for a young man in Burnaby whose mind was most certainly focused on the task in hand, undaunted by the pedigree of his opponents. “In the final I knew that I had what it takes to beat him, but it was mostly a mental game”, said Kanak Jha “It was important to win the first few games to set the tone of the match.” Clearly Kanak Jha had learned quickly; the two met in the group stage in the very first match when Adam Hugh had won by a similar margin to which he was to suffer defeat. He had won in five games (11-7, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4). Third Appearance Meanwhile, for Zhang Mo it will be her third appearance in the Women’s World Cup; previously she played in Guangzhou in 2009 and the following year in Kuala Lumpur. A semi-final success again compatriot Anqi Luo and a final over Crystal Wang had secured her invitation for the prestigious event later this year. “The difference between Anqi and Crystal is definitely their style”, said Zhang Mo. “It was a bit harder against Anqi Luo as we play each other a lot; it was more difficult, the home crowd was great, helping me a lot.” Next in Line Gold for Kanak Jha and Zhang Mo with the silver medals being in the possession of Adam Hugh and Crystal Huang; bronze and the position of second reserve for the ensuing Men’s World Cup and Women’s World Cup competitions both went to the United States. In the Men’s event, Jim Butler, the no.8 seed, beat Canada’s defending champion André Ho, the no.2 seed (13-11, 7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8); whilst in the counterpart Women’s contest Lily Zhang, the no.1 seed defeated Anqi Luo, the no.3 seed (11-4, 11-6, 11-4). “Yesterday was a very tough loss and I was very disappointed, but today I am happy”, reflected Lily Zhang. “It was a good lesson, to take the experience for the future.” Experience Counted Experience, no player in the whole tournament possessed the experience of 43 year old Jim Butler who appeared more than satisfied with third place. “André Ho is a quality player and I try gain wins against quality players, it builds me up”, said Jim Butler. “I was not focused on the home crowd; I just did what I had to do to beat him.” Fourth place for André Ho, next in line came Timothy Wang of the United States, he gained fifth place with Zhang Yahao, also from the United States followed by Canadians Pierre-Luc Theriault and Marko Medjugorac completing the top eight names. Meanwhile, in Women’s event, the United State trio of Erica Wu, Prachi Jha and Diane Jiang secured fifth to eighth positions; Canada’s Amy Nicholls concluded matters in eight spot to complete the list of elite names.
Summer Issue/June 2014 • usatt.org/MAGAZINE
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