$2600 Butterfly MDTTC September Open

October 4, 2012

Chen Bo Wen and Wang Qing Liang

$2600 Butterfly MDTTC September Open
Maryland Table Tennis Center
Gaithersburg, MD • Sept. 22-23, 2012
By Larry Hodges

Seventy-three players competed in eight events for $2600 in prize money plus trophies at the September Open at the spacious Maryland Table Tennis Center. The events were dominated by local junior players, with at least one junior player in seven of the eight finals. In the Open, it was chopper/looper Wang Qing Liang (17, rated 2644) over two-winged penhold looper Chen Bo Wen (15), -6,6,9,7,-9,6. In the semifinals they defeated a pair of former Maryland junior stars, Wang over Raghu Nadmichettu (6,7,9,5) and Chen over Khaleel Asgarali (10,3,8,7).

After losing to Chen Bo Wen in the Open Semifinal, Raghu came from down 0-2 to win Under 2350 over Hung Duy Vo, -9,-15,6,11,8, in the only final without a junior player.

Roy Ke, 13, had an exceptional tournament, winning Under 2200 with a string of upsets over Chen Qiming (2121), Nazruddin Asgarali (2187), and coming back to win the final over Lixin Lang (2127), -6,-5,4,8,8. His new rating is 2188.

Another junior having an exceptional tournament was Anthony (Tony) Qu, 12, who not only won Under 2050 over John Olsen, but upset Richard Doverman (2349, 11-9 in the fifth) and Derek Nie (2170, 13-11 in the fifth) to make the quarterfinals of the Open. His new rating is 2194.

Practice partners Wesley Duan (11) and Kyle Wang (12) ran amok in four events, taking four second places - Wesley in Under 1900 and Under 1650, and Kyle in Under 1400 and Under 1150. Winning these four events, respectively, were Pat Lui, Quang Lam, Ara Sahakian, and still another local junior, 12-year-old Daniel Yang.

Rating-wise the big winner was William Wung, who gained 549 points in going from 494 to 1043! Others with big gains were Wesley Duan (253, 1432 to 1685), Benjamin Kang (231, 829 to 1060), Roy Ke (186, 2002 to 2188), Tony Qu (169, 2025 to 2194), Quang Lam (154, 1348 to 1502, the only non-junior to gain more than 100 points), and Moonsoo Park (102, 598 to 700). Also welcome to six newly rated players: Tiffany Ke, Deapesh Misra, Sameer Shaikh, Sam Snitkovsky, and Jeremy & Alexi Weinberg!

Special thanks goes to Lixin Lang for helping run the tournament, and to tournament sponsors Butterfly and Llewellyn Realtor James Wu.

Results:

Open - Final: Wang Qing Liang d. Chen Bo Wen, -6,6,9,7,-9,6; SF: Wang d. Khaleel Asgarali, 10,3,8,7; Chen d. Raghu Nadmichettu, 6,7,9,5; QF: Wang d. Nazruddin Asgarali, 8,5,6; K. Asgarali d. Anthony Qu, 4,6,5; Nadmichettu d. Larry Abass, 9,5,12; Chen d. Sutanit Tangyingyong, 4,5,9.

Under 2350 - Final: Raghu Nadmichettu d. Hung Duy Vo, -9,-15,6,11,8; SF: Nadmichettu Lixin Lang, 2,-9,3,7; Vo d. Sutanit Tangyingyong, 5,11,8.

Under 2200 - Final: Roy Ke d. Lixin Lang, -6,-5,4,8,8; SF: Ke d. Nazruddin Asgarali, 6,9,7; Lang d. Sutanit Tangyingyong, 10,-13,5,9.

Under 2050 - Final: Anthony Qu d. John Olsen, 8,4,4; SF: Qu d. Austin Stouffer, 9,5,-9,6; Olsen d. Josiah Chow, 8,-11,12,-4,10.

Under 1900 - Final: Pat Lui d. Wesley Duan, 9,-10,7,4; SF: Lui d. Gahraman Mustafayev, 3,5,3; Duan d. Mohamed Kamara, -4,8,6,-3,7.

Under 1650 - Final: Quang Lam d. Wesley Duan, 8,6,8; SF: Lam d. Tang Yanghang, 16,-7,8,-6,14; Duan d. David Goldstein, -3,9,8,9.

Under 1400 - Final: Ara Sahakian d. Kyle Wang, 9,8,7; SF: Sahakian d. Quang Lam, 10,8,8; Wang d. William Wung, 5,9,7.

Under 1150 - Final: Daniel Yang d. Kyle Wang, 7,8,8; SF: Yang d. Allen Eng, 7,11,12; Wang d. Benjamin Kang, 8,7,7.