posted by 
Wow, so every year there is a USA Nationals for table tennis. For the past...As long as I can remember, it's been won by people who've been playing for years and years...people who are over 30 years old...So 6 of the 8 top players in the U.S. decided to boycott the event this year because they said the $3000 prize money was not enough (it's actually not after you count the airline fee to Las Vegas, the hotel stay, and the price for the event itself). So who wins it? No other than an acquaintance of mine named Michael Landers.
This KID is 15 years old and is USA national champion! Don't get me wrong though! He is really good but it's just VERY funny and somewhat encouraging to see such a young person win. Just to give you a hint of how well he did...My rating is 1908...His rating is 2377 (the higher the better), and that's BEFORE the nationals. He beat two 2500 players which means he will probably shoot up to 2500 making him a 15 year old who'll be top 25 in the U.S. Holy crap! Check out the list of previous US national champions here, NONE OF THEM WERE UNDER 20 WHEN THEY WON I DON'T THINK LOL.
That.. is... CRAZY!
who'd he play in the finals???
he played samson dubino
Actually, Eric Boggan was also 15 when he won his first title in '78 (Landers was ONE DAY younger when he won his!) and Sean O'Neill was 17 when he won his first title in '85 (ironically, there was also a major controversy in the event that year).
All USATT members who played at National 2009 should write to USATT.ORG to ask for refunds. Many people go there not only participate the games but also want to see the top players play in the Quarter Finals to Final Matches. USATT should reimburse those entrants for the fee they paid in the registration. What do you all think?
Here's the video for Michael's match broadcasted live that night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVv2tC-7Uhg
Here are the other two videos available online:
Women's semi - Ariel vs. Jasna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdmbe9AzHaU
Women's final - Ariel vs. Gao Jun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2NzKIuSXnI
Jimmy Butler was under 20 when he won as well.