(by Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT)
The Carolina Gold Rush were the only team to go 3-0 at the ULH Event Center in Houston, October 30 – November 1. They outscored their opponents 50-19 and won the weekend’s final match against the Chicago Wind with first place at stake. Chicago finished 2-1. The Texas Smash went 1-2, and their two losses came in Golden Games decided by a combined three points. The Atlanta Blazers did not have a great outing – losing all three of their matches.
Friday: Atlanta Blazers vs. Carolina Gold Rush
Carolina opened the weekend with a 20-1 rout of Atlanta. Atlanta’s only point came in a single game of the second match (Jessica Reyes-Lai taking one of three against Hong Lin).
Eugene Wang set the tone in Singles 1, beating Wei Wang 11-3, 11-7, 11-6. Singles 2 was the closest match of the night. Jessica Reyes-Lai lost the first game to Hong Lin 11-10, took the second by the same 11-10 margin, and fell 11-9 in the third. That second game was the only one Atlanta won all evening.
In doubles, Kai Zhang and Chan Hyeok Park swept Mishel Levinski and Quadri Aruna 11-9, 11-7, 11-10. Park came back in Singles 3 to beat Levinski 11-7, 11-8, 11-6. Enzo Angles then finished the regulation matches by beating Tom Feng 11-7, 11-6, 11-7, which put Carolina ahead 14-1 going into the Golden Game.
Atlanta did better in the Golden Game, but Carolina still won the Golden Game 21-14 to collect the six bonus points.
Friday: Chicago Wind vs. Texas Smash
Texas won four of the five regulation matches, led 9-6 going into the Golden Game, and still lost 12-9.
Nandan Naresh gave Texas the early edge with a 2-1 win over Robert Gardos, 11-9, 7-11, 11-5. Mo Zhang won Chicago’s only regulation match in Singles 2. She dropped the first game to Amy Wang 11-6, then won the next two 11-7 and 11-2.
Senura Silva and Choi Inhyeok won the doubles 2-1 over Alexandru Cazacu and Emmanuel Lebesson, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9. Choi then beat Sean Zhang in Singles 3, 11-5, 11-9, 5-11. In Singles 4, Takuya Jin edged Lebesson 11-8 and 11-10 before Lebesson took the third 11-10.
That left Chicago needing the Golden Game, and they rose to the occasion. After a tight 21-20 win, the six bonus points gave them the 12-9 win.
Saturday: Atlanta Blazers vs. Chicago Wind
Chicago moved to 2-0 for the weekend with a 16-5 win. Atlanta, now 0-2, finally won 2 of 3 in a regulation match, but it came in the last singles match of the night with Tom Feng besting Alexandru Cazacu.
Robert Gardos beat Quadri Aruna 11-7, 10-11, 11-7 in Singles 1. Mo Zhang followed by sweeping Jessica Reyes-Lai 11-6, 11-7, 11-9. In doubles, Gardos returned with Emmanuel Lebesson to beat Mishel Levinski and Tom Feng 11-8, 11-5, 7-11. Sean Zhang then beat Wei Wang 11-6, 11-7, 8-11, giving Chicago a 9-3 lead (10-5 after Feng/Cazacu).
Chicago controlled the Golden Game from the start. Add 6 to the existing lead, and Chicago wins 16-5.
Saturday: Carolina Gold Rush vs. Texas Smash
On paper, Carolina’s 16-5 win over Texas looks like another easy night. It wasn’t. Every regulation match was a split, and Texas came close to stealing the Golden Game, falling 21-19.
Carolina won each regulation match 2-1, and in most of them it lost a game before recovering. Enzo Angles dropped the first game to Takuya Jin 11-5, then won the next two 11-9 and 11-8. Hong Lin beat Anastasiia Kolish 11-5, 10-11, 11-6. In doubles, Eugene Wang and Chan Hyeok Park lost the first game to Senura Silva and Choi Inhyeok, then won 11-10 and 11-9. Edward Ly beat Choi 11-9, 5-11, 11-4, and Park beat Nandan Naresh 11-9, 11-9, 10-11 to finish regulation with Carolina up 10-5.
Texas outplayed Carolina for most of the Golden Game. Carolina still won it 21-19 and took the six bonus points. That was Texas’s second straight Golden Game loss by one or two points. In the end, it was 16-5 Carolina.
Sunday: Carolina Gold Rush vs. Chicago Wind
The two unbeaten teams met in the final match of the weekend, and Carolina won 14-7 to finish 3-0. It looked like Chicago’s match early on: the Wind won the first two singles matches and led 5-1.
Robert Gardos beat Chan Hyeok Park in Singles 1, 11-10, 3-11, 11-10, winning both of his games by a single point. Mo Zhang then swept Hong Lin 11-10, 11-5, 11-9. That made her 3-0 in regulation for the weekend.
Carolina’s comeback started in doubles, where Park and Edward Ly won the first two games 11-10 and 11-10 against Gardos and Daniel Tran, then dropped the third 11-7. Enzo Angles swept Sean Zhang 11-10, 11-4, 11-6 to tie the score, finishing the weekend 3-0 in singles himself. Eugene Wang lost the first game of Singles 4 to Emmanuel Lebesson 11-2, then won the next two 11-9 and 11-6, putting Carolina ahead 8-7 going into the Golden Game.
Carolina won the Golden Game 21-15. That was enough to give the Gold Rush the 14-7 win.
Sunday: Atlanta Blazers vs. Texas Smash
Texas finally got a win on its home weekend, beating Atlanta 16-5. Atlanta still made Texas work for it.
Tom Feng gave Atlanta its first lead of the weekend by beating Takuya Jin 11-5, 6-11, 11-9 in Singles 1. That was his second straight singles win. Texas answered with the next four matches. Anastasiia Kolish beat Rachel Sung 11-3, 11-5, 6-11, and Senura Silva and Choi Inhyeok beat Jessica Reyes-Lai and Feng in doubles 11-6, 8-11, 11-2. Choi then swept Mishel Levinski 11-2, 11-9, 11-9. In Singles 4, Nandan Naresh beat Wei Wang 11-3, 11-2 before Wang took the third 11-9.
Texas won the Golden Game 21-18 for the six bonus points. The resulting 6 point bonus game the Smash a 16-5 win.
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Week 4 Results
- Carolina Gold Rush: 3-0
- Chicago Wind: 2-1
- Texas Smash: 1-2
- Atlanta Blazers: 0-3
MLTT returns for Week 5 on November 13th in Charlotte.
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