(by Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT)
Major League Table Tennis moved to the Westchester Table Tennis Center in Pleasantville, New York, for Week 3 of Season 4. The Texas Smash and Florida Crocs played their first matches of the year, and the Atlanta Blazers and New York Slice were back for their second weekends. Florida won all three of its matches, two of them after trailing going into the Golden Game, and the finale decided every match. Two Golden Games were won 21-20, including one where Texas came back from match point down.
Friday: Texas Smash vs. Florida Crocs
All five opening matches were 2-1 in games. Jishan Liang started the weekend with a 2-1 win over Hiromitsu Kasahara, closing it 11-7 in the third. Andrea Todorovic then took the first two games from Amy Wang before Wang got one back, 11-9. Liang returned for doubles with Angel Naranjo, and they beat Senura Silva and Kasahara in the first two games to put the Crocs up 6-3. Texas came back late. Nandan Naresh beat Daniel Gorak 2-1, winning the third 11-8, and David McBeath took two of three from Marc Duran. That cut Florida’s lead to 8-7 going into the Golden Game. Naranjo’s 5-3 stretch against McBeath gave Florida the edge, and the Crocs won the finale 21-16 and the six bonus points for a 14-7 win.
Friday: Atlanta Blazers vs. New York Slice
The evening match went back and forth through the opening five, with every win but one coming in straight games. Kayama Yu gave Atlanta the lead with a 3-0 sweep of Koki Niwa, holding on 11-10 in the third. He Li answered for New York with an equally convincing 3-0 win over Rachel Sung. Niwa bounced back in doubles, teaming with Kaden Xu to beat Yu and Jiwei Xia two games to one. Woojin Kim swept Yiran Wu 3-0, again finishing with an 11-10 game, and Mohamed El Beialy came back from losing the first game to take two of three from Quadri Aruna. That left Atlanta up 8-7 going into the Golden Game. Aruna (6-2 against El Beialy) and Yu (7-1 against He Li) opened up a 16-7 lead. New York got back within 20-17 behind Xu’s 6-2 stretch and Johan Hagberg’s 4-2, but Atlanta scored the final point to win 21-17 and take the six bonus points for a 14-7 victory.
Saturday: Florida Crocs vs. Atlanta Blazers
Atlanta controlled most of Saturday afternoon, but Florida won the match in the Golden Game. Quadri Aruna beat Asuka Sakai 2-1 to open, winning the third game easily, 11-4. Andrea Todorovic tied it by taking the first two games from Jessica Reyes-Lai. Jishan Liang and Angel Naranjo then beat Kayama Yu and Jiwei Xia in doubles, winning the first two games 11-6, 11-6. After that the Blazers took over. Woojin Kim swept Daniel Gorak 3-0, and Yu came back after losing an 11-10 first game to beat Liang 2-1, sending Atlanta into the Golden Game up 9-6. Atlanta led the finale 12-9 after Yu’s 6-2 stretch against Naranjo, but Liang answered with an 8-3 run against Xia to put Florida in front. Todorovic closed it out 4-3 against Reyes-Lai, giving the Crocs a 21-18 Golden Game win and a 12-9 comeback victory.
Saturday: Texas Smash vs. New York Slice
Texas earned its first win of the weekend on Saturday night, though New York pushed the Golden Game to the end. Nandan Naresh came back after dropping the first game to beat Koki Niwa 2-1. He Li won for the second straight night, taking two of three from Anastasiia Kolish. Niwa and Kaden Xu then won their second doubles match of the weekend in straight games, beating Naresh and Senura Silva, and the Slice led 5-4. Hiromitsu Kasahara responded with the most lopsided win of the weekend, sweeping Johan Hagberg 11-4, 11-5, 11-4. David McBeath then came back from a game down to beat Mohamed El Beialy, putting Texas up 8-7 going into the Golden Game. Kolish and McBeath (6-2 against Yiran Wu) built a 10-5 lead, but Niwa and Xu each won their stretches 5-3 to get New York within 16-15. Silva held his ground, splitting 4-4 with El Beialy, and Texas won the finale 21-19 to take the six bonus points and a 14-7 win.
Sunday: Texas Smash vs. Atlanta Blazers
Texas dominated the opening five on Sunday morning, then needed a late rally to win the Golden Game. Hiromitsu Kasahara beat Quadri Aruna in a match that came down to an 11-10 third game. Anastasiia Kolish swept Jessica Reyes-Lai 3-0. Senura Silva and David McBeath came from a game down to beat Kayama Yu and Jiwei Xia in doubles. McBeath then beat Woojin Kim 2-1, winning both of his games 11-10, and Nandan Naresh won the first two games against Yu, which put Texas up 11-4 going into the Golden Game. Atlanta controlled most of the finale. Yu went 6-1 against Naresh, and Aruna went 6-2 against Kasahara, and the Blazers led 17-6. Silva (6-2 against Rachel Sung) and Kolish (4-1 against Xia) cut into the lead, but Atlanta still led 20-16 and needed only one point for the six bonus points. Texas went on to win the Golden Game 21-20 and the match 17-4.
Sunday: Florida Crocs vs. New York Slice
New York came into the final match of the weekend still looking for its first win of the season, and the Slice controlled most of the afternoon. Jishan Liang won the first two games against Kaden Xu to give Florida the lead, but He Li came back from losing the first game to beat Andrea Todorovic 2-1, taking the second game 11-10, for his third singles win of the weekend. Koki Niwa and Yiran Wu then came back after dropping an 11-10 first game to beat Liang and Angel Naranjo, giving Niwa a third doubles win in three days. Mohamed El Beialy and Niwa each won their first two games against Marc Duran and Asuka Sakai, and New York went into the Golden Game up 9-6, the same deficit Florida had overcome against Atlanta a day earlier. He Li gave the Slice an early edge with a 4-2 stretch against Todorovic, and Liang and Sakai each split 4-4. Daniel Gorak’s 5-3 stretch against El Beialy and Duran’s 6-2 against Wu brought Florida back, and the Crocs won the Golden Game 21-20 and the match 12-9.
When the weekend in Westchester wrapped up, the Florida Crocs had gone 3-0 in their season debut, winning all three Golden Games. Texas finished 2-1, Atlanta went 1-2, and New York left 0-3. That drops the Slice to 0-6 on the season, despite three singles wins from He Li and three doubles wins from Koki Niwa. MLTT’s Season 4 continues from October 30-Nov 1 at ULH Event Center in Houston, Texas.
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