2017 Maryland State Championships held at MDTTC

2017 Maryland State Championships held at MDTTC
$4500 Maryland State Championships
By Larry Hodges, tournament director

 June 10-11 – The $4500 Maryland State Championships were held this weekend at the Maryland Table Tennis Center (MDTTC) in Gaithersburg, MD, with 88 players. The two biggest winners at the tournament were Men’s Singles Champion Chen Bowen (18) and Tiffany Ke (12). Main results are below; complete results are at Omnipong.

 In the Men’s Final, #1 seed Chen, an all-out two-winged penhold looper who loops harder than Mike Tyson could ever punch, defeated #2 seed and last year’s champion, Jeffrey Zeng, known for his consistent rallying shots, at 10,8,-10,12,-8,1. In the semifinals, it was Chen over Khaleel Asgarali (5,9,5,10), who would go on to win Under 2400, and Zeng over Roy Ke in a titanic seven-game battle, -12,3,-8,8,-6,7,4. (Here’s a photo of the Final.)

 Chen and Zeng teamed up to win Open Doubles, over chopper/loopers Wang Qing Liang/Wu Jiacheng, at 7,-6,10,10. All four are full-time coaches at MDTTC. Brother/sister combo Roy and Tiffany Ke came in third in the final RR – and were up 2-1 on Chen/Zeng, and up 2-0 on Wang/Wu.

 In the Women’s Final, top-seeded Tiffany Ke (2302 at age 12!), an all-out hitter with short pips on the forehand, defeated close-to-the-table two-winged looper Lisa Lin (13), 8,7,8. It was a repeat of last year’s final, where Ke had become the youngest Maryland State Women’s Singles Champion ever at age 11, winning deuce in the fifth over Lin (then 12) in the youngest Maryland Women’s Final in history.

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