US Table Tennis Team Takes Home a Big Medal Haul from 2021 Pan Am Youth Championships

 

US National Junior and Cadet Teams Win a Total of Thirty-Seven Medals – Twenty of them Gold – at the Recently Completed Pan Am Youth Championships in Santo Domingo

 

(Colorado Springs, CO – September 20, 2021) – USA Table Tennis today announced that players representing the United States at the 2021 Pan Am Youth Table Tennis Championships collectively earned a total of thirty-seven medals – twenty of which were gold – at the recently completed elite-level event in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The impressive performance also served to clinch spots at the 2022 World Junior Championships for the Gold Medal winning U-19 and U-15 Girls’ Teams, as well as the U-15 Boys’ Team from the United States.

 “I am very happy with our overall result in this tournament,” commentedCoach Gao Jun.  “Every player played well and performed exceptionally.  We did exceptionally well in both U-19 and U-15 Girl’s events and the U-15 Boy’s event.  We fought hard in the U-19 Boy’s event as well and advanced to the semi-final.”  

Coach Gao went on to praise the new coaching staff, “Special thanks to our fantastic new assistant Coaching Team – Coach Samson Dubina and Coach Cory Eider. This is their first international tournament representing the United States, and both of them worked very hard and coached our youth players super well.”

Looking to build off of the successful trip to the Dominican Republic, Coach Gao emphasized, “We will now shift our focus to the upcoming Pan Am Championship in Salt Lake City and the World Championship in Houston, and World Youth Championship in Portugal.”

"I was very happy with the teamwork and great attitudes from the national team throughout the tournament!,” said Assistant Coach Samson Dubina. “Together, we had team meetings, watched many videos with analyzing tactics, and worked together as a team. The results were incredible with Gold Medals in the U-15 Boys’ team, U-15 Girls’ team, U-19 Girls’ team, U-15 Boys’ doubles, U-15 Girls’ doubles, U-15 mixed doubles, U-15 girls singles, and U-19 Girls’ singles!  In addition to the many Gold Medals, the team racked up many Silver and Bronze as well!”

Coach Dubina added, “some of the great lessons that the players learned throughout the week were:  how to adjust to new playing conditions; how to manage time well before, during, and after matches; how to have proper tactical analysis of opponents both before and during the match; how to use a win to motivate and shake off a loss and come back; how to be mentally strong in the midst of an international tournament; and how to work together as a team to support and encourage each other both on and off the court!  I know that the players are very proud of their new titles, and I hope that it continues to fuel their success in the future!"

Assistant Coach Cory Eider stated, “[t]his was many of our first times representing team USA.  My proudest moment was when I heard the team was cheering on a player during the bus ride home.  There was a play by play from the parents on the group chat, the players on the bus were reading it and the bus got pretty loud even though the player couldn't hear it in the arena."

The US representatives in the U-19 Girls’ Division were dominant at the event as the four-player team comprised of Amy Wang, Rachel Sung, Joanna Sung, and Angie Tan claimed the Gold Medal, while Rachel Sung (Gold) and Amy Wang (Silver) took the top two positions in the U-19 Girls’ Singles event. Those individual performances for Rachel Sung and Amy Wang also served to earn a spot for each of them in the 2022 World Junior Championships in the U-19 Girls’ Singles event. The sister duo of Joanna and Rachel Sung also snagged the Silver Medal in the U-19 Girls’ Doubles Event.

The U-15 Girls’ Team comprised of Sarah Jalli, Sally Moyland, Emily Tan, and Faith Hu, was equally dominant, winning the Gold Medal in the Team Event and then sweeping all of the hardware in the U-15 Girls’ Singles Event with Sarah Jalli taking Gold, and Emily Tan winning Silver, while Sally Moyland and Faith Hu took home the Bronze Medals. For Jalli and Tan, their one-two performance also served to qualify them for the 2022 World Junior Championships in the U-15 Girls’ Singles. In the U-15 Girls’ Doubles Event, Sarah Jalli and Sally Moyland teamed up to take home the Gold.

The U-15 Boys’ Team, which was made up of Darius Fahimi, Nandan Naresh, Daniel Tran, and Jenson Feng, took home the Gold, while Nandan Naresh claimed the Bronze in the U-15 Boys’ Singles. Nandan and Daniel Tran won the Gold in the U-15 Boys’ Doubles, while Darius Fahimi and Jenson Feng took home the Bronze in that event.

The U-19 Boys’ Team, which was made up of Jayden Zhou, Sid Naresh, Aziz Zarehbin, and Kai Jiang, also claimed a medal, winning the Bronze in the Team Event, while Jayden Zhou teamed up with Amy Wang to claim Bronze in the U-19 Mixed Doubles. In the U-15 Mixed Doubles, the US claimed the top two slots with Daniel Tran and Sally Moyland winning Gold and Nandan Naresh and Sarah Jalli finishing second.

The 2021 Pan Am Youth Championship Medal results for the US Teams were as follows:

 

Gold Medal: Amy Wang, Rachel Sung, Joanna Sung, Angie Tan

 

U-19 Boys’ Team

Bronze Medal: Jayden Zhou, Sid Naresh, Aziz Zarehbin, Kai Jiang

U-15 Girls’ Team 

Gold Medal: Sarah Jalli, Sally Moyland, Emily Tan, Faith Hu

U-15 Boys’ Team

Gold Medal: Darius Fahimi, Nandan Naresh, Daniel Tran, Jenson Feng

U-19 Girls’ Singles

Gold Medal: Rachel Sung

Silver Medal: Amy Wang

U-19 Girls’ Doubles

Silver Medal: Joanna Sung and Rachel Sung

U-19 Mixed Doubles

Bronze Medal: Jayden Zhou and Amy Wang

U-15 Girls’ Singles

Gold Medal: Sarah Jalli

Silver Medal: Emily Tan

Bronze Medal: Sally Moyland

Bronze Medal: Faith Hu

U-15 Girls’ Doubles

Gold Medal: Sarah Jalli and Sally Moyland

U-15 Boys’ Singles

Bronze Medal: Nandan Naresh

U-15 Boys’ Doubles

Gold Medal: Nandan Naresh and Daniel Tran

Bronze Medal: Darius Fahimi and Jenson Feng

U-15 Mixed Doubles

Gold Medal: Daniel Tran and Sally Moyland

Silver Medal: Nandan Naresh and Sarah Jalli

USATT sends out the organization’s congratulations to all who participated in what was a fun and well-run tournament at the 2021 ITTF Pan Am Youth Championships.

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