Top Eight Players Decided at U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Table Tennis
by Barbara Wei
WEST MONROE, La. – Surprises abounded on the second day of play at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Table Tennis in West Monroe, Louisiana. The top 16 players from each gender competed in four round robin groups, with the top two players in each group advancing to the final eight for Stage 3 of competition.
On the women’s side, Hannah Song (2167) was the dark horse of the event. Ranked fourth in her group and seeded 15 out of 16 players, Hannah advanced to the top eight with wins over Jessica Reyes-Lai (2370) and Emily Tan (2343).
In the same group, Jessica Reyes-Lai upset Sally Moyland (2541), 4-2, setting up a potential tie for advancement. In the end, Sally was able to overcome Hannah, 4-1, after a marathon fifth game where Sally won, 22-20, ensuring that Sally and Hannah both moved forward to Stage 3. In a different group, Tiffany Ke (2382) upset fourth seed Rachel Sung (2510), 4-1, which allowed her to advance first in the group into Stage 3.
Final eight women:
- Amy Wang
- Angela Guan
- Angie Tan
- Hannah Song
- Rachel Sung
- Sally Moyland
- Sarah Jalli
On the men’s side, the top eight seeded players all moved forward to the final eight. Kanak Jha, number one seed, made his return to U.S. competition after 15 months, and cruised to a top finish in his round robin group, only dropping one game the entire day.
Final eight men:
- Jishan Liang
- Kai Zhang
- Kanak Jha
- Nandan Naresh
- Nikhil Kumar
- Sid Naresh
- Ved Sheth
- Xiang Jing Zhang
The final eight players will now play in two knockout brackets, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Their combined best finishes will earn them a direct ticket to either the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on the women’s side, or the opportunity to pursue Olympic qualification on the men’s side.