USA Table Tennis National Team Set with Dramatic Performances at the Adult Team Trials in Fort Worth, Texas
Share:
by Mark Thompson, COO
USA Table Tennis National Team Set with Dramatic Performances at the Adult Team Trials in Fort Worth, Texas
Sharon Alguetti Wins the Men’s Trials While Amy Wang Captures the Top Spot for the Women
Six Additional Male and Female Players Earn Their Way Onto 2021-22 US National Team in Highly Competitive Action at Sid Richardson Center
(Colorado Springs, CO – May 24, 2021) – USA Table Tennis (“USATT”), the National Governing Body for the sport of table tennis, today announced the results of the 2021-22 US National Adult Team Trials, which were held at the Sid Richardson Center in Fort Worth, Texas, this past weekend.
Sharon Alguetti, who went undefeated in round robin play, knocked off Jishan Liang in the semi-finals and 2020 Olympian Nikhil Kumar in the finals to win the Trials for the men. While Amy Wang beat 2020 Olympian Hujiing Wang in the semis and Sarah Jalli in the finals to take the top spot in the Trials for the women.
“It was a crazy tournament, which only got better as it progressed,” said Alguetti. “Coming into it my goal was just to make the national team, not thinking too much about final positions, but somehow a miracle happened. I'm speechless, still can't believe I can achieve something so incredible in this sport!”
“After a year and a half of not competing, I was really excited to travel and play again,” said Wang, “Having to adjust to the long matches each day was difficult since it has been a while since I’ve played so many consecutive games. Aside from everything else, this tournament has been a good experience and feels awesome to make the team again!”
As a result of the Trials, seven men and seven women earned spots on the US National Team, which will represent America in international competitions for the remainder of the 2021 season until the 2022 Trials are held next spring. This includes the opportunity to represent the US at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships which are scheduled for Houston, Texas, from November 21 – 29, 2021.
In addition to Sharon Alguetti, the six men earning spots on the eight-member National Team at the Trials were Nikhil Kumar, Jishan Liang, Dan Liu, Kai Zhang, Yahao Zhang, and Earl James Alto. They will join Kanak Jha, who qualified for the number one position on the US National Team as a result of being highest ranked US male player within the top fifty (50) on the ITTF World Ranking adult list as of the date of the Adult National Team Trials.
For the women, in addition to Amy Wang, the six others earning spots on the National Team are Sarah Jalli, Huijing Wang, Tiffany Ke, Xinyue Wang, Rachel Yang, and Linda Shu. They will join Lily Zhang, who as with Kanak Jha earned the top spot on the women’s squad by virtue of her ITTF World Ranking, to fill out the eight-person squad.
In addition to the international playing opportunities presented to members of the US National Team, the top four members of the team for the male and female squads also qualify for a $4,000 Performance Pathway Grant which is an important funding source for training and tournament participation. The top four males qualifying for the PPG are Kanak Jha, Sharon Alguetti, Nikhil Kumar, and Jishan Liang. For the women, the four members of the team qualifying for the PPG are Lily Zhang, Amy Wang, Sarah Jalli, and Huijing Wang.
USATT wants to congratulate all participants in the 2021 US National Team Adult Trials for playing in what proved to be an extremely competitive and exciting event; and, further, to thank the officials who served at this event and the staff who handled operations at the Sid Richardson Center.
