Top Talent to Compete at 2015 Butterfly Badger Open
by Barbara Wei

On September 18^th-20^th, over 250 table tennis players will descend on Franklin, WI (15 miles from downtown Milwaukee) to compete in the 8th annual Badger Open. Among the 250+ players will be top Chinese born player-coaches from across the country including those representing powerhouse east coast clubs such as Maryland Table Tennis Center (MDTTC), Lily Yip Table Tennis Center (LYTTC) and New York Indoor Sports Club (NYISC). In addition to top Chinese player-coaches, the tournament will also feature the nation’s best collegiate players from NCTTA schools with esteemed table tennis programs, such as Mississippi College (2015 Collegiate Champions) and Lindenwood University (2015 Collegiate Semifinalists).

Ruichao Chen (2701), 2015 Butterfly Aurora Cup Champion, and Jishan Liang (2669), 2015 Butterfly Cary Cup Champion, lead the list of top players in the hotly contested Open Singles Event. The two top seeds have each won one event on this year’s Butterfly North American Tour and are looking to snag their second title. However, their journey to the championship title and $2,000 in prize money will not be easy. They need to face and overcome formidable challengers such as MDTTC coaches Jianhao Sun (2579), Bowen Chen (2520) and Mississippi College top players Cheng Li (2558) and Yichi Zhang (2567). In addition, 4 wild card players from Indonesia will travel from their home country to compete in the Open Singles event bringing a level of surprise and anticipation to the draw.

The 2015 Badger Open will take place at the Milwaukee Sports Complex, a new location featuring over 50,000 square feet of space and 45 premium Butterfly tables. This year’s event is part of the 2015 Butterfly North American Tour and the 2015 Midwest Circuit. Spectator fees are $5 for each day of competition. All players, fans and curious visitors are welcome to come and experience high level table tennis competition with Midwest friendliness in Wisconsin this weekend.   

Continual coverage of the Badger Open and stories about the athletes will be available at ButterflyOnline.com, or via Butterfly North America’s Twitter and Facebook pages.