2007 AAU Junior Olympics and USATT Junior Nationals
July 27th, 28th and 29th, 2007
Knoxville Convention and Exhibition Center
Knoxville, TN

The Junior Olympic competition has always been one of our favorites, because of the enthusiasm of the participants and the sense of community it builds with America’s juniors, coaches and parents.  This year’s event was once again managed by NATT, with Wendell Dillon, USATT’s Chair of the Officials Committee as Referee with Bill Neely as his assistant.  Butterfly’s US distributor, Martin-Kilpatrick, manned the vendor’s booth, and equipped the tournament with eighteen tables, hundreds of barriers and scorecards and umpire desks for each court.

At Junior Olympics, play is organized into three distinct events on individual days.  Friday the youngsters were grouped by age and gender and competed for AAU medals within those peer groups.  Saturday, the field was divided into divisions by rating, with each player placed into two divisions for Junior National honors.  This was the second year that this format was used, to the general approval of coaches and parents.  Following this format allows each child to compete first against his age group and then against his or her most comparable opponent by skill.  Sunday the field was organized into teams by state, and played Corbillon Cup fashion for Amateur Athletic Union medals by age group.

The event winners list shown below fails to reflect the overall competitiveness of the field, and the excellent sportsmanship that prevailed.  The Joel Farrell award for “Outstanding Performance” had many qualified candidates, but the winner was the undefeated California junior girl, Erica Tran.

The tournament got very good coverage from local TV outlet WBLR, featuring in-depth interviews with Micah Presley and Bill Neely.  Excessive rainfall did result in a leaking roof Sunday, but as always, staff and players were flexible enough to overcome all obstacles.  The rain drove athletes from other sports into our playing hall as highly interested observers.  Based on turnout, enthusiasm, media interest and spectator response, we anticipate that this event will continue to grow in importance and size.  The 2008 AAU Junior Olympics will be held in Detroit, MI, and every USATT junior should give serious consideration to attending. 
            
Junior Olympics Age Events

JO Under 8 Boys
(G) Krishnateja Avvari (CA)
(S) Shivansh Singla (CA)
(B) Albert Zhang (GA)   
               
JO Under 10 Boys
(G) Aarsh Shah (CA)
(S) Matthew Tran (CA)
(B) David Gong (GA)   
               
JO Under 10 Girls
(G) Kailyn Kong (CA)
(S) Ruchi Patel (CA)
(B) Natasha Gangelt (CA)   
               
JO U12 Boys
(G) Ethan Jin (GA)
(S) Boson Wu (NY)
(B) Omkar Raje (CA)
(B) Joe Li (CA)
               
JO Under 12 Girls
(G) Erica Tran (CA)
(S) Olivia Cheng (NJ)
(B) Isabel Chu (CA)   
               
JO Under 14 Boys
(G) Kung, Justin E.(MD)
(S) Mujumdar, Sahaj (Sam) (NJ)
(B) Oh, Namkyu (NJ)
(B) Sahu, Vikash (MD)
               
JO U14 Girls
(G) Grace Kim (NY)
(S) Diana Chou (MD)
(B) Samantha Cheng (NJ)   
               
JO Under 16 Boys
(G) Wesley Fan (NJ)
(S) Kevin Kuznetzow (NJ)
(B) Stephen Clyde (IN)
(B) Mark Croitoroo (NY)
               
JO Under 16 Girls
(G) Elissa Lin (MD)
(S) Chen, Isabella (NY)
(B) Chen, Nancy (MN)
(B) Yen, Valina (MD)
               
JO U18 Boys
(G) Nathaniel Ming Curran (MN)   
(S) Anders Truelson (MN)
(B) Ankur Patel (CA)
(B) Taiyee Chien (NJ)
               
JO Under 18 Girls
(G) Stephanie Chow (CA)   
(S) Jessica Yick (CA)
(B) Gina Lin (MN)   
               
JO U22 Boys
(G) Misha Kazantsev (CA)
(S) Aldis Presley (GA)
(B) Benjamin Yu (MA)   
               
JO U22 Girls
(G) Kate Martin           
                           
Under 8 Boys Doubles
(G) Shivansh Singla (CA) & Krishnateja Avvari (CA)           
               
Under 10 Boys Doubles
(G) Matthew Tran (CA) & Anthony Chu (CA)
(S) Albert Zhang (GA) & David Gong (GA)       
               
Under 10 Girls Doubles
(G) Natasha Gangelt (CA) & Ruchi Patel (CA)           
               
Under 12 Boys Doubles
(G) Aarsh Shah (CA) & Omkar Raje (CA)
(S) Logan Smith (IN) & Alex B. Ebert (IN)
(B) Terrance Crowder (GA) & Sharan Samuels (GA)
(B) Dexter Brown (GA) & Eugene Brown (GA)
               
Under 12 Girls Doubles
(G) Erica Tran (CA) & Isabel Chu (CA)           
               
Under 14 Boys Doubles
(G) Peter Xing (NJ)  & Sahaj (Sam) Mujumdar (NJ)
(S) Nathan J. Kung (MD) & Vikash Sahu (MD)
(B) Ryan Lin (MD) & George Nie (MD)
(B) David Zhao (NY) & Boson Wu (NY)
               
Under 14 Girls Doubles
(G) Diana Chou (MD) & Grace Kim (NY)
(S) Samantha Cheng (NJ) & Olivia Cheng (NJ)       
               
Under 16 Boys Doubles
(G) Wesley Fan (NJ) & Kevin Kuznetzow (NJ)
(S) David Di Ding (GA) & Nikita Ladyzhensky (FL)
(B) Casey Kong (CA) & Joe Li (CA)
(B) Mark Croitoroo (NY) & Eric Tarikas (CA)
               
Under 16 Girls Doubles
(G) Nancy Chen(MN) & Isabella Chen (NY)
(S) Elissa Lin (MD) & Valina Yen (MD)   
(B) Prithvi Guruprasad (CA) & Juliane Tran (CA)   
               
Under 18 Boys Doubles
(G) Nathaniel Curran (MN) & Anders Truelson (MN)
(S) Taiyee Chien (NJ) & Namkyu Oh (NJ)
(B) Stephen Clyde (IN) & Andre Khailo (IN)
(B) Ankur Patel (CA) & David Chow (CA)
               
Under 18 Girls Doubles
(G) Jessica Yick (CA) & Stephanie Chow (CA)
(S) Gina Lin (MN) & Aubre Suttle (MN)       
               
Under 22 Boys Doubles
(G) Aldis Presley (GA) & Aneece Khalek (GA)
(S) Misha Kazantsev (CA) & Nathaniel Chu (CA)
(B) Benjamin Yu (MA) & Edmund Yu (MA)   
               
Under 22 Girls Doubles
(G) Jenny Wright (GA) & Kate Martin (GA)

Junior Olympics Team Event   

JO Under 8 Boys
(G) California Boys Under 8           
Krish Aavari
Shinivas Singla
Kish Parik
               
JO Under 10 Boys
(G) California Boys Under 10   
Matthew Tran   
Anthony Chu   

(S) Georgia Boys Under 10
Albert Zhang
David Gong
               
JO Under 10 Girls
(G) California Girls Under 10           
    Ruchi Patel           
    Natasha Gangel           
    Kailyn Kong           
               
JO U12 Boys
(G) California Boys Under 12   
Omkar Raje
Nathaniel Chu
Aarsh Shah

(S) Kentucky Boys Under 12   
Logan Smith
Alex Ebert
Peyton Fakharpour

(B) Georgia Boys Under 12 A   
Dexter Brown
Eugene Brown

(B) Georgia Boys Under 12 B
Terrence Crowder
Sharan Samuels
               
               
JO Under 12 Girls
(G) California Girls Under 12           
Erica Tran           
Isabel Chu           
               
JO Under 14 Boys
(G) Maryland Boys Under 14 B   
Nathan Kung
Vikash Sahu

(S) New Jersey Boys Under 14
Peter Xing
Sam Mujumdar

(B) Maryland Boys Under 14 A   
Ryan Lin
George Nie

(B) New York Boys Under 14
Boson Wu
David Zhou
               
               
JO U14 Girls   
(G) New Jersey Girls Under 14           
Samantha Cheng           
Olivia Cheng           
Grace Kim           
               
JO Under 16 Boys
(G) New Jersey Boys Under 16   
Kevin Kuznetzow
Wesley Fan

(S) Georgia Boys Under 16
Ethan Jin
Andy Ge Zhang
David Di Ding

(B) California Boys Under 16   
Casey Kong   
Joe Li   
               
               
JO Under 16 Girls
(G) Maryland Girls Under 16           
Valina Yen           
Elissa Lin           
Diana Chou           
               
JO U18 Boys
(G) New Jersey Boys Under 18
Taiyee Chien
Namkyu Oh

(S) Minnesota Boys Under 18   
Anders Truelson
Nathaniel Ming Curran

(B) California Boys Under 18 A
Ankur Patel
Amit Patel
David Chou

(B) Indiana Boys Under 18
Andre Khailo
Stephen Clyde
               
               
JO Under 18 Girls
(G) California Girls Under 18
Stephanie Chow
Prithvi Gururasad
Jessica Yick
Juliann Tran

(S) Minnesota Girls Under 18       
Gina Lin       
Aubrey Suttle       
Nancy Chen       
               
               
JO U22 Boys
(G) California Boys Under 22
Misha Kazantsev
Sujay Tadwalker
Rohan Chitnis
Kevin Tran

(S) Georgia Boys Under 22       
Aldis Presley       
Aneece Khalek               
               
JO U22 Girls   
(G) Georgia Girls Under 22           
Kate Martin           
Jenny Wright       

Junior Nationals
       
JN Division K   
(1)Matthew Mayfield (GA)
(2) Juliane Tran (CA)
       
JN Division J
(1)Sujay Tadwalker (CA)
(2) Isabel Chu (CA)
       
JN Division I
(1)Gina Lin (MN)
(2) Sujay Tadwalker (CA)
       
JN Division H   
(1)Logan Smith (IN)
(2) Omkar Raje (CA)
       
JN Division G
(1)Erica Tran (CA)
(2) Aarsh Shah (CA)
       
JN Division F
(1)Grace Kim (NY)
(2) Olivia Cheng (NJ)
       
JN Division E
(1)Nancy Chen (MN)
(2) Peter Xing (NJ)
       
JN Division D   
(1)Ankur Patel (CA)
(2) Elissa Lin (MD)
       
JN Division C
(1)Ankur Patel (CA)
(2) Andre Khailo (IN)
       
JN Division B
(1)Kevin Kuznetzow (NJ)
(2) Taiyee Chien (NJ)
       
JN Division A
(1)Misha Kazantsev (CA)
(2) Nathaniel Curran (MN)   

JOEL FERRELL AWARD:       
Erica Tran (CA)   
JO Under 12 Girls: Gold
Under 12 Girls Doubles: Gold
JO Under 12 Girls Teams Competition: Gold
JN Division G: Champion