After a full year of anticipation, December brings what everyone is waiting for. Laughing children and happy faces beaming in glee. 650 people unwrapping their gift from USATT, the 1998 US National Championships! This year, the field was slightly different from those of the past. In a more direct alignment with the Olympic movement, the eligibility rules were altered by the USATT Board of Directors to require actual US citizenship instead of merely a residence in this country.
Unfortunately, 3 or 4 prominent players were unable to either pass their tests or, in one case, be sworn in before the entry deadline. This left us missing some friends from our midst. Many that were unable to play, came anyway just to share in the spirit of sportsmanship that was (almost) universal throughout the entire tournament. While there were those scattered individuals trying to spread the virus of negativity, most everyone was immunized to the infection by an injection of pure joy and happiness.
Of the Top 10 on the USATT rating list, 4 were ineligible to compete for this Closed Championship. Of these, 3 were from mainland China. Last year's defending men's champion, Cheng Yinghua, was doubly ineligible as his membership in USATT had also expired. Also missing was perennial umpiring stalwart Manny Moskowitz who passed away the Sunday before the event. The Canups were saddened to find out, as they were preparing to leave for the airport, that Terry's brother, Campbell, had passed away the night before.
While the loss was difficult, the tournament was incredibly therapeutic. In his younger years, Cam was the starting outside linebacker for his high school football team that made the Texas State playoffs, and later for Texas A&M he placed second at the AAU Regionals in the High Bar in gymnastics. He competed as a weight lifter and was president of a body building club in Virginia. It was later in life that Cam developed a taste for table tennis and got his own table for his home. Campbell loved the sport and reveled in the fact that his brother has been able to experience its top levels. He eagerly awaited the Louisiana Open every year as he knew it meant a visit from Bob and Terry as well as many of the Houston TT contingent. He tried to attend every one. It is unfortunate that his body prevented him from more participation. Though in a wheelchair for many years, like most of the participants in the disabled events at these championships, his attitude was outstanding. A special salute goes out to these athletes. (Please take a moment to read Bob's tribute to Cam)
We took two days before the tournament started as photo days, with Sue shooting 13 rolls of film and Terry shooting 400 digital pictures. We toured the major attractions of the Vegas Strip such as the $1.6 billion Bellagio and its fountains (the most expensive hotel ever built), Caesar's Palace, the Stratosphere (the tournament host hotel), the Luxor, NY NY, Excaliber, Coke World, M&M World, Star Trek the Experience, and of course Ethel M Chocolates! Our favorite spot turned out to be the Rio. While slightly off the strip, it was worth the effort to get to. These times helped us prepare for the upcoming work that the 5 day event was going to be. Terry worked as an umpire while Sue put her time in helping run remote station B. Others from Houston worked the booths. Also featured was the new RoboPong system.
The Closed is undoubtedly the best event run by USATT. The quality of the officials, the volunteer work they put in and the participation of the entire staff from headquarters helps make this a successful event. YC Lee again put in an extraordinary effort as Tournament Director and found time to make the finals of the over 70 doubles! Larry Kesler served as the Referee with Ray Cavicchio as his deputy. Aly Salam did an outstanding job as Chief Umpire with Chris Williams as his assistant. Bob Partridge, back after beating cancer, was on the scene not only umpiring, but competing again! At this tournament, not counting round-robins, there were 1500 individual matches contested. Of these, we were able to umpire 640. This is the highest percentage yet achieved at a major US event. We had tremendous help and cooperation from folks like Jim McClure and Margaret Smith. Ingrid the new Media Coordinator was soaking it all in.
With Gao Jun so dominant in the women's division, few decided to enter
the event, choosing instead to compete in some of the other 60+ events
that were offered. Lily
Yip, who did also compete in the Women's Singles, made sports history
at the 98 Closed! For almost 40 years the USATT held competitions for a
US Champion prior to the modern sponge era using hard bat. It has been
40 years since sponge that they have held what has been called the Hard
Bat (now Hard Rubber
Classic Table Tennis) Championships. Lily
set sports history by becoming the first woman to compete against a
man for the National Singles Championship! She beat this year's US
Open winner, former National Champion Dan
Seemiller in the 1/4 finals (Dan had defeated TT
Legend Marty Reisman in Houston) and then she beat another former National
Champion Dean
Doyle in the semi-finals (between the 2 of them these opponents have
more than 14 national titles). She did all this while losing only a game!
On top of this, Lily was also
coaching during the tournament.
Though Hard Bat expert Ty Hoff defeated Hodges in the semis and was able to beat her in the finals to claim the title, it marked the first time that a woman has competed with a man at this level head to head in any major athletic individual sport, not to mention an Olympic one! It must also be noted that Gao Jun, the 1998 Women's National Champion has a record of several wins over David Zhuang, the 1998 Men's National Champion! While they did not meet at this tournament, one has to wonder who would have won?
Of course there were many other events contested at these championships. We were pleased to see many familiar faces like George Braithwaite, Randy Cohen, and Brian Masters. Some of the most appealing were the school & age divisions.
The best match of the entire tournament was the 1/4 Final match in Men's Singles between Eric Owens and Barney Reed Jr. These two are practice partners and know each other's every move. As a matter of fact they are the North American Doubles Champions and just had finished teaming together to win the Men's Doubles National Championships just hours before! It was clear from the first moment that the draws were finalized that this was THE match. It did not disappoint. Both competitors are on the verge of breaking into the top players in the world. They both have already made the US World Team. But there is still something not quite there.
You could see it in this match. Both players were nervous throughout the whole match. There were some spectacular points, but the tension is what was most apparent. Of course it went 5 games. Of course it was deuce in the 5th. One of the spectators said, "I've been waiting for these guys to win for 8 years!". The missing ingredient in both of their games is confidence. Not bravado, not ego, actual confidence in real ability. The funny thing is. Both these guys have the tools. They just need the faith!
The best example was the fifth game. Between games, Eric's father, Kenny, gave him great advice. (paraphrasing) "Don't try to go for super shots. Neither one of you are hitting home runs ", he said. "Just make sure to make good serves and return his. He will miss." What does Owens do? He misses 3 out of his own first 8 serves! This looks bad. Barney goes up 14-5 and 19-11. Pretty hopeless. Now it is Eric's turn to relax and Barney's turn to tighten up. After deucing it up, you could tell that Eric had reached his goal and that Barney was going to win the next 2 points. After all, someone had to win this match! Barney to his misfortune spent himself in this match and was blown out in the Semis by David who took out Sean Lonergan in his 1/4s. Terry was chosen to work in the other Men's Semi. There is no truth to the rumor that Allen Barth, the match umpire in the Finals, was able to sleep through it!
There was more to this tournament than just matches. USATT holds
many of their important meetings during this time. For example, the Hall
of Fame banquet where new inductees are honored. Dick
Evans was inducted into the Table Tennis Hall of Fame with Ricky Seemiller
this year. Also the Board of Directors takes this time to meet. Additionally
many committees also get together here. With the re-emergence of
Hard Bat in the US. 
The
new Hard Bat group
held a major meeting. Notable at this meeting were Scott
Gordon,
Larry
Hodges (whose
loquacious input was well received), Marty
Reisman, Pete
May, Julian Waters, Tim
Boggan, and USATT President Jim
McQueen. Discussed were important issues of serious development of
the sport.
