 We had two teams competing in the tournament. The first team consists of Michael Sung, Wilson Tsao, Jim Chai and Bruce Liu. The second team consists of Mark Johnson, Barry Or, Michael Liu, and Gary Fang. Here are their stories: |
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I am excited once more at the opportunity to play a US championship
table tennis event in the great state of Nevada --- just a few months
after the US National Championships in Las Vegas. With Barry Or, Michael
Liu, and Gary Fang on my team --- each of us around 1800 or so and each
with his own unique style --- I think we have a chance to do very well
against teams with a similar rating. Originally I had decided upon the
name The Three Musketeers for our team --- partly in homage to
the famed Alexander Dumas novel about three French swashbucklers
(swordsman) and partly in homage to MSCTT (MSCTT'ers --- get it? If you
don't, don't worrry. You aren't alone... :-)). But Gary Fang joined
our team late in the game so that nixed that idea. So I changed it to
The Four Musketeers --- in homage to the 70's era Hollywood
movie of the same name starring Raquel Welch and Michael York about
those same swordsmen. Now that I have impressed you with my trivia
knowledge, let's get on with it.
DAY 1 --- Friday, March 3rd
Since this was the first time any of our team had ever played in a team
event, we were anxious to check the draw sheets when we arrived at the
Reno Sparks Convention Center on Friday morning. We found that we were
in Preliminary Group 8 and would play a 4-way RR. The other teams in
our RR group were the A seed, the USATT Junior Boys (Misha Kazantsev,
Trevor Runyon, and John Leach) with a rating of 6991, the B seed the
Butterfly Girls (Whitney Ping, Sara Fu, and Heather Wang) with a rating
of 6808, and the C seed the Killer Pods from Washington state with a
rating of 5682. Our team (The Four Musketeers --- aka The Four
MSCTT'ers) was the D seed with a rating of 5476. A team rating is
determined by adding the individual rating of the top three rated
players on the team. For our team this was 1891 + 1802 + 1783 = 5476.
The fact that we were a D seed in a 4-way RR on day 1 was a
disappointment to us since the description of the format indicated that
on day 1 we would be playing two teams rated higher than us and two
teams rated lower than us. However, only 48 teams showed up for the
tournament. The top four teams were automatically seeded into Division
1 and thus would have byes today. That left 44 teams to fill ten
preliminary group RR's using a "snake" seeding system. Thus groups 1 to
4 would have five teams and groups 4 to 10 would have four teams. Since
our 5476 team rating happened to put us in preliminary group 8, we were
stuck with being the lowest seed in a 4 team group.
Our first tie was against the B seed --- the Butterfly Girls --- at
noon. This wasn't a very competitive tie as one could guess from the
rating difference between the two groups (exceeding 300 points per
player!). The only game that we could muster was in the doubles where
Barry and I were able to squeek out a game from Whitney and Heather.
The four singles matches were all 3-0 in their favor. A drubbing, but
no worse than what could be expected.
We had to wait some four hours for our next tie --- against the A seed
the USATT Junior Boys. Another mismatch with the USATT Junior Boys
taking all five matches. We did manage to pick up numerous games along
the way this time, but this was probably due more to the lackadaisical
attitude of Misha and Trevor than our fine play. It didn't help that
they were a bit down since they had just been upset 3-2 by the Butterfly
Girls in their previous tie at three o'clock.
Our final tie of the day was against the Killer Pods. This is the one
we had targetted as the one where we had a real legitimate shot of
winning. It was my turn to sit out a tie but Barry, Gary, and Michael
came through and won it --- just barely --- at 3-2. One player on their
team won both his single matches --- I believe his rating is 1900+
--- but we won the other two singles matches and the critical doubles
match (a theme which we would repeat often during the tournament) to
clinch the win. We had to wait until 9am the next morning to see into
which division we would be placed and who we would play.
DAY 2 --- Saturday, March 4th
When we arrived we discovered we were placed in Division 2A. The 48
teams present were divided into eight divisions --- 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2A,
2B, 2C, and 2D --- with six teams in each division. Each division would
play a 6-way RR. The top two finishers in each of the four division 1
groups would be seeded into the quarter-finals for the US Open Teams
championship and the $7000 first prize. The top finisher in each of the
four division 2 groups would compete in a 4-way RR tomorrow (Sunday)
with the winner crowned the Division 2 champion and awarded a trophy.
So we had no chance at the prize money (shucks), but we could still go
for a trophy.
Our team rating of 5476 placed us as the C seed in Division 2A. The A
seed with a rating of 6056 was HPC Claude Robillard --- a group of three
French-Canadian girls from Quebec with ratings ranging from a low of
1952 to a high of 2069. Very balanced --- which generally is best for
both doubles and team play.
Our first tie that morning though was against UC Davis --- the D seed
for Division 2A with a rating of 4851. We took care of business and
swept them 5:0. This gave us confidence as we prepared for our next
opponent -- Palmer 1 --- the B seed with a rating of 5523. However,
this team had one player with a rating of 2050 while its other two
members had ratings in the 1700's. Our strategy was clear. We had to
win all matches in this tie in which the 2050 player was not
playing. If we did this, we would be assured of winning the tie since a
player can only play in two matches of any one tie in the new
Olympic team format adopted for this competition.
Barry matched up against the 2050 player in one of the first two singles
matches and made a valiant effort in coming back from an 0-2 deficit to
take it to a fifth game but fell 3 games to 2. However, Gary took care
of business in the other singles match by beating one of the 1700+
rated players so were tied 1-1 going to the critical doubles
match. They decided to play the 2050 player in two singles matches so
Barry and I squared off against the two 1700 players. We destroyed
them, so we were now up 2:1. All we needed to do now was win one of the
last pair of singles matches to win the tie. Now it was my turn to face
the 2050 player in singles while Gary's faced the other 1700+ rated
player. I was defeated handily 3 games to 0, but I was confident that
Gary would win against what appeared to me to be the weaker of the two
1700's players --- and indeed he did so we won the tie 3:2.
Our next opponent was the Sierra Vipers --- the E seed with a rating of
4443. There really was little suspense in this tie as we rolled 5:0.
But our next tie was against the A seeds of Division 2A --- HPC Claude
Robillard. We knew we had our hands full since this team had taken a
much more talented than us Milpitas Sports Center team of Michael Sung,
Wilson Tsao, James Chai, and Bruce Liu to the limit 3:2 in the
preliminary group matches yesterday (Friday) --- actually leading 2-1
after winning the doubles before MSC pulled it out by winning the final
two singles matches (the final match going to a fifth game).
I decided to lead off with our players with the two most -- is awkward
the right word?
--- no different is better --- playing styles: Barry and Gary. Barry's
heavy chopping and superior blocking and hitting combined with his
tricky serves gives many 2000+ players fits. Gary, of course, has
the long pips on his reverse penholder backhand combined with excellent
serves and smashing. After HPC Claude Robillard completed their half of
the tie draw sheet, I thought the key singles match would be Barry's.
He would be facing the player that was undefeated in the match against
the Milpitas Sports Center team --- with a win in both singles and
doubles.
Barry was able to take the first game so there was hope for us. But his
opponent came right back and won the second. Had she adjusted to
his game already? Would she go on to trounce him now? No way! Barry
pulls out an absolutely huge match for us. Not without a bit of
controversy though, as she flails away at the last point in
frustration. She insists that Barry's exhortations during the rally
are illegal. And not long after that, Gary's match ends after five
tough games with Gary the victor as well.
Next it was my turn to produce as I would team with Barry to take on the
same HPC pairing that had beaten the Milpitas Sports Center doubles
team. This was sure to be much tougher than the doubles match against
Palmer 1 --- and it was --- but we still prevailed 3 games to 1 to
clinch the tie. Gary and I then played in the final pair of singles and
both of us lost --- but no matter since the tie was already ours. Now
all we had to do was to win the final tie of the day against the F seed
to remain eligible to compete for the Division 2 championship.
The team rating for the F seed was just 3639, so I was confident that
winning it was just a mere formality --- even though I would not be a
part of it since it was my turn to sit out a tie. My teammates came
through for me once again in what was an entertaining if not that close
5:0 sweep.
Again we would have to wait until 9am the next morning to find out who
our opponents for that day would be. We had a very good idea who at
least one of them would be, though --- the USATT Junior Girls. Their
team rating of 6528 was some 500 points higher than all the other teams
in Division 2. The only reason they were playing in Division 2 instead
of Division 1 is that their best player --- Judy Hugh (rated at 2372)
--- was late arriving to the tournament due to the weather conditions
and had missed the day 1 competition completely. That allowed them to
be upset that day by the Reno 1 team (rated at 5962).
Their team coach, Lily Yip --- Judy Hugh's mother --- was the guest of
the Milpitas Sports Center and Four Musketeer teams at the Harrah's
buffet this very night. She had no idea that we would be meeting the
next day on the floor of the Reno Sparks Convention Center. Perhaps we
could call in our markers for this favor then. Hmmm....
DAY 3 --- Sunday, March 5th
When we looked at our schedule for the final day when we arrived that
morning, we found that the worst possible scenario had come true ---
we were again the D seed in a 4-way RR group. So to even get a
Division finalist trophy, it would require two upsets. It would take
three upsets to finish first in Division 2.
As the D seed, we got the honor and privilege of playing the A seed
first thing at 9am
--- none other than those USATT Junior Girls coached by Lily Yip. As
we were warming up, Barry reminded Lily of the free meal she had at
our expense last night. In respect to that, Lily fearlessly said she
would not play Judy Hugh in this tie. True to her word, when I
examined the tie sheet after both team captains had completed their
half, Judy was not on it. But only two players were on it for USATT
Junior Girls
--- the players assigned for the first two singles matches. That was
Atha Fong and Stephanie Shih. I asked Lily who the third player would
be and she said that would be decided once the singles matches had
completed.
Immediately I thought if USATT Junior Girls won the first two singles
matches, Judy would sit out the tie. But if we won the first two
singles matches, Judy would be put in to try and save the day for
their team. It was a strategy we hadn't employed with our 4-person
team, but one that was sanctioned as perfectly legal by the tournament
officials. A very crafty maneuver by that USATT Junior Girls team
coach.
It was Gary's turn to sit out a tie so I decided to send out Barry and
Michael to play the first two singles and insert myself into the tie
during the doubles. This would allow us to play what was probably our
team's strongest doubles pairing of Barry and I in the critical (or so
we hoped) doubles match. Barry wanted to play Atha (since he had just
defeated her in the Western Open at Berkeley) but the luck of the draw
that is associated with filling out these team tie sheets was that
Barry would be playing Stephanie and instead Michael would play Atha.
This looked unfortunate for us after the first pair of singles since
we ended up losing both of them to fall behind in the tie 2:0. Now we
had to win the doubles just to stay alive. It would be Barbara Wei and
Stephanie against Barry and I as Lily put in Barbara Wei as her third
and final team member for this tie --- probably rightfully confident
that she could save Judy for what she anticipated would be tougher
matches against the group B and C seeds. But after a relatively slow
start, Barry and I did prevail in the doubles 3 games to 1. It felt
good to win a match against such a higher rated team, but still it
would go all for naught unless we could sweep the final two singles
matches.
In those final two singles matches, I would be playing Atha and
Michael would be playing Barbara --- still a very difficult mountain
for us to climb. However after trailing early in my first game, I got
on a roll and took it 11-5. And when I went over to talk to Barry
before the next game, he told me that Michael was also playing well in
the match against Barbara. In fact Michael took that game, and their
match was now tied at 1:1. I wondered now if Lily was getting just a
little bit concerned about having left Judy out of this tie.
But unfortunately, this was the highest point of the tie for our
team. Atha recovered from her opening game disappointment and moved
her game to a higher level to sweep the final three games of my
match. Likewise Barbara swept the final two games of her match with
Michael and so we lost the tie 4:1. So their would be no Division 2
championship in our future. However we still had a chance to win a
trophy as a Division 2 finalist, so that was now our team's focus.
But we would have to win both of our remaining ties to accomplish
this. The first test was the B seeds, the BumperNets.com, with a team
rating of 6051 --- with one of their players rated 2100+ and another
rated 2000+. It looked like another tough road for us, but I was
pleasantly surprised to find in examining the tie sheet that they
had chosen to hold out their top rated player from the first two
singles matches. It was Barry's turn to sit out a tie, so I decided
to play Gary and myself in the first two singles matches --- planning
on playing Michael and myself in the doubles match and then Michael
and Gary in the final two singles matches.
The first two singles matches turned out to be the 2000+ player
against me and an 1800+ player against Gary. I had yet to produce a
victory over a person rated higher than me in this tournament
(although I hadn't lost to anybody rated lower than me either) so my
team needed me to produce. Thankfully, I did so this time --- winning
my match 3 games to 0. And when Gary's opponent ran into the usual
difficulty with Gary's long pips, The Four Musketeers were up
2:0 in the tie.
But now we had to contend with the 2100+ rated player. However, his
doubles partner would be the 1800+ player and not the 2000+ player.
This means that the 2100+ player and the 2000+ player would play their
final two singles matches. So probably our best chance of winning the
clinching match for this tie would be in the doubles.
Even though I don't feel I played the doubles I am capable of, Michael
played steadily throughout and we took the match 3:1 and thus the
tie. It was a good thing for us since The BumperNets.com
team recovered to win the final pair of singles quite handily at 3
games to 0 and 3 games to 1. No matter. We now knew that we would be
playing our final tie for one of the few trophies available at this
tournament.
That tie would be against the C seeds, Cinnamon Toast Cocoa
Puffs, with a team rating of 5946. So it still looked like an uphill
climb for us. But that would change when we checked in for that tie.
It turns out that only one member of that team was still able to play
--- the others either had to study for finals (no concern for our team
where every member was 30+) or had been injured. Since only one
member of their team could play, they had to default the other three
matches in the tie. So --- although we would have preferred to win it
at the table --- The Four Musketeers were now assured of
getting the Division 2 finalist trophy.
Still there would be some suspense of another kind in this tie. The
remaining player for their team was the lowest rated one in their
group and was actually rated lower than all of our team members. None
of of our team had lost to anybody lower than his own rating
throughout this tournament. I sent out first Barry and then Gary to
keep this string alive. They did not let me down.
EPILOGUE
I am most proud of three accomplishments of team The Four
Musketeers during this tournament:
1. Not losing to any team rated lower than 6525 (the USATT
Junior Girls). Our
other losses were to the Butterfly Girls (rated 6808) and
the USATT Junior
Boys (rated 6991). Not bad for a team with a rating of just
5476. To give this
some perspective, this is equivalent to an 1825 player
playing against a
2175 player. Not too many people would give the 1825 player
much of a
chance in such a matchup. So we can't feel too bad about
our losses.
2. Not one of our team members losing to a player rated below
his own rating.
This proves that this accomplishment was a total team effort
--- and isn't that
what you'd want in a team competition?
3. Effectively finishing 26th out of the 48 teams --- i.e.
second in Division 2 ---
although our team rating was only the 36th highest entering
the tournament.
So we effectively "hopped" over ten teams with higher team
ratings to finish
where we did. And we got a trophy to boot!
Am I bitter that we lost the Division 2 championship to a team that
didn't really belong there? After all, the USATT Junior Girls were
expected to be in Division 1. Not at all. The Reno 1 team that
defeated the USATT Junior Girls team on Friday played the exact same
USATT Junior Girls team that we did --- i.e. sans Judy Hugh --- and
beat them 4:1. So the team we lost to 4:1, they beat 4:1. But
understand Reno 1 did have a team rating of 5962, so it wasn't
that large an upset for them to defeat a Judy Hugh-less USATT
Junior Girls team. Still I would have liked to play a tie against
Reno 1. You know, we were undefeated against teams with
ratings below 6000...
To Buffet Or Not To Buffetby Bruce H. LiuI remember someone exclaimed in disbelief on MSCTT'ers great
performance at the Berkeley Tournament a couple of weekend ago and
questioned how we could ever top that.
Sara Fu who played MSC's 2/14 RR did very well in the tournament, too. I
think she might have been undefeated throughout the tournament. I believe
she may have a chance to break 2450 after the tournament |
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