WINTER SEASON ALL-STAR GAME-SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 2007
By Shashin Shodhan
Fox Sports Bay Area. Those are the four words Northern California table-tennis players hope to hear much more of in the future. This all-star game has a film crew to do the taping of the matches. Aaron Castillo and Shashin Shodhan will do the post-production and provide a half-hour produced piece to Fox Sports Bay Area to air on a weekend afternoon. It would air as Paid Programming and if the piece is of professional and high quality, Fox Sports Bay Area programming director Matt Butler has all but guaranteed a time slot. When Shodhan sent Butler a table-tennis DVD and Butler saw it, Butler's reaction was "that's definitely different than how I play it!" The Oakland Nationals Warm-Up Tournament in December was a pilot for this all-star game as a film crew was present there as well. USATT Executive Director Doru Gheorghe allowed the use of one of his red mats which was stored at the nearby Butterfly wherehouse in Union City. This match features Sean Lee, Shashin Shodhan, and Joey Hu in the #1, #2, and #3 positions for the South Bay and Freddie Gabriel, James Therriault, and Kock Loe in the #1, #2, #3 positions for the North Bay. The women's match pitted Sara Fu of the South Bay vs Jackie Lee of the North Bay and a treat was the future stars match between Ariel Hsing and Lily Zhang of Palo Alto.
THE ALL-STAR GAME VENUE IS AGAIN LINCOLN SQUARE IN OAKLAND. (Photo by Kingston Gee)
Joey Hu (South Bay) vs Kock Loe (North Bay)
KOCK LOE GOES INTO HIS MATCH AGAINST JOEY HU AS A SLIGHT FAVORITE. (Photo by Kingston Gee)
Both players play the one-sided inverted penhold game and like to counter and smash and do not really have a loop in their game yet. However, both seem to be working on adding a topspin into their game. Loe goes in as a slight favorite but the results do not point to that. Hu dominates this match and wins convincingly 3-0. Hu gets in with his powerful smash and Loe is very tentative to attempt his own. Hu's topspin serves were a big weapon and Loe misses about 10 of these serve returns. Since Loe does not make the adjustment and makes the same mistake over and over, Loe was likely nervous and not on his "A" game.
JOEY HU WINS THE OPENING MATCH OF THE ALL-STAR GAME. (Photo by Kingston Gee)
Sara Fu (South Bay) vs Jackie Lee (North Bay)
SARA FU HAS YET TO LOSE A TOURNAMENT MATCH AGAINST JACKIE LEE. (Photo by Kingston Gee)
Lee and Fu have played a few times in competition and although Lee has played Fu close, Lee has yet to win a tournament match in their battles. However, in this match, Lee's forehand has improved and is much more consistent on blocks and loops this match than she typically is. Fu is playing mainly cross-court in the beginning of this match and with a blown lead in the second game, Fu is down 2-0. Lee, being up 2-0 in games, has a 8-3 in the third game. However, Fu then outscores Lee 21-4 as she starts playing down-the-line, using her backhand serves, and chopping heavy to Lee's forehand and middle. Lee's forehand is improved against loops, flips, and blocks but still needs work against chop. The match goes to the fifth where Lee pulls away to win 11-7 to land her first career victory over Fu. Lee's improved forehand may have been the difference between her victory this match and her losses in previous matches.
JACKIE LEE WINS HER FIRST MATCH IN COMPETITION OVER SARA FU. (Photo by Kingston Gee)
Sean Lee/Shashin Shodhan (South Bay) vs Freddie Gabriel/James Therriault (North Bay)
This match was decided by the narrowest of margins with Gabriel and Therriault winning the first game by two points and losing the next three by two points. Since Therriault is a defensive player who rarely attacks, Lee and Shodhan felt a "safety" where they knew they had to simply return the ball hit by Gabriel back on the table as they would have time to react to Therriault's shots. However, Therriault does vary the spin effectively and gives Lee some problems who still needs more experience against spin variation. The match ends with a 13-15, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 win for the South Bay.
Ariel Hsing vs Lily Zhang - Future Stars Match
ARIEL HSING IS THE TOP 11-YEAR OLD GIRL IN THE COUNTRY. (Photo by Kingston Gee)
The top two US women currently are Gao Jun and Wang Chen, both of whom are former World Champions when they were playing for the Chinese National Team in the 1990s. They help make the strongest team the US has ever had in women's competition and will have a realistic chance to lead the US women to a medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. However, how much would the American mainstream media care if two players who acquired all their skills in foreign lands help the US to a medal? We now turn to Ariel Hsing and Lily Zhang, two girls raised and trained here and would be good for their age even compared to China-trained 11-year olds and 10-years olds. Ariel Hsing, at age 10, became the youngest girl to ever make a US National Team as she qualified in cadet under 15 years old girls national team at the 2005 US Nationals. Lily Zhang, at age 10, matched Hsing's feat at the 2006 US Nationals. Hsing finished first at the December 2006 Nationals in the cadet girls under 15 years old national team tryouts and Zhang finished second to Hsing. They both are scary-talented as Hsing has incredibly fast hands for her age and Zhang has incredibly fast feet for her age. Zhang is faster than the boys her age. Oh yeah!....and about their match....they play fast counterdriving rallies with Hsing emerging the victor 3-0. Zhang has yet to win a tournament match between the two.
LILY ZHANG IS THE TOP 10-YEAR OLD GIRL IN THE COUNTRY. (Photo by Kingston Gee)
Shashin Shodhan (South Bay) vs James Therriault (North Bay)
SHASHIN SHODHAN HAS STARTED RUNNING TOURNAMENTS LIKE JAMES THERRIAULT HAS DONE FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS. (Photo by Kingston Gee)
Shodhan and Therriault both run tournaments now as Shodhan joined Therriault in that capacity with his recent Nationals Warm-Up tournament in December in this same venue. Therriault has yet to win a match against Shashin Shodhan in over a decade as Shodhan's loops and smashes generally have too much power for Therriault to handle. However, Shodhan plays a "semi-for fun" match and hits his smashes to Therriault and the two play some spectacular points for the crowd. Therriault's defense draws loud applause after some of their best points. The points played in the end of the first game were the best and will likely be the best points for the Fox Sports Bay Area broadcast. The South Bay, now with three victories, has clinched the victory in the all-star game. However, the battle of the top guns Sean Lee and Freddie Gabriel is still to be played.
JAMES THERRIAULT'S LOBBING CAUSES THE CROWD TO ERUPT IN CHEERS. (Photo by Kingston Gee)
Sean Lee (South Bay) vs Freddie Gabriel (North Bay)
SEAN LEE FACES FREDDIE GABRIEL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PRACTICE OR COMPETITION. (Photo by Kingston Gee)
Lee and Gabriel surprisingly have never played in practice or competition so this is the first team Gabriel faces Lee's forehand loop and the first time Lee faces Gabriel's serves. Lee is training right now to make the US Boys Junior National Team in San Diego in the end of February. Gabriel hopes to make his first US National Men's National Team at the San Diego tryouts. Lee gets in with his forehand in the opener and wins 12-10. However, Gabriel dominates from that point on and Lee does get to deuce in the fourth game but Gabriel emerges the victor 3-1.
FREDDIE GABRIEL CLOSES OUT THE ALL-STAR GAME WITH A WIN. (Photo by Kingston Gee)