Pierre-Luc Theriault Takes The Double
Pierre-Luc Theriault repeated his earlier success in May at the ITTF North America Cup where he defeated Andre Ho in the finals to win his first major title. In Cary, NC he competed fiercely on Sunday to earn the title of 2012 North American Men's Singles Champion. In the semi- finals, he surged through a 5 game match with Adam Hughes of the US (4-1: 11-3,12-10,10- 12,11-5,11-5). In the finals, a confident Theriault met Jim Butler of the US, and solidified his title in 6 games (8-11,11-4,7-11,11-4,11-9,11-4,-).
Women's Singles
Shirley Fu fought hard, advancing to the semi-finals, where she met US rival Erica Wu. Although the two have exchanged wins in the past, Wu pushed ahead of Fu in this match. In the finals, however, Wu was no match for Lily Zhang who won her first 2012 North American Women's Singles Champion title with a 4-0 win.
Junior Boys
James Pintea was in excellent form this weekend, winning his first North American Junior Boys Singles Championship! In the finals, James Pintea defeated Grant Li (USA in five games (14- 16,11-5,11-6,11-8,11-9). James also played excellently in the Men's Singles, reaching the semi-finals.
Junior Girls
Shirley Fu defeated Erica Wu in the Junior Girls Singles semifinals (5-11,11-9,13-11,7-11,11- 7,11-9) for a spot in the finals. After 4 games Shirley and Zhang were tied 2-2. But, Zhang played well in the next two games to win the match and earn gold.
Cadet Boys
Alexander Moran was the surprise on the Canadian team. Showing little respect for higher ranked players, Moran finished 4th (in a three-way tie for 2nd). The young man from Hamilton was joined by Moxi Guo in the top 8; Guo finished 6th.
Cadet Girls
Christina Pui (BC) was the top Canadian finishing 4th in the final Round Robin of the top 8 girls. The 13-year old did well in a field where most of the players were two years older than her. Catherine Dauplaise (QC) held her own finishing 6th.
Team Competitions
The Canadian Men's and the Canadian Women's team competed in Cary without their Olympians due to injury (the US were missing two of their four Olympians as well.) Adam Hugh emerged as the star of the Men's Team competition leading the US to a 3-1 victory, while Grant Li did the same for the US junior boys team. On the women's senior side, the US took advantage of the absence of Mo Zhang dominating the match by a score of 3-0. Liquan Ly secured the sole point for Canada's Junior Girls team with a credible performance against US Olympian Erica Wu.