To NCTTA member school presidents/representatives:

Voting is now open for the positions of President, Vice President Internal Affairs, League Director Representative, and Human Resources Coordinator.

To view the candidates and their statements, and to place your votes, please go to https://forms.gle/qrrahgFPzir82AbU6
Each position has 1 candidate, so please specify "Yes", "No", or "Abstain" for each one.

The deadline for voting is 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, June 12.
1 vote per member school will be counted.

For any questions, please email elections@nctta.org

By Michael Reff
Press Committee Chair

Texas Wesleyan’s Jiaqi Lin is a star athlete that just wrapped up her studies in Sports Communications. She had quite ambitious goals for this year’s NCTTA Championships, as she was looking to end her college table tennis career with a bang.

Lin hails from Sichuan, China. She had an interesting start to the sport: according to Lin, her parents “were worried that I would inherit their poor eyesight, and I was not in good health when I was a kid, so they decided to let me try playing table tennis.” It was love at first sight, and the hard work paid off.

Like the rise and fall of a high toss serve, Lin has been ever resilient in her career through numerous trials and tribulations, eventually overcoming the obstacles due to “so much love for this sport.”

“I have won many awards in my country.” Lin says.

In addition to a provincial title, she has “won the top three in all-China competitions many times.” Lin has played professionally for close to 10 years, enabling her to be an elite international student athlete. “I am very lucky and happy,” she remarks.

Lin had a dream run in her last NCTTA champs, clinching the Women’s Doubles with future singles champion Zhen Deng and the Women’s Teams championships with Deng and the rest of their team.

Lin made valiant efforts in the Women’s Singles event, until succumbing in the semifinals to Angie Tan (UCLA) 1-4 in games. Zhen Deng avenged her teammate, clinching the title with a swift 4-0 finish.

When asked what her post graduation plans were, Lin says that in the near future she will continue her table tennis career. It just depends on if she will “stay in the United States or go to Europe to play leagues.”

For a high caliber student athlete of Lin’s experience, she has some words of wisdom for upcoming NCTTA players: “My advice to other upcoming NCTTA college athletes is to enjoy the game and enjoy college life!”

Congratulations Jiaqi on a dream run playing for Texas Wesleyan, and best of luck in your future plans!

(Photo of Jiaqi Lin. Photo credit to: Yukong Zhang)

The time has come for elections for certain NCTTA Board of Directors positions. NCTTA is a “working” board, meaning board members double as volunteer directors and staff simultaneously. We put in lots of hours b/c we love it, so one of the prerequisites is passion of course!

For those of you interested in further involvement with NCTTA, here is your opportunity to play a crucial role in the organization's direction, as well as that of college table tennis in the US and beyond.

These are the positions that are open for election. They are 4-YEAR positions.
President
Vice President-Internal
League Director
Human Resources Officer (HR)

Please remember to read the NCTTA bylaws for qualifications to run and the description for each position:
http://nctta.org/doc/NCTTA_Bylaws_2021.pdf (page 11-15)

Candidates must submit a Statement of Intent to elections@nctta.org to be approved to run for the NCTTA Board of Directors, Deadline is June 3, 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

On or around June 6th, the statements will be posted, and approved candidates will be announced.

At that time, voting will begin and take place until June 12th. Voting will be done by presidents (or representatives) of each NCTTA member school; each school will have 1 vote for each position.

Training for newly-elected Board members will occur immediately after election is complete and terms will officially begin on July 1.

Please direct any questions to elections@nctta.org.

To those who decide to run, NCTTA wishes you the best of luck.

By Jia-Yu (Trinity) Sung
Press Committee Member

Photo by Dennis Yanga

A freshman walks onto a court.
One weekend later, he walks off with his backpack jingling with awards.

But what does Ved Sheth, this year’s Men’s Singles and Coed Teams Finalist have to say about his debut performance? Reflective, Ved professes, “People may think I’m a really good player if they saw me play this year. I am still vulnerable…the only thing I can do is prepare for next year.”

Remarkably humble, Ved, an EECS freshman at UC Berkeley, grew up in the embrace of the table tennis community and interprets the sport through a pure, unwavering dedication. Clambering over nets and under tables, a determined young Ved swinging a racket with his eyes barely peeking over the table was a familiar sight for visitors of the ICC Table Tennis Center.

Now, after a couple growth spurts, Ved views his matches with a similar driven spirit. “I treat both [collegiate and professional table tennis] the same because I am an extremely competitive person” Ved reveals, “I will always give my best in a match.” Even with his heavy course load, the UC Berkeley freshmen frequents local transit every weekend to train at his home club.
It comes as a testament to Ved’s consistent work ethic that he emerged, to no one’s surprise, as a top player despite the fierce competition within the Bay Area.

A strong individual player, Ved elevates his team as an irreplaceable team player as well. Although just a freshman, Ved quickly claimed an integral role within the team at UC Berkeley, showing a level of involvement atypical of higher caliber players. Anyone can speak of his defeats of established collegiate titans on his way to the Men’s Singles final. Arguably more impressive was his reliable performance which sustained UC Berkeley’s coed team through to the finals despite the absence of key player, Nikhil Kumar. Expressing regret at relinquishing his final matches “without a stronger fight,” Ved concedes that “I am just happy to have competed in a high level tournament.”

A decade ago, a young Ved vowed, after a narrow loss to a fellow student in a group lesson, to destroy his opponent the next time they played.

Today, Ved once again vows, “Job’s not over. I will be back next year, stronger.”

(Photo of Ved Sheth. Photo by Dennis Yanga)

About 2024 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships
The championships are hosted by the
National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Visit Eau Claire CVB. The
event will feature: Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed
Teams, Women’s Teams.
PongSpace, Joola, the US
Coast Guard, Visit Eau Claire and Bluestone Designs sponsor the event.
Watch the event on live
stream starting Friday, April 12th on http://www.nctta.org/champs/2024/video.html

About NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis
Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to
promote the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national
governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA
organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org

Shaquila Sarapao, Press Committee Member

Three months was all it took for a graduate student to come compete at his first NCTTA national tournament in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, as the sixth seed in singles and third in doubles. Unheard of and unknown, people wondered who he was.

Who is this dark horse?

Graduating from Wuhan University with a major in Physics, Chenxi Sui is currently working on his PhD for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. For the past five years, he has been investigating the combination of electrochemistry and thermal science within car batteries to make it more efficient in charging time and longevity.

As a child, he played for a provincial team in China and won three national championships—until he quit table tennis at twelve years old and focused on his education. “I’m just more interested in science and technology,” Sui says, “and if you want to survive in this world, you need to study.”

Now, in his fifth and final year of his program, he found that he had more time to engage back to his old hobby. Having just turned twenty-seven this past April 16th, he took a fourteen-year hiatus and returned to play only three months ago. “I know NCTTA is where I can meet a lot of people and good players,” he notes, “so I just joined.”

And his experience has been worthwhile. Sui recalls his singles match against Santiago Montes Solarte from Texas Wesleyan, describing that “he pushed me short, but over time, I relaxed more and got used to him.” On the other hand, his match with U.C. Berkley Nikhil Kumar was a different story. “I used all of my power to play against him, but he’s so good,” he admits, “[This] was a really, really good experience.”

Sui’s first appearance at his first NCTTA national tournament is one to remember. He placed third with Canadian partner Kenny Jiang in Men’s Doubles and lost in the quarterfinals against a 2-time Olympian.

After all this, Sui plans on going back to the University of Chicago and relaxing–just like any other soon-to-be graduate.

(Featured in photo is dynamic University of Chicago player Chenxi Sui. Photo credit to Dennis Yanga)

About 2024 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships
The championships are hosted by the
National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Visit Eau Claire CVB. The
event will feature: Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed
Teams, Women’s Teams.
PongSpace, Joola, the US
Coast Guard, Visit Eau Claire and Bluestone Designs sponsor the event.
Watch the event on live
stream starting Friday, April 12th on http://www.nctta.org/champs/2024/video.html

About NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis
Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to
promote the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national
governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA
organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org

Shaquila Sarapao, Press Committee Member

Coming from the core of Texas is a familial pair with hearts as big as the state. Instead of spending the weekend with family or going to the zoo, Vikas Dusad and his 11-year-old daughter Kanika decided to come to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and assist with the NCTTA national collegiate tournament.

But it wasn’t Vikas Dusad’s idea to come out here—instead, it was senior umpire Scott Ryan. “[He] had encouraged me to start umpiring,” Kanika says, “and then told us about this NCTTA tournament. It was a really nice opportunity to help out.”

Their love for the sport didn’t stop with just the two of them. In fact, Mr. Dusad’s wife and his son are also involved in table tennis. He remembers when he and his wife moved to Dallas. “Once we bought our house,” he starts, “we bought a table [because] we used to play amateurishly. Then my son picked it up, and he started beating us. After that, he started getting coaching. And now my daughter has been getting coaching for two years.”

For Kanika, she enjoyed the experience and the logistically sound event, saying that it was “really organized and well-prepared.” Once she gets back to Texas, she’ll be back on the table and training with Coach Keith Pech.

For the two, this was an unforgettable experience. But for the next year, the father of two and husband will be sure to bring all four of them to the next national tournament—in Rockford, Illinois.

About 2024 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships
The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Visit Eau Claire CVB. The event will feature: Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. PongSpace, Joola, the US Coast Guard, Visit Eau Claire and Bluestone Designs sponsor the event. Watch the event on live stream starting Friday, April 12th on http://www.nctta.org/champs/2024/video.html

About NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to promote the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org

By Joel Lidstrom
Press Committee Member

Enticed by the cheers, I moved to the Men's semifinals match on Court 2. In progress was the #1 seed, Nikhil Kumar of California against the #6 seed, Jonatan McDonald of Texas Wesleyan. Kumar had won the opening game.
Kumar can turn on the power at the shortest of notices. A rapid-fire exchange with McDonald’s backhand is always dangerous, and it knotted the match score at 1-1.

Buoyed by his win in the second game, and with an excited cadre of supporters, McDonald was looking to jump out to an early lead. But it is Kumar, chop blocking a forehand topspin that McDonald couldn’t lift, and powering a forehand right through his opponent that gave him a 2-0 lead.

McDonald fools Kumar on a serve, and then shows that, though Kumar is fast, he can be faster. Again and again Kumar is back on his heels retrieving, as McDonald goes up 2 games to 1.
In the 4th game, the net helps McDonald to get started, but Kumar is back to dominating with his ultra-deep push service return.

To counter that, McDonald began to serve deep. Kumar could not dictate as easily from deeper in the court, and had trouble controlling his attack.
Now McDonald took it to Kumar. Kumar was reactive, and making unforced errors. Up by two, Mcdonald's backhand flick makes it three, forcing a timeout from Kumar.

Coming out of the timeout, Kumar attacked again and again, but McDonald can weather any number of deep balls, irrespective of side. Still, Kumar put him on a string, forcing his opponent to hit fore, back, fore, back, fore…and then missed back.
Kumar prevailed at 11-7.

The 5th game looked like the end of the line for McDonald. Down 8-0, he got his first three points on successive Kumar overhits. Kumar overhit again to bring it to 4-9. Then two rapid-fire exchanges, twice in a row, made the comeback 6-9.
McDonald crushed a ball to 7-10, but missed a high, short mistake from Kumar, who takes the game at 11-7. Match score 3-2 Kumar.

In Game 6, both players back up and initiate the point slowly. This proved to be to McDonald’s advantage, now quickly up 3-1. An error from McDonald, and Kumar clipping the net for a winner, evened the score.

At 6-4 we were treated to an outlandish exchange, Kumar eventually using a timing upset from a net ball to win the point. Kumar is so fast, but sometimes McDonald is faster! But his subsequent whiff on the forehand knotted it at 6.
Successive net balls from each player, followed by loose play, brought it to 9-all. Could McDonald force a seventh game?

He blows an easy put-away and it’s match point. However, his deep serve sets him up to attack, attack,
attack. With a Kumar miss into the net, McDonald was still alive.
Ugh. He dumps a service return: advantage Kumar.

Those watching must have known that McDonald would attempt the same deep serve and third ball attack that saved match point moments ago. Certainly Kumar did, and ripped the ball up the line for a winner. Kumar wins the game at 12-10, and the match at 4-2.

Curious about McDonald repeating the serve, I asked Kumar about it. He said, “Yes, he had been serving long against me all match. After he saved a match point with it, I expected it again and changed up where I returned it. I attacked to his backhand.”

It’s the oldest ploy in the books.

Kumar clinched his second consecutive Men’s Singles title after defeating teammate Ved Sheth in the finals 4-1.

(Photo of California's Nikhil Kumar, 2-time NCTTA Men's Singles Champion. Photo credit to Dennis Yanga).

About 2024 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships
The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Visit Eau Claire CVB. The event will feature: Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams.
PongSpace, Joola, the US Coast Guard, Visit Eau Claire and Bluestone Designs sponsor the event.
Watch the event on live stream starting Friday, April 12th on http://www.nctta.org/champs/2024/video.html

About NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to promote the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org

By Michael Reff
Press Committee Chair

Elite TT on display from West and South
Got this event spreading by word of mouth.
The conclusion of singles and the tourney in all,
The players were fiery, they answered the call!

In the Women’s arena, Zhen Deng of TWU,
Battled Angie Tan of UCLA, with a triple crown breakthrough!
Deng already had the doubles and teams under her belt,
This additional title trophy would go on her shelf!

In the Men’s single’s there was an all Cal final,
Between Nikhil Kumar and Ved Sheth, balls spinning like vinyl.
Two different styles: Sheth’s passionate, dynamic,
And Kumar is wizardly, creative range panoramic.

Nikhil sealed the deal at three games to one,
Thus he became a back to back champion!
Thus concludes this 2024 NCTTA Championships,
Congrats to the players, volunteers, coaches, please have safe return trips!

(Featured is 2-time Men's Singles champ, Nikhil Kumar of California. Photo credit to Dennis Yanga)

About 2024 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships
The championships are hosted by the
National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Visit Eau Claire CVB. The
event will feature: Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed
Teams, Women’s Teams.
PongSpace, Joola, the US
Coast Guard, Visit Eau Claire and Bluestone Designs sponsor the event.
Watch the event on live
stream starting Friday, April 12th on http://www.nctta.org/champs/2024/video.html

About NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis
Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to
promote the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national
governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA
organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org

By Joel Lidstrom
NCTTA Press Committee Member

Seeing Texas Wesleyan’s Jonatan McDonald warm up with his teammates is a thrilling affair. His power, depth, and consistency, whether from the forehand or backhand, is astonishing. Knowing that he is not the highest seed in the men’s draw speaks eloquently about the extraordinary quality of this tournament.
On Saturday, he faced perhaps an even more premier player in Gal Alguetti, the #3 seed (and #2 doubles seed with his brother, Sharon).

From the outset, McDonald held his own. Was the plan to stay close, in hopes of forcing a 4th and then 5th deciding game? But as the first game progressed, McDonald knew Alguetti was a bit off his normal feed, and took advantage.
Alguetti missed flips, hit errant backhand loops, hit the edge of the racket when he was clearly in position to win the point. MacDonald’s Texas Wesleyan bench erupted ecstatically as he took the first game.

Periodically Alguetti did find his footing, closing the gap and giving his bench hope. But continued errors, and McDonalds incredibly deep and powerful loops out wide, wider, widest, put Alguetti in situations he could not recover from. Game 2 ended exactly that way, with McDonald forcing his opponent into distant and uncomfortable positions.
In Game 3 Alguetti alternated power shots with errors. Down 3-5, he called a time out. It was now or never. The Texas bench looked confident, and had fewer words of strategy than ones of encouragement.

The comeback wasn’t to be. Out of the timeout Alguetti pops up a push, and McDonald puts it away. Then McDonald’s signature shot out wide with the forehand. Alguetti cannot defend it. And again to the same spot, but with the backhand. And now again! McDonald pulls Alguetti deeper and deeper, further and further to his forehand to retrieve, but he cannot.
At match point, McDonald hits a too high service return; Alguetti attacks, clips the top of the net, the ball flies, and the match is done. McDonald wins it, 3-0, helping TWU seal the deal to advance to the Coed Team final, ultimately defeating California for the Championship title.

(Featured in photo is Texas Wesleyan's Jonatan Mcdonald as his teammates cheer him on. Photo credit to Dennis Yanga).

About 2024 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships
The championships are hosted by the
National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Visit Eau Claire CVB. The
event will feature: Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed
Teams, Women’s Teams.
PongSpace, Joola, the US
Coast Guard, Visit Eau Claire and Bluestone Designs sponsor the event.
Watch the event on live
stream starting Friday, April 12th on http://www.nctta.org/champs/2024/video.html

About NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis
Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to
promote the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national
governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA
organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org

By Joel Lidstrom
Press Committee Member

She was a number one cadet, a number one junior; she had an uncle who was a high-level table tennis coach…but she hated to practice. She wanted the thrill of competition.

She rode that love of competition, and suffered enough practice along the way, to win an Olympic medal. When I asked how one can succeed without having done the hard work, she smiled and said, “Maybe I was born under a lucky star.”

I met Jasna Rather sixteen years ago at this very tournament, hosted by my home club in Rochester, Minnesota. She was a player coach on what was easily the most dominant collegiate table tennis team ever. During the three years we hosted the tournament, the Texas Wesleyan teams won every category.

Having grown up in Yugoslavia, a country with a great table tennis history, Jana was exposed to frequent competitions. By the age of twelve she was competing in international events. By thirteen she had beaten the European women’s champion.
Without even understanding the implications of trying out for the Olympic team—it seemed to be just another competition—she traveled to Karlsruhe, Germany to try out. This was the first year that table tennis was in the Olympics, and because each European country sent three women to vie for a spot on a very small team, her chances were slim at best.
She won the competition.

Traveling to Seoul, she wondered aloud about possibly winning a medal. Everyone thought her audacious at best, foolhardy at worst. She arrived at the Olympic Village as a 17-year-old full of celebrity and living a kind of happy dream. That dream culminated in the Bronze Medal in Women’s Doubles in the Seoul 1988 Olympics, playing for Yugoslavia with her doubles partner Gordana Perkučin.

Jasna recognizes how hard it is for successful athletes to reinvent themselves when their career is over. It is one reason why she thinks the U.S. system is better than the European. “Look at all these players. They are smart, they go to fancy schools, they will graduate, they will prepare themselves for the work world. This does not happen so much in Europe.”

When asked about her great success guiding the Texan Wesleyan team, she acknowledges the attainment, but seems pleased that the level has risen everywhere. “Look at UCLA; look at Indiana. Schools everywhere have great teams. It’s not just Texas Wesleyan anymore.”

How interesting. Jasna said this to me just a few hours before the Texas Wesleyan players erupted ecstatically onto the court with yet another NCTTA Co-ed and Women’s Team Championship titles.
Yes, Jasna, perhaps you were born under a lucky star.

(Pictured are Coach Rather's Texas Wesleyan Coed Team celebrating another well deserved Championship title. Photo credit to Yukong Zhang).

About 2024 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships
The championships are hosted by the
National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Visit Eau Claire CVB. The
event will feature: Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed
Teams, Women’s Teams.
PongSpace, Joola, the US
Coast Guard, Visit Eau Claire and Bluestone Designs sponsor the event.
Watch the event on live
stream starting Friday, April 12th on http://www.nctta.org/champs/2024/video.html

About NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis
Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to
promote the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national
governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA
organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org