Sunday, January 13th, 2008

David Zhuang Photo By: Evan Rosen/The Triangle

David Zhuang (9-2), Han Xiao (9-2), Eric Owens (8-3) and Yinghua Cheng (8-3) have each booked their ticket to Vancouver for the North American Qualifying Tournament.

The four competitors bested eight others for the opportunity to become just one of three North American male players that will represent the United States (or Canada) at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Here are the final standings:

1. David Zhuang (9-2)

2. Han Xiao (9-2)

3. Eric Owens (8-3)

4. Yinghua Cheng (8-3) (tiebreak)

5. Mark Hazinski (8-3)

6. Yu Shao (7-4)

7. Sean Lonergan (4-7)

8. Adam Hugh (3-8)

9. Khoa Nguyen (5-6)*

10. John Leach (1-10)

11. Tahl Leibovitz (1-10)

12. Razvan Cretu (3-8)**

*Withdrew, forfeited two matches

**Withdrew, forfeited three matches

Yao Huang Photo By: Evan Rosen/The Triangle

Yao Huang leads the USA Women’s Table Tennis team to Vancouver after finishing the trials 8-0.

Yao Huang got all that she could handle from Jacqueline Lee (6-2), who held a 3-2 advantage before Huang took the last two games (11-5)(10-12)(7-11)(11-8)(8-11)(11-9)(11-5). Lee, who is also headed to Vancouver, quietly made her way to the top of the standings and finished in third place.

Nan Li (7-1) finished in 2nd place after sweeping Jasna Reed out of contention (12-10)(11-7)(11-8)(11-9). Reed was visibly frustrated throughout the match, slamming her racket down in disgust during the third game. Reed started the trials 4-0, but lost her last four matches to finish 4-4.

The fourth member of the women’s team will be Whitney Ping, who finished the trials with a 5-3 record. Her road to Vancouver wasn’t easy, as she struggled for most of her final match against winless Barbara Wei. Ping was down 3-1 before rallying to a seven game victory (8-11)(11-5)(5-11)(8-11)(11-9)(11-6)(11-8).

Ariel Hsing (2-6) won her second match of the tournament with a victory over Olena Sowers (4-11)(11-7)(3-11)(11-9)(11-9)(11-5), who finished 1-7.

The USA team will travel to Vancouver to face Team Canada in the next step for these players to the Beijing Olympics. The top players from Vancouver will comprise the North American team, which will compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Here are the final women’s standings:

1. Yao Huang (8-0)
2. Nan Li (7-1)
3. Jacqueline Lee (6-2)
4. Whitney Ping (5-3)
5. Jasna Reed (4-4)
6. Judy Hugh (4-4)
7. Ariel Hsing (2-6)
8. Olean Sowers (1-7)
9. Barbara Wei (0-8)

Han Xiao Photo By: Evan Rosen/The Triangle

Momentum shifts reigned in the match between Adam Hugh and Yu Shao. Shao made Hugh dive for volleys left and right in the crucial set three to take a 2-1 set lead. However, Hugh came storming back and dominated set four, 11-1, to even the match. Just when you think Hugh was going to take over the match, Shao rebounded in set five 11-2. With his back against the wall, Hugh (3-7) stormed back to win set six 11-5 and he had a 10-7 lead in set seven. Shao (7-3), still fighting to clinch an Olympic spot, buckled down and won five straight points to win the set 12-10 and the match four sets to three.

Yinghua Cheng (8-2) pulled himself into a tie for first place by winning a key match against David Zhuang (8-2). Cheng only needed five sets to dispose of the former leader (11-9) (11-8) (7-11) (11-9) (11-5).

Han Xiao (8-2) is also in a tie for first after beating John Leach (1-9) in six sets (11-4) (13-11) (11-4) (10-12) (11-6) (11-6).

Tahl Leibovitz (0-10) just cannot get anything to go his way this weekend. Eric Owens (8-3) was able to dispatch Leibovitz in straight sets (11-3) (11-7) (11-6) (11-7).

Sean Lonergan (3-7) and Mark Hazinski (7-3) earned cheap victories as both of their opponents forfeited.

Jasna Reed Photo By: Evan Rosen/The Triangle

With just one match remaining, there is only one spot still available for the chance to advance to International play - and it is up for grabs between Jasna Reed and Whitney Ping.

Yao Huang (7-0), Nan Li (6-1) and Jacqueline Lee (6-1) have clinched their right to move past the US Olympic Team Trials - Table Tennis Round-Robin Tournament.

Now Huang just hopes to finish her amazing streak in undefeated fashion.

Huang, who lost a total of just two sets through six matches, had her most difficult match of the tournament against Ping, who needed to win in order to take the fourth an final spot to advance to the North American Trials in Vancouver, Canada.

Ping (4-3) put up a great fight, but could not match Huang’s fearless play, losing in six sets (8-11) (11-4) (11-3) (11-13) (12-10) (11-8).

Reed (4-3), who started out 4-0, took a major hit to her chances in advancing after losing to Lee in just five games (11-8) (11-6) (9-11) (11-5) (11-5).

The match that received the most attention was the match between Judy Hugh and Nan Li. Hugh (3-5) almost pulled off the upset, as she built a 2-1 lead, but could not put Li (6-1) away as she lost in seven sets (9-11) (11-5) (11-6) (9-11) (6-11) (11-7) (11-4).

Searching for their first win of the tournament, Barbara Wei and Olena Sowers finished their match in just four games. Sowers (1-6) dispatched of Wei (0-7) in easy fashion (11-1) (11-9) (11-8) (11-9).

Hugh finished with an overall record of 3-5. Every other participant has one match remaining, which will take place at 2:00 pm.

David Zhuang Photo By: Evan Rosen/The Triangle

With just two matches to go David Zhuang is in the driver’s seat in the standings.