Matt Hetherington
Former US National Champion Judy Hugh challenges Olympian Wu “Jennifer” Yue at Lily YipTable Tennis Center, June 18, 2016.
Dunellen residents were able to meet the U.S. Olympic Table Tennis Team at a fundraiser held at the Lily Yip Table Tennis Center (LYTTC) June 18.
Part of the USA Table Tennis (USATT) “Friends with Paddles” fundraising initiative, the event featured the six members of the Olympic team who actually arrived days prior to the challenge for additional training. They were pitted against LYTTC players, including former US National Team Champions and two highly-ranked Chinese players currently hosted by the center. After the program, sponsors and players celebrated the $25,000 raised at Cheng Du 1 Palace in Green Brook.
Although the US Olympic Trials were held in Greensboro, North Carolina in February, team members were not guaranteed a spot in the Olympics. First, they had to compete against Canada in the North American Olympic Trial in Markham, Canada in April. This was the first time since table tennis was introduced to the games in 1988 that USA has qualified a team in both the Men’s and Women’s events. The teams will be playing in the 2016 Summer Olympics this August.
Matt Hetherington
US Olympic Head Coach Massimo and player Kanak Jha enjoy a moment offsides during the Friends with Paddles fundraiser at lily Yip Table Tennis Center in Dunellen, NJ, June 18, 2016.
US Olympic Women’s Team is comprised of Lily Zhang, Jiaqi Zheng and Yue “Jennifer” Wu. In Rio, Zhang and Wu will play in the two singles spots and Zheng will join them in the team category. US Olympic Men’s Team is comprised of Timothy Wang, Yijun “Tom” Feng and Kanak Jha. Feng and Jha will play singles and Wang will round off the team. Team member Jha has been garnering national attention since in April, when he was still 15, he became the youngest male to qualify for table tennis in Olympic history.
The center located in downtown Dunellen is owned by four-time USATT National Coach of the Year Lily Yip, who was a member of the 1992 and 1996 U.S. Olympic Table Tennis Teams and was inducted into the USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004. She will be traveling to Rio assisting Olympic head coach, Massimo Costantini.
Matt Hetherington
The 2016 Olympic Table Tennis team is introduced at the Friends with Paddles fundraiser exhibition at Lily Yip Table Tennis Center in Dunellen, NJ, June 18, 2016.
LYTTC, which opened in 2010, is only one of ten table tennis facilities which has been named a “National Center of Excellence.” There are numerous top-ranked table tennis players who practice at LYTCC. The center regularly hosts 2014 ITTF Hopes Champion Amy Wang who is the top under 15 girl in the country, her brother Allen Wang who is on the US National Junior Team, Tina Lin who is the 2015 US Junior Girls Champion, and the three Alguetti brothers Adar, Sharon and Gal. Sharon and Adar are both US Junior Team members; Sharon is also on the US National Men’s Team and Cadet Team. However, the center is not only for competition-level table tennis players; LYTTC also has after-school programs, a children’s summer camp, and lessons for local students of all ages and levels.
LYTTC will be hosting the New Jersey Chinese Festival Olympic Cup Tournament on July 16.