Photo of University of Iowa's Fatima Elmaleh in action. Photo credit to NCTTA

By Michael Reff
NCTTA Media Committee

There are a few volunteers this year who have made a dual commitment as both a player and volunteer. These are the volunteers that NCTTA hope will continue to serve the organization upon graduating as well.

One such player/volunteer is Ryan Crichton, a PhD candidate in chemistry looking to defend his dissertation soon. He’s part of the returning Rutgers University team. According to Crichton, he “always wanted to volunteer”, but “never had opportunity to go to Nationals.”

Last year he came with the team, but he said he wanted to understand the capacity of being a “player first,” then he would later learn the ropes in volunteer work. Helping out NCTTA this year, he served in setting up the venue, as well as the banquet, and many other capacities.

He says that many players are “not consciously aware of what goes behind the scenes for the champs.”

Regarding his goals to expand his NCTTA volunteer capacity, he wants to be a “large tournament director in a collegiate capacity.”

Crichton is already giving back to his Northeastern regional community by organizing “scrimmages for the schools that didn’t make it to the nationals” after the Champs passes.

Another player/volunteer is University of Iowa senior Fatima Elmaleh. An industrial engineering major, Elmaleh had a 9 year hiatus from table tennis, but the bug caught her again, and she’s back with a vengeance. She said she “wasn’t sure [she] was going to qualify for nationals, so wanted to help NCTTA regardless in a volunteer capacity.”

Elmaleh says she has only played one other year back in 2019 for NCTTA, because the pandemic ended hopes of playing for a couple years. Since she has several years of eligibility left, she says if she returns to school upon graduating with her Engineering degree, she would try and play again. According to Elmaleh, she’s “met really cool people here.”

Elmaleh volunteered in registration, and with her jovial demeanor, she was a perfect fit for greeting those entering the venue.

In addition to NCTTA, Fatima would like to help out AYTTO if she gets a job in the northeast after graduating. A lefty, Elmaleh gave it her all in singles, eventually losing in consolation rounds.

Finally, Sergio Pulido of DBU served a dual role as player and volunteer in the capacity of scorekeeper. He followed in his two brothers’ footsteps regarding playing table tennis, and his brother

Erik is also coach of the DBU team and volunteered this year as an umpire.

Sergio is a first year Computer Science student, who also happens to be quite a good table tennis player. Over the course of next year, he would like to earn his umpire certification so he can further his table tennis officiating career and help in the NCTTA Champs and other tournaments.

Kudos to these great players and volunteers that have made dual commitments to NCTTA!

About 2023 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Round Rock CVB. Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. The event is sponsored by Double Happiness, PongSpace, Major League Table Tennis.
Watch the event on live stream starting Friday April 14th on champs.nctta.org

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively for promoting the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org

Photo of UCLA women's team. Photo credit to NCTTA

By Michael Reff
NCTTA Media Committee

For the 2023 Round Rock NCTTA Championships on Saturday April 15, a new victor in the women’s teams event was crowned.

Fresh off a third place finish in Coed Teams, the Women’s UCLA group (mostly made up of the same members as the Coed!) ousted the defending champs Texas Wesleyan in a decisive win at 3-1 in team matches. The core top seeded UCLA squad of Amy Wang, Joanna Sung, Rachel Sung, and Angie Tan, decisively defeated Texas Wesleyan’s Zhen Deng, Jiaqi Lin, Sofija Scepanovic, and Zeying Wu.

The UCLA team was stacked with US juniors full of international playing experience.

Amy Wang’s win against Zhen Deng set the tone for the team matches. Wang, with her effortless game and amazing touch play, overpowered Deng’s fast and aggressive strokes which combined smooth and pips rubbers.

All matches won by UCLA were decisively 3-0, with Joanna Sung’s loss to Jiaqi Lin still a close fifth game decider.

At the evening banquet, a 3D printed team trophy created and designed by NCTTA’s very own Logan Zimmerman was awarded to the UCLA squad for their accomplishment.

The Western women’s team came in a 3rd place finish over Columbia University.

Congratulations to the newly crowned Women’s team champs UCLA!

About 2023 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Round Rock CVB. Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. The event is sponsored by Double Happiness, PongSpace, Major League Table Tennis.
Watch the event on live stream starting Friday April 14th on champs.nctta.org

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively for promoting the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org

Photo of 3 time Coed Champs NYU. Photo Credit: Yukong Zhang

Shaquila Sarapao, Guest writer
NCTTA Media

Saturday, April 15, concluded the National Coed Teams event. Top seed Texas Wesleyan cruised their way into the finals, beating Harvard (#7) 3-1 then California (#5) 3-1. UCLA (#2), on the other hand, was struggling in the semifinals against defending champs NYU (#3). A 5th matchup in doubles was the deciding factor to see if second seeded UCLA would be playing against Texas Wesleyan in the finals.

It was a battle of the sexes in the decider: Wang/Sung (UCLA) vs. Hazin/Dani (NYU). UCLA started off strong, winning the first game. With a change of pace, NYU won the next two games. Tension rose as NYU was catching up in the 4th set after being down 4 points.

Consecutive points ensued, favoring the northeastern school. The gap between the schools grew bigger until it was match point for NYU.

Doubles partners Hazin/Dani of NYU won the game 3-1, bringing their team to the Coed finals to defend their title.

The Coed finals consisted of defending champions NYU vs. Texas Wesleyan. The first matchup was a Japanese penholder (J-pen) style of play against a lefty. Even with Eduardo Tomoike’s (Texas Wesleyan) J-pen and fast footwork, he was no match for Jeremy Hazin (NYU), falling to him in the 4th set.

The next matchup also favored NYU. Lucas Eto’s (Texas Wesleyan) fighting spirit kept him strong against Mudit Dani (NYU) but ultimately lost to him in the 4th set. However, Texas Wesleyan quickly caught up with two wins from Zhen Deng and Santiago Montes Solarte.

Tied 2-2 for a doubles decider, the dynamic duo of Hazin and Dani, who also won Men’s Doubles, proved too much for the Texas Wesleyan pair of Tomoike and Deng.

On Saturday, April 15, 2023, NYU became three time Coed National Champions, all wins in Round Rock, Texas.

About 2023 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Round Rock CVB. Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. The event is sponsored by Double Happiness, PongSpace, Major League Table Tennis.
Watch the event on live stream starting Friday April 14th on champs.nctta.org

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively for promoting the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org

Photo of Logan Zimmerman and Ryan Day. Photo Credit to Dennis Yanga

By Michael Reff
NCTTA Media Committee

NCTTA is an entirely volunteer-run organization, with its main aim to make the sport of college table tennis bigger and better in North America. Each year our volunteers bring to the table specific sets of skills and training that they have applied from previous or current careers, all in the spirit of teamwork and giving back to the game they love.

We wanted to take this time to honor a couple volunteers who are also military veterans: Logan Zimmerman and Ryan Day.

Logan’s first love in sports was golf. He even earned a Master’s in Professional Golf Management.

His first taste of table tennis came from a severe thrashing from his brother-in-law more than ten years ago. He recalls that the score was 4-21 (old school ping pong rules!). After this humbling experience, he vowed to defeat his brother-in-law, trained for six months, and returned the favor, almost reversing the score! Zimmerman was hooked.

His experience starting to volunteer for NCTTA would come after he began assisting NCTTA President Willy Leparulo’s FSU club in coaching. Zimmerman would later become NCTTA coach certified and then started helping at champs.

Zimmerman is not just a jack of all trades, he’s basically a master. In the Navy he was officially an Avionics Electronics technician. He’s had several positions after his military service, but now he works on troubleshooting 3D printing equipment. He even 3D printed this year’s Champs trophies! Furthermore, he was here since the beginning of the Champs setup and was a pivotal volunteer with laying down the professional blue flooring.

When asked how the military has prepared him for the NCTTA, he says it’s his ability to adapt and improvise in the face of adverse situations, as well as “breaking down problems into simpler steps.”

Thank you to Mr. Zimmerman for your service and commitment to the betterment of NCTTA!

Ryan Day is another late bloomer to table tennis, however he is an all-around athlete, having played professional soccer in Germany, baseball for 13 years, and more. It was inevitable that he would end up with us table tennis fanatics!

Day started playing the Olympic Sport in 2018 at a ping pong tourney in Texas A&M in San Antonio. Similar to Zimmerman, Day’s first experience with table tennis was losing multiple times, and likewise he vowed to do better. He says he “Literally googled table tennis clubs in San Antonio” to try and improve his form.

Ryan started helping out NCTTA after getting coach certified by the organization where he ultimately met ubiquitous volunteer matchmaker Willy Leparulo. Ryan recalls, “Willy was like ‘I love you please can you run South Texas [divisionals].'”

Ryan is ecstatic to join the ranks of table tennis and the NCTTA crew: “So glad I got involved. I love table tennis now, I’m like a fiend but more importantly I love the competitive atmosphere, these guys are athletes.”

Day says that the military has helped him develop an “acute awareness” and “attention to detail,” greatly applicable to helping out NCTTA. He too assisted in the setup of the venue and his strong work ethic perfectly complements NCTTA’s overall infrastructure.

Thank you to Mr. Day for your service as well as your willingness to volunteer for NCTTA!

The NCTTA is proud to have such great volunteers with military service who go the extra mile!

About 2023 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Round Rock CVB. Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. The event is sponsored by Double Happiness, PongSpace, Major League Table Tennis.
Watch the event on live stream starting Friday April 14th on champs.nctta.org

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively for promoting the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org

Photo of 2022 Women's Singles Champion Angela Guan. Photo Credit: NCTTA

Shaquila Sarapao, Guest writer
NCTTA Media

Angela Guan, champion of 2022 Women’s Singles, returns this year—but not as a player. A recent graduate from the University of Berkeley in Data Science, her presence in Round Rock, Texas, comes as an NCTTA alum, volunteer, and a coach for the University of Washington.

Her style of play as a chopper was inherited from her grandmother and mother, which eventually won her the National Championships. “I never expected to get that far,” Guan says, “I just really love the sport.” Another memorable experience for her was also winning the 2019 Women’s Doubles champion title with her teammate Ying Wang, especially since it was Wang’s last year.

NCTTA and the table tennis community have grown over the years, bringing in players from Canada, Hong Kong, and National Team USA members to the Round Rock Sports Complex. Guan has noticed the growth as well and is excited to see how the level of the players are rising.

“It’s really exciting to see how the level really goes up every Nationals and just seeing NCTTA and college table tennis grow year to year,” Guan remarks. “This year returning as an alum, volunteer, and as a coach, it really gives me perspective and a deeper respect for all the volunteers that make this happen, so shoutout to all the volunteers, and I’m excited to continue to be part of NCTTA.”

Thank you Angela not only for your playing prowess, but also your generous spirit as a returning NCTTA alum, coach and volunteer!

About 2023 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Round Rock CVB. Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. The event is sponsored by Double Happiness, PongSpace, Major League Table Tennis.
Watch the event on live stream starting Friday April 14th on champs.nctta.org

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively for promoting the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org

Photo of Columbia University. Photo Credit: NCTTA

Shaquila Sarapao, Guest writer
NCTTA Media

The Round Rock Sports Center was bustling with activity for NCTTA, especially with an unusually strong showing this year in Women’s teams. 16 Women’s teams are participating this year. In the round of 16s, spotlight tables 1 and 2 showcased the University of Texas Austin vs. University of Maryland.

Number one seeds Kelly Zhou (Texas) and Stephanie Zhang (Maryland) battled it out in 5 sets. Zhou was up 2-0 with a sudden momentum shift towards Zhang, bringing the match to a 5th set. It was a clutch match as Zhang hit a net point to get to 8-10 and finally closed it out for Maryland’s win. Overall, Maryland’s Women’s teams continued onto the next round, beating Texas in a deciding doubles match.

In the same table, five hours later, University of Pennsylvania (#3) played against Columbia University (#7). The clash of these two teams also yielded a tiebreaking doubles match featuring Ou/Ng (Penn) vs. Yano/Zhan (Columbia). Penn led with a 2-0 lead until Columbia came back in the 3rd and 4th set, barely winning by two points. Points tailed each other, one after another. Both teams didn’t break their serve until Columbia broke Penn with a strong forehand to the corner.

Columbia led with 8-6, but Penn brought it back to 8-8. Strong rallies continued until Penn missed two consecutive shots going long for match point. A sea of blue came from the stands while cheers echoed in the building.

Columbia, number 7 seed, had secured a spot in the semifinals.

About 2023 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Round Rock CVB. Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. The event is sponsored by Double Happiness, PongSpace, Major League Table Tennis.
Watch the event on live stream starting Friday April 14th on champs.nctta.org

About NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively for promoting the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org

Photo of UCLA Women's Doubles Champions Amy Wang and Rachel Sung. Photo credit to Dennis Yanga

By Michael Reff
NCTTA Media Committee

Singles, doubles, teams galore,
Opening day, could you ask for more?
The competition tough, right off the bat,
Upset wins were today’s welcome mat!

LoudnProud cheering, matchplay riveting,
Forward and backward the momentum was shifting.
Women’s and Men’s doubles ended in style,
New contenders claimed the titles:

UCLA Women Rachel Sung and Amy Wang,
Defeated Zhen Deng and Jiaqi Lin of Texas Wesleyan.
And the NYU pair of Jeremy Hazin and Mudit Dani,
Beat Penn’s Van Hu and Nathan Xu, who gave them a run for their money.

About 2023 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Round Rock CVB. Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. The event is sponsored by Double Happiness, PongSpace, Major League Table Tennis.
Watch the event on live stream starting Friday April 14th on champs.nctta.org

About NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively for promoting the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org

Photo of WashU's Thomas Yuan and Shawn Fong. Photo Credit to Dennis Yanga

By Michael Reff
NCTTA Media Committee

At 9am in Round Rock, Texas, the 2023 NCTTA Championships kicked off with quite a treat for spectators. 23 seeded WashU St. Louis duo Thomas Yuan and Shawn Fong embodied heart and passion, with upset wins over no. 13 seeded Harvard and no. 3 seeded Texas Wesleyan.

The lefty/righty pairing had a loudnproud cheering section, which propelled them through to the quarter finals, where they ultimately lost to fifth seeded UCLA.

WashU’s coach Sean Peng was proud of his team, saying that the players “motivated themselves.” Regarding how the team has prepared for the matches, coach Peng said that they all knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses, but they ultimately try to focus on their strengths during match play.

In their match versus Texas Wesleyan, WashU had a decisive lead at 6-2 in the fifth game, but then Texas Wesleyan fought their way back with 4 consecutive points to tie it up at the 6-6 towel break. WashU regained their composure, breaking TWU’s rhythm, which earned them the next two points at 8-6. At 8-9 with Texas Wesleyan to serve, WashU called a time out, and ultimately only yielded one more point before winning the match at 11-9.

Kudos to Thomas and Shawn of WashU for their strong showing in the Men’s doubles opening day!

About 2023 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Round Rock CVB. Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. The event is sponsored by Double Happiness, PongSpace, Major League Table Tennis.
Watch the event on live stream starting Friday April 14th on champs.nctta.org

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively for promoting the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org

Willy Leparulo, Guest Writer
NCTTA Media

The 2023 College Table Tennis Championship has started, and in traditional fashion it continues with an abundance of upsets. College table tennis has grown over the years and 2023 has one of the deepest fields.

From Columbia University, French international Hugo Ginoux, was seeded 4th in his Round Robin and has defeated all seeds and will qualify for the main draw. Rated only 2065, Ginoux knocked out seeds as high as 2348!

Another interesting upset to note comes from Player/Coach from Western University in Canada Ann Shiao as she came in #1 in her group defeating or rather surprising everyone with her fast attack play. Shiao says “I started the season as a 600 rated player”. She has steadily raised her game and is now up to 1799.

“Oh Canada, Oh Canada” the rest of the group must be lamenting!

Go check out her instagram: @ann.shia

Congrats to both players for their well played matches.

Check out the link below for an interview of Ann Shiao!

https://youtu.be/fn0Emfg2NXw

About 2023 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Round Rock CVB. Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. The event is sponsored by Double Happiness, PongSpace, Major League Table Tennis.
Watch the event on live stream starting Friday April 14th on champs.nctta.org

About NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively for promoting the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org

Photo of Round Rock Sports Center

By Shaquila Sarapao, Guest writer
NCTTA media

Echoes reverberated throughout the high ceilings while the linoleum floors glinted from the gymnasium lights. Blue barriers were organized neatly, encasing the tables in a pod—a discrete boundary between player and spectator. For many, the sight is a novelty.

For others, it’s a familiar feeling.

Teams like Texas Wesleyan, UC Berkeley, and NYU have dominated the scene at Round Rock, Texas. With NYU being named champions last year, UC Berkeley and Texas Wesleyan hope to see themselves taking home the trophy. Countless hours of practice have eased their way through Divisionals and Regionals and, now, Nationals.

Other top contenders include Women’s singles Zhen Deng and Jiaqi Lin (Wesleyan), Sophie Wu (MIT), and Kelly Zhao (Texas). In Men’s singles, coming back are Jack Wang and Michael Wolski (Northwestern), as well as Kai Zhang (USC). NCTTA Nationals will be held in Round Rock, Texas, from April 13-16.

About 2023 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Round Rock CVB. Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. The event is sponsored by Double Happiness, PongSpace, Major League Table Tennis.
Watch the event on live stream starting Friday April 14th on champs.nctta.org

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively for promoting the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org