Fixed & Synced By MoUsTaFa ZaKi
J'
(ping pong balls being hit)
J'
From San Jose, California, Ariel Hsing_
J'
I guess people think I'm, like, really aloof
all the time because if they don't know me
and they just see me play, I'm really, like,
a little scary or something.
(yells)
But I don't think I am in real life.
Hey, this was my first trophy!
I got Under 10 Girls Champion.
There was only one other girl that played,
but I still won.
(9iQ9l@S)
it's my first national title.
And it's my biggest trophy, too.
This was when I was nine years old
and it was Uncle \/\larrerl's 75th birthday party.
So, someone gave him a lesson from a coach
and most people thought it would be funny
if this little girl came along, she just played.
So, I just happened to be that little girl.
So I was just really lucky.
From Old \/\/estbury, New York,
Michael Landers.
I try to put athletics into ping pong.
Basically like a chicken without a head
running around and just getting
as many balls back on the table as possible.
Michael's got a very unique style.
(grunts)
And he attacks everything.
I mean, he's really fun to watch.
He's young and he's Caucasian and he's good.
He's tough mentally, he's physically fit,
he has the skill, he has the talent.
So, it's just about experience
and maturity.
He Could be the best in the U.S.
Oh!
From Palo Alto, California,
Lily Zhang.
J'
I can't imagine, like, not playing table tennis.
It's like my passion, so I guess I would just
be like completely normal.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
It really failed.
Our seventh grade teacher tried to play her and--
(laughs)
Oh, Ifirst met her in sixth grade.
They were like, "Oh, yeah, this is Lily
and she plays table tennis," and I was like,
"Okay, that's kind of unusual."
I want to say you're, like, number two in 18...
18 year old, 18 and under.
Like, for ranking or...
Yeah.
Well, technically, number one.
Oh, okay.
Okay, so you're number--
Lily, I think her style is very good.
Her movements are very smooth.
J'
Table tennis is a lot like martial arts
and boxing combined with chess.
So, you have to think one move or two moves,
sometimes three or four moves, ahead of your opponent.
You need your legs to move fast,
your core to turn, to add power to a shot,
and then, of course, your arm to swing,
your wrist to have spin, you fingers to control the ball,
so it's really your entire body working together.
J'
'Cause spin is tne fundamental name of tne game
and identifying the spin is really what all these players
do extraordinarily well.
The spin is something that is not easy
to understand, even for the players.
So, for the spectators, they watch something,
but they don't know what's going on.
There's topspin, there's no-spin,
there's sidespin, there's side-under,
and there's side-top, and then,
there's really heavy underspin,
and only a little bit of underspin,
and you see it, like, when it's coming towards you
in the speed and in the paddle
of your opponent when they're contacting the ball.
That's the most difficult part of table tennis,
to be able to adjust to the spin
and get the ball back.
It is evolving.
Table tennis is coming out of the basement
and out of the garages into more mainstream U_S_A_,
so it's coming.
J'
(applause)
J'
Yeah!
(applause)
J'
Michael won that match.
He is the Under 21 Men's Champion.
Speaking of Michael--
Guys, I'm rich.
$250.
I can buy...
Like, three people dinner now at that restaurant
the other night.
In this clown town, yes.
Champion!
Under 21 Men's Singles.
I totally forgot that he was even going
to get a check, but, of course, he did not.
I mean, he takes his sport seriously,
not to the point where it's ever gonna bother him
if he really loses.
Maybe for a little bit.
Just never a bad attitude.
You know?
Loses a match, sits there,
thinks about it, and, like 15 minutes later,
he's okay.
Twenty.
Sometimes half an hour if it's a bad hit.
(applause)
(yells)
(applause)
(yells)
(applause)
That is the first time I've ever cried
after winning a match.
Last time I cried after losing a match
was a while ago.
We're playing Junior Teams right now,
so we're just waiting for them to finish
and then, we play them next.
I'm really excited for \/\lomen's Singles.
There are a lot of good players,
like there's always every year,
and also, a lot of the young ones,
they really improved, so it'll be interesting
to play them.
What happened last year in Nationals
is that we played each other in the finals,
so that was intense, yeah.
And who won?
Um, lwon_
Yeah, okay.
J'
I've known Ariel for about eight or nine years already,
so it's been a really long time.
J'
(applause)
Everybody knows we have a really big rivalry.
I think a lot of people, like,
they know that when we play,
it's always gonna be very intense.
They started almost the same time.
They trained under almost the same coaches.
Of course, you Know, there's competition.
Not only ping pong, right?
"Lily's wearing makeup now, I wanna do it, too."
Yeah, exactly!
Ariel said, "if Lily's wearing
a little eye shadow, so why cannot I?"
I said, "Okay, you can do it."
So, they are like friends, you know?
Share everything.
Lily Zhang.
Ariel Hsing_
(applause)
Sometimes it does put strain on your friendship, I think.
I think no matter what there are times
where you'll feel a bit jealous, like,
"Oh, you Know, she did so well.
I Wish I Could do that Well."
Even though we're really familiar with each other,
it's really nerve-wracking, playing with each other
again and again and again.
You would think we would get used to it,
but I definitely will fight to be number one.
I think Lily has a maturity that I don't have yet,
maybe thinks more than the rest of the girls.
At the same time, I think it's a good thing
that I'm not that mature yet because you're more fearless.
You just go out there and you don't really think
about the consequences.
(screaming)
(applause)
J'
Ariel Hsing defends her title,
iwo in a row.
(whistling and applause)
Let's have a nice hand for Lily Zhang.
(applause)
J'
-Enjoy. -Thanks, thank you.
J'
When I lose, like, I'm not very happy,
but sometimes, even if I win,
and then I feel like I'm not playing
my best game, then I'm not happy
with myself.
Those are the questions that you guys
kinda did a shout-out of on--
Lily has very high expectations for herself.
There are moments when I asked her, like,
"Oh, how did you do," in this certain competition.
She's like, "Mmm, not very good_"
And I'm like, "\/\/ell, what does that mean?"
And she's like, "Uh, I got second."
I'm like, "Second, that's great!"
And she's like, "No, I should have gotten first."
And I think that that's why she kind of keeps pushing,
but that's also putting a lot of stress
on herself to do well.
We just Keep telling her,
"Don't have too much pressure."
But I also worry about her because I think
about her ping pong because she has,
you Know, like Olympic dream.
But, you Know, basically we tell her,
you Know, "Don't compare with," you Know,
"other people."
"Just do," you Know, "what you can do."
Uh-huh.
When I started traveling,
I was only 10 years old, I think,
so that's really young to be traveling in the world.
So, I got a lot of experience from playing the tournaments
and meeting new people.
I still have, like, 200 more to confirm or whatever.
Like, this guy recently sent me, like,
this huge email.
He's like, "Hello, Lily Zhang, my name is Matthew.
I've been watching videos on YouTube of you
and all of the other best players
in the United States and all I have to say
is '\/Vow, you guys are incredible!
I'm so happy I found you on Facebook.
I really look up to all of you guys."
Should I get the giraffe?
That one was really cute.
Okay, should I do orange spots or brown spots?
Or should I do gold?
Oh, gold.
I go to school five days a week
and my table tennis friends, tney're all spread out
in different countries.
I see my school friends a little bit more,
so I think we're probably a little bit closer.
Oh, my God, that's adorable.
-That's so good. -That's so cute.
Did that take a long time?
(9i9Qlif19)
She's always gone and missing school
and at practice, like, seven days a week,
and she's still in harder classes than me
and gets better grades than me.
So, I'm just like, "l don't know how you do it."
Um...
...I dunno.
J'
(foil crinkling)
J'
A neurosurgeon over here.
I'm crazy.
Need a hand?
No, I'm all right.
This will be fun.
When I was younger and had friends over,
we'd just Search up things to do
on the Internet for fun.
Making a smoke bomb was one of the things
and it turned out you could do it
with ping pong balls
and that wasn't really a problem
because I had so many.
Here we go.
\/\/e have connection.
I don't want it to explode on my hand.
I dorl'tthirlk it's--
(chuckling)
A genie's gonna pop out soon.
Make a wish.
Your jokes are hysterical.
(chuckling)
J'
Oh, does that stink!
That's terrible.
Michael proclaimed about a month ago
that he had senioritis
That was one month into into his senior year.
\/\/e told him he's had senioritis for about four years now.
That's the problem.
(laughing)
Mikey, let's see those big boy underpants!
He always had a lot of energy.
Two years, seven months old--
Right, we tried to channel it into sports,
all the energy.
He was in the driveway skating up and back,
shooting pucks into nets.
And what do you love to do, Mike?
Tell us a little about yourself.
\/Vow, what else?
\/\/e had a table since I was iwo
and my dad would put me on a couch when I was little
and he kinda just taught me basic strokes
'cause he played a lot of tennis and he's just
an athletic person.
He was very good at a lot of things,
but for his natural ability, I am confident
that Michael found the right place to be.
J'
Three, four, five,
six, seven
Don't strain, don't strain, go.
J'
(panting)
He has some sacrifice in what he's doing.
For instance, he's not gonna go to prom,
senior prom, and most people
go to senior prom.
Most people have a yearbook.
Or walk down that aisle at graduation.
Glycolysis occurs in two phases.
Such reactions may be hindered by--
I enrolled in an online school
where I do the same work as everyone else,
except on the computer and I can do it anywhere
in the world.
Right now, we're in the middle
of a glycolysis lesson and it's pretty interesting.
It's actually terrible, but...
(chuckles)
Uh-Oh.
October first is two SAT IIS.
He's got bio and math back to back.
I just told him just, "if you put the time in
and you study, you Know, you'll do okay."
But it's putting the time in that's the problem
'cause now school started today and training,
gym training, training with--
on the ping pong table and___you Know,
it's a lot of stuff.
Hey, Mom.
Yo!
Can I make Jake go swimming?
Oh, he's beautiful with his hair cut.
I don't think so.
You know what we can do?
Take him over to Mildred's_
Mildred wants to see you anyway.
No!
Jakey, no, no, no!
No, no, no!
Michael, I hate you.
No, no!
(laughing)
Jakey!
J'
Okay, now I'm serious.
J'
-Oh! -See?
I didn't think you would actually flip it.
Okay.
Yeah, I have a lot of muscles
on, like, this arm,
but this arm's just like a chicken arm.
I don't even Know.
Like, this arm is just so skinny
and justmjust useless.
Everyone thinks she's very mature
and them I'm like, "No, no_"
Wait, did you guys hear anything about me?
Like, that I was weird or something?
Meet San Jose's Ariel Hsing_
Just 10 years old, she can handle top players
more than twice her age.
I think I just have a natural talent
and I just really enjoy it.
By the time she turned eight,
she was already beating her dad.
I feel really happy, but I'm not so sure
about my dad.
(laughter)
My dad, I always joke with how I'm like,
"On, we're best friends," and I always annoy him
all the time.
School is number one,
She'll learn piano, dancing, and karate sometimes.
So, we try to kinda even things out,
but she does play a lot,
maybe a little bit too much.
(balls bouncing)
Michael and I, we used to play at home.
Once in a while, we would go to the club to play.
When she's about seven, we didn't have
a babysitter for her, so we took her with us.
And she was playing with the coach
and the coach said, "Wow, what a genius!"
Then we found out, probably, she said that to every kid.
Wait, what are we doing today?
Okay.
(speaking foreign language)
Tipping.
Jumping, jumping beans.
Exercise, okay?
(speaking foreign language)
(beep)
We have all these different strategies.
Sometimes, he'll set a target for me like,
"Okay, you'll do this like 100 times,"
'cause then it raises my center,
like, I didn't think I could do it
and then, after I do so many repetitions of it,
then that's when I start to improve.
Too short.
So, I think starting from the second year,
we don't talk about prodigy, we don't talk about talent.
We care about the process, the hard work,
not the results.
That's all our principle.
Number three's Ariel's Weapons.
So, I open and there's something about foolwork_
Probably, this is the most famous female player
in the world maybe, from China.
Even before she returns the ball,
she's moving.
We were very impressed with that movement.
My dad has done so many things to help me.
All those nights, he stays until 2:00, 3:00 a_m_,
editing videos, watching them, studying them.
See how many times I've read it?
We read a lot of the sport psychology books.
Usually one book I'll read probably three times
and Ariel will read it one or iwo times
and she will write an essay on it.
Like Tiger Mom book, it becomes so famous and--
I love it.
You know all...
Most other people say,
"Hey, this is really, you Know,
too tough for children.
Why mom, parents are doing this to their kid?"
He loves it.
Go.
Even me, too.
I couldn't tolerate just doing
the mediocre things.
For recreation, that's fine,
but if you want to go for Olympics,
you have to put in 100 percent.
Done.
Okay.
Um, forehand fixing machine.
J'
Jump!
J'
Jump!
Spin!
(clapping)
Go, go, go, go, go!
(clapping)
Up!
Drop the position, legs, let the legs stretch.
Right there.
Here in ICC, we have the top players
regarding v\/omen's_
Ariel Hsing, she's the national champion,
and Lily Zhang, uh...
Both are very young, 16 and 15 years old.
More angriness
(grunting)
Go.
They are very strong,
very motivated.
So, they have a good chance to represent
the country in the next Olympic Games in London.
Go with the ball, go with the ball,
and it's fun.
Go with the ball.
Good, very good.
There are two stages to make the Olympics.
First stage is the U.S. team trials
to get on the Olympic team.
After a couple of months, then you have
the North American trials.
So, we have the right mentality,
right motivation, but because China
still have too much power, we are going to face big wall
in front of us.
J'
I compare tne Chinese table tennis
with Brazilian soccer.
They have ping pong tables in the parks,
you can find them all over China.
The whole game is just looked at differently.
They've got the best coaches, the best playing conditions,
so it's not by accident they are on top
and will stay on top for a long time.
The first time table tennis appeared in the Olympics
was in 1988 and since then,
China has almost dominated all the gold medals,
winning 20 out of 24 gold medals.
Table tennis, along with handball
and badminton, never won any medals for US.
So, it's not a surprise China is ranked number one
in the world, while the U_S_ women
are reach the number 25
and the U_S_ men are number 48.
J'
Originally, I was planning to go to Germany,
but then last minute, I switched my mind
to come here because I feel like
the trainings a lot more intense
and if you're willing to work hard,
I feel like this is the place to get better.
(sneakers squeaking)
This whole sports facility is located
in the middle of nowhere.
If you don't have distractions
of the outside world, you can really focus in
on everything that you're trying to achieve.
(speaking foreign language)
Now that I'm here in China
and always training 24/7,
I mean, I can't say which are my closest friends anymore.
It's just been really tough.
(speaking foreign language)
I mean, I really think if I want to pursue
this goal of making the Olympics
that it's the best move and smartest move.
So, most people v\/ouldn't be crazy enough to do that,
but I am.
(speaking foreign language)
J'
I don't even know what I'm doing right now.
Just flipping through pages.
J'
If I want to apply early decision to any college,
it has to be now,
and if I take it again, I won't be able to.
So, there's a little bit of pressure.
When you're in school and you're following your dream
or trying to be an elite athlete, um...
You have to be really goal-oriented.
You give up somethings
and you get back somethings.
He's been forced to go out, get food for himself,
make his bed, wash his clothes,
and he's grown up a lot in the last year
because he's had to.
J'
SPiN, it's like a ping pong club
mixed with a restaurant and a bar and a lounge.
I would train there during the day,
but at night it's only like a recreational
playing center,
and they have loud music playing
and drinks everywhere,
and balls flying everywhere, so...
The environment is kinda v\/nacky_
How's my mustache?
Is it droop-- drooping anywhere?
The high athletic ability of some of these players,
um, is very artful,
especially while you're drinking a martini
or, like, having a beer.
\/\lhat's interesting with SPiN is that
it gives, like, a platform for
all those players that were not necessarily
very social before,
but now they're like-- they're shining
because they're like becoming like celebrities,
you know?
He was the youngest men's national champion
in the history of the sport.
Give it up for Michael Landers!
Youth is very appealing, and making the Olympics
as a prodigy would garner a lot of attention
for the sport and for Michael.
I feel like he has pressure,
but he's very young.
And if he doesn't make it for the 2012,
he will make it 2016.
Maybe, or he might not.
He might not have, emotionally,
the interest after this,
especially when college is the option.
J'
The biggest thing l wanted to check in
with you on is relationships.
Are you making friends?
Yeah, um, it's really difficult, though,
because I missed the first week of school,
and then I'm a new student here.
And then I missed a month of school, so...
And I'm going to be gone again.
It's kind of hard to just keep in touch
with the friends all the time.
Number five.
Just kinda gave you like a hypothetical situation.
She obviously has an interesting lifestyle
how she's always out of town.
And she's telling me about that,
and I didn't really understand it.
And I was like, "You just go on vacations
all the time with your family?"
And she said that she was going on a sports team.
And I said, "\/\/ell, what sport?"
She--she laughed, she's like, "Ping pong."
Kinda like she was embarrassed about it almost.
It was just kinda shocking to find out
that one of my friends is this incredible
ping pong player, table tennis player, so...
J'
I sometimes wish table tennis was,
like, a team sport.
You Know, you see on TV
all those people on a team,
and you see when they win together,
they're happy together,
and they lose, they're sad together.
And they're always giving each other support.
And that's when I realized that table tennis
is a lonely sport sometimes.
J'
My dad's given up his job.
I know that he can do so much right now,
but he's here with me.
Now it's not just me,
but it's my entire family sacrificing for me.
J'
We're pretty sure she would goto college.
After that, if she wants to be a professional player,
she can make up her own mind.
I will--we will support her anyway.
But in the U.S. there's not many
professional player,
and then you couldn't make a living--
She could be the first one.
I don't see that happening.
But I want her to be happy
and then to have a good education.
Lily, do you need help over there? No?
This one, this one's better.
No?
I Know!
So, this one is better.
Every time I come back from a tournament,
I never practice for, like,
one to two weeks usually,
'cause I'm, like, just busy making up everything.
(laughing)
Oh my God, these are so cute.
Yeah, a little bit, 'cause I haven't
practiced lately.
So...
Like, three weeks, right?
-I haven'tseerl you in? -No.
I've been here-- I've been here for, like,
one and a half weeks.
Okay, almost two.
Tomorrow 1wo_
Don't you get lonely?
It's not that bad.
Michael!
What do you do all day?
Wait, you're really-- you don't have, like,
somebody watching you or, like, feeding you?
Um, they actually-- they got me
a cooked chicken from Costco
and I just heat it up in the microwave.
You're like a 30-year-old divorcé!
No, it's not that bad.
I'm used to it.
Right now I'm training in San Jose.
I have way more freedom here.
You Know, in China, if I stayed there for a while
I got really, actually, depressed because...
I mean, I'm so far away from home,
and my friends, and...
My mind was just, pew,
blowin' up, you know?
Okay, I got that wrong.
It's working out well since I've been here.
I don't know about the studying part,
the SAT part, but we'll see.
Michael came out here because he was looking
for training, good training
without leaving the country.
And he asked me if he could come out here
to train with Coach Lee and myself
to get ready for the Olympic trials in February.
He's just trying his best,
and in 20 years from now on
when you look back, you had a chance
when you were 17,
so there will be no regrets for him later on.
It has to download.
Figured. Can you do this?
Let me see.
See if I can do it.
There's a magnet on this ball
so it doesn't bounce.
It just rolls.
Let me see.
I don't think I've ever tried that before.
You're full of trash.
I know you've tried it.
You've practiced it.
You Know, he has no friends in California.
He doesn't know anybody.
And I know that feeling.
I've been overseas.
I cannot do that, that's pretty cool.
I saw them do that in China.
I don't know how they do that.
I went to high school up until the 10th grade,
and then I went and played professionally in Sweden.
Currently, I have not yet gone to college.
So, college might be later on
when I retire table tennis.
-Oh, here we go. -There it is.
Ready?
(applause)
Welcome Barney Reed!
Barney, thanks for being here.
Thanks for having me.
You can put crazy spins on it, too, can't you?
You want it to spin?
Yeah, show me that.
What if you missed your serve?
I was nervous.
J'
In all honesty, I'm a little bit nervous,
but it's Kinda Weird that it's two weeks away.
It doesn't feel like it.
Um...
I mean, I've always been training
and the Olympics have been in my mind,
and now that it's finally so close, it...
It's just surreal to me, you know?
It hasn't hit me that it's coming up.
So, I probably have to get a little
bit more focused.
That's about it.
J'
Welcome to the U_S_A_ Table Tennis Trials
event here in Cary.
We're excited to have four
of U.S.A. table tennis'
top athletes here to talk to us.
Ping pong is just a game that a lot
of friend's play in their basement.
Table tennis is the actual sport
that requires just as much attention
as any other sport out there.
I think most players are playing the sport
for the opportunity to get to the Olympics.
It validates any sport
from judo to canoe kayak
to archery to fencing,
because everyone realizes what it takes
to get to that level.
To become an Olympian,
you have to overcome two hurdles:
The first stage is U.S. team trials
where, uh, 12 players will compete
in a giant round robin tournament.
Then the top four players
will represent the US. and become
eligible for the North American
qualification against Canada.
It's almost like the NFL on any given Sunday,
anybody out of us who is a little bit lucky
or who's on that day is probably gonna come through.
It's not a matter of tactics or techniques,
it's only-- it's only mental,
psychological, uh, srabnny
will give the player the best performance
in the moment you need.
(cheering)
When I'm on the table playing a match,
even though he's my coach,
he's also my dad.
For me, it gives me confidence
because he knows me personally the best.
So, this gives me a lot of reassurance
when I'm playing.
(applause)
She's definitely a really big fighter,
and I definitely admire her for that.
I mean, we all have different ways
of showing it.
But we all want the same thing,
we all fight for the same thing.
\/Vhoa!
(applause)
\/\lhat'S it like being a veteran
at age 16?
Um, it's kind of weird,
because a few years ago
I was just 12, 13...
Table tennis atmosphere is tough, like,
if you got a couple close friends,
you gotta stick close to them.
I mean, l\/lichael's like my little brother,
so I mean, we'd talk about this
for, you Know, years and years
and years and years and years.
As long as he grabs his opportunity,
he's in good shape,
and I believe he'll do it.
J'
Go!
J'
(audience groans)
(applause)
J'
(unintelligible shout)
J'
(screams)
J'
Oh!
J'
it's too demanding.
Each tournament is ridiculous.
I mean, you Know, you go to the Olympics
and the maximum matches a day that you can play
are three best out of seven matches.
And they have us playing four and four
back to back, and it's just like...
Everybody's feeling it.
I don't care if you're 18
or if you're 48, or if you're 8,
you're gonna feel this.
I'm gonna feel this, I can't even walk.
I was saying everybody is gonna feel this.
J'
Extremely tight.
This is very bad.
Both to my chest.
And when I say, you push me.
Push, push.
Good, right now, push again.
Push, push, good.
One more time.
(groans)
Thirty more seconds.
No.
An right, 10 more seconds.
\/\/e'll negotiate.
I'm about to be in tears.
Okay.
Excellent job.
I'm so proud of you today.
That was awesome.
J'
Today's the last day, so I'll just do what I can.
And, I mean, I'm in a really good
position right now, I'm tied for first place,
SO...
But the problem is there are, like,
four other people tied for first,
and four other people tied for second,
like right behind me with one loss more.
So___an\/thing can happen at this point.
But I'm trying not to think about it
and buckle under the pressure.
J'
(applause)
J'
Yeah!
J'
(screams)
J'
(screams)
J'
Yeah, 4-2.
Yeah.
You are the most dedicated person
among all of us.
Second behind Ariel.
Okay.
Everything came together,
and I just played my best,
and I'm just really happy.
(applause)
J'
(applause)
J'
Ding Ning.
I'm so excited to see her.
Like, she's world champion,
she's totally my idol.
So, I'm really excited to see her.
Or, like, the whole China team.
I made eye Contact with her today,
she waved at me.
And I was like, "Hi."
Like, in a really, really embarrassing manner.
I'm here today because I want to see
the good table tennis players of the world,
they play very good,
and have very high skill-- skills--skills.
Therefore I'm here.
Every country in Asia
play very good table tennis.
No, I'm so sorry.
We want to See Timo Boll.
We want to See...
No, we didn't.
In America, ping pong players make nothing,
so they just think of it as a joke.
When it comes to respect factor,
it's all about the bling bling.
And, I mean, beer pong gets 50 grand a year
and we get $3,500 for the national champion.
And it's sad, I'm not motivated
about money, otherwise I would've quite this sport
a long time ago and I would've went
and got a real job.
Hey, thanks for the support, girls.
Part of me says that the college experience
would've been fun to go through,
but the worldly experiences
that I have gotten through ping pong
sure beats a college degree in my book.
(chuckles)
That was mature.
I'll be hearing back from, uh,
Santa Clara, Columbia,
NYU, Fordham.
That's it.
I don't Know.
Gotta think about it.
See how pretty they are.
Aw, it's so pretty.
I think this one's cuter than that one.
Yeah, this one, this one's better.
And then, like, the pink--
I like this one, this one's the prettiest.
For this age,
they're just happy every day.
Can see their face every day like...
Yeah, actually, this city was my first
world championships in, uh, 1989.
Yeah, I was 20 already.
China is too many good players.
You Know, when-- when you are 16, you are 15,
there's someone still, you Know,
better than you.
But for these girls, they're the best
in the country, in the U.S.
So, that's why, you Know,
they get more opportunity to play.
Most of them, they play for--
for the parents.
For myself, when I was young,
I played for my parents.
I think after I retired.
(laughs)
After I retired from the Chinese National Team,
after I move to U_S_ I play then I think,
"Ah, I play for myself now."
J'
I Countin' tomorrows with my six hands I
I Lookin' at the sunrise
in some other land I
I Oh, rise I
I Countin' on myself I
Let's go!
I To find my way back home I
J'
(laughing)
I it's a puzzle I
I A puzzle of squares I
I And hey,
I'll take the dare I
J'
I Countin' tomorrows on my six fingers I
I Looks like the sunrise
in my head I
I My friend I
How'd that feel?
I Countin' on you again I
J'
(audience laughs)
J'
I \/\/ell, it's a puzzle,
a puzzle of squares I
(laughing, applause)
I Up these crooked stairs I
(unintelligible remarks)
J'
I it's a puzzle,
a puzzle of squares I
I Come with me, my friend I
I Up these crooked stairs H
Come on, come on, come on.
Hit the ball a little earlier.
Good.
Don't wait too much.
Don't wait. Go.
Yeah.
Don't wait too much, huh?
Tired?
I'm okay.
You okay?
One to ten tired?
Six, seven?
Fifteen.
SiX?!
Fifteen.
Oh,15!
Oh, my God.
The doctor said it was like overused muscle
here in the tendon here or something,
it's like really stiff.
So, I kinda need to, like, put ice on it,
like, five times a day,
which I haven't really been doing that much.
They haven't really, like, told me what to do
just to, like, rest.
I'm like, "\/\/ell, I have to play Olympic trials,"
and they were just like, "Nothing you can do."
Nobody wants to be injured during a tournament,
but hopefully it'll be, like, completely recovered
by the trials.
(thumping)
I didn't sleep much last night.
I would've liked to spend some more time in New York,
but what can you do?
Hopefully I'll be ready by Friday.
Uh...
The first one was a little bit shaky,
and I kinda froze and didn't know
what I was saying...
Because it's kind of difficult to give
these interviews while you know
you have the whole Kellogg's team
on speaker phone.
Kellogg's_
They're kind of the intermediary,
so any of the media goes through them first.
And then we make a decision together.
So...
Joan, thanks for letting us know about that show.
He was on NPR, National Public Radio,
Men's Health, FOX News,
ESPN High School,
Nickelodeon did a whole story on him.
I mean, the Kid's got a cereal box
coming out with his picture on it.
Arld...Which I didn't tell him yet.
So, shh_
Um, if he does make the Olympics,
I think Letterman wants him.
So, I didn't want to tell him that
because that's pressure.
J'
If they live stream it,
we'll watch on the computer.
And sometimes my wife can't watch.
She turns away.
I watch and I hope for the best.
The last thing I'll say is,
and we feel very strongly about this,
not many people in life really get to follow
their dream.
-And so... -I'm gonna cry.
Michael's doing that.
And so, we try to be supportive of it,
because there's not too many years
even he's gonna be able to do it.
So, let him have his shot.
-That's how we feel. -Yep.
J'
Can I have your attention?
My name is Mike Cavanaugh
I had the privilege of serving as CEO
of U.S.A. Table Tennis.
In a previous life, I had the chance
to try out for an Olympic team twice.
I didn't make it.
So, my anxiety and nervousness
is right there with all of you.
U_S_ and Canada have a wonderful,
wonderful strong relationship,
and that goes all out the window
in the next couple of days
when you're out there.
But, but truly it's something special,
and--and we're in this together.
The final stage of Olympic qualification
is determined by continent.
North America can only send three players to London.
This means that the U_S_ National Team
must compete against Canadians
in three separate tournaments.
And the winner of each tournament
will earn one of the spots.
Ultimately, players will have three chances
to win their ticket to London.
J'
Rules are very simple.
The game, uh, is up to 11,
and you have to win the game by two points,
uh, yeah.
The match will be a best of seven.
So, you have to win four out of seven games.
From Old \/\/estbury, New York,
Michael Landers.
(applause)
Players, begin.
J'
(shouting)
J'
(screams)
J'
(clapping)
J'
Oh!
J'
(shouts)
J'
(screams)
J'
There has it.
There he has it.
He is going to London.
Yeah!
On the paper, it might seem easy
because US. has the top two girls.
But the way I look at it,
like, Canadian-- Canada has, uh,
Coach Chris Xu.
She's a chopper.
It's lethal against the young girls.
So, that--she's gonna be very tough to beat.
Chris is a very experienced player.
\/\/ho can...
Mess with you on the table.
It's easy to get lost against choppers.
So, you gotta stay focused all the time.
What choppers do is--is they change a lot.
They change spin, and sometimes
the younger players, they get very, uh,
impatient and they try to finish too early,
or they don't see the subtle changes in the spin.
J'
In table tennis, we have two different styles.
Offensive players are those like Ariel and Lily,
where they try to hit the ball very close
to the table, try to impose their speed game.
The defensive player, like a chopper,
they try to slow down the ball far from the table,
play backspin, rather than topspin,
and every time you have to manage the quality
and the quantity of the spin in such a way that you try
to finish the point somehow because the ball
keeps coming back, keeps coming back.
You try to kill the ball, keeps coming back,
so that is the characteristic of the choppers.
J'
Okay, we're back here live.
We can report now that Ariel HSir'lg
has made it to the finals.
Now, we just have to figure out
who will be ner opponent between Chris Xu of Canada
and Lily Zhang of the U_S_
I think this is a really interesting match-up
just because the different styles.
I think for Lily,
this is more of a mental battle for her,
it's gonna be very psychological.
Oh!
When you walk on the court
and everybody's staring at you,
it can be a little bit intimidating.
There's a part of the mental game,
I try to block out all the crowd.
(yelling)
If you don't know your opponent very well,
the first game, it's like kind of a test
between both of you, then you have to think
where their weaknesses are.
Oh!
After dropping the first two games with relative ease,
she stormed back to tie it up two apiece.
The most important thing here is for her to stay positive
because it's very easy for her
to get down on herself.
J'
Oh!
At eight to ten in the semifinals
of women's singles.
J'
And Chris is through to the finals.
And I think that's a fitting point for the match to end.
Lily really didn't know what to do.
It's that dead chop without much spin
that was a little bit deep, Lily's just really unable
to hit through the ball.
J'
Back here live with the men's semifinal of stage two
of the North American Olympic trials
here in Cary, North Carolina.
Michael Landers is so strong and so confident,
I think ne'll put constant pressure on the Canadians,
so here we go.
(indistinct shouting)
it's like a timeless time that you're in
where you're not even thinking about anything.
My body's just reacting to everything.
I feel blood going everywhere in my body,
I also have like, a kind of a numbness.
It's amazing.
(thudding)
\/Vhoa!
(applauding)
Time.
(applauding)
Very strong counterattacks from Michael.
(shouting)
Still trailing, seems to have a second life
right now in this game.
(cheering)
And there it is, he ties it up at deuce_
What a comeback.
(applauding)
Oh, and he Iobs an edge.
(cheering)
And he takes the game.
Woo!
(applauding)
Game number five.
Pierre-Luc Hinse of Canada is leading
Michael Landers of New York.
(grunting)
\/Vhoa!
(grunting)
Oh!
(grunting)
Oh!
(cheering)
And now, Pierre-Luc has match point.
J'
And Pierre-Luc is through.
Michael Landers will have to rely
on the third tournament if he wants to earn
his way to London.
Pierre-Luc really won the match
on that one stretch where Michael Landers
was extremely hot, and he just soaked
that pressure up, didn't panic.
It's when Michael's hot, no one can stop him,
but at some point that has to end.
J'
I had a lot of pressure on me going into it
and I don't think I've ever felt like that before.
Even though I tend not to show things
sometimes I always care about how other people feel,
usually before myself.
J'
Take you over to... critical match now
with Michael Landers against Pierre-Luc Theriault_
And this is a must-win match for Michael.
J'
Now he's just over-hitting.
J'
Yes!
Two match points.
J'
And there it is.
Pierre-Luc Theriault will advance.
Michael Landers, unfortunately,
will not be going into the semifinals.
Definitely a lot of disappointment in his corner.
But, clearly, a Olympic effort
to give himself a chance to win.
J'
(lights clicking)
J'
(applause)
If she comes out of this empty-handed,
we will be disappointed for her
even though we said
we only care about the process
not the results,
but it's Still very difficult.
Tons and tons of pressure.
(clapping)
All right, we're about to go.
The women singles Olympic final
here in Cary, North Carolina.
It's these points right here that are gonna make
the big difference.
(clapping)
When I'm on the court, that's when I feel
most free almost.
I'm really just focused on the match,
as long as I'm there on the court
and I'm doing what I love doing.
(shouting)
A little bit unfortunate just catching
the top of the net with that smash.
(thudding)
Oh!
(applauding)
(thudding)
Just going long on that last forehand loop
and Chris, again, kind of working Ariel
into her own spider web.
Come on, Ariel!
Ariel!
Come on, Ariel!
J'
Ariel has taken it up a notch.
Chris unable to deal with the heavy topspin.
J'
There's always those times when it's really close
and you're thinking to yourself,
"Can I do this?
Am I willing to be aggressive at this time?"
You have to train yourself to be able
to take that chance, as nervous as you may be,
it's something that you have to overcome.
J'
Such patience and control.
One point away.
Six match points.
J'
She will be the youngest US. table tennis Olympian.
J'
And she's done it!
Ariel Hsing is going to London!
(cheering)
Qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games in London,
Ariel Hsing_
(cheering)
J'
May we have a big, warm round of applause
for our newest Olympian.
(cheering and applauding)
J'
Tell us what you're feeling right now.
-Can you put it into words? -Oh my God.
It's like the best feeling in the world, like,
I can't believe it, like, after I won,
I just started to cry a little bit.
It's just absolutely amazing, I mean, I've been dreaming
about it, I've been wishing for it,
but when you, like, when I actually won,
I just--it kind of hit me unexpected.
So, it's pretty amazing, I guess, right now.
I've never felt like this before.
Yeah.
(scissors cutting)
Okay, let your arm down to go this way.
I have a little bit of a fever,
I think probably.
Oh, no, is it here?
Whatever.
-Turn like this. -OW.
Basically it helps keep the muscle together,
so when I play, it doesn't put as much stress
on the muscle, so it won't hurt as much.
Come on, let's go.
Playing a defensive player in a situation like this
with a lot of pressure can be very difficult.
Hopefully, with that extra preparation,
Lily can overcome that.
J'
Oh, wonderful defensive skill by Chris Xu.
Lily getting caught a little bit flat-footed
on the last one, once again.
J'
And that ball just catching the top of her net.
Not the right ball there to go for the Kill.
Come on, Lily, come on, come on!
(ball clicking)
(thudding)
J'
And that ball just got away from her.
Chris throwing in a lot of the dead or no-spin chops.
J'
-Time! -Go.
J'
Beautiful forehand smash there.
J'
Failure is definitely part of life,
but it's important to try again.
I mean, I think it actually helps us
to getting stronger.
Come on, Lily!
J'
At this point in the match,
throw out the offense and defense,
it's gonna come down to heart and desire.
J'
She's done it!
With the final spot to represent
the United States this summer at the Olympic Games.
Woo!
(cheering)
J'
Qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games
in London, England,
Lily Zhang!
J'
(cheering and applause)
J'
(clapping)
Lily Zhang, you are an Olympian.
(cheering)
J'
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to New York's JFK,
where the local time is currently 2:21
in the afternoon.
J'
I picked up the phone and he said, you Know,
"Could you put the phone on speaker?"
and I can tell that he had been crying.
And he said that I'm so thankful
for all you've done
and you're really great parents,
and, uh, you Know, um...
I really love you, and, uh,
I feel stronger than ever.
And it was somtouching to get that kind of--
I mean, it was a real gift from him
and, uh...
"because, you Know, to hear your son
who's so stoic all the time.
And I know he's been holding it all in, all this--
this for a long time to actually, you Know,
hear that emotion and hear the thanks
and know it's really sincere.
J'
Win or lose, everybody was just so proud of him.
Whether it's table tennis or anything, you Know,
you do this for you and not for anybody else.
When I look at how my kids have grown and...
J'
You Know, life's really short.
So you gotta be happy.
\/\/ell, my husband, all his effort
and the sacrifice, putting him through
that emotion, even now to speak I have tears.
Wow, yeah, she was crying.
Yeah, I couldn't_
Just, uh, so many years.
Yeah, it's kind of sad, actually.
I know there are many, many more great athletes.
They are much more talented than Ariel,
they work harder than Ariel,
and their family maybe even sacrificed more than we did,
but they never get the chance to go to the Olympics.
-And Ariel does. -That's true.
So, we feel extremely lucky and fortunate.
-And thank God for that. -Yeah.
(sounds of the street)
Andrew, what are you doing later?
You have no idea?
-No. -Okay, okay.
You wanna go to Cole's'?
I wanna play basketball.
With the trials, a lot of that stuff
I was hiding and not really showing any emotion
or anything like that, but really inside
I was really, really scared and nervous about everything
and so many thoughts were just running through my mind,
like, sponsorships, documentary, parents,
friends, family, like everything
I felt was just like riding on my back.
And then, just to be finished with that,
like when I was crying at the end
after I ended up losing, like,
I was really, really happy to just be done with it
even though I was crushed.
So...
Yo, what's up dude?
\/Vhere--are you guys in Dylan's room right now?
I mean, it will always be a part, a large part
of my life, it's something that I'm pretty good at
and I wanna continue doing.
If I have to talk about what my goals are
it would just be to do better in school
and focus on my studying for now.
(birds chirping)
(shouting)
(9i9Qlif19)
I've never played the \/\lii before.
I've never either.
-\/\/ait, who am I? -Press the big button.
Wait, you're the one with the hat, Lily.
My Olympic trials match with Chris,
that was really important because
I lost to her the first match
and I was down the second match.
And at one point, I was like, wow, like, it might be over,
like my dream might be over and I just thought,
"NO, it Cal"l"ll be over."
I just Kept fighting, so...
I was pretty proud of myself for that.
Oh!
(9i9Qlif19)
Alright, we're gonna let you all--
(cheering)
Introducing the star of today's fun, the newest member
of Team U_S_A_ table tennis, Ariel Hsing_
Oh my God, now when I think back on it,
it's just really, really amazing.
That's probably the happiest moment of my life
when I made the team.
When you finally realized it, it was really, really great.
Okay, I'm calm, I'm calm, I'm really calm.
You can ask Lily, I'm like an emotional wreck sometimes.
At that moment, you kind of realize
how much you sacrificed for, how much you worked for,
and then you realize that,
you Know, your dreams came true,
it was all worth it.
You didn't sacrifice for nothing.
Easing on the brakes, okay, good, perfect.
That was pretty good.
Okay, this was pretty perfect.
I'm gonna start pressing the gas button now.
Gas button.
(9i9Qlif19)
Gas pedal.
-Am I close to this car? -Yeah, very close.
I am? But I'm already on this yellow line though.
Okay, stop, make a left turn.
-Left turn? -Yes.
-In there? -Here--there.
Oh my gosh, okay, I can do it, I can do it--
-Signal. -Uh.
Sorry.
(9i9Qlif19)
How did I even do that?
Okay, here we go.
Oops.
J'
It kind of feels unreal.
Maybe one day I wake up, I'm still like maybe 25.
I don't have a kid, all this is just a dream.
Like any moment I'm gonna wake up and no, it's not--
it's not true, it's not real.
(clapping)
J'
This is like a once-in-a-lifetime
experience and being able to see all the other athletes
and walk in the opening ceremony,
it's just--it's almost undescribable
J'
--but not the second...
J'
I Make a perfect circle I
I it's all I've gotta do, all I've gotta do I
I Make a little miracle I
I That's all I've gotta do, all I've gotta do I
I Find a pearl in the ocean I
I it's all I've gotta do, all I've gotta do and then I
J'
I I'm comin' home again I
J'
I Did I amaze you I
I Yeah I
I All I gotta do is be amazing again I
J'
I Did I amaze you I
I Yeah I
I All I gotta do is be amazing again I
J'
I Uh-uh, uh-uh, uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh I
I I'm gonna climb a mountain I
I That's all I've gotta do, all I've gotta do I
I Gonna Iasso the moon I
I That's all I've gotta do, all I've gotta do I
I When I get to heaven I
I Or wherever I
I it's all I gotta do and then I
J'
I I'm comin' home again I
J'
I So did I amaze you I
I Did I amaze you I
I Yeah I
I All I gotta do is be amazing again I
J'
I Did I amaze you I
I Yeah I
I All I gotta do is be amazing again I
J'
I Uh-uh, uh-uh, uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh I
I Uh-uh, uh-uh, uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh H
(indistinct remarks)
Yay!
(clapping)
J'
That was good.
J'
(ball clicking)
J'
Oh!
J'
Oh!