May 23, 2019
UCI table tennis team competes for first time in national championships, takes fourth place
For the first time in Anteater history, the UCI varsity table tennis team competed in the iSET National Collegiate Table Tennis Association’s championships. The tournament took place April 12-14 in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Anteaters placed a respectable fourth, topping teams from UC Davis, UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego. The UCI squad entered the competition as West Regional champions, having already won the SoCal Divisionals in fall and winter to qualify. “We feel like our achievement is like that of our basketball team this year,” said team captain Yoshitomo Matsubara, a third-year Ph.D. student in computer science. The roster includes:
- Krish Avvari: A national team member for 10 years, he represented the U.S. at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. During this season, the computer science major won SoCal Divisionals and placed second in the West Regional singles competition.
- Newman Cheng: Another national team member and computer science major, he was the U.S. national men’s doubles champion in 2016.
- Hoi Man Chu: He represented Hong Kong in international tournaments.
- Yoshitomo Matsubara: From Japan, he placed in the Hyogo Prefectural tournaments and qualifying competitions as a middle school student.
- Neal Thakker: The business economics major won high school table tennis championships in India for three straight years.
- Ray Yi: A data science major, he represented the SMIC Private School and placed first in the 2013 Shanghai International School Activities Conference.