Over the summer, we’ve been blitzed with stories about NBA superstar LeBron James. If you missed the news, the ex-Cleveland Cavs great from Akron will join Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade with the Miami Heat next season.
At the NCTTA, we believe we have plenty of outstanding athletes who are rising stars when it comes to collegiate table tennis. They deserve their day in the spotlight, so we want to profile some of the top rookies of the past season. We expect they will be getting even better in the next few seasons.
To start things off, we want to highlight two superb athletes at Lindenwood University. Livia Mizobuchi and Jose Barbosa are both 19-year-olds hailing from Brazil. They came to the school in Missouri in large part because they wanted to join other top players from their country already helping Lindenwood’s rise to the upper echelon of collegiate table tennis.
Livia, who is a native of Marilia, Brazil, is not only a pretty smart player. She’s an excellent student on the campus in the heart of the Midwest. Studying business administration, Livia holds down a fabulous 3.8 grade-point average (out of a possible 4.0). The Spring 2010 semester was her first at Lindenwood.
As for table tennis, let the numbers speak for Livia. Her current USATT rating is 2375 and her highest rating was 2425. In the ITTF women’s world rankings, she’s currently 542. Her current ITTF ranking for females under 21 is 284. Her USATT record during Spring 2010 was 33-18. That’s strong.
Lindenwood Coach Randy Kendle sums up what Livia brings to the table. “While she has a quiet demeanor and bright smile, she’s all business when it comes to competing.”
Livia has her sights set on winning the NCTTA’s 2011 national women’s collegiate singles title. And the 5’3" star from Brazil wants to defend her crown at Lindenwood, winners of the collegiate team and doubles titles in 2010 in Wisconson.
Switch gears to Jose Barbosa, and the story sounds familiar. The native of Jundai, Brazil came to Lindenwood last spring with four others from his country – with names like Rocha, Fukushima, Yamazato and Mizobuchi. Jose began playing the Olympic sport at age 8 and 11 years later his skills are top-notch. Like Livia, the 6’1" athlete also excels in the classroom. The economics major sports a 3.5 average in his first semester at Lindenwood. Not bad at all.
No doubt Jose is a very competitive guy when it comes to table tennis. “He will not let up during a match for any reason,” Coach Kendle says. Jose’s goal? He wants to help Lindenwood get the 2011 national collegiate team title. He also aims to defend Lindenwood’s 2010 collegiate doubles title.
The numbers for the guy from Brazil look mighty impressive. His current USATT rating is 2494. Jose also racked up a nifty 46-12 USATT record during the spring of 2010.
Livia and Jose spent the long hot summer in Brazil. Soon after they return to Lindenwood in the fall, Randy Kendle will be around for campus ceremonies to hand them their 2010 national championship rings.
We know other 2010 Rookie of the Year nominees like Yuling “Bill” Cai of Mississippi College, Yanjun Gao of LaGuardia Community College, Sara Hazinski of Texas Wesleyan and Andres Ng Hau of Florida State University are amazing players, too. They are worthy of NCTTA newsletter profiles and we plan to publish their stories at a later date.
We always welcome your story suggestions.
Drop us a line at publicrelations@nctta.org