Day Three Begins: Undefeated Hazinski Goes Down
Posted by Mike Mazzeo on 12 Jan 2008 at 11:44 am | in: Drexel, Sports, Table Tennis
Mark Hazinski Photo By: Evan Rosen/The Triangle
There are no longer any unbeaten players on the men’s side.
Mark Hazinski (4-1), who entered his match against Han Xiao (3-2) as the only undefeated player left in the field, lost in five games (11-3) (11-5) (11-7) (7-11) (11-5).
In a matchup of practice partners, David Zhuang (4-1) beat Yu Shao (2-3) in six games (11-7) (9-11) (11-7) (7-11) (16-14) (16-14).
The fifth and six sets both went to 16-14, and after the match ended instead of the customary handshake Zhuang hugged his friend.
“The last thing I would want if I lost was a hug,” one player said, after observing what had occurred.
Eric Owens improved to 4-1, besting Adam Hugh (1-4) in six games (11-9) (8-11) (11-6) (11-9) (12-10). The matchup was a repeat of last year’s College National Table Tennis Championship battle, which Owens also won.
Khoa Nyugen (4-1) took John Leach (1-4) in six games (11-7) (11-5) (8-11) (6-11) (11-7) (15-13).
In other matches, Yingua Cheng (3-2) beat Sean Lonergan (1-4) in five games after dropping the first (8-11) (11-5) (11-9) (11-8) (12-10).
In a battle of qualifiers, Philadelphia’s Razvan Cretu (3-2) defeated Tahl Leibovitz (0-5) in six games (3-11) (5-11) (11-8) (11-5) (11-8) (11-3).
Four players are tied atop the standings with 4-1 records. They are Mark Hazinski, David Zhuang, Yinghua Cheng, and Eric Owens.
Tahl Leibovitz remains the only player who has yet to win a match (0-5).
