April 17, 2009
Pradeeban Peter-Paul & Homayoun Kamkar-Parsi Successful in Laval, QC and Manhattan, NY
Homayoun Kamkar-Parsi
Courtesy of CTTA
Pradeeban Peter-Paul and Homayoun Kamkar-Parsi, both National Training Center resident athletes, completed a successful Easter weekend on the North American table tennis courts.
First stop: the table tennis festival of the Big Bang Quebec Circuit in Laval, QC. Pradeeban Peter-Paul (ON) cruised to victory, while Kamkar-Parsi (ON) had a more difficult time booking his place in the finals of the event. However, the two Ontarians finished 1 and 2, Peter-Paul claiming the title.
An 8-hour journey to New York City, got them to their second stop on the weekend – the first JOOLA North American Tour New York City Open. Peter-Paul, the highest ranked North American player was seeded #1, Kamkar-Parsi # 10.
Kamkar-Parsi embarked on a remarkable journey: in the preliminary round robin, he eliminated three tough opponents: the tournaments #2 seed Gao Yan Jun, veteran Atanda Musa and the always dangerous De Tran. But the challenge had only started.
In the quarterfinals, the Canadian faced Korean Lee Sang Mook, a forehand power looper who is well known to Canadians from his days in British Columbia. Down 1-3, the Korean evened the match to 3-3 to the cheers of the crowd. However, serving well and finding Lee’s weak spots, Kamkar-Parsi took control of the 7th game early on and ran out the match 11-8, booking a place in the semi-finals against fellow national team member Xavier Therien.
Coming back from an injury and ill health, Therien had a respectable showing in New York fending off a 0-3 down challenge from US junior Amaresh Sahu.
The semi-final match-ups featured three Canadians and US team member Han Xiao. Peter-Paul earned his spot in the final with a convincing win over Han Xiao, while Kamkar-Parsi left no doubt about his intent with a 4-0 win over Therien.
The crowd at Columbia University was left to cheer for two Canadians – Peter-Paul left nothing to chance and prevailed over teammate Kamkar-Parsi by a score of 4-2.
The next stop for the Canadians on the JOOLA North American Tour will be at the end of May in New Jersey.
Pradeeban Peter-Paul
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