(by: Fremont Table Tennis Academy)
Fremont Table Tennis Academy had an excellent performance at the 2022 U.S. Open that just concluded yesterday in Ontario, California. It was the best and most rewarding experience for our students! Our students had a combined 2 US Opens of experience going into this one. We had 7 students stay the full week (2 more stayed for 1-2 days) and supported by their families and each other, we won 7 medals to become the only club that sent many players to average one medal won per participant! There were easy wins, awesome comebacks, nail-biting finishes, and disappointing losses. The ups and downs of these important tournaments allow the students to grow.
All the 7 medals were won on 2 days. Other days were rest days, age events, or higher rating events for experience. On Saturday morning, December 17, Fremont Table Tennis Academy won its first 3 medals in under 1400 and under 1000. Rohan Bubna won gold in the under 1400 event with the loss of only two games. In the under 1000 event, Tanishq Dhavali made the finals and lost narrowly to earn silver. He won over teammate Mihika Vangapalli in the semis who got the bronze.
On the final day of play, Wednesday, December 21, Fremont Table Tennis Academy won 4 medals. Priyanshu Ghosh showed excellent mental toughness to win 7 matches 3-1 or 3-2 to win the gold in the Under 1600 event! His toughest match was the quarterfinals against clubmate Tega Sebeni coming back from down match point to win.
Also, on the final day of play, Fremont TTA had 3 of the final 4 in Under 1300! Tanishq won silver defeating clubmate Rohan Bubna in the semis who would get the bronze. Rohan won his second medal of the US Open to follow his gold in Under 1400. 10-year old Karthik had possibly the comeback of the tournament in the round of 16 of Under 1300. He was down 10-4 and won 8 straight points to win showing poise well above his age! He would win the quarters comfortably and narrowly lost 3-2 in semis to get the bronze. This would make him the youngest male singles medalist at the 2022 US Open.
Other events students played included age events. The US kids for their age are competitive with or better than just about every country in table-tennis. Students performed very well in those events as well. Rohan Bubna, rated 1552, defeated a player rated over 2000 in boys 15 years and under. In girls 15 years and under, Tega, rated 1438, lost very narrowly to the top 2 seeds in her group both rated over 2000. One match was 3-2 and in another match, she had game points in 2 of the 3 games she lost. Mihika and Rithika played girls 13 years and under and lost 4 of the 6 games by the minimum 2-point margin to the top seeds rated over 1000 points higher than them. Karthik won two matches in boys 11 years and under (both 16-14 in the 5th!) and lost only to the eventual finalist.
Adult student Abilash played the adult Under 1000 and Under 1400. He made quarters in Under 1000 and was one game from advancing in Under 1400. Shaarav came for the final two days and played for experience and narrowly lost. There were many quarterfinal and round of 16 finishes for our students in addition to the 7 medals.
Overall, students performed superbly on the court and gelled and supported each other off the court. Everyone is very happy to have gone through this week and we look forward to more major tournaments.
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