Women’s table tennis team named

Marianas Amateur Table Tennis Association president Steven Lim yesterday named the CNMI National Women’s Table Tennis Team to the 6th Micronesian Games.

The squad will be led by veteran Jean Shi, who is coming out of retirement to see action in the Games set for June 23 to July 2 here on Saipan.

Shi, who works as a Chinese interpreter for the Department of Labor, will be joined by netter-turned ping-pong player Luzette Pasana and up-and-coming players Rose Agulto and Siri Welch.

Pasana used to be a Clubmate at Pacific Islands Club and now works for Luen Fung, while Agulto is employed at O’Conner Law Office.

Lim said the training of the women players are going along well and that they’ve also been getting tips from MATTA’s regulars.

“The women are practicing at the same time as the men, with the other more experienced male players—not just players of the men’s national team—lending their time to coach the women players,” said Lim.

Aside from the CNMI, Lim anticipates that Palau, Kiribati, and Chuuk will also send other women players, all of whom would compete in the women’s team, mixed doubles, women’s doubles, and women’s singles events.

Three players of the men’s national team—Su Yong Dong, Chen Lin Ying, and Budhi Gurung—along with the then women’s team hopefuls opened their training camp at the Marianas High School Gymnasium last week.

During the first few days of the training, Lim said the women’s team felt fatigued and tired from the whole-day workouts.

“I’ve stressed to the new women’s team that the limited number of days to hold the tournament will put a great stress on their endurance, as many matches have to be played in the four days. The soreness and fatigue they are experiencing now should be taken as adjustments to be able to keep up with the demands of the Games,” he said.

Lim was expected to evaluate the three other members of the team—Luke Lu, Charlie Cheng, and alternate Liang Wei Bin—when he visited Tinian during the weekend.

Like swimming, baseball, and triathlon, table tennis is also expected to represent the Commonwealth and medal in the Games.

Last year, Su, Chen, and Gurung—coached by Lim—took home a bronze in the Palau South Pacific Mini Games after finishing fourth behind New Caledonia, Guam, and Fiji. Unlike other sports, table tennis awards bronze medals to the third and fourth place teams.