February 6, 2009
Table Tennis is Serious Business
Neal Zhang plays during a weekly table tennis gathering. This one was held at
the home of Youyan Zhang, a Eli Lilly research scientist who lives in Carmel.
Photo By ZACH DOBSON / For The Star
Courtesy of IndyStar / By Mark Ambrogi
Players who learned game in China will join competition
Indianapolis, IN - For Yuenian (Neal) Zhang, table tennis is more than just a casual pastime. He approaches the game with the passion of a competitor.
Playing with top-flight players, Zhang, 50, knows his games will be much faster and more difficult, compared to the typical back-and-forth of rec room contests.
"It's very competitive. It takes a lot of skills, a lot of mobility and lots of quickness," Zhang said.
He and other China-born Carmel residents will continue their Chinese New Year celebration Saturday by competing in the ICCCI (Indianapolis Chinese Community Center Inc.) Cup at the Table Tennis Club of Indianapolis, 8009 E. Washington St. The tournament for men, women and juniors runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Zhang, a radiation physicist at St. Vincent Hospital, won the ICCCI Cup open title in 2006, beating Hua (Robert) Luo.
 Hua (Robert) Luo takes on a competitor during a table tennis game in Carmel. Photo By ZACH DOBSON / For The Star |
"He's a better player. He's higher rated," Zhang said. "That year I got lucky. Normally, he beats me." China typically produces the world's best table tennis players. The Chinese have dominated table tennis in the Olympics since it was introduced as a medal sport in 1988. When growing up in China, Zhang and Luo said they played on a concrete surface with stacks of bricks serving as a net. "We had two tables in our school of 1,000 kids, sometimes you had to wait a half-hour to get on a table," said Luo, 44, who is the defending open champion in ICCCI Cup. "I was good, probably top in our elementary school." |
Luo, a physician, played some in college, but really didn't have time to play seriously until five or six years ago.
"One of the major reasons I started playing more is I was pretty overweight, I weighed almost 200 pounds and my cholesterol was very high," Luo said.
His doctor recommended more exercise so Luo went back to the sport he loves most. Luo now weighs 160 pounds and his cholesterol is normal without taking medication.
"I'm happier, I'm healthier. It's fun," Luo said.
Youyan Zhang, a 48-year-old Eli Lilly research scientist, is on the ICCCI Cup committee.
Jian Tan was among area table tennis players who were practicing last Saturday in
Carmel, in preparation for this Saturday's ICCCI Cup. The tournament will be
held at the Table Tennis Club of Indianapolis, 8009 E. Washington St.
Photo By ZACH DOBSON / For The Star
"We have some non-Chinese players who come from different places and all kinds of athletic backgrounds," said Youyan, who is no relation to Neal Zhang.
Youyan Zhang plays in a table tennis club at Lilly, and he has a weekly game in the basement of his eastside Carmel home. Several players also gather weekly to play in Neal Zhang's basement on the westside of Carmel. Last weekend they all played together at Youyan Zhang's house.
Among those playing was Jian Tan, a 44-year-old Carmel resident who is on the cardiology staff at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
When he was a youngster in China, he was a junior champion in his province. Now he coaches youngsters in the game he loves.
Qiwei (Kevin) Sun, a 40-year-old Carmel resident who works as a research scientist at IUPUI, is a USA Table Tennis Association certified coach.
Sun said his parents didn't want him playing too much when he was a youngster.
"They said it was recreation. They said I had to study science because that was more important," Sun said.
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