| 2015 Universiade in Korea |
By Max Xia
Team Canada (Jeremy Lau, Lester Lee, Dun Han Li, James Pintea, Max Xia) participated in the 2015 Universiade in Korea from July 3 to July 14. The team worked hard with the Coach, Grey Yang, and showed very strong team work and Olympics spirit at the tournament: being not to have conquered but to have fought well!
Men's Single
Max Xia (Toronto, Ont.) and James Pintea (Ottawa, Ont.) advanced to the second round of the men’s singles table tennis. Pintea started the day by defeating Korea’s Gieul Yoo, 3-0, and later was dominant in a 3-0 win over Javier Gerardo of Venezuela. Xia also had a strong showing with a 3-0 win over Sri Lanka’s Menuka Kodagoda. He then edged his Cambodian opponent in four sets. Lester Lee (West Vancouver, B.C.) also won his match today by a 3-0 score, but he will not advance out of the group stage.
Max Xia delivered a solid fight against Edwin chun hin Hung of Hong Kong, but eventually fell 4-3 in the round of 32. The two players exchanged the first two sets and Xia lost the next two frames. The Toronto native still managed to force a final set but was defeated 11-9 in it. James Pintea of Ottawa, Ont., will play his round-of-32 match on Sunday.
Ottawa native James Pintea's tournament came to an end in the round of 32. He was defeated by the Japanese player Machi Asuka, 4-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8, 12-10). Team Canada has completed its participation in this discipline.
Men's Double
The individual events began today in table tennis. In men’s doubles, the pair of Jeremy Lau and Lester Lee started off with a 3-2 win over Sri Lanka’s Chameera Gimige and Imantha Kulappuwa W. in extra points in the fifth set (11-7, 11-4, 14-16, 8-11, 13-11). In the second round, the duo was stopped by the Chinese team of Chen Xin and Liu Yi, 3-0 (12-10, 11-6, 11-7). Canada’s other pair, James Pintea and Max Xia were defeated in their first match by the Malaysian team of Dunley Foo and Ashraf Haiqal Muhamad Rizal. After winning the first two sets, the Canadians were defeated 3-2 (9-11, 3-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-2).
Team Event
Table tennis competition began with the men’s team competition, where Canada faced Argentina and the USA. Against Argentina, Lester Lee of West Vancouver, B.C. (University of Michigan) took his opponent to five sets before faltering 11-7 in the final frame. Argentina won the contest 3-0 but Canada regrouped to defeat the Americans 3-0 in the afternoon. Max Xia (McMaster University) clinched the win with a 3-2 score. Canada will face Russia Tuesday.
In the men’s team table tennis event, Canada was defeated 3-0 by Russia. That gave the Canucks a 1-2 record which was not enough to advance to the next round of the 30-team tournament. Jeremy Lau (Vancouver, BC) and Max Xia(Toronto, ONT) each took their opponent to a tough fourth set before succumbing.
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