PLAYOFFS-FINALS MATCH #1-SAN FRANCISCO AT OAKLAND-TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2007

By Shashin Shodhan

Misha Kazantsev has been a good mid-season acquisition for the San Francisco Furies and has been a major part of the Furies' run to the finals.  San Francisco was a decent team without him and a dangerous team with him in the lineup.  On the other hand, Oakland has been dominant from start to finish without being extended to the 7th match in any of their league matches.  Concord and Oakland looked like the two best teams in the beginning of the season and they finished in the top 2 positions in the regular season standings.  However, San Francisco was able to get by Concord in the semis to set up a clash between the Lions and Furies.

Spencer Chase (San Francisco) vs Freddie Gabriel (Oakland)

The Northern California Table Tennis League Finals start off with a bang!  Both players land a forehand winner for their first points. 1-1.  Then it's all Gabriel mixing slow, controlled play with fast winners.  In the second game, the rallies are about equal but Gabriel has too big an advantage on serves and returns, especially with his serves.  This is the same story in the third and Gabriel cruises to a 3-0 victory.  Gabriel made some nice backhand loop winners off weak serve returns in the third game.  The last time these two played in the regular season, Chase had a 7-3 lead in the fifth game before losing 11-8 which represents a big contrast to this match where Gabriel dominates Chase. 

Terry Tam (San Francisco) vs Kock Loe (Oakland)

Loe wins the first two games at 11-4 and 11-7 as Loe said after the match that Tam "made too many mistakes."  In the third, Tam is up 8-5, then loses 5 straight to be down 2 match points, but then wins 4 straight to send the match to the fourth game.  Loe leads 5-0 in the fourth game when Tam calls a timeout.  Chase tells Tam to read the spin better when away from the table and to use better shot selection.  Schmidt asks Loe to play fast into the forehand, then into the backhand, and then a short ball as Tam was too far from the table.  Tam gets to 8-7 in the fourth but then loses 11-8.  Oakland is now up 2-0.

Avishy Schmidt (San Francisco) vs Misha Kazantsev (Oakland)

Kazantsev leads 9-7 in the first game but then misses two serves and then misses two serve returns.  Schmidt is up 1-0.  Kazantsev opens with a 5-1 lead in the second, then loses the lead 6-6, and then wins 4 straight before winning 11-7.  Kazantsev makes some good flips this game which proves to be the difference.  Schmidt has a game point in the third at 10-9 only to see Kazantsev deuce it.  Kazantsev then makes a good serve with strong 3rd ball combination and then makes a good flip to put himself up 2-1.  Kazantsev then gets into his mode of not trying at times and trying at times with bizarre shots such as Seemiller grip serve returns.  The match goes to the decider.  Kazantsev tries in the decider and opens up a 5-1 lead which went to 9-7.  Then he missed a serve and missed a 3rd ball.  9-9.  With Kazantsev having his first match point at 10-9, he calls a timeout before Schmidt serves, possibly to "ice" Schmidt as basketball coaches often do in hopes of a free throw miss from opposing teams.  It works for Kazantsev as although Schmidt serves fine, Kazantsev puts the Furies on the board with their first finals win.

Misha Kazantsev/Spencer Chase (San Francisco) vs Freddie Gabriel/Avishy Schmidt (Oakland)

Oakland opens up with a 7-2 lead attacking the Chase backhand and taking advantage of Kazantsev being too far away from the table.  San Francisco makes adjustments in the second game but Oakland still dominates them to be up 2-0 with two 11-5 wins.  In the third, San Francisco is up 9-7 only to see Oakland win 11-9 and have a daunting 3-1 lead in the first leg of the league finals.

Terry Tam (San Francisco) vs Freddie Gabriel (Oakland)

Gabriel is a heavy favorite going into this match and plays like it in the beginning with a 8-3 first game lead.  Then arguably the best point in league history is played.  Gabriel is lobbing and throwing chop-lobs and somehow getting all of the balls back on the table.  When Tam smashes a ball well above Gabriel's head, Gabriel swings up and countersmashes a winner.  Concord's James Therriault has had many spectacular lobbing points in his career but likely not with the awkward lobs and smash that Gabriel just made.  Gabriel is up 9-3 and then loses his concentration due to the spectacular point and Tam wins 5 straight to close to 9-8.  However, Gabriel wins 11-8.  Gabriel is in cruise control in the second game and gets free points from his serve as expected.  In the third game, Gabriel is up 9-8 and tries a serve from backhand service position using his forehand side of the rubber.  It is very hard to explain but Gabriel misses that first attempt but at 10-10, lands the serve on the table for a service winner.  Gabriel wins 12-10 and the Oakland Lions win 4-1.

Kazantsev must be able to defeat Gabriel to allow San Francisco to have a better chance to win the league match.  However, Schmidt and Loe will not be available for Oakland in the finals match at San Francisco so San Francisco can take advantage of this opportunity.  The match will take place at the Peninsula Table Tennis Club in Burlingame, the Furies' home venue, at 1 PM on Sunday.  If San Francisco wins that match, then the next match is tentatively scheduled for 7 PM on Tuesday, March 20 at Oakland.