Seemiller – The American: Everyone Needs a Rival

April 24, 2020

Seemiller: The American

(by Steve Hopkins)

One of the most storied players in American table tennis history, Dan Seemiller. He first qualified for the US Team in 1972, was the top ranked player in the country by 1974, won five US National Championships, and logged an amazing international record that at one point included completing two consecutive World Team Championships without losing a match. Later in his career, he became a highly decorated and successful coach, a tournament promoter and director, an author, and he also served as President of USTTA.

The signature grip and style that bears his name is still referred to by many internationally as “the American grip”. Seemiller is the quintessential “American” player – with emotion and grit and heart.

In February, as Dan was training for the Olympic Trials, he began posting memories to his Facebook page. Over the next few weeks, we are going to share some of those photos and quotes in this series “Seemiller – The American”:

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Everyone needs a rival to reach their best. Eric Boggan did that for me and I him. We played in five US Nationals Finals. He stunned me in 1978 as a 15-year-old. I got him back in 1982 with a huge comeback to win. Eric and I always got along both on the table and off.

Houshang was a fine coach. He was always there and ready and informative with plenty of enthusiasm. He always worried about his height. Notice he is on his toes in the photo below! Houshang is in his 80s and lives just up the street from my daughter and grand kids in Longmont, Colorado near Denver.