Saturday, August 14 – Day 1 Competition

MEN’S SINGLES

Khoa Nguyen (San Jose, Calif.) USA (#294 WR) vs. William Henzell AUS (#308 WR)

Nguyen (USA) [-7, 11, -7, -4, -9]
Henzell (AUS) [11, -6, 11, 11, 11]

AUS wins 4 – 1

“The last game (game 5) was crucial, says US Men’s Team Coach Dan Seemiller, the fifth game can win the match. Khoa lost focus on two technical errors and the Australian was better technically through the first four games minus the game Khoa won. The key is to attack first and Khoa had trouble doing that.” AUT put Khoa in a chase mode most of the match and Khoa wasn’t able to adjust quick enough. Losing by four points in games one and three and seven points in game four Khoa says, “it takes me more time to adjust, I wish I could play him again”. “I always do better the second time against an opponent, unfortunately I don’t have that opportunity. Henzell changes pace pretty well and I wasn’t used to his backhand. I missed the opening ceremonies, which I never want to miss, and I didn’t go sight seeing because I wanted to focus and relax. All the hard training and it’s over in twenty minutes, it’s really difficult to take. I’m still motivated and still hungry, says Khoa”.

Ilija Lupulesku (Chicago, Ill.) USA (#107 WR) vs. Juan Papic CHI (#373 WR)

Lupulesku (USA) [11, 11, 11, 11]
Papic (CHI) [-2, -4, -5, -2]

USA wins 4 – 0

1988 Silver Medallist for Yugoslavia, Ilija Lupulesku (Chicago, Ill.), is representing the USA for the first time in Olympic Games. Lupulesku is one of five players to participate in all five Table Tennis Olympic Game Competitions since 1988. “I live in the US, my family is in Chicago, and I want to play, says Lupulesku. I enjoy living in the USA and representing them in the Olympic Games, Lupulesku adds.” Lupulesku who seemed as though he couldn’t miss the table during the match did an array of long loops. Coach Seemiller says, “There’s not much I can say, Lupi played a perfect game against a very talented player”.

WOMEN’S SINGLES

Tawny Banh (San Gabriel, Calif.) USA (#141 WR) vs. Ji Hye Yoon KOR (#151 WR)

Banh (USA) [-8, 11, -9, 16, 11, 11]
Yoon (KOR) [11, -9, 11, -14, -8, -6]

USA wins 4 – 3

“Way to go animal”, says teammate Gao Jun. Tawny who has been nicknamed “Tiger
Tawny” fought a full seven game match with South Korean, Ji Hye Yoon. Even though
Banh’s (USA) World Ranking is ten spots higher than the young Korean, she was seen as a
slight underdog because Korea is such a strong team. Tawny who is very emotional and loud during her matches yelling “cho” when she scores a point says, “I scream when I get emotional and I play better. The crowd was chanting Korea, Korea and it just motivated me more.” “My goals from here are to take one match at a time, because each match gets harder”.

Jasna Reed (Clinton Township, Mich.) USA (#117 WR) vs. Renata Strbikova CZE (#60 WR)

Reed (USA) [-9, -6, 15, 11, 11, 11]
Strbikova (CZE) [11, 11, -13, -4, -8, -9]

USA wins 4 – 2

Reed who was down 0-2 the first couple of games was faulted in the third game because of her serve. “I thought I was going to lose the whole match”, says Reed. "Strbikova has a super touch and I felt like I was surfing. You can never tell where she will place the ball, but I kept fighting instead of going nuts like I do sometimes”. As the youngest player to ever medal in Table Tennis in the Olympic Games, Jasna is rooting for her teammates as well as her self to go far in the competition. “I’m so happy for Tawny because she was so disappointed she got a Korean in the draw. I wish Gao Jun luck too and I hope that the US can finally win a medal in table tennis.

UP NEXT:

Sunday, August 15th
Galatsi Olympic Hall

Women’s Doubles 2nd Round

11:45 AM
Whitney Ping (Beaverton, Ore.)/Jasna Reed (Clinton Township, Mich.) USA vs.
Paey Fern Tan/Xueling Zhang (SIN)

11:45 AM
Tawny Banh (San Gabriel, Calif.)/Gao Jun (Gaithersburg, Md.) USA vs. Luisana Perez/Fabiola Ramos VEN

Men’s Doubles 1st Round

12:30 PM
Mark Hazinski (Mishawaka, Ind.)/Ilija Lupulesku (Chicago, Ill.) USA vs. Monday Merotohun/Segun Toriola NGR

Women’s Singles 2nd Round

2:00 PM
Tawny Banh (San Gabriel, Calif.) USA (#151 WR) vs. Chunli Li NZL (#44 WR)

8:00 PM
Jasna Reed (Clinton Township, Mich.) USA (#117 WR) vs. Xueling Zhang SIN (#55 WR)

Monday, August 16th
Galatsi Olympic Hall

Men’s Singles 2nd Round

6:00 PM
Ilija Lupulesku (Chicago, Ill.) USA (#107 WR) vs. Adrian Crisan ROM (#35 WR)