PROFILE SECTION

Player of the Month: Interview with Han Xiao

Age/DOB: Age 21, DOB 12/19/1986

Home Clubs: Club Joola in Rockville; MDTTC in Gaithersburg; PCTTC in Potomac.

Equipment
Racket:                   Rossi Force FL
Forehand sponge:   Drum MAX
Backhand sponge:   Mambo C MAX
Shoes:                    JOOLA Bend Shoes

What are your best titles or rankings

Two-time National Men’s Doubles Champion
2007 National Men’s Singles Semifinalist
2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 National Men’s Team Member
2007 Pan Am Bronze Medalist for Men’s Teams

At the recent USA Olympic and World Team Trials, Han started off poorly, losing his first two matches to David Zhuang and Eric Owens – the latter a heart-breaker as he won the first two games 11-2 before losing 9-11 in the seventh. Did he give up? Nope . . . he reeled off nine straight matches to finish 9-2 and come in second. This not only put him on the USA Team, but qualified him for the North American Olympic Trials in April, where the top four USA men and women play off against the top four Canadian men and women for the final Olympic spots. (There are three men’s spots.) A graduating senior with a double major in computer science and business at University of Maryland, Han has found a successful balance between studying and practice.

When and how did you start playing?
At age 6, my family saw an ad for a class Larry Hodges was teaching at MDTTC (at that time called the National Table Tennis Center), and I began taking lessons casually.

Describe your playing style.
Two winged close to the table attacker, with a controlling over the table backhand.

Who are your coaches (past or present)? Who do you practice with?
Cheng Yinghua, Larry Hodges, Gao Jun. I have been practicing most recently with Richard Lee and Sean Lonergan.

What are you currently working on?
I’m working mainly on my footwork and my defensive ability, along with continuing to fine-tune my serve and receive. I’m also working on my attack off of fishing/lobbing.

What are your table tennis goals – short-, intermediate- and long-term?
Short-term: Improve my footwork and match toughness before the second stage of the Olympic trials in April.

Intermediate- and long-term: Maintain my current level and continue to fine tune parts of my game, specifically my short game and serve return.

What are your interests outside table tennis?
My career, music, computer/video games, other sports, stand-up comedy, history, puzzles.

Tell us something really interesting about yourself.
I’m somewhat of a history buff, especially war history. The American Civil War is one of my favorites.

(Editor’s note: I spent years trying to stump Han on Civil War questions, but never once got him.)