Western Ontario Named Most Improved Table Tennis Team
An NCTTA Feature - May 2011

By Andy Kanengiser
NCTTA Media Relations Chair

Good news is happening all over campus for the University of Western Ontario. In early May, four Mustangs were good enough to get selected in the 2011 Canadian Football League draft. Around the same time, the university announced the three winners of its Western Humanitarian Awards for making a significant difference on campus and around the globe.

The honors keep coming. Following the conclusion of the 2010-2011 competition season, NCTTA leaders recognized Western Ontario for having the most improved collegiate table tennis team in the USA and Canada. Last year, the award went to Florida State University.

Cyrus Aga, captain of the Western Ontario Table Tennis Team, is proud of the incredible progress made since he joined the squad in 2008.

Three years ago, “our club was not even a sports team. It was part of the university campus clubs with two broken recreational tables and practices held once a week on the third floor of our community center. We averaged practice once a month and were barely considered a club,” Aga said.

A table tennis lover and dedicated athlete, Aga wasn’t going to stand for the status quo “I was intent on turning table tennis not only into one of the biggest sports teams at Western, but to turn it into an official Mustang varsity sport.”

Cyrus worked night and day with the UWO athletics staff to turn table tennis around at the Canadian school. At NCTTA headquarters, we believe Aga and other players have succeeded despite obstacles.

It took lots of talks with Western’s athletics staff and independent sponsors, but progress was made. Practices were boosted to up to three times a week at the Western Student Recreational Centre. Tryouts drew an amazing 95 participants, from which 20 students were ultimately selected to play on three competitive teams, The top talent included members of Canadian National teams and the Chinese Provincial Superleague B Team.

Today, the Western Ontario club has more than 90 people, including its competitive team and a table sponsorship from DHS America. Western Ontario played its heart out at the recent NCTTA championship games in Rochester, Minnesota and hopes to get even better next year.

“Our team is not only a team, it is a family,” Aga says. It’s a family that continues to get better with time. This year, there was dramatic improvement after the previous three years when the Western men and women’s teams finished in last place in their division. “This year, we shocked the country by placing 3rd each division meet” in Eastern Canada, the captain said. “We consistently pushed the University of Ottawa to a 5th doubles tie-break game.”

The UWO mission from the start of the 2010-2011 season was to qualify for the NCTTA Championships. “We did anything and everything it took to get there. It took three years, blood, sweat and tears, but we finally did it,” Aga said. Next year looks bright with the club receiving a clothing sponsorship from Adidas and Under Armour and the club will continue its sponsorship with DHS America.

As is the case across the collegiate table tennis landscape, top players come and go. Outstanding UWO players like Jason Liu have graduated. Other standouts like Grace Yan and Wanda Wong have reached the end of their eligibility. “They have served the team and will be dearly missed,” Cyrus says. Western students strongly believe in the motto “work hard, play hard,” the UWO captain stated." For us, table tennis is both."

Congrats, again to Western Ontario for a terrific season and tremendous advances in the collegiate table tennis world in North America.

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