Crystal Wang, 12, Makes USA National Team

GAITHERSBURG, Md. - March 11, 2014 - PRLog -- Youngest USA Team Member in History

Crystal Wang, 12, a sixth grader in the magnet program at Roberto Clemente Middle School in Boyds, MD, once again set a new record. At the USA Team Trials in Ft. Worth, Texas, she finished third at the USA Women's Team Trials (top four make the team), becoming the youngest member of the USA National Team in history, according to USA Table Tennis historian Tim Boggan, at age 12 years 14 days.

To make the team she defeated a series of players: 4-0 over Tia Hsieh of Texas; 4-1 over Tina Lin of New Jersey (known for her backhand smash); 4-1 over Angela Guan of California (the best defensive player in the Trials), and 4-2 over Erica Wu, also of California, who had defeated Crystal at the USA Nationals in December. In the final standings, Lily Zhang, Prachi Jha, and Erica Wu (all from California) came in first, second, and fourth, with Crystal third.  Crystal trains at the Maryland Table Tennis Center (MDTTC) in Gaithersburg, MD. She was coached at the National Team Trial by Qingliang Wang of MDTTC; Qingliang was the 2012 U.S. Open Men's Singles Semifinalist.  Crystal's Primary Coach is Jack Huang of MDTTC.

This isn't the first time Crystal has set age records. At the USA Nationals in December, at the age of 11, she became the youngest player ever to win Under 22 Women, defeating top seed Ariel Hsing of California in the semifinals (who would go on to win her third Women's Singles title), and Angela Guan in the final. In Women's Singles, Crystal lost in the quarterfinals 4-0 to Erica Wu.

Crystal is now the #1 ranked girl in the U.S. in Under 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 Girls. She is also ranked #1 in Under 13 overall, girls and boys. She has already achieved the highest rating in history, boys or girls, for age 9, 10, and 11, and is well on her way to doing so for age 12. (She is already by far the highest rated girl in history for each of these ages.) She was a member of the U.S. Junior Team at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Hyderabad, India, and at age 10, was not just the youngest on the team by several years, but the youngest in the tournament.

The International Table Tennis Federation did a feature on Crystal (http://ittf.com/_front_page/ittf_full_story1.asp?ID=30099...) in December, 2012. She's also on the USA Cadet Team (for players under age 15), and is sponsored by Butterfly, the largest table tennis manufacturer in the world.

For more info on Crystal or MDTTC (http://mdttc.com), or to arrange an interview with Crystal, contact Coach Larry Hodges (mailto:larry@larrytt.com).