Maryland Junior Boys Among Top Ranked in the U.S.

by Larry Hodges

Last month, USA Table Tennis (USATT), organized under the United States Olympic Committee as the National Governing Body for the sport of table tennis in the United States, concluded its National Ranking Tournaments/National Team Qualifiers for 2019. Three junior boys from Montgomery County, Maryland, finished in top ten in the nation in the Hopes (age under 13) category.

2nd National Ranking Tournament Results:

Boys Hopes (born 2008 or younger)

• Stanley Hsu #1 (born 2008)

• James Zhang #4 (born 2007)

• Ryan Lee #8 (born 2007)

In the OVERALL 2019 USATT Annual Points Ranking, three Maryland junior boys also achieved top eight in the nation in the Hopes (age under 13) category, including U.S. National #1 ranked player. 

• Stanley Hsu #1 (born 2008)

• Mu Du #4 (born 2008)

• James Zhang #7 (born 2007)

Stanley, Mu, James, and Ryan were all selected to join the first class of 10 students in HW Global Foundation's Talent Development Program at Maryland Table Tennis Center, when the program was created in the fall 2015, as novice players. The program has now grown to supporting more than 30 juniors age 6 - 18 from MD, VA and PA. They train as a group on Saturdays and Sundays, plus after school sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, plus private coaching and leagues. Besides the four mentioned above, a number of others, mostly in the 9-12 age group, are also among the top rated in the country for their age, such as Winston Wu and Ryan Lin, #4 and #8 in ten and under.

Mrs. Wen Hsu (no relations to Stanley Hsu), the founder of HW Global Foundation and its Talent Development Program, said, "I am so proud of Stanley, Mu Du, James, and Ryan, and their teammates in the Talent Development Program (TDP), who trained as a group and participated in the National Ranking tournaments and the U.S. Nationals as a team." She continued, "They not only have improved as better table tennis players, but more importantly, they have grown to become better people."

This Program is led by Head Coach Wang Qingliang, who is also a U.S. National Team Development Group Coach. His TDP coaching team includes MDTTC coaches and other coaches and training partners who were former national team or professional players from Brazil, China, Greece, Slovakia, Philippines and USA. (Disclaimer - the author is one of the TDP coaches.)

This year, HW Global Foundation has helped fund all the tournament coaching fees for its TDP students at the U.S. Nationals and the USATT National Ranking tournaments. Wen wants to thank especially its TDP team uniform sponsor JOOLA and all the donors who have made this program possible!

If you would like to support these dedicated, hardworking young TDP players and help them reach their full potential, please donate to HW Global Foundation. Till November 30, Wen and Hans Hsu will match your donations dollar-for-dollar, doubling your contributions!

HW Global Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization that's dedicated to helping our youths reach their full potential. Its Table Tennis Talent Development Program is dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and boys through the Olympic Sport of table tennis and to developing the best table tennis talents in the United States. Children in this program learn the skills & values of focus, hard work, problem-solving, perseverance, positive attitude, teamwork, self-confidence, and commitment to excellence that will help them achieve successes in life.