By Andy Kanengiser
NCTTA Media Chair
California's Ohlone College stunned the USA's table tennis community with its strong third-place finish at the 2016 national championships.
Year two for the 8,000-student community college in the Silicon Valley shows the team from the West Coast is no fluke.
Yong Gao, the Ohlone computer science instructor and team's coach, has fans buzzing again at the 2017 national championships in Wisconsin. Their green colors stand out at the games in Eau Claire. So does their play.
Supporters of other schools are taking notice as Ohlone plays on. One of his stars, Ying Wang, 22, an economics major from Jilin, China, could transfer to a school like California-Berkeley or Stanford next season. She's that good.
Yi Wu, 20, another awesome player from Beijing, could return to join her family's business in China when she's finished playing in the USA. "I miss my home,'' the freshman says.
While Ohlone's top female duo lost its match Friday to Texas Wesleyan University standouts, it's always tough to beat the perennial national champs from Fort Worth.
No matter what happens in Eau Claire, Ohlone should see several new faces join the team next season. Recruiting really never stops for Coach Gao at the two-year school in Fremont.
The school near San Jose surprised fans at the 2016 NCTTA championships in Round Rock, Texas. The nice showing generated a good bit of positive press for the institution founded in 1965. So much so that school administrators may allow the squad to exit their practice space at the college cafeteria next year.
"School administrators know how good we are. We hope to move into the gym next year,'' the coach said during a break Friday at the NCTTA tournament.
As the 2017 season draws to a close in the Cheese State, Yong Gao is impressed with the quality of opponents his school is facing from across the USA and Canada. "The skill level is much better than last year. We face a lot of challenges.''
The season goes on a bit longer for Ohlone's ten players after the 2017 NCTTA championships end April 9. Ohlone will host a tournament on the Fremont campus April 29. It's a chance for California fans to see some amazing table tennis matches.
The 2017 TMS College Table Tennis Championships is hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Eau Claire 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 TMS International, Gerflor, Double Fish
Players and spectators alike will enjoy a jam-packed weekend of table tennis at the TMS College Table Tennis Championships. The event starts Friday April 7th and continues through Sunday April 9th.
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). www.usatt.org
