Success continues for Canada’s Eugene Wang after winning the 2013 Butterfly International
Open on June 30th in Markham, Wang continued his impressive run by winning the GAC Group 2013 ITTF US Open World Tour in Las Vegas. Seeded third in Men’s Singles and given direct entry into the Main Draw, Wang dispatched American qualifiers Samson Dubina and Calvin Chan in the first two rounds 4-0. Wang’s third round match against Qingliang Wang, also from the United States, started brightly with a 3-0 lead. Qingliang fought back to win the fourth game, but Eugene was too strong and won the match 4-1.
Wang’s quarter-final matched against Wenzhang Tao of China was his toughest match. Wang dropped the first three games 10-12, 3-11, 9-11. With no margin of error, Wang recovered to win the final four games (11-8, 11-7, 11-5, 14-12) to secure his spot in the semi-final to face top seed Jens Lundqvist of Sweden.
Wang then caused an upset by defeating Lundqvist in the semi-final. However, the manner of which he achieved this success was the biggest surprise when he won the match in straight games (11-7,-11-5, 11-9, 11-5). In the final, Wang defeat unseeded Chinese player Ce YANG 4-1 to win his second straight US Open Men’s Singles Title.
Next Generation of players shine in Under 13 and Under 11 Categories
Ontario’s Jeremy Hazin, age 13, and Alexander Bu, age 11, and British Columbia’s Ivy Liao, age 12, are names to look out for in years to come having gained valuable experience at the US Open.
The top seed in the Under 11 Boys’ Singles, Bu rolled through the first three rounds with 3-0 wins. In both the semi-final and final, Bu was pushed to the distance, but came out winning 3-2 each time.
For Hazin in the Under 13 Boys’ Singles, he started of with four comfortable matches, winning in straight games. In the penultimate stage, Hazin rallied from a 0-2 deficit to defeat Victor Lu (California). Hazin also trailed in the final against Kanka Jha (California) after dropping the first game 10-12. But Hazin upped his game and won the next three games (11-6, 13-11, 11-9) to win the match.
Ivy Liao made an impressive run in the Under 13 Girls’ Singles. After winning her opening match 3-0, Liao had 3 straight matches which she had a 2-0 lead, only to find herself playing in the fifth game each time. But for her young age, Liao continued to battle for every point to win the matches. In the final, Liao was not able to overcome Amy Wang (New Jersey) and lost 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 7-11.
Other Notable Results
Anqi Luo (Ontario) had a tough match in the quarter-finals against Jiaqi Li of China winning 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-4, 13-11 in the Junior Girls’ Singles. Luo could not reproduce the same success in her semi-final match and lost to the eventual winner Lilly Zhang (US) 3-1.
Mo Zhang (British Columbia) was the top Canadian in the Women’s Singles, having lost to Lily Zhang (US) 4-3 in the quarter-final.
For other results check out the ITTF Website for the Men’s, Women’s, and Youth Under 21 results. For other events, check out the USATT website.