1999 US Closed National Championships
Cheng Yinghua wins 1999 men's title
Cheng Yinghua wins 1999 men's title
This year, Vegas fell into the middle of Terry and Sue's busy travel schedule. It was the perfect break from the hectic season. As always, the camaraderie and spirit boost that the U.S. Closed brings poured over all who attended. It was one of the largest fields ever to compete with almost 725 entries.
Prior to the tournament, USATT held a National Referees Seminar at the Stratosphere Hotel. Wendell Dillon instructed a strong class on time scheduling and problem solving relating to tournament competitions. This two day event was held on the 103rd floor with a spectacular view.
Highlighting the competition was an
exhibition by U.S. Champion Cheng Yinghua and world famous defender,
Chen
Xinhua. In the late 1980's, many considered Chen the greatest
player in the world. Cheng and Chen were on the Chinese national
team together before Cheng came to the U.S. and Chen immigrated to England.
Chen flew all the way from mainland China for this exhibition. It
was played before a packed
house of appreciative spectators. With U.S. Hall
of Famer, Dick Evans as statutory umpire and USATT President Sheri
Pittman keeping 'score', it was quite
the spectacle! Not since the Secritin exhibition in Baltimore
(1990) have we been treated to this type of international exhibition.
The crowd loved it!
Cheng Yinghua is an amazing athlete. Even at 43, he still dominates the U.S. table tennis scene. Playing better than he has in several years, he dropped only one game throughout the event. Even the one game was an apparent lapse of concentration rather than someone seizing a game. David Zhuang, last years defending champion, battled to second place downing Brian Pace along the way. Eric Owens and Todd Sweeris placed 3/4. It looks like it will be a real battle at the 2000 Olympic trials coming up in Houston in January! In the Classic Table Tennis Hardbat competition, Ty Hoff proved dominant. To the delight of Committee Chair, Scott Gordon, the event was a tremendous success.
On the women's side, Gao Jun (World #20) was even more dominant than Cheng
was. Only one even got a game from her. She is the first ever
automatic qualifier to the Olympics from the United States. Tawny
Banh came in second while Lily Yip and a surprise Jackie
Lee finished 3/4. 14 year old Jackie upset heavily favored Diana
Gee who was making her first appearance at these championships in several
years. Lee then turned around and lost in the under 15 division to
Emily Ping! Adding Michele Do to this mix (Michele lost to Gao in
the 1/4's), there is a bright future for women's table tennis in this country.
The best match of the tournament was probably that of Khoa Nguyen vs. Todd Sweeris with Todd pulling off an amazing comeback to win in 5 after it seemed that Khoa had the match wrapped up. Adding to the festivities, Y.C. Lee was one of those inducted into the USATT Hall of Fame at a gala dinner on Thursday night. Old friendships were renewed and great players rejoiced in the camaraderie. On Saturday, Terry was awarded the Dr. Michael Scott Award as the USATT's Most Outstanding Umpire 1999. It is an honor he will always cherish.
