(by Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT’s Michael Mixon)

Major League Table Tennis kicked off its fourth season this weekend at Gas South Convention Center in Duluth, Georgia. Four teams opened the year in the same building: Chicago Wind, Atlanta Blazers, Princeton Revolution, and the Los Angeles Spinners. True to form, every single match in the building was decided by the Golden Game.

Friday: Chicago Wind vs. Atlanta Blazers

The Blazers opened their season with a statement, even though it took the full six points to get there. Emmanuel Lebesson won the opener for the Wind over Quadri Aruna 2-1, but Jessica Reyes-Lai answered with a sweep of Mo Zhang to put the Blazers in the lead. Chicago’s doubles pair of Sean Zhang and Daniel Tran won going away, putting the Wind up again, but Atlanta 2 of 3 in both of the final two singles — Woojin Kim over Alexandru Cazacu and Yuya Oshima over Sean Zhang — to turn the match around, 14-7, heading into the Golden Game. Atlanta controlled the finale from the jump, with Oshima and Aruna combining to smother Chicago’s rotation, and the Blazers finished with a 21-18 win in their franchise’s Season 4 opener.

Friday: Princeton Revolution vs. Los Angeles Spinners

The Spinners were sharp in their first look at Princeton, jumping out to a 7-2 lead behind Aditya Sareen’s win over Benedek Olah, a sweep from Matilda Ekholm over Jiangshan Guo, and a doubles win for Pištej/Madrid. Princeton’s Koyo Kanamitsu kept the Revolution within shouting distance with a win over Alexandre Robinot, but Pištej closed out the singles with a 2-1 win over Seungmin Cho to send LA into the Golden Game well ahead. The finale was tighter than expected with Princeton winning 2/3 of the “golden” points, but they were too far behind — and the Spinners escaped with a 21-15 win.

Saturday: Princeton Revolution vs. Chicago Wind

Chicago was back on the table the next morning against Princeton, and this time it was the Revolution delivering the finishing kick. Princeton’s Jiangshan Guo logged a sweep, winning all three in her match against Mo Zhang. Sean Zhang for the wind did the same with a 3-0 win over Kanamitsu.  The other matches were all 2-1 wins: Wind’s Lebesson, Wind’s doubles team, and Revolution’s Cho.  The Revolution finished strong in the Golden Game, taking the overall match by a score of 21-14.

Saturday: Los Angeles Spinners vs. Atlanta Blazers

Atlanta had a strong comeback in the Golden Game, but they fell short.  They fell behind 15-6 with only Aruna and Sung winning their matches.  Koi Lei, and Alexandre Robinot each won 3-0 to close out singles giving the Spinners a massive advantage.  Atlanta managed to score 11 points in the Golden Game, but that only got them to 17 – losing 21-17 to the Spinners.

Sunday: Los Angeles Spinners vs. Chicago Wind

The Wind flipped the script on final day, winning their first match over the Spinners. Robert Gardos and Mo Zhang each swept their singles, and though LA’s doubles pair of Pištej/Madrid nudged ahead in three, Sean Zhang and Emmanuel Lebesson closed out the singles portion for Chicago, handing the Wind a commanding 12-3 lead. The Golden Game was similarly one-sided — Lebesson and Gardos combined to shut the door — and Chicago cruised to a 21-9 win.

Sunday: Princeton Revolution vs. Atlanta Blazers

Princeton closed out the weekend in dominant fashion. Jiangshan Guo and Koyo Kanamitsu each swept their singles matches, and they were up 19-2 going in to the Golden Game. Princeton cruised to a 21-7 win.

When the dust settled in Duluth, Princeton Revolution and the Los Angeles Spinners each left 2-1, while Chicago Wind and the Atlanta Blazers finished 1-2. MLTT’s Season 4 now heads West, with the league’s next stop at Compass Arena in Willowbrook, Illinois, September 25-27.

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