JOOLA USA

Han Xiao

We began the team event against Guatemala. Although the match was not easy by any stretch, we were able to win 3-0. I played only doubles in this team tie. The same applied for the next against the Dominican Republic. Although Lin Ju was able to win his match, the remainder of the Dominicans were unable to pick up a point for their team, and we prevailed by 3 matches to 1.

In the quarterfinals, we went up against a competitive Mexican team. Marcos Madrid won the first match for Mexico over Eric Owens in a close 5 game match. However, Mark Hazinski was able to even the match, easily defeating Guillermo Munoz. Eric and I were then able to pull out a victory in doubles to go up 2 matches to 1. I was then able to close out the match by beating Madrid, 3-0. I felt confident and relaxed during my match, and was able to think clearly and employ the correct tactics, allowing me a comfortable victory.

We finally had our run ended in the semifinals by a tough Argentina team, which included top 100 player Liu Song. We lost the team match 3-2, as Liu Song beat me in the 5th and final match. I had won the first game, and had leads of 10-8 in the 2nd game and 9-5 in the 3rd game, but lost both. I eventually lost the match 3-1, and we had to settle for bronze.

Singles was very tough, since the tournament had been dragging on for a while. I was able to beat the 4th player in my group, but lost 4-1 to both Hugo Hoyama and Pierre-Luc Hinse. I felt slower than in the team event, and just wasn’t as motivated. Meanwhile, Mark Hazinski and Eric Owens both lost to Liu Song in consecutive rounds, Mark in the round of 16 and Eric in the quarterfinals.

Overall, it seemed like the tournament just dragged on a little too long and some of the players had difficulty focusing. The Brazilian crowds, however, were unbelievable. They really gave the Brazilian team a lift, and it’s no wonder that the Brazilian men’s team took home the gold. Our women’s team performed well, taking home gold in teams and gold and bronze in singles. Although the men failed to medal in singles, we put up a good fight in the team event. The downside was that the tournament highlighted the fact that we desperately lack training and tournament experience. We often held leads against opposing players but just could not hold on. This is an area that I’m sure we all would like to work on for the future.