(by Steve Hopkins)

Last year’s Men’s Singles Champion entered the tournament as the second seed this year, but Nikhil Kumar’s epic run through the draw included winning 20 games while dropping only 1 as he nearly swept his way through one of the toughest tournaments in North America.   As an aside, that one dropped game was to Keenan Zhou (2351) in what turned out to be the first match for both players in the main draw – Kumar won 4-1.   The event’s top seed was Nandan Naresh.  Nandan had a tough seven-game fight with brother Sid in the Quarterfinals and then lost in the Semifinals 4-2 to Jishan Liang.  Kumar’s Semifinal match was a 4-0 win over Jinxin Wang.  The top of the Men’s Ranks is a mixture of experienced players and rising youth – at just 20 years old but with vast international experience, Nikhil is both experienced and young.  We can expect to see him near the top for years to come.

Women’s Singles advanced almost as expected, but unlike the Men’s event, there weren’t many easy matches.  There were eleven qualifying groups and all eleven finished with the top player advancing (except for Group 11 where second seeded Isabella Xu advanced but the top seed did not compete).  Isabella went on to win her Round of 16 match over Angie Tan and then lost 2-4 to top seed, Amy Wang.  Wantong Liu reached the Semifinals with a tight 4-2 win over Emily Tan.  Sally Moyland needed a 16-14 win to close out Lucy Chen 4-2 to reach the Semifinals.  And Rachel Sung topped Muskan Gupta 4-1, in a game that was closer than the match score.  In the Semifinal match-ups, Amy Wang won 4-2 over Wantong Liu – and it took a 13-11 win in the fifth to finally pull away.  And the other Semifinal was even closer as Sally Moyland dropped the first, third, and sixth games on her way to a 4-3 win.  Not to be outdone, the two finalists traded the first two games before Amy pulled away with a pair of tight wins (13-11 and 11-9).  Amy Wang is US National Champion with her 4-1 win.  And 16 year old Sally Moyland is the runner up for the second year in a row.  The US appears to be in great shape in the women’s ranks with strong players at the top, and an amazing youth movement (which makes the draw of the U21 event look very much like the main draw of the Open).

In some of the other headline events: Jinxin Wang and Krishnateja Avvari won Men’s Doubles, Amy Wang and Rachel Sung won Women’s Doubles, and Nikhil Kumar and Amy Wang won Mixed Doubles.

Action continues at the Nationals – more coverage and results will follow soon.

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