romo of Mexico, Hugo Rivas of Venezuela, and Orell Cooper. He was impressive during these three matches where he outscored his opponents by a combined 101-64 in nine games.

In the semifinals, Landers cleared the table with a 4-0 decision over Mathieu Theriault of Canada. He won 11-7, 11-5, 11-7, and 11-9.

In the finals, Landers was up 2-1, before dropping the last three and missing the qualification for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games. Landers’ two victories were 12-10 and 11-9 scores, while Wagner won 11-6, 11-8, 11-6, and 11-3.

Ariel Hsing (San Jose, Calif.), currently the No. 3 ranked player in the World for under-15 girls, will represent the United States at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

The United States qualified Hsing to compete at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, Aug. 14-26. Table tennis will be one of 26 events contested at the inaugural multi-sport youth event. The international event will attract at least 5,000 athletes and officials from the 205 National Olympic Committees. The table tennis athletes will be between the ages of 15 and 16. The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games aims to inspire youth around the world to embrace, embody and express the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect.

For complete results of the competition, click here.

--XXX--

Media Contact: Anthony Bartkowski, (719) 510-7331 or abartkowski@comcast.net

About USA Table Tennis: USATT is the national organizing body for table tennis in the United States. Created in 1933 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo. Its staff serves the 9,000-plus members and nearly 300 clubs that are affiliated with USATT. It oversees a wide variety of membership services, the national teams, rules of the game and numerous online instructional and historical articles. USATT is governed and run by the nine-member board of directors, committees and professional staff. USATT is affiliated with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the world governing body for table tennis, as well as the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).