(by Charles Shen)
During the Memorial Day weekend of 2023, I traveled to the 888 Table Tennis Center in Burlingame, California for the Silicon Valley Teams Championship. There were close to 70 teams in this event, and professional players from outside the US even competed in the games. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the opportunity to play them because our team was placed in division two, but still, I faced off against several table tennis behemoths that gave me a good challenge.
The format for the tournament was the exact same as the olympic format. The doubles match was played first, then 4 singles followed up afterwards.
My teammates during this competition were Albert Yang and Rignesh Padamanur. In every match we played, Albert and Rignesh paired up for doubles, leaving me to conquer the slot that played 2 singles. The duo were a doubles powerhouse; they went undefeated in doubles until the final match where they had to face off against a significantly stronger doubles pair. They were amazing teammates, and without them, I would never have the opportunity to play this event.
In the preliminary, we faced off against a team with an average ranking about 100 points above ours. Right from the start, we were faced off with a Herculean task to tackle. We won the first team point by winning the doubles. In doubles, Albert and Rignesh demolished the opposition 3-0, giving them no chance to come back. However, I lost the next team point by losing the singles match to a strong opponent. We ended up losing to them 3-1, dropping all of our points in the singles portion. Due to this loss, we were placed in division 2.
In each division, there were 8 teams, and everyone had to play everyone else, like a round robin system. Even though division 2 consisted of weaker opponents and teams, we still had many large hurdles to jump over. Our team was seeded 2nd out of the 8 teams in division 2, but the team averages were only separated by a few points. In the end, we wound up earning the silver medal, only losing to the first seeded team.
In the first round, we faced off against the 7th seed. They weren’t that strong so we had a relatively easy win. The only concert we had was when Rignesh almost choked a 2-0 lead against one of their players. Against this team, we won 3-0.
In the second round, we played against the 5th seed. This team posed a decent challenge to us. In an epic showdown, we defeated their doubles pair 3-2. Both sides ripped the ball back and forth from 50 feet away from the table, resulting in brilliant rallies. In the end, the valiant attempts to fight back from the opposition wasn’t enough to bring down our golden duo.
I then defeated their top player 3-1. She had a really good serve, which I struggled on, leading me to drop a set. Albert lost the 3rd team point match against a kid trained in China. In the 4th team point match, I sealed the victory by defeating another one of their players 3-1. We beat this team 3-1.
In the third round, we played against the 3rd seed. Even though this team was right under us in strength, they weren’t a big problem. We won 3-0, however, I had a really close call with one of their players, beating him 3-2.
In the fourth round, we played against the 8th seed. This team was meant to be in a lower division than us, but they beat the team that was meant to be in division 2 during the preliminary round. We swept them 3-0 with no sweat.
In the fifth round, we played against the 6th seed. Although they were a decent amount lower than us in team strength, they were no easy pass. In doubles, we beat them in a smooth 3-1 victory. In the 2nd team point match, I defeated their top player 3-1. I’ve played him before and lost to him that time, so this is my revenge. In the 3rd team point match, Rignesh lost to their middle player. He was up 5-1 in the fifth set, but then the opponent pulled out the illegal serve and got 6 points off of Rignesh’s bad serve receive. I don’t know why Rignesh didn’t call out his serve during the match. Lastly, I made an epic comeback against my opponent and won 3-2 to finish off the match. My opponent was up 2-0 and even had a match point in the third set. Despite this, I managed to collect myself and come soaring back on the scoreboard, eventually defeating him 11-4 in the fifth game. We ended up beating this team 3-1.
In the sixth round, we faced off against the 4th seed. Out of the matches we won, this one was by far the tensest one. We first won the doubles match in a back and forth struggle. All of the sets were deuce, but in the end, we came out on top. Then, I defeated their middle player in a close 3-1 match. He had a very annoying no spin serve, which he followed up with a devastating forehand power shot. I had to gather up my courage and use some unfamiliar shots against him. In the 3rd team point match, Rignesh pulled off one of the biggest throws of ping pong history. In the first set, he was up 7-2, but managed to lose in deuce. He won the next two sets quite easily, and when he was up 7-2 again in the fourth set, we thought he was going to finish the job. He proved us wrong. Once again, he somehow found a way to lose the same advantage again. In the final set, he acquired a 10-5 lead, but couldn’t execute the final blow. For the third time in the match, his opponent caught up and beat him in deuce. I was up next against their top player, but he proved too much for my skill level. He outlasted me in a 3-2 match, winning many points off of his weird serve and his excellent consistency. In the last team point match, Albert clutched up against the player I defeated. He beat him 3-2, 11-9 in the fifth game, and there were many impressive rallies during the match. After all of the mayhem, we just barely beat them 3-2.
In the final round, we played the 1st seed. Against this team, Albert and Rignesh dropped their first doubles match of this tournament, losing 1-3 against the opponent’s doubles pair. After that, I played against and beat their middle player 3-1. He had a very annoying serve that I could never receive comfortably, but in the end, I still prevailed. In the third team point match, Albert lost to a female coach with short pips on backhand in a super tight 2-3 match. He was down 5-10 in the fifth set but somehow survived until deuce, but then he played too passively and lost 11-13. Lastly, I was up against their best player, and he left me absolutely no chance to fight. He controlled all of my strong points and always got the first opening. He beat me so badly he made me look like a beginner. In the last team match, we lost 1-3.
During this event I had many formidable opponents. Among these people were Terry Young, Priyan Jindal, and Arnav Khinvasara.
I played Terry Young in the third round of the event. He was my first match on the second day of the tournament, and he gave me a good scare. He obtained a 2-1 lead by winning the first and the third game, but I still was able to win. As a chopper, he was very tedious to play against. I also got really mad during the match due to the sheer amount of nets he got. In the third set, he got 3 really important nets that resulted in him winning the set. I remember shouting, “This guy is so lucky!” after I lost that set.
I played Priyan Jindal in the fifth round of the event. He was up 2-0, 11-10 against me and I was on the verge of giving up. Albert’s encouragement from the corner was the last bit of willpower I had left, but I still barely managed to power through and take the set 14-12. In the fourth set, I was up 10-4 and got ready to loosen up, but the opponent refused to give up and caught up to 10-9. After calming down and stalling for a little too long, I won the last point in an intense counterlooping rally. In the last set, he completely broke down and I swiftly finished him off in a 11-4 destruction round.
I played Arnav Khinvasara in the sixth round of the event. I’ve played him in the past during the Team Trials of 2023, and I lost to him in a nail-biting 2-3 match. In contrast to last time, it wasn’t very close. Although it was a 2-3 match again. The sets he won weren’t close in score. It should have been a 1-3 match, but when he was up 2-1, 4-0, I got really lucky and got 4 nets in a row, which was just enough momentum to let me take off. The entire ICC crew was cheering for him when he played me, and I only had 3 supporters. Once again, he got the better of me and I failed to beat him this time around.
Overall, I had a thrilling experience at the 888 Table Tennis Center. Just like the last time we went there, the conditions were phenomenal. The tournament director’s were always on time and not a single round was started late. On top of that, I got to reunite with old friends that I normally don’t get to visit on the west coast.
