Submitted by Gloria Yin, Marketing & Communications Officer, TSC Table Tennis
The Table Tennis Thunderbirds hit the road again and made their way to Round Rock, Texas to compete in the 2023 NCTTA National Championships! Although we weren’t able to get a glimpse of any round rocks outside, we spent the weekend inside the Round Rock Sports Center where all the action was going down.
2023 NCTTA National Championships - April 14-16th, 2023
Round Rock Sports Center, Round Rock, TX, United States
Competition Summary:
Tables 1-4 were streamed on YouTube with many of our team members having the opportunity to play on Tables 1 and 2–the tables with multiple camera angles, instant replays, and professional commentary! The videos are still up on NCTTA’s YouTube channel (NCTTA Videos) so feel free to check it out. Some of our matches were played on the other 16 tables without cameras or commentary but we made sure to support each other by doing the Three Cs: clapping, cheering, and coaching!
Both teams kitted up and ready to compete! Credit: NCTTA
Women’s Team: 7th place! Co-ed Team: 5th place! Women’s Singles: Men’s Singles: Women’s Doubles: Men’s Doubles: Women’s Doubles: Rose Huang/Ivy Liao, Akkshita Guptaa/Fiona Fan Rose/Ivy put their teamwork to the test and made it to quarterfinals where they played the eventual runner-ups, losing 1-3. Akkshita/Fiona had a tough first match and lost to a pair from Western University. Although they lost, they were able to play on Table 1 as the first match to be streamed and commentated on with UBC Thunderbirds on the court! Men’s Doubles: David Lin/Edison Huang, Herman Lee/Justin Luk David/Edison made it to quarterfinals where they played a close match against the eventual champions! Herman/Justin had less luck and were unable to advance after the Round of 32. Check out our Men's Doubles team of Edison Huang and David Lin playing below. Women’s Singles: Akkshita Guptaa, Grace Zhang, Ivy Liao, Rose Huang The preliminary rounds for the Women’s Singles event were played on day 1 and Ivy Liao placed first in her group, making it into the Championship Bracket. Akkshita placed 2nd in her group and also advanced to Round of 32. Rose Huang and Grace Zhang did their best but were unable to advance past the group stage. However, Grace went on to win the Consolation Bracket! Consolation bracket champion, Grace Zhang, returning a serve. Men’s Singles: David Lin, Edison Huang, Herman Lee, Justin Luk Preliminary rounds began on day 1 for the Men’s Singles event: David Lin placed first in his group, making it into the Championship Bracket. He did his best and went all the way to quarterfinals where he played a tough game against the eventual champion. Justin Luk and Herman Lee both placed 3rd in their groups, just missing the cutoff to advance. Women’s Team: Rose Huang, Ivy Liao, Erainne Yuting Dai, Fiona Fan, Akkshita Guptaa, Grace Zhan, Gloria Yin On day 1, we were up against MIT and were able to advance to Round of 16 with a 4-0 score. We then lost to Texas Wesleyan, the 2nd seed of the tournament, by a close margin of 2 games to 3. On day 2, we competed for placement and were up against UPenn. Despite another close loss of 2-3, we were ready to take on the next challenge and we were able to power through against Maryland by winning 3-2 and clinching 7th. Ivy Liao celebrating a big point at her team match. Photo Credit: NCTTA Coed Team: Lak Zhang, David Lin, Herman Lee, Ivy Liao, Edison Huang On day 1, we first competed against UT Dallas and advanced with a scoreline of 4-0. Playing UPenn next, the Thunderbirds fought hard and emerged victorious with 3-1, moving on into the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal games proved to be difficult as we lost to the eventual champions of the event, NYU. Now playing for placement, UBC was up against fellow Canadian team Western University and played many close games to win 3-2. Playing for 5th, we were able to beat the nerves and Harvard University with a final score of 3-1! Lak Zhang locked in after a big point in the Co-Ed team's match. Credit: NCTTA Great job to the whole team for supporting each other throughout the entire weekend! No one was playing alone, even in Singles events, and it was amazing to see team members coaching one another. Shoutout to Lak Zhang for putting his best foot forward against Jeremy Hazin (NYU), a Canadian Olympian, on Table 1. He was able to bring out his best performance and play some amazing points at his very first Nationals tournament. Great effort and congratulations on the 5th place finish with the Coed Team! Ivy Liao showed phenomenal strength, stamina, and leadership as she not only participated in every step of the way to Nationals, but also in Every. Event. She. Could. Play. For. On all three days of competition, Ivy could be seen at a table for Coed Team, Women’s Team, Women’s Singles, or Women’s Doubles. When she wasn’t playing (quite rare when multiple events happen on the same day!), she was an incredible coach by encouraging and cheering on all members of the team no matter what. She always had a smile on her face and took care of everyone on the team! Thanks so much, Ivy, for your wisdom on and off court, positive energy throughout the event, and compassion throughout the year! Shoutout to Grace Zhang for organizing our trip to Round Rock, coaching the team despite having her own matches to play, and winning the Consolation Bracket! Her calm disposition and smart coaching helped so many of our players overcome their opponents while also being a major part in deciding team line-ups. Congrats to our very own Consolation Champ! That's it for our season, for more updates on what we're up to this summer: follow us on Instagram, @ubctabletennis!
