Thursday, January 10th, 2008

Razvan Cretu Photo By: Evan Rosen/The Triangle

At the beginning of Thursday’s U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier Round – Table Tennis, 24 men had hopes of being one of two competitors that would move into the top 12 in order to compete in the round robin tournament beginning Friday morning, Jan. 11.

While 22 ultimately fell short, Razvan Cretu and Tahl Leibovitz were each able to navigate their way through a very difficult field.

“Today was all about focusing and trying to stay physically in shape,” Cretu said.

Cretu and Leibovitz will join the top 10 ranked players in the U.S. for a 12-man round-robin which runs from Jan. 11- Jan. 13. Each man will face off against the other 11 competitors once. The four men with the best records will move on to the North American Trials, hosted in Vancouver, for the opportunity to represent North America at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Cretu, who originally hails from Romania and became a U.S. citizen in 1991, currently resides in Manayunk.

The local favorite bested De Cong Tran of Jackson Heights (N.Y.) in six sets (13-11) (5-11) (11-8) (11-7) (8-11) (11-5) in his Final Four match to gain entry into the round-robin tournament.

“It feels great,” Cretu said. “It hits you at the end, but this really doesn’t mean anything yet.”

After splitting the first two sets, Cretu won back-to-back sets to take a 3-1 set advantage.

Tran won the fifth set 11-8, but Cretu took control of the sixth set and with a forehand winner to become the first qualifier to make it into the field of 12.

In the semifinals, Cretu upset No. 2 seeded Joseph Cochran in a very competitive six sets (13-11) (5-11) (11-8) (11-7) (8-11) (11-5).

Leibovitz, 32, may have stolen the show from the local product, however, when he capped off the first day outlasting 18-year-old John Leach in a seven set thriller (11-6) (9-11) (8-11) (12-10) (12-10) (9-11) (13-11).

The players exchanged the first 22 points of the final set before Leach was long on a backhand, giving Leibovitz a 12-11 lead.

The two players rallied hard in the final point, but Leach’s forehand shot clipped the net and fell long of the table giving Leibovitz the second qualifier position.

“I just got lucky,” Leibovitz said. “John played a really good match.”

The match was all the more exciting due to the contrasting styles of the two players.

Alexander Yao Photo By: Dave Hernandez/The Triangle

After the 11:00 A.M. matches concluded there are only eight players remaining.

The last four competitors to make the field are No. 3 seed De Cong Tran (NY), No. 5 seed Trevor Runyan (CA), No. 5 seed Razvan Cretu (PA), and No. 2 seed Joseph Cochran (IN).

Tran defeated No. 9 seed Amaresh Sahu in straight sets (11-8)(11-2)(11-7)(11-4).

Runyan won in five sets over No. 9 seed Alexander Yao (13-11)(4-11)(11-6)(11-9)(11-8).

Cretu, who is the only competitor from Philadelphia got his opening match out of the way dispatching of No. 9 seed Wally Green (NY) in straight sets (11-6)(11-3)(11-3)(11-5).

“Its a relief,” Cretu said. “I was a little nervous there at first. This is a very important competition. I’m glad I got by the first one.”

Cretu, who became a U.S. citizen in 1991 after growing up in Romania says there aren’t many good players around Philadelphia.

“I train in the gym and play on the robot but its not the same [as playing top quality competition],” Cretu said.

Cochran advanced with a straight set win over No. 17 seed Joseph Goldstein (11-8)(11-9)(11-4)(11-5).

Four matches will take place at 2:00 P.M.

John Leach vs. Samson Dubina on Table 1

Shashin Shodhan vs. Tahl Leibovitz on Table 2

Tran vs. Runyan on Table 3

Cretu vs. Cochran on Table 4

Two of these remaining eight will move into the round robin event, which will take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Photo By: Evan Rosen/The Triangle

As the tournament field begins to thin, the competition is getting more intense.

With every miss players’ groans become louder.

The first set of matches concluded when No. 9 Wally Green (NY) defeated No. 17 Nick Norlen (PA) in four sets (11-6) (11-3) (11-3) (11-5). No. 17 seed Joseph Goldstein (MD) also advanced. He will face Razvan Crezu of Philadelphia in the round of eight.

In the other bracket No. 1 seeded Samson Dubina (OH) won over David Feng (NJ) in six sets (11-6) (12-14) (11-6) (8-11) (11-9) (11-8).

He will face No. 5 seeded John Leach in the semifinals. Leach (CO) beat Justen Yao (MO) in five sets (11-2) (11-8) (12-10) (12-14) (11-6).

Shasin Shodan (CA) continued his impressive play advancing to the semi-finals with a six set upset victory over No. 5 seeded A.J. Brewer (11-6) (11-6) (12-10) (8-11) (8-11) (11-4).

He will face No. 3 seeded Tahl Leibovitz (NY) in the semis. Leibovitz won a five set match over John Wetzler (PA) (11-3) (11-4) (4-11) (11-6) (11-9)

Shodan, 29, was very happy with his play in the second match.

“The first match I was just happy to pull through,” Shodan said. “The second match went a lot better. I was a lot more relaxed.”

The Indian born player had been coaching young children for the last seven years, but stopped coaching just six months ago in an effort to train for the Olympic Games.