Opening World University Games Trials Kick off NCTTA Championships in Explosive Style

By Michael Reff
Press Committee Chair

Breaking news! The 2025 World University Games (WUG) Trials has concluded, and we now have our men’s and women’s team members!

Thursday, April 3rd kicked off the NCTTA Championships in explosive style in Rockford, IL.

On the men’s side, California and UCLA swept the competition to qualify for all five WUG team positions. Elite athleticism was on full display with nimble footwork and fiery cho’s, along with passionate celebrations from the crowd.

Ved Seth and Sid Naresh, both from California secured the first two spots respectively, with UCLA teammates Kai Zarehbin, Ryan Wu, and Ethan Liu all clinching the 3-5 positions respectively.

The Californian men’s contingency now gets a chance to represent the entirety of the USA in the World University Games.

On the women’s side, there was equal excitement with a plethora of upsets by NYU teammates Anastasia Wang and Tiffany Lam, ultimately qualifying them for the WUG team. Wang (seeded. No. 9) defeated no. 7 seeded Trinity Sung (Cal Poly), and no. 4 seeded Kary Fang (UCLA) to secure the 3rd position, while Tiffany Lam (seeded no. 10) clinched the 5th position with upset wins against No. 6 seeded Kylie Lam (California), no. 5 seeded Sabrina Zhu (Georgia Tech) and Kary Fang (UCLA).

Additionally, there was a unique occurrence of not one, but two matches with sisters paired against each other: No. 1 seeded Joanna (UCLA) and No. 7 seeded Trinity Sung (Cal Poly), as well as no. 2 seeded Emily (Boston) and no. 3 seeded Angie Tan (UCLA). Joanna defeated Trinity 3-0, whereby Angie had a hard-fought battle ultimately securing the win against Emily 3-2.
Angie went on to also defeat teammate Joanna, securing the first WUG slot, with Joanna clinching 2nd, and Emily taking 4th.

Congratulations to the 2025 Men’s and Women’s team who will be playing at the WUG event July 17-24 in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany! if this is any indication of what’s in store for the rest of the Championships, it’s time to get excited!

(Photo of the 2025 WUG Men's and Women's Team! Photo credit to Dennis Yanga)

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About 2025 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and GoRockford (Rockford Convention and Visitors Bureau). The event crowns national champions in Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, Men’s/Coed Teams, and Women’s Teams. Also this year a first in NCTTA’s history is the Collegiate National Team trials on Thursday April 3rd for the 2025 World University Games.

PongSpace, Peaka Pong, Stiga and Paddle Palace will sponsor the event.

Watch the event on live stream starting Friday, April 4th on http://www.nctta.org/champs/2025/video.html

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to promote 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 elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org