(by Steve Hopkins)
This year’s US Open Table Tennis Singles Champions are Minseo Oh and Yan Guo. Korean Minseo Oh didn’t drop a game until the Round of 16 where he topped Canadian Edward Ly 3-1. Oh then defeated Nandan Naresh 4-1, and Seungjun Lee 4-3 in a tight Semifinal. The other Men’s Semifinal was also tight, with Koyo Kanamitsu defeating Kou Lei 4-3.
In the Final, Minseo Oh came out on fire, winning the first three games at 7, 6, and 8. But the momentum shifted in the next two games with Koyo Kanamitsu fighting back with 11-5 and 11-3 wins. When Koyo outlasted Oh for a 12-10 win in the sixth game, it looked likely there’s be a Japanese winner. But Oh came out on fire again, winning the first 5 points, and then outlasting Koyo for the 11-8 win.
The Women’s Singles Final went to Yan Guo, making it two in a row for the talented Chinese player. Guo, now in her 40s, was a part of the Chinese National team and one of the best players in the world 20 years ago. Her consistency and technique helped her overcome her younger Chinese opponent, Chen Sun. The draw had Lily Zhang, Amy Wang, and Mo Zhang in the field, so that’s three players who have consistently been in the World Top 50. That didn’t cause much issue for the two Finalists – with Sun easily defeating Mo Zhang 4-1, and Guo taking out Lily Zhang and Amy Wang at 4-0 and 4-0 in consecutive matches. The Final was exciting, but Yan Guo was dominant – winning 4-1 (in tight games at 10, -8, 11, 2, and 14).
The Men’s Doubles title went to Nandan Naresh and Daniel Tran. Women’s Doubles went to Chen Sun and Chengzhu Zhu. And the Mixed Doubles title went to Jishan Liang and Chengzhu Zhu
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