2009 Potomac Fall Open
December 3, 2009

Han Xiao - Open Winner

Courtesy of Potomac Country Table Tennis Club This year’s Potomac Fall Open drew nearly 100 players from the local area. As usual the field was strong with 20 players rated over 2000 and Han Xiao returning to defend his title from the earlier spring open event.

The open event produced no upsets going into the quarters. In the semis Han faced a tough competitor in Qassim Aziz who took the third game at 11-9 and managed to reach deuce in games two and four. However, Han’s dual wing attack proved too powerful and Qassim went down at 6 in the fifth game.

In the second semi-final match 2456-rated Peter Li faced his challenger Raghu Nadmichettu (2384). While the match was hard fought with Raghu taking the third game at 5 Peter’s consistency on both wings proved too much for his challenger. Peter took the match at 7, 8, -5, 7, 8.

left to right: Han Xiao & Peter Li

There was a large crowd on hand to watch the final match between Peter Li and Han Xiao. After taking the first game at 2 Han looked to be unstoppable in this match, attacking strongly from both sides. In the second game Peter fought hard but fell subject to some great shots by Han losing at 7. In the third game Peter managed to get an early lead at 4-1 and Han could not recover. Peter took the game at 11-6. Down two games to one it appeared that Peter had chances to break through Han’s strong attacks. Ming, Peter’s father coached him before play in the next two games. However, in the final two games Han added another gear to his level of play and won the last two at 9 and 7.

Peter Li - Open Runner-up

The final of the under-2150 event was particularly notable featuring 2116-rated Sutanit Tangyingyong against 2140-rated Vladimir Poradich. The players switched sides at 5-3 with Poradich leading in the fifth. Paradich soon brought the score to 9-3 and then 10-4. At this point it looked like the fierce Poradich would soon have this match and event wrapped up. However, Sutanit hung in with his backhand defense and forehand attacks to bring the final game to 10-10. With several tough points at deuce Sutanit pulls this one out at 13-11 to win the event.

The 2009 Potamac Fall Open was a great success. Under the management of Lixin Lang and Wei Xiao all events were scheduled on time and the tournament ran smoothly. The Potomac Country Table Tennis Club is one of the premier clubs in the Washington DC area with strong attendance and high-level competition at its weekly meetings every Wednesday and Saturday. Visiting players are always welcome to join in club activities. Click here for more information about the club.

Results of the Tournament

Open:	1st Place: Han  Xiao
	2nd Place:  Peter Li
	3rd-4th Place: Qassim Aziz, Raghu Nadmichettu
	5th-8th Place:  Larire Abass, Nazruddin Asgarali, Tao Li, Thomas Pok-Yin Yu
Under 2300:	1st Place:  Chang Li Duan
Under 2150:	1st Place: Sutanit Tangyingyong
Under 2000:	1st Place: Stephen Hochman
Under 1900:	1st Place: Albert Senter
Under 1700:	1st Place: Orrin Star
Under 1500:	1st Place: Dennis Norman
Under 1200:	1st Place: Tamin Rajendram
Under 3600	1st Place : Orin Star/Ruying Chang
Doubles:	2nd Place: Frederick Nicolas/Albert Senter