Summer 2015 a Time of Transition for USA Junior and Cadet Star Crystal Wang
by Barbara Wei

13-year old junior and cadet star Crystal Wang has spent her entire US table tennis career training at the Maryland Table Tennis Center under Coach Jack Huang in Gaithersburg, MD. In the past two years, Crystal has grown into a real US table tennis phenom, silently but ferociously taking down opponents many years her senior in major national and international events. Crystal is well known for making the 2014 US National Women’s team, helping the US earn its first medal at the 2014 Junior World Championships and finishing 2^nd in the Women’s event at the 2014 US Nationals. Most recently in May, she took gold at the North American Cadet Qualifier held in Markham, Ontario, beating out fellow US team mate Grace Yang in the final.

This summer, Crystal, like many of her fellow US National Team members will be competing at the US Open in Las Vegas, NV and then going to China to train before returning back to the US to begin school. However, unlike many of her teammates, Crystal will be making the cross country move to Seattle, WA to be closer to her family. A difficult personal decision for the Wang family, but Crystal isn’t deterred by the move. She’s hoping to find a new training schedule and keep up the momentum she has found in the past two years.

Before the big move later this summer, Crystal has her eyes set on making the Junior and Cadet national teams at the 2015 US Open. She’s been working on improving her stamina and physical ability, and thinking more about strategies during her matches. After being part of the Bronze medal winning Junior Team at last year’s World Junior Championships in Shanghai, China, Crystal is determined to qualify for the team and continue to break records and make history.

Please join Butterfly in wishing one of the brightest new stars in US women’s table tennis a smooth transition and a successful start in Seattle!