QUEENS: KING PONGS OF TABLE TENNIS
I wish I could take credit for that headline, but alas, it was managing editor Blaine who came up with it. I had originally titled my article on Saturday's tournament in Chinatown, "Queens: Kings of Table Tennis." But "King Pongs?" A stroke of brilliance.
Anyway, you can find a transcript of what I wrote listed below. In summary, it was a lot of fun, and we should all get-together and learn how to play ping-pong. Then we can rent cars and run them into each other.
Queens: King Pongs of Table Tennis
This past weekend, Queens officially stated its case as the next hotbed of young table tennis talent.
At a tournament hosted by Focus New York magazine, the outer borough made a stellar showing behind first-place winners in the Men's Single, Women's Single, Boys Single, and Men's Double tournaments. In fact, if not for the participation of a former Olympic Table Tennis champion, a Queens resident might have also taken home first place in the Senior Men's category.
Yan Jun Gao and Ivan Quek of Flushing were each double-winners in the daylong competition. Yan took first place in the Men's Single tournament, and shared first place honors with Quek in the Men's Double tournament. The championship round of the Men's Double Tournament was the final event on the schedule, as Yan and Quek defeated Li Yu Xiang and Mr. Ort, who also came from Flushing to participate.
The final match in the Boys Single tournament also featured an intra-Queens showdown. Quek, who inevitably took first place, split the initial two rounds with opponent Chongming Huang of Elmhurst, before winning the next two.
Speaking to the Examiner afterward, Chongming gave his opponent credit, but also blamed the loss on an ineffective return serve. "Sometimes, when I'd chop, [the ball] would go up in the air, and Ivan would [hit] it with his forehand," Huang said. "Ivan's forehand is very good."
On a whole, so was the tournament, which Focus New York - formerly known as the Chinatown Guide - used to entice folks indoors on a Saturday afternoon. Tony Liu, the president of the magazine, said that hosting special events is yet another way that his company tries to draw visitors to Manhattan's Chinatown. "[The tournament] is another way of bringing people down to this neighborhood," Liu said. "It also means more exposure for our magazine, and, of course, more exposure for our advertisers."
When asked to rate the turnout for their first-ever ping pong competition, Liu said that it was better than expected. The tournament, he claimed, attracted more than 60 participants - a solid foundation for an even bigger event next year. "There is a national competitor who wants to work with us at our next one," Liu said. "Hopefully, next time there will be an even greater turnout, as well as [greater] size and notoriety."
This year, the closest to a national competitor was Olympic Table Tennis Champion and eight-time African champion Atanda Musa. He defeated Flushing's Li Yu Xiang, himself a former Chinese National Table Tennis Champion, in what some spectators described as a clash between titans. Each claimed two rounds in the best-of-five series before Musa jumped out to a 7-1 lead. At that point, Li appeared to lose his poise, deflecting several balls out of bounds and falling, 11-6.
Vindication for Li was possible in the Men's Doubles tournament, where he and his partner, Ort, also made it to the final round. Once again, the match was tied at two-rounds-apiece until Quek and Yan pulled out the decisive fifth, 11-4.
Li, who won the World Veterans Championship for table tennis in 1996 and 1998, had a much better day as a coach, guiding 12-year-old Jessica Truong to first place in the Women's Single tournament, and Chongming Huang to second place in the Boy's Single tournament.
After play was finished for the day, Li said that his own performances took a backseat to those of his students, who had acclimated themselves well. He credited their success to the discipline that his school instills. "I am glad that New York International Table Tennis Center won," he said. "Every day, all year round, we have two-to-three-hour training camps."
I wish I could take credit for that headline, but alas, it was managing editor Blaine who came up with it. I had originally titled my article on Saturday's tournament in Chinatown, "Queens: Kings of Table Tennis." But "King Pongs?" A stroke of brilliance.
Anyway, you can find a transcript of what I wrote listed below. In summary, it was a lot of fun, and we should all get-together and learn how to play ping-pong. Then we can rent cars and run them into each other.
Queens: King Pongs of Table Tennis
This past weekend, Queens officially stated its case as the next hotbed of young table tennis talent.
At a tournament hosted by Focus New York magazine, the outer borough made a stellar showing behind first-place winners in the Men's Single, Women's Single, Boys Single, and Men's Double tournaments. In fact, if not for the participation of a former Olympic Table Tennis champion, a Queens resident might have also taken home first place in the Senior Men's category.
Yan Jun Gao and Ivan Quek of Flushing were each double-winners in the daylong competition. Yan took first place in the Men's Single tournament, and shared first place honors with Quek in the Men's Double tournament. The championship round of the Men's Double Tournament was the final event on the schedule, as Yan and Quek defeated Li Yu Xiang and Mr. Ort, who also came from Flushing to participate.
The final match in the Boys Single tournament also featured an intra-Queens showdown. Quek, who inevitably took first place, split the initial two rounds with opponent Chongming Huang of Elmhurst, before winning the next two.
Speaking to the Examiner afterward, Chongming gave his opponent credit, but also blamed the loss on an ineffective return serve. "Sometimes, when I'd chop, [the ball] would go up in the air, and Ivan would [hit] it with his forehand," Huang said. "Ivan's forehand is very good."
On a whole, so was the tournament, which Focus New York - formerly known as the Chinatown Guide - used to entice folks indoors on a Saturday afternoon. Tony Liu, the president of the magazine, said that hosting special events is yet another way that his company tries to draw visitors to Manhattan's Chinatown. "[The tournament] is another way of bringing people down to this neighborhood," Liu said. "It also means more exposure for our magazine, and, of course, more exposure for our advertisers."
When asked to rate the turnout for their first-ever ping pong competition, Liu said that it was better than expected. The tournament, he claimed, attracted more than 60 participants - a solid foundation for an even bigger event next year. "There is a national competitor who wants to work with us at our next one," Liu said. "Hopefully, next time there will be an even greater turnout, as well as [greater] size and notoriety."
This year, the closest to a national competitor was Olympic Table Tennis Champion and eight-time African champion Atanda Musa. He defeated Flushing's Li Yu Xiang, himself a former Chinese National Table Tennis Champion, in what some spectators described as a clash between titans. Each claimed two rounds in the best-of-five series before Musa jumped out to a 7-1 lead. At that point, Li appeared to lose his poise, deflecting several balls out of bounds and falling, 11-6.
Vindication for Li was possible in the Men's Doubles tournament, where he and his partner, Ort, also made it to the final round. Once again, the match was tied at two-rounds-apiece until Quek and Yan pulled out the decisive fifth, 11-4.
Li, who won the World Veterans Championship for table tennis in 1996 and 1998, had a much better day as a coach, guiding 12-year-old Jessica Truong to first place in the Women's Single tournament, and Chongming Huang to second place in the Boy's Single tournament.
After play was finished for the day, Li said that his own performances took a backseat to those of his students, who had acclimated themselves well. He credited their success to the discipline that his school instills. "I am glad that New York International Table Tennis Center won," he said. "Every day, all year round, we have two-to-three-hour training camps."
posted by Phil at 7:33 PM
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