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U.S. Teams Win Monday, Qualify for Tuesday's Semifinals at Pan American Games
By Lindsay DeWall // U.S. Olympic Committee // July 23, 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Both the U.S. men’s and women’s table tennis teams won their quarterfinal matches Monday in Pavilion 4B of the Riocentro Convention Center to qualify for Tuesday’s semifinals at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The women beat Chile 3-0, and the men defeated Mexico 3-1.
In the team competition, each player on the three-member team plays twice, split between four singles matches and one doubles match. Each match consists of five games, which go to 11 points.
The U.S. women dominated Chile, not allowing their opponent a single match. Three-time Olympian Gao Jun (Gaithersburg, Md.) started off the individual matches by winning 3-0, followed by Chen Wang (New York, N.Y.), who also won three matches to zero. Jun was joined by Tawny Banh (San Gabriel, Calif.) in the doubles match, which also was won 3-0.
“I played well and felt good in my match,” Wang said. “This is the first time I've played as a team. Because there are three players, it’s more interesting and exciting then the individual matches. If we play well as a team, we should win tomorrow.”
The U.S. men had to battle a bit more than the women, but they still controlled most of their matches Monday to win 3-1 over Mexico. Eric Owens (Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.) hopped out of the blocks first for the U.S. Team. He battled hard against Mexico’s Madrid Mantilla, working toward a comeback, but lost in the fifth match (5-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 4-11). Mark Hazinkski (Mishawaka, Ind.) played next, winning 3-0. In doubles, Owens and Han Xiao (Germantown, Md.) notched another victory, winning 3-1 (13-15, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5). Xiao then secured the victory by winning his individual match 3-0 against Mantilla.
“Our first goal is to get a medal,” Owens said. “Once that’s guaranteed, we’ll shoot for gold. It’ll take all three of us playing exceptionally because Brazil is very good, with three awesome players. They’re favored here, but we can’t look too far ahead.”
The U.S. women play against Cuba at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Should they win, they will move on to the 2 p.m. gold medal match versus either Canada or the Dominican Republic. The men compete against Argentina at 11:30 a.m. With a win, they’ll meet either Brazil or Canada in the championship match at 4 p.m.
Both the U.S. men’s and women’s teams won gold in 1999, the last time the team competition was held at the Pan Am Games. Banh and Jun were members of the 1999 women’s squad that beat Canada in the finals, and Owen’s was on the 1999 men’s squad that defeated Argentina to win gold.
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