US National Junior Girls Team Qualifies for the World Junior Championships in Slovakia
by USA Junior Team Coach Lily Yip


Coach Lily Yip, Ariel Hising, Anne Deng, Emily Wu, Lily Zhang, Coach Emilia Gheorghe

Photos courtesy of Michael Hsing


The Hsing Family, Michael, Xinhua, Ariel  

At the 2010 U.S. Open in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the North American Championships, Team USA defeated handily Team Canada in a hard-fought but increasingly dominant match-up: 3 - 0. As the US Junior Team Coach, I used Lily Zhang as our number one seed with Erica Wu as our number two since Ariel Hsing had just flown back from Shanghai, China the same day. I had confidence in my selection, and Lily and Erica performed well. Congratulations to our Junior Girls for their excellent performance, as the USA Team has booked their spot at the World Junior Championships to be held in Bratislava, Slovakia on December 4-11, 2010.

Furthermore, it was a great honor that Ariel was invited to play as one of the two junior girls on the Junior World Team against China in the 2010 Volkswagen China vs. World Team Challenge. Ariel and South Korean phenom Ha-eun Yang , World-ranked #10 in U 18, teamed up against China's formidable duo of Cheng Meng and Gu Yuting, World-ranked #5 in U18, all four players very comfortable thriving in the international spotlight. Although China won 5-0 and displayed sheer class, the Challengers had their moments of glory. For example, Ariel, World- ranked #44 in U 18, stunned a nervous Chen, ranked # 11, to take the opening game of the match. The most notable thing was that Chen was almost two years older than Ariel and didn't know what to expect. And in Doubles, the Chinese had to overcome a two game deficit to finally best the Challengers 3-2. So even though defeated, Ariel represented the World with dignity, composure, and class, thus reinforcing her image as a future international to be reckoned with. I should mention that Ariel was wonderfully supported by her family and coached by Michael Hsing, her dad. She returned to the USA seemingly mentally stronger than ever and ready to play.

This is another stepping-stone for our US Team members, and their hard work, perseverance, and preparation was amply rewarded. Congratulations to all the US Team members and their families, their local coaches and TT Clubs, and to the USATT Coaches and Board Members who continue their excellent support system for our USATT Junior Teams. All USATT members can be proud of the progress we are making in the area of Junior Development. We look forward to the World Junior Championships with the belief that the best of our US Junior Girls is surely yet to come.