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Espeleta: 50-50 chance for Saipan to repeat
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Posted on Nov 03 2006
From Micronesian Games teammates to Goodwill Games adversaries.
That’s the situation seven players—four from Saipan and three from Tinian—will be in when the 2006 Saipan vs. Tinian Goodwill Games commences this Sunday, Nov. 5, at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.
Marianas Amateur Table Tennis Association official and Saipan player Mario Espeleta said the odds will definitely be stacked against them when they take on paddlers from Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino, especially now that CNMI National Table Tennis Team consultant Zheng Ma is now part of the TDHC team.
Aside from Ma, who used to mentor the Yin He Table Tennis Club and Shaanxi Provincial Table Tennis Team in China, the Tinian delegation is also made up of 6th Micronesian Games team gold medalists Charlie Cheng and Robin Lu—plus alternate Wei Bin Liang—as well as mainstays Alfred Yue, Luke Lu, and Liu Fuling.
Espeleta, however, said despite the presence of Ma for the Tinian side, the Saipan team still has some tricks up its sleeves as 2006 Micro Games women’s singles champion Jean Shi will be part of team and will help defend the championship they won earlier this year.
He said Shi has proven during the Micro Games and even during the practice sessions leading up to the quadrennial event that she could beat anybody—men or women.
The Saipan delegation will also consist of CNMI National Table Tennis Team members Su Yong Dong, Budhi Gurung, and Lin Ying Chen and MATTA stalwarts Espeleta, Peter Deleon, and playing coach Steven Lim.
Espeleta also said that he hopes support players like him and De Leon will again be able to rise up to the challenge like they did last April 1 and 2; when they won 19 out of 36 games in Tinian to finally beat their southern neighbors following six consecutive losses in their head-to-heads.
He said aside from Chen, who just arrived from a business trip in China, all Saipan players have been practicing at their training facility at the multi-purpose room of the Ada Gym.
Expected to officiate the 2006 Saipan vs. Tinian Goodwill Games are brothers Marvin and Mark Espeleta, who also served in the same capacity during the Micro Games table tennis competition held last July at the Northern Marianas College Gymnasium.
