November 2024
BTT at Westchester NoVember open
On November 25th, BTT members, Rassi Zhou, Max Liu, Marvin Yu & Emma Yang participated in November Open at Westchester TTC. A total of 252 players competed in this monthly tournament, including over 20 players with USATT ratings above 2300. This weekend event featured 18 categories, including Open Singles (30 players), U2500 (48 players), U2350 (28 players), U2200 (72 players), U2050 (50 players), U2000 (30 players), U1900 (40 players), U1750 (32 players), U1600 (36 players), U1450 (40 players), U1300 (25 players), U1150 (26 players), U1000 (33 players), U850 (33 players), 12 & Under (19 players), Over 40 & 1800 (10 players), Handicap (11 players), and Doubles U3200 (8 teams).
Emma claimed the championship among 50 players with USATT ratings ranging from 1640 to 2020, competing in the U2050 event. The tournament began with a round-robin stage consisting of 13 groups, each with 4 players, followed by five rounds of single-elimination play.
From Emma:
I stepped on the court for my semi-finals match. I was tired, and nervous. With all of that aside I was ready for the match. I started match down 0-2. The opponent was hyped and his Cho-le thundered throughout the empty venue. Many people may have given up, but instead I did the opposite. I decided to keep going, because at that point I had no pressure. I played freely, without missing any easy balls.
As I played I gained more and more momentum, I attacked more and more, and soon the score was tied 2-2. I knew that that game would be the last of the match, which only motivated me more to win. I started the last game off pretty bad honestly. I remember almost giving up hope when I was down to 6-9. But I realized that giving up, would be throwing away all the effort I had put in the games before, and in my training. So, I calmed myself down, and was prepared for everything ahead. I slowly climbed my way back to 9-9. My grip tightened as beads of sweat dripped down my neck. I watched the opponent toss the ball high into the air and BAM! I miss the receive. I remained calm, even though the score was 9-10. I watched again as the opponent served. Topspin. I quickly move back and backhand towards his backhand and win the point. 10-10. I was more nervous than ever but I knew that I could not show it. I serve the ball, a flat underspin. He chops it back with his long pips, and BOOM! I win the point. 11-10. I nervously watch him serve. I push back a ball to his backhand and he loops. 11-11.
At this point I pushed all my thoughts to the side and focused on the point. Slowly but surely the score became 12-11. I was in the lead. One more point and I would enter the finals. He serves again, my feet have trouble moving and my push ends up going high. I anticipated him to smash the ball over, but instead he hit the ball straight to the net. I won. After 5 hard fought games, I won.
Text & Photo by BTT
BTT at Warm-up matches for Joola team NATT
Text & Photo by Sam Liu
On November 24th, BTT members, Sam Liu & Alex Zhang participated in a warm-up match for those players whose USATT rating are under 1000, hosted by Matchpoint TTC.
Sam: A lot of interesting things happened today and I will explain everything.
So first, I was practicing serving and smashing. Then all of us got called to go to table 1. Coach Li was talking and giving us some information. He mostly talked about the Joola team championships and what we had to do when we got there.
Then, the matches started. I almost lost to the first 2 players that I was going against, but I managed to find the strategy to beat them, and I beat them 3 - 2. Then I won the last player with 3 - 0. After that, my group was going to play against group 10 and this group has some decently skilled players. Jason and Tianfang were in the group and both of them have been playing table tennis longer than me. Therefore, I was expecting to lose. Surprisingly, I beat everyone in that group (including Jason and Tianfang) 3 - 0.
I was really proud of myself since I beat the people I was supposed to lose to. At this point, we had the final group to go against. The players in this group were beginners and amateurs, and I managed to win everyone 3 - 0. Now, I’ve played everyone and finished the matches. I was really proud that I managed to beat everyone I went against, and our group also won the champion. Now I think I’m ready for the Joola team championships coming up soon.
In preparation for the Joola 26th Annual North American Team Championships, members of BTT, Rassi Zhou, Enya Li, Angela Li, Aaron Li, Ishan Rangdal, David Su, Peter Liu, Emma Yang & James Yang, participated in a warm-up game between New York Indoor Sports Club (NYISC) and Matchpoint TTC on November 17th, 2024.
David: I stepped into Matchpoint TTC at 9:30 am and heard the squeaking of the shoes and the familiar smell of rubber. Then I saw them, the first kids from NYISC walked in and my nervousness went up to another level. Even though this was a warm-up match, my heart was pounding: I felt like I wasn’t going to play well. Going into my first match, I was beyond nervous. To my surprise though, I won my first match 3-0.
With this newfound confidence, I stepped into my two other matches knowing that I would do good. As I stepped off the court, I had just won all of them 3-0. I was pleasantly surprised, and with this amazing gameplay I had a new confidence in myself to perform my best. It was my final match, and I was facing the top player from NYISC, Leo Shao. He was a tough opponent, but I knew I would be able to beat him. The game was beyond my expectation, and when I finished all my matches, I had won all of them 3-0.
Text by David Su
Photos by BTT
Text by James Yang
Photos by Origin TTA & BTT
On November 3rd, 2024, members of BTT, Rassi Zhou, Enya Li, Aaron Li, Ishan Rangdal, David Su, Peter Liu & James Yang, participated in a mock team tournament hosted by Matchpoint TTC. Players from Origin Table Tennis Academy were also invited and joined in the practice matches.
Matches were played three-on-three, where each player on a team played all of the players on the opposing team once. Team matches were decided by whichever team won 5 rounds first out of 9, and individual matches were played best 3 out of 5, as per standard table tennis regulation.