http://universalsports.nbcsports.com/articles/show/40262?sport_id=23

Table tennis feast in Philly

Table Tennis | NBC Olympics | Monday January 14

By Kyle O'Neill, NBCOlympics.com Related: Photo gallery from U.S. Team trials PHILADELPHIA -- It's fitting that Ariel Hsing lists "Hannah Montana" as her favorite TV show. The Disney Channel hit, premised around a "normal" teenage girl who leads a secret second life as a singing sensation, is something the 12-year-old table tennis star can relate to. Ariel, at one moment, is an average Gap-wearing pre-teen walking around still just a child in a larger adult world. With a step into the realm of athletic competition, however, she takes on a much more mature persona, representing the U.S. as not only the top junior table tennis player in the country but also as the eventual "face" of the sport in America.
Quite a daunting task for a junior high student from San Jose, Calif. But the girl who has "Let Go" written on her left forearm to remind her to be fearless while playing knows something about pressure and how to deal with it. On Jan. 13, the final day of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Drexel University, it was the future meeting the present as Ariel, who also finished seventh in the event, squared off against Gao Jun, the country's top female player, in an exhibition. Gao made an unexpected visit to Philadelphia given she has been training in China for the Olympics. Though it was clear that the United States' No. 1 player wouldn't be relinquishing her crown to Ariel anytime soon, the young girl held her own during the exhibition. "(Gao's) really good," Hsing said. "I have never played her in a game, even though that was an exhibition game. But she was very consistent. I've heard she was consistent, but she was amazing." Ariel's father, Michael, even found a financial bonus with the exhibition. "It was fun," he said. "It was a free lesson; I can save some money." Philly fanatics So, how do you turn on a sports nation fueled by the dollar to a sport that doesn't produce that much revenue for its athletes? Though a small win for table tennis, Drexel University may have figured that question out with a simple American ploy: advertising. Just driving through the Drexel campus and city, it was tough not to see some reference to the four-day trials on display. The campaign worked.	Table tennis talk "They’re surprisingly really good. They’re both really good." –- Ariel Hsing on getting the opportunity to play both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett at Buffett’s 75th birthday a few years ago and at a stockholder’s meeting in Omaha, Neb. this past summer. "For me, for us parents, it’s a big deal. I’m an engineer, so it’s like, ‘That’s Bill Gates.’ For her, it’s like an uncle from a club." –- Michael Hsing, an engineer for IBM, on his reaction to what his daughter has experienced. "It’s funny, because their mindset totally changes once they watch me play." –- Jacqueline Lee, third-place finisher on the women’s side, on how people go from "ping pong" fans to table tennis fans. "If we continue to have more events like this, with the turnout that we had, I think table tennis will be on the rise with the more popular sports. It takes some time to get the audience to understand the sport." -- Nan Li, who finished second at the Trials, on what the turnout at Drexel University meant to her. "It’s like an egg and chicken -- which one will you have first? If you don’t change the environment of the players, you’ll never get the medal from the Olympics. So you have to change the system first and give the young players hope." –- David Zhuang, the men’s trials winner, on whether an Olympic medal would get America excited about table tennis.
Saturday and Sunday competitions saw packed, animated crowds reacting positively to the serious matches at hand and the lob-and-smash displays by eventual men's winner David Zhuang and Philadelphia's own Razvan Cretu on Saturday. "This tournament was a tremendous tournament; the conditions were very nice," Zhuang, who went 9-2, said. "I'm happy to see that many people come to watch table tennis. I would like to see people enjoy this sport - it's an amazing sport." On the women's side, the crowd response was just as noticeable. "I was playing - in the middle of my match (when) I shouldn't be thinking about this - when the seats were full (on Saturday), and I had a feeling like I'm a real table tennis professional," said Whitney Ping, 2004 Olympian and fourth-place finisher at the Trials. Saturday was an announced sellout, and Sunday had 1,800 fans come to watch the Olympic sport. The four-day attendance was over 5,500 people. The table tennis venue in Beijing, located on the campus of Peking University, seats about 7,500 spectators.