The New Year is underway with 2022 kicking off and the team at JOOLA USA looks back fondly on the year that was. 2021 ended with the US Open in Las Vegas and some exceptional results from JOOLA players and clubs.
The progress over the year and the wonderful achievements of Team JOOLA players, clubs and coaches were the highlight of our 2021. To see the success of club programs, especially among the junior levels at clubs, the development of talented new young players and the progression of those who have been working so hard to improve was heart-warming for us as we continue to do our best to support those pushing the players to their highest potential.
At the 2021 US Open, the medals were in abundance and fitting rewards for the players and their supporters.
ICC Table Tennis brought home 5 golds amidst an impressive total of 33 medals. Lily Yip Table Tennis Center also took home 12 medals across the youth events, with 5 golds from a dedicated team of young talents. Table Tennis America brought home 21 medals with an incredible 8 gold, including the two big championship titles in the Men’s and Women’s Singles events. Grace Lin Table Tennis Club also brought home a handful of medals in the Open and Uni Games trial.
It was amazing for us to see players out there wearing JOOLA and competing, and we were so happy to see representation from clubs in our JOOLA Family with Matchpoint TTC, NJTTC and MDTTC all bringing small contingents of players to compete in Las Vegas too.
In the Women’s Singles event, it was Team JOOLA’s Lily Zhang who brought home another impressive result. She won the Women’s Singles event for a second consecutive time, defending her 2019 title. The match was not without nervous moments; her opponent Deng Zhen put up a big challenge.
The match went all the way to the 7th, after Deng pushed a strong comeback. Lily was able to hold her nerve and really lift the bar in the 7th game to close out the match – no doubt a relief for the defending champion. She also partnered with Kai Zhang to win the Mixed Doubles event, therefore winning gold in both events she entered.
There were many young players recognized with USATT All-American Honors, and we were pleased to see Team JOOLA players among those. It was such a positive year of success, and we are thoroughly looking forward to 2022.
We want to thank our JOOLA clubs and their coaches and staff, for all of their hard work and the time and energy they sacrifice to help lift up their players. We know that this effort can often go without the recognition it truly deserves, so please know how proud we are to have you representing our brand. To the players, congratulations for your results in 2021, we are excited to see you continue to grow and push towards your goals this year!
