“NYC Table Tennis Academy” Leads Division 1 Standings at Close of Second Day of Play
2015 Butterfly Teams
by Barbara Wei
Led by an energetic Michael Landers (2617) and a cool and composed Marcos Madrid (2631), “NYC Table Tennis Academy” caused two major upsets today to end the second day of competition as the only undefeated team in Division 1. At noon, “NYC Table Tennis” faced “LYTTC Professional”, the second seeded team, and one of the remaining undefeated teams at the time. With a clean 5-2 match score, “NYC Table Tennis Academy” conquered yet another top seed, having defeated 3rd seed “NYISC Elite” on Friday. “NYC Table Tennis Academy” had become the team to beat.
In the next round of competition, “NYC Table Tennis Academy” took on top seeds “NJTTC 1”, the only remaining undefeated team in Division 1. Michael Landers (2617) first faced Henry Zhong (2552) in a nail biting 5 game encounter, where Michael pulled out the win setting the team up for success later on. Hao Li (2640) then beat Jon Ebuen (2509), leveling the team tie score at 1-1. “NYC Table Tennis Academy” then swept the rest of the matches, with Marcos Madrid (2631) pulling off wins against Bochao Li (2653) and Henry Zhong (2552) and Jon and Michael each picking up another match for a 5-1 win over the top seeded team.
In the final round of play on Saturday, “NYC Table Tennis Academy” took on the “Nae-Dong Middle School” team from Korea, who had looked very impressive earlier in the day against “NJTTC 1”, and had had much success at the Westchester Open directly prior to the 2015 Butterfly Thanksgiving Teams event. While other teams were already hurting, “NYC Table Tennis Academy” kept up their fighting spirit, and took home another clean 5-2 win.
With two lower team ties remaining on the final day of competition and an undefeated record, “NYC Table Tennis Academy” are mostly set as the 2015 Butterfly Thanksgiving Teams Champions. However, a large fight for second will ensue between “NJTTC 1”, “LYTTC Professional” and “NYISC Elite” who each only have one or two losses. Matches resumed at 10:00 a.m. EST on Sunday, with the final round of competition starting at 1:00 p.m. EST.
Continual coverage of the 2015 Butterfly Teams Tournament and stories about the athletes will be available at ButterflyOnline.com, or via Butterfly North America’s Twitter and Facebook pages.
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2015 Butterfly Teams
November 27th – 29th @ Legacy Youth Tennis And Education Center in Philadelphia, PA
Results: Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, Division 4, Division 5, Division 6 & Division 7
Video Streams – Final Team Rosters – Photos: Friday, Saturday & Sunday
