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Date of Birth: Aug. 31, 1982 Residence: Richmond Education: Diablo Valley College Ethnicity: From Guam Rating: 2495 Style: All-around Equipment: Gatien Extra Blade with Mark V both sides Sponsor: Killerspin Clubs Played: Concord TTC, Oakland TTC, Palo Alto TTC |
Freddie started playing table-tennis in 1992 at the Concord Table Tennis Club under coach Bill Lui. Soon two new members, Peter Zajac and Terrence Lee, joined the club and the three of them became regular practice partners and became three of the best juniors in the country. After one successful Nationals, Freddie became the #1-ranked junior in the US in the under 14 and under 16 years old categories. He has won numerous national titles in rating and age events and considered becoming a professional player and was playing full-time at one point.
Table-tennis likely also kept him away from the dangerous streets of Richmond where he grew up. He kept at table-tennis but after a disappointing tournament in Los Angeles towards the end of 1999, Freddie got frustrated and decided to walk away from the game. He soon became a tennis player and focused full-time on that and actually became quite good at it. If he wanted to continue in tennis, he would have had to have spent a lot more time than he wanted to put in. He soon quit tennis and the table-tennis bug bit him again. In 2004, Freddie began playing table-tennis once again and now plans to continue with the sport.
At the 2005 Golden State Open in his home Concord club, Freddie upset two 2-time Olympians, Michael Hyatt of Jamaica and US' Khoa Nguyen. He beat Michael Hyatt in the Open Singles Round of 16 and in a spectacular match, he beat Khoa Nguyen 12-10 in the seventh in the Open Singles final round-robin. Freddie would pull out a heavy spin serve and use it at the crucial moments and the crowd erupted as Freddie won the last two points and recorded the best win of his career. Freddie also won the Under 2450 event and his rating jumped up by 200 points. Since then, Freddie has defeated both Khoa Nguyen and Michael Hyatt each twice more.