USATT Strong Arms 15-year-old Junior Boy's Player's Mom to participate in USA National Table Tennis Men's Singles Final

Dethroned and dieting USATT Board Member, Barney Reed Sr., beckoned me to “Run, run!!!” as I photographed the crippled Paralympic Ping Pong Players. “Come here, come here” as Barney motioned one way and I looked the other.  “No, over there, the Players are Boycotting for the first time in 20 years”.  Barney called me to capture a Historic Table Tennis moment; this was a moment to photograph a crippled organization.

Dieting Barney Reed Sr. prefers svelte figure photos only.

From a distance I saw Dan Seemiller talking with Mike Cavanaugh and a few Elite Table Tennis Player surrounding them.

Mike Cavanaugh talks with Dan Seemiller about Men's Singles Quarter-Final Boycott as Elite Players stand by.

I approached the action to get a better shot of the discussion.  Dan and Mike coyly faced in opposing directions of the camera as I circled them.

Dan Seemiller and Mike Cavanaugh coyly face away.

After finally capturing a shot of Mike, the frustrated CEO erupts and shares his displeasure in the coy camera game.  He comes up to me and boldly says, “You want a picture of me! ?! Go ahead take a picture! Take a picture!”.

I explained, “I prefer candid shots.”;  he then went back to his conference.

USATT Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mike Cavanaugh discusses US National Men's Singles Final boycott.

The list of 5 boycotting USA National Men’s Singles Quarter-Finalists given on About.com’s table tennis forum are Fan Yiyong, David Zhuang, Ilija Lupulesku, Raghu Nadmichettu, Mark Hazinski.  The 6th missing player and Player Representative, Han Xiao claimed a conflict of interest and bowed out of the competition with the boy-cotters.

Disappointed Hardbat paddle smashing (as in breaking, not slamming) and $100,000 Bud Light Money Hungry, David Zhuang displayed his disgust to USATT CEO, Cavanaugh with some sort of big fat Zero type finger symbol with his 3 remaining fingers splayed out as well.  I’m not sure if it had something to do with the measly $3000 prize, wanting more “0′s” after the 3000 or referring to the amount of recent money increases in the portions the Finalists receive.

David Zhuang displays some sort of Zero finger sign during his discussion with USATT CEO, Mike Cavanaugh

Insider, and USATT Reporter, Larry Hodges explains details of the walk-out in the USATT Online Results page.

http://www.usatt.org/magazine/2009_US_Nationals/writeups/121909.htm

It seems Han Xiao represented the boy-cotters and struck a deal with USATT to get their prize money doubled next year along with a player’s lounge.  Double would be $3000 to $6000. He and Michael Landers thought the concessions were enough and were both willing to play on.  Samson Dubina never agreed to the boycott.  Han stepped out of the competition based on the misunderstanding and conflict of interest since the 5 additional angry players wanted the money now!

The Decider, Michael Landers, plays on agreeing to USATT's Prize Money concessions. He faces boycott hold out Samson Dubina in the Men's Singles Final.

Larry Hodges article doesn’t explain the exact reason that Michael made the choice he did or how he came to his decision.

During the angry brouhaha, someone that I don’t currently recall told me that Michael Landers mom was pulled aside into a separate room and “strong armed” into convincing Michael, who had a “bright future” with USATT and table tennis to play on and not ruin his chances and destroy a  promising career.

When reviewing my tournament photos, I wondered if the “room” was the end of the stands and if the “USATT” was Doru Gheorghe that “strong armed” Micheal’s mom.

USATT High Performance/Technical Director, Doru Gheorghe talks with Michael Landers mom.

Pictured protesting players are:

Boycotting player, Fan Yiyong won't play Ping Pong

Fan Yiyong

No Money - No Table Tennis for Ilija Lupulesku

Ilija Lupulesku

The Future is Now, not Next Year - Mark Hazinski

Mark Hazinski

Staged Ping Pong Boycott - USA National Table Tennis Championships

Now my initial instinct, which generally prove 95% wrong, was to think the Killerspin sponsored players led the strike.  I wondered if Fan Yiyong was a more independently sponsored player and could participate without fear of losing his backing.  I’ve twice read elite player, Barney Reed Jr. lead the strike, though he dropped out of the event early due to a back injury.

Larry Hodges added some more details from his phone interviews with Han Xiao and David Zhuang 2 days after the event.  It’s a dedicated Walkout article.

http://www.usatt.org/magazine/2009_US_Nationals/writeups/walkout.htm

During the event many wondered whether there would be a Final or not.  It seemed many Quarterfinal spectators left frustrated and announced to me and others that there wouldn’t be a Final.  I wasn’t sure what was going on and didn’t know if the Women were involved in the walkout as well.

When I saw the Men’s Doubles event start with some of the boycotting men (Fan Yiyong and Mark Hazinski), I thought they might have settled their differences.

NATT front man, Alan Williams, announced over the PA that there would be a Men’s and Women’s Singles Final.  Still the crowd was filled with confusion and not much scheduled play was happening.

The Live Web Broadcast team, Dyyno cameraman, showed his disgust by sarcastically commenting on how “exciting” the rescheduled (lower level) play was.

Dyyno Live Webcast Team Camera Operator

Dyyno Webcast Team Company Owner

http://tabletennis.teamusa.org/live.html

The Dyyno Team invested their time and money for the webcast and anticipated some high level competition.  They spent the previous few days tweaking and tuning the equipment for this final crescendo, then nothing appears but Quarterfinal delays, then more nothing.

While I heard Alan Williams PA announcement that the Men’s Final was still scheduled, I later asked him in person to verify.  It seemed as though he gave a USATT contracted Company Line sort of answer.  I asked if the finals were still on and he replied affirmatively.  Questioning again, I asked what happened with the boycott and he stated “Some players were defaulted”.

NATT Front Man, Alan Williams in bright blue, stands shouldered by Head USATT Referees Joseph Yick (left) and another.

Looking at some of the Elite Player outfits now, I see several Butterfly logos on their clothing.  David Zhuang, Fan Yiyong, Michael Landers all sported Butterfly sponsored wear.  An interesting thing I noted was on the supposed broken backed leader, Barney Reed Jr., was he wore a Vegas Table Tennis Club shirt.

Broke Back Barney Reed Jr. in Vegas Table Tennis Club Shirt and Shorts

Samson Dubina said several time Elite National Champion, Cheng Yinghua dumped his match against lower leveled Raghu Nadmichettu. Did Cheng dump his match because of the known strike and he didn’t want his name and sponsor associated with it?

Samson sported a Nittaku and Robo-Pong logo patched shirt.

Mark Hazinski posts an explanation letter on the South Bend Table Tennis Center website asking the USATT not to sanction him for his part in the boycott.  Brad Balmer and Dan Seemiller post supporting letters with Dan making some of the demands the Players asked for.

Letters currently at:

http://www.sbttc.org/

After reading the 3 letters, it reinforces a belief in the “strong arming” that USATT did at the event.  The letters all ask that Mark not be punished and sanctioned for his actions or part in the boycott.  Mark’s letter suggests he was “strong armed” by both the Players Union and the USATT and felt trapped in the situation he was in.

New York Times Article – The Ping-Pong Prodigy (With Michael Landers)

USATT Magazine Editor, Steve Hopkins say’s Joan Landers didn’t feel “strong armed” by Doru and that she just had some questions she wanted answered by him.

Michael Landers told Hopkins and reconfirmed the fact that there was no USATT request to his mom for him to play.

As I sat that night in the Arena there was a mass of confusion as if the head had been severed from a tribal leader.  Few seats were taken and the Women’s Singles matches were being prepared.  Gao Jun and Crystal Huang were placing balls on the Butterfly Table and watching them roll from 1 position to the next.  The Butterfly Reps were carefully adjusting the table to Gao’s specification.

Perhaps because there were so few people, some officials and contractors didn’t think or know if it was necessary to clear out the crowd as usual.  Michael Cavanaugh came in and asked if they were going to clear everyone out for the final; when he was asked, “Should we?”, he commandingly replied, “Yes!”.

USATT Singles Final Waiting Crowd - Line

Some wondered why they were forced out of the Arena this time, but this time I knew when I reentered that we were here for a show.

Our raffle stubs were taken for a drawing by the 4-year veteran Security Guard.

4-Year Veteran Ping Pong Convention Center Security Guard

While many left without seeing the treat, this Year’s Men’s Singles Final had something fresh and a vibrant new spirit brought to life by Michael Landers.

Thanks for the Show, Mike!

Michael Landers vs. Samson Dubina – Nationals Men’s Final Video

http://www.outpost81.com/landers_vs_dubina.htm

Named CNN’s 30 December’s Intriguing Person

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/30/mip.wednesday/

USOC Arbitration Decision

An Inspirational Journey – Mark Hazinski, by Sara Fu Hazinski