September 13, 2016

Revelations of a Table Tennis Champion by Dan Seemiller
It’s out! Revelations of a Table Tennis Champion is the autobiography of five-time U.S. Men’s Singles Champion Dan Seemiller (who along the way also won Men’s Doubles 12 times, Mixed Doubles seven times, and was the U.S. Men’s Coach at the Worlds and Olympics for many years). The book is 218 pages with 96 pictures. I did the editing, photo work, and page layouts. Dan turned out to be an excellent proof reader, finding many typos that I missed. Maybe it’s that perfectionism that made him such a strong player?

At the very end of the book is a “Who is Dan Seemiller?” section which I wrote. Here it is – and after reading this, go out and buy yourself a copy! (Right now there’s only a print version. Later this week I’ll put together an ebook version.)

I first met Dan Seemiller at one of his Pittsburgh camps in 1977, my second year of play. Let’s just say that I was in awe as he and his brothers (Ricky and Randy, plus Perry Schwartzberg) demonstrated and explained the various techniques. I went to another of his camps in 1978. The day before he badly sprained his ankle, and he showed up with the leg in a full cast so he could still move about to coach – and in a challenge match, hobbling about mostly on one leg, he still managed to win a challenge match against the U.S. #1 junior player, Rutledge Barry! Those Seemiller camps formed the basis both for my own game, and for my future professional coaching career. Little did I know that, one day, I’d be assisting Dan at his Pittsburgh camps in the early 1990s, and learning how to run my own camps. I’d also be his coaching chair during his USATT presidency. (And now I’m editing and doing the photo work and page layouts for his autobiography – wow!)

Dan is considered by most the greatest modern U.S. player, going back to the 1950s. He’s done it all at the highest levels – player, coach, tournament director, club president, and president of USA Table Tennis. He even has a grip named after him – the “Seemiller grip.” There’s a reason he was the youngest person ever awarded the USATT Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2012 at the age of 58. Even now, as I write this, he’s still actively playing – easily the best over 60 player in the U.S. – while coaching at South Bend and helping USA Table Tennis run training camps for their top juniors. Plus, he was instrumental to bringing the World Veteran Games to the U.S. in 2018, something he’s very excited about – setting it up, running it, and playing in it. (Want to read more about Dan? Google “Danny Seemiller Hall of Fame” for Tim Boggan’s write-up.)

Dan’s Record

  • 5-time U.S. Men’s Singles Champion: 1976, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983
  • 12-time U.S. Men’s Doubles Champion: 1976-1983, 1990-1991, 1994, 2009
  • 7-time U.S. Mixed Doubles Champion: 1976-1978, 1981-1983, 1988
  • U.S. Men’s National Team Coach, 1999-2009
  • U.S. Men’s Olympic Coach, 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens
  • 3-time USOC Coach of the Year for Table Tennis
  • South Bend Table Tennis Club Head Coach 1996-present
  • President of USA Table Tennis, 1990-1995
  • Hall of Fame Inductee, 1995
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012

Maximizing Benefits from Multiball Training in Table Tennis
Here’s the new coaching article from Matt Hetherington.

2016 Thailand National Junior and Cadet Training Camp
Here’s the photo album of the camp. 20 Athletes are preparing for the Asian Junior and Cadet Championships. Eleven coaches working the camp include 8 from the ITTF Level 2 Course that USA’s Richard McAfee is teaching.

How Table Tennis Champions are Produced in China
Here’s the video (46 sec) – that’s some serious multiball!

North American Championships
USA defeats Canada in both Men’s and Women’s Teams, and so Team USA will represent North America at the 2017 World Team Cup.

Butterfly MDTTC September Open
By Larry Hodges, tournament director
Maryland Table Tennis Center • Sept. 10, 2016

Another Saturday, another tournament – isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be? The Butterfly MDTTC September Open had 55 players in seven events. New MDTTC coach Zhang Yan, unrated but seeded at what turned out to be an under-rated 2550, took top honors, defeating fellow MDTTC coach Chen Bo Wen (“Bowen,” 2563) in the final, 11,3,-10,6,11. Zhang was up 10-8 in that third game; at 10-9 they had a monster counter-looping rally that just would not end, with both players ranging farther and farther to their right (both are righties) as they hook-looped back and forth with as much sidespin as topspin. Bowen won the point as Zhang stood, hands on hips and looking disgusted after the point, but it was only a momentary setback.

Klaus Wood showed that he’s ready to make the jump from 2350 to 2450. He won Under 2350 event without losing a game (over George Li in the final), and in the quarterfinals of the Open came back from down 0-2 in games and 8-10 match point in the fifth to have his own 11-10 match point before losing to Roy Ke (2441).

George Nie once again won Under 2000, this time in a squeaker over Darwin Ma, 9,9,-3,-4,9.

Ali Paryavi, who took part the week before in the four-day ITTF Cadet Camp at MDTTC, won Under 1700 over Hossam Alkadi in a huge comeback from down 0-2 in games and who knows how many match points in game three, -11,-9,14,9,6.

Stanley Hsu nipped chopper/looper John Miller in the final of Under 1350 (-9,10,9,11), with a deuce-in-the-fifth squeaker in the semifinals over Thierry Viboux, 9,-5,-3,12,10. Stanley also made it to the final of Under 15, losing to Walid Alkadi in the final, 5,8,8.

Lixin Lang, who assisted in running the tournament, in his free time once again won Over 50 over Thomas Sampson, 7,8,-5,2.

A great thanks goes to sponsor Butterfly, to MDTTC, to referee Paul Kovac, and to Lixin Lang and Wen Hsu for helping run the tournament. Here are complete results, with a summary below.

Breaking News (added later) - the ratings for the tournament were processed on Tuesday morning - here they are!

Open Singles – Final: Zhang Yan d. Chen Bo Wen, 11,3,-10,6,11; SF: Zhang d. Nathan Hsu, 8,6,10,-10,9; Chen Bo Wen d. Roy Ke, 8,9,-7,9,9; QF: Zhang d. George Li, 8,8,4; Chen Bo Wen d. Spencer Chen, 5,8,7; Ke d. Klaus Wood, 7,5,-9,-6,11; Hsu d. Eric Li, 11,-11,9,-10,6.
Under 2350 – Final: Klaus Wood d. George Li, 6,6,7; SF: Wood d. George Nie, 3,-5,7,4; Li d. Tiffany Ke, 8,12,6.
Under 2000 – Final: George Nie. D. Darwin Ma, 9,9,-3,-4,9; SF: Nie d. Xinsheng Michael Huang, 8,6,6; Ma d. Joshua Gong, -8,5,10,11.
Under 1700 – Final: Ali Paryavi d. Hossam Alkadi, -11,-9,14,9,6; SF: Paryavi d. Ara Sahakian, 10,7,6; Alkadi d. Adrian Yang, 4,5,7.
Under 1350 – Final: Stanley Hsu d. John Miller, -9,10,9,11; SF: Hsu d. Thierry Viboux, 9,-5,-3,12,10; Millder d. Jeff Howes, 9,2,-2,8.
Under 15 – Final: Walid Alkadi d. Stanley Hsu, 5,8,8; SF: W.Alkadi d. Hossam Alkadi, 7,2,5; Hsu d. Ryan Lee, -6,7,10,9.
Over 50 – Final RR: 1st Lixin Lang, 3-0; 2nd Thomas Sampson, 2-1; 3rd Yunhua Gong, 1-2; 4th James Wilson, 0-3.

Chinese Community Center Once Again Proves Ideal Host
Here’s the ITTF article.

British Bayley Avenges First Round Defeat to Take Home Paralympic Gold
Here’s the ITTF press release.

Great Rally
Here’s the video (33 sec) – watch them take turns on offense and defense!

Great Britain’s Will Bayley Stands on Table After Capturing Gold in Rio! 
Here’s the picture. (Here’s the non-Facebook version.)

How Table Tennis Players are Seen
Here’s the six-picture meme!

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