Dynamic Duos and Spectacular Singles Play for Pong Perfection
Pictured above from Grant Bergmann Texas Wesleyan Doubles pair: Jishan Liang and Feng Zhe
NCTTA is known for its team event, founded on the concept of team table tennis back in the late 1990’s. NCTTA has in recent years branched out to include singles and doubles events at their National Championships and it is going to be exciting!
Singles players had to get through a rigorous qualification season
(Division play-->Regional Championships--> to here at the Championships)
Men’s singles is the top 80 and Women feature the top 40. This year’s championships is a blend of who’s who in college table tennis.
The Men’s singles number one seed is Kaden Xu from Pillar College. He is one the highest rated players to date in this competition, but he doesn’t have to look far for competition as former US Open champion, Jinxin Wang from Texas Wesleyan looks to make things difficult for Xu! Men’s singles has a total of 78 this year with a staggering 2/3rd of the draw over 2000. Our pick for a dark horse is Adar Alguetti (NYU) who has had a great year and is ranked #9 and due to surprise many!
In women’s singles, crowd favorite, reigning collegiate champ and USA Table Tennis women’s national team player Lily Zhang leads the draw. On her heels is Texas Wesleyan’s Yue “Jennifer” Wu who also appears with Lily on the USA National team. Watch out for another potential contender in the competition who is in the draw, former 2012 London Olympics US National Team member Erica Wu (Princeton).
Doubles is only available at the National Championships and is open to any players that have qualified in the team or singles event and are of the same school. Men’s doubles are the best 32 pairs and women’s are the best 16 pairs. There is no actual qualification for doubles, but the levels of synergy for this event between pairs is integral for success. In men’s doubles look for Texas Wesleyan to provide much of the firepower as in the Top 10 they feature three teams! Women’s doubles sees an equal Texas Wesleyan presence with four teams within the top 8! This is what in sport jargon one calls a “deep team”.
Come check out the event in Round Rock, Texas on April 20-22.
The 2018 iSET College Table Tennis Championships is hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Round Rock CVB and is one of the premier table tennis tournaments in North America featuring 6 events: Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. The event is sponsored by iSET, Double Happiness, Gerflor, Double Fish and USA Table Tennis
Players and spectators alike will enjoy a jam-packed weekend of table tennis at the iSET College Table Tennis Championships. The event starts Friday April 20th and continues through Sunday April 22nd.
About NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively for promoting the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org
About USA Table Tennis
Headquartered in Colorado Springs, USATT is the national organizing body for table tennis in the United States, serving 9,000+ members and nearly 300 clubs. USATT sanctions 200+ events a year including the US Open and US Nationals. USATT is affiliated with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), as well as the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis