June 27, 2016

Tip of the Week
Inside-Out Forehand Floppy Wrist Flip.

Maryland State Championships
I ran them this past weekend, Sat & Sun. Here are the results. It was two very long days – I arrived at MDTTC each day at 7:45AM, and didn't get out until nearly 9PM both days. Lots of prize money and trophies were given out, there were many rating points exchanged, and many balls were broken. I was up half the night finishing the paperwork on the tournament, writing the press release, and other timely items – such as this blog. (I plan to do another version as a USATT news item.) The bad news: I didn't get to bed until after 4:15AM, and I have to coach at the MDTTC camp this morning…

Here is a version of the press release I sent out, adjusted for the table tennis audience. (In the version sent to local media, I put in everyone's home city, left out ratings, used more general terms, etc.)

$5000 Maryland State Table Tennis Championships
By Larry Hodges, tournament director

The $5000 Maryland State Championships were held this weekend at the Maryland Table Tennis Center. Here are complete results, care of Omnipong.

The two biggest winners at the tournament were Zeng "Jeffrey" Xun (29, rated 2549) and Tiffany Ke (11, rated 2260). Jeffrey, a full-time coach at MDTTC with a steady two-winged looping attack and blocking, dominated in Men's Singles, defeating fellow MDTTC coaches Lyu You (17) 4-1 in the semifinals, and chopper/looper Wang Qing "Leon" Liang (20) in 4-0 in the final. Wang defeated lefty penhold looper/blocker Richard Lee (owner of North American Table Tennis and JOOLA USA, and a former national junior champion) in the other semifinals, 4-0. The three coaches are all former stars from China who emigrated to the U.S. to coach, and share a house in Germantown.

Zeng also teamed with student Derek Nie (15, rated 2427) to win Open Doubles over Wang and Lyu. Derek is the #2 player on the USA National Cadet Boys' Team (15 and under). Nie also won Under 18 Boys over Roy Ke (17, rated 2437), who had just returned from a year of training in China.

Tiffany likely became the youngest Maryland Women's Singles Champion ever at age 11. It was probably the youngest final ever, as her opponent in the final was 12-year-old Lisa Lin. It was also one of the closest matches as well, with the score reaching 8-8 in the fifth, with Tiffany scoring the last three points in a row. Both are members of the four-member USA Under 12 Girls Hopes Team. Tiffany is currently #2 in USA Under 12 Girls.

Tiffany also won Under 18 Girls' Singles over Lisa, and Under 15 Girls over Jessica Lin (no relation to Lisa), with Lisa finishing third in that event. Lisa actually defeated Tiffany in Under 15 Girls, but lost to Jessica, who lost to Tiffany – and the three-way tie was decided by games won and lost among the three, with Tiffany coming out on top. (Jessica finished third in both Women's Singles and Under 18 Girls.) The three girls train together full-time at MDTTC.

Ryan Lee, 9, the son of men's semifinalist Richard Lee, won Under 10 over Adrian Yang, 9. Yang was also in the final of Under 12 Boys, where he lost to Alexander Yang (no relation), 11. George Li, 13, won Under 15 Boys over William Huang, 13.

Lixin Lang, 56, won Over 50 Men over Thomas Sampson, 58; Michael Clarke, 69, won Over 60 over Mark Radom, 67; and Gordon Gregg, 74, won Over 70 over Su Liu, 81.

Under 2400 was won by Stefano Ratti over Raghu Nadmichettu; Under 2100 by Ernest Byles over Ronald Chen (age 12); Under 1800 and Under 1500 were swept by Ranjan Bhambroo, over Ara Sahakian and John Miller; Under 1200 by Lance Wei (9) over Giovanni Ratti (12); and Under 1000 by Andy Wu (8) over Lance Wei (9).

Under 4000 Doubles was won by the experienced senior team of Jeff Smart and Steve Hochman over juniors Darwin Ma (16) and George Li (13); Under 2400 Doubles was won by Stanley Hsu (7) and Hanfei Hu (10) over Kurtus Hsu (10) and Lance Wei (9).

Tournament sponsors include the Maryland Table Tennis Center; HW Global Foundation (sponsor of the MDTTC Junior Talent Program); and the Courtyard by Marriott Gaithersburg Washingtonian Center (official tournament hotel).

Washington Post Story on MDTTC and the Maryland Championships
Here's the story that came out on Sunday morning. The reporter and photographer spent half the day there on Saturday.

Illinois State Championships
Maryland wasn't the only state to hold a state championship this past weekend. Here are results of the Illinois State Championships. Here's a picture of the Naresh brothers, Sid (Under 18 and Under 15 champion) and Nandan (Under 10 champion, Under 18 runner-up, and 3rd in Under 15). Here's the non-Facebook version. Both will be at the USATT Supercamp coming up July 10-24 in NJ. (I'll be there as well.) (And look who won Over 55 – my fellow USATT board member Ed Hogshead, who I think ran the tournament. Here's the non-Facebook version.)

History of U.S. Table Tennis – Timmy's Corrections
Just when I thought I was done, Tim pulled me back into the world of History of U.S. Table Tennis, Volume 18. After a thorough proofing, he sent me 48 new corrections to the volume. There goes my Monday night….

Ask the Coach Show

Table Tennis Edge App Update June 25, 2016
Here's the video (75 sec).

Massimo Costantini Leaving U.S. for India
It's gone public – it's been out there for a week now – so I guess there's no need for secrecy. The ICC and USA Olympic Coach has apparently accepted a position as head coach in India. It's unfortunate for the U.S. as we'll be losing a highly successful coach. One source cautioned me that the agreement had to be approved by the government, but there's nothing about that in the article. Here are two articles from publications in India. The Hindu in particular seems a highly reputable source.

11 Questions with Steve Hochman
Here's the USATT interview. This is the same Steve Hochman who won Under 4000 Doubles at the Maryland Championships above and who's volunteered to help out the last three years at my annual camps for disabled veterans. Scary backhand!

2016 Pan Am Junior Championships
Here's the USATT coverage, including articles, results, photos, and almost seven hours of video. USA's Kanak Jha won gold in Under 18 Boys' Singles.

2016 ITTF North America Cup Video Coverage
Here's USA coverage, including articles, results, and over seven hours of video. USA swept gold and silver in both men's and women's singles.

SC Featured: The Puzzlemaster and the Prodigy
Here's the video (6:47 sec) from ESPN, featuring Will Shortz and Kai Zhang. 

Xu Xin Shocks Ma Long to Claim Third Korea Open Title
Here's the ITTF press release.

2016 Korea Open Highlights: Ma Long vs Xu Xin (Final)
Here's the video (12:10). Here's an ITTF press release. And here's a video from ITTF commentator Adam Bobrow, Walking to work, Korea Open final day (11:46). (Here's Xu's forehand to win game one – 32 sec video, including replay.)

Kevin Zhou MVP of Capital Area TT League
Here's the Facebook article and picture, and here's the Capital Area TT League home page, with results of the past season. (This is for players in the Maryland, Virginia, and DC area.) 

The Seven Most Interesting Facts About Table Tennis
Here they are, from All About Table Tennis!

Fetch Pong
Here's the cartoon!

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