1998 US Open and ITTF Pro Tour

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Go to the 1998 US Open Preview Page
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ITTF Pro Tour Results

Officials for the 1998 US Open: 

Houston Puts on Premier Events:

Even before the tournaments (yes, there were two separate ones) started, things looked good for the event.  At the Houston Astros Major League Baseball game the night before, former World Champion Jimmy McClure was given the key to the City of Houston in front of some 30,000 in attendance in the center of the diamond by John Kelly and Drayton McLane.  They displayed it on the mega-screens in the Astrodome and talked about the tournaments on TV. Meanwhile, the Houston Table Tennis Center opened its doors for free pre-tournament play to all Pro Tour entrants.  Many, such as the Italian, Japanese and Korean teams (as well as runner-up Legout) took full advantage.

From July 1-5, the Houston AstroArena saw some of the best table tennis the world has to offer.  The finals match between Legout and Saive was one of the best ever played in competition in the US.  The five game match was capped off by Saive staving off 7 match points in the fourth game down 2 games to 1.  There was one match point in particular that went 27 shots.  Spectator and player comments tell just how strong it was. John Tannehill is reported to have said, "it was the single most spectacular point" he had ever seen.  Scott Gordon reports, "After the point, the full house of spectators literally leaped to their feet in spontaneous screaming!"

Former Editor of Table Tennis Today, Larry Hodges announced, "It was the most spectacular point I've seen at the U.S. Open, and one of the most spectacular matches!"  Group A doubles finalist Robert Mayer wrote, "Just a little hint for those of you who were not lucky enough to witness the Men's Final.  It was one of the greatest matches ever played at a U.S. Open and definitely the best I have ever witnessed live.  You will soon be hearing much about the championship point saved by Saive in the fourth game. It was arguably the best point ever played in the U.S.  Totally incredible!" (Robert then won a Stiga Expert Roller table from Table Tennis Pioneers in a post match raffle.)

Hodges posted his memories of the point, "At 24-23, Saive was back lobbing, Legout pounding the ball ... one, two, three, four, five!  The fifth lob landed short on the table, and the left-handed Legout creamed it over the side barriers on Saive's backhand side.  When the ball left the court to the side, the fans began to clap, thinking the match was over.  But Saive went through the barriers, ran the ball down way off on the side, and essentially backhand smashed the ball up - way up in the air!  Not seeing this, many fans were still clapping as the ball went up, up, up, seemed to stand still for a second, then dropped ... onto the table!   Legout smashed one or two more, which Saive lobbed back, then Legout missed - deuce!!! 24-24!!!!!  The crowd went absolutely crazy, with Saive leading the cheers!"

John Starr reported, "The pavilion was a great place to watch those matches.  I sat in several different areas for various matches, and never had a bad seat.  That Saive/Legout match had some incredible points!" (The lob point went on long enough that, after I took the shot of Legout smashing in the beginning, I had time to replace my filled disk in my digital camera with a blank one.  The point was still going but I was too engrossed in the action to take another picture.)

Mayer went on to say, "The final matches on Saturday were outstanding.  As already stated, the Saive/Legout match will become legendary.  Perhaps as memorable as the match itself was, the atmosphere was electric.  I've never been to a match in which the audience was so energetic.  As the match progressed, the spectators became more vocal and the collective foot-stomping between points generated a tremor-like rumbling which resonated throughout the arena.  I wish I could bottle up that whole experience to relive again and again."  Robert also expressed what most of the rest of us felt.  We want more!  More top players, playing more top matches!

After the Men's Finals was a "hard bat" challenge match between 70 year old Table Tennis legend Marty Reisman and 27 year old US Olympian Jim Butler.  It was a winner take all match for $5000, though the purse was rumored to be much higher (Butler won the hard bat match) .  Hard bat enthusiast Julian Waters observed, "Reisman's play was very impressive, especially for someone his age. He displayed a range of strokes from drives to chops to blocks etc. and moved Jimmy around all over the place. Jimmy also played well despite not being a regular hardbat player. The match did not prove anything in terms of the superiority of hardbat or sponge.

"The hardbat match was entertaining, but NOTHING compared to the amazingly athletic, physical and gutsy play in the Saive/Legout ITTF Open final. As Robert Mayer said, that was the single most exciting live match I've seen. Both players put so much shear effort into their play and Saive's guts and heart in fighting off so many match points was truly awesome. I have newfound respect for him. I only hope that this will be televised in this country one of these days."
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There was more to this tournament than just these two premier matches. The Pro Tour itself had Women's singles and doubles as well as a Men's doubles event.  Vendors had a beautiful show hall and lots of interested customers.  The US Open side had more than 80 different events on 76 courts. USATT Staff and volunteers worked hard to put together the event.  The control desk was laid out well and the control staff dedicated.

Dan Seemiller won the hard bat event in the Open, defeating Marty Reisman, John Tannahill, and Atilla Malick on the way.  There were rating doubles and singles events as well as age limited events.  There were also wheelchair and standing disabled competing.  Scott Priess and James Theriault won the A doubles over Houstonians Robert Mayer and Randy Levy.  Jim Butler faced Cheng Yinhua in the finals of the National Allstars while Niraj Oak upset fellow Houstonian and the top seed, Viktor Subonj in the finals of the Under 2550's.  During the tournaments, Sean O'Neill worked hard keeping people informed around the world on the internet.  The umpire crew did an exceptional job and gave the event a top notch look.

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