2016 Butterfly MDTTC June Open

by Director Larry Hodges

Saturday, June 11, 2016 – An even 70 players from ten – yes, 10! – states participated in the tournament. How often does a 2-star tournament get players from MD, VA, PA, NJ, NC, IL, IN, MO, NM, and DC? (I’m counting DC as a state here.) There were seven events: Open Singles, Over 50, Under 15, and Under 2350, 2000, 1700, and 1350. Here are the complete results, care of Omnipong, with a summary below. (Click on names to see photos.)

While Wang Qingliang chopped and power looped his way to winning the Open and $550, it was Raghu Nadmichettu who caused the most havoc, upsetting #1 seed Lyu You (2474) in the semifinals to make it to the final against Wang. But Raghu wasn’t through – immediately after the Open final he won the Under 2350 final over Toby Kutler, and so came out $450 richer than that morning. USA Cadet Boys’ Team Member Derek Nie (2413) won the first game in the semifinals against sometimes-coach and practice partner Wang, but after losing the second 14-12, it was all Wang.

Local junior chopping star Eric Li won Under 2000 over Yunhua Gong, while local junior lobbing star Daniel Sofer (age 11) won Under 1700 over Tamim Rajendram in a five-game battle. Under 1350 was another junior over a senior final, with Ainish Dassarma defeating Chris Buckley.

Hall of Famer Dave Sakai survived a five-game battle with Carl Bradley of Indiana in the Over 50 semifinals, and almost came back to win the final against Lixin Lang, coming back from down 0-2 before losing 13-11 in the fifth in a battle of bang-bang countering where neither player ever missed. Joon Chung made it to the semifinals against Lixin.

In the Under 15 final, it was all-out looping Adrian Yang over hyper-steady Hanfei Hu. Making it to the semifinals were Stanley Hsu and Lance Wei – the latter winning the first against Hanfei in deuce before going down in four.

Open Singles – Final: Wang Qingliang d. Raghu Nadmichettu, 7,6,-6,7,8; SF: Wang d. Derek Nie, -9,12,7,4,5; Nadmichettu d. Lyu You, -6,10,7,-7,-9,7,9; QF: Lyu d. Louis Levene, 4,7,4; Nadmichettu d. Stefano Ratti, -5,4,12,8; Nie d. Toby Kutler, 4,15,9; Wang d. Jessica Lin, 7,3,5.
Under 2350 – Final: Raghu Nadmichettu d. Toby Kutler, 6,-9,9,9; SF: Nadmichettu d. Eric Li, 8,6,1; Kutler d. Ronald Chen, 9,9,-9,9.
Under 2000 – Final: Eric Li d. Yunhua Gong, -2,9,6,7; SF: Li d. George Nie, 7,-5,5,9; Gong d. Xinsheng Michael Huang, 9,5,7.
Under 1700 – Final: Daniel Sofer d. Tamim Rajendram, 9,-8,6,-9,4; SF: Sofer d. Benjamin Parness, 5,8,8; Rajendram d. Ranjan Bhambroo, 8,9,10.
Under 1350 – Final: Ainish Dassarma d. Chris Buckley, 7,6,7; SF: Dassarma d. Jeff Howes, 5,10,-6,-2,10; Buckley d. Hanfei Hu, -8,2,10,7.
Over 50 – Final: Lixin Lang d. Dave Sakai, 9,7,-9,-9,11; SF: Lang d. Joon Chung, 9,7,6; Sakai d. Carl Bradley, 2,-9,5,-7,3.
Under 15 – Final: Adrian Yang d. Hanfei Hu, 7,-9,9,8; SF: Yang d. Stanley Hsu, 10,7,9; Hu d. Lance Wei, -10,8,6,5.

Visit the Maryland Table Tennis Center, MDTTC, website for more information on this “We Are Butterfly” club, and upcoming tournaments and events.