Bochao Li Takes Open Singles Title; Lindenwood University Sweeps High Level Rating Events

Wilson, NC, March 10, 2015 --(PR.com)-- The top two seeds in the Open Singles event at the 2015 Butterfly Arnold Table Tennis Challenge squeaked their way into the finals, where the slight underdog Bochao Li (2652) upset top seed Jishan Liang (2658) in a 6 game counter-looping battle. Both players had survived very close calls in the semi-finals, and were looking to win the championship title. In one semi-final, Jishan Liang overcame a hot Zongqi (Henry) Zhong (2480) 11-9 in the 7th, after being down 1-3 in games and 1-5 in points in the 7th game. Henry, the number 10 seed, overcame Bowen Chen (2566) 3-0 in the quarterfinal in the dual of the pen-hold loopers, and had seemingly unbreakable control on his forehand, shifting between power looping and soft blocking with ease. Bochao Li overcame Jun Gu (unrated) in the other semi-final, the dark horse of the tournament, by surviving her onslaught of constantly changing tactics, well-placed pick hits and ferocious serves. After the match, Bochao noted that he had not played against anyone with that type of style in a long time, and that it was a good learning experience. After surviving the close call in his semi-final, a relieved Bochao was happy to claim the $4,000 in prize money after succeeding in the final.

The Under 2400 and Under 2300 events were all Lindenwood University affairs. In the Under 2400 event, Felipe Morita (2333) overcoming teammate Alex Legaria (2338) in the final. Both players have great forehands, but Felipe relies more on power while Alex often plays longer more consistent rallies. In the end, Felipe was able to pull out a 3-1 win and take home the $300 in prize money. In the Under 2300 event, another all Lindenwood final, Danny Dulkin (2293) overcame teammate Ahmed Hendawi (2285) 11-9 in the fifth game. En route to the final, Danny overcame top seed Tianming Xie (2363 – but rated lower when signing up) in four games. On the other side, Ahmed overcame another Lindenwood teammate Austin Preiss (2297) in the semi-final 3-2.

Players will continue to battle for top honors in the 9 remaining events on the final day of play of the competition, including the Under 2500, Under 2200, Under 2100 and Under 1900 round robin events.

Continual coverage of the 2015 Butterfly Arnold Table Tennis Challenge and stories about the athletes will be available at ButterflyOnline.com, or via Butterfly North America’s Twitter [https://twitter.com/butterflyonline] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/butterflytabletennis] pages.

Butterfly is the world leader in table tennis / ping pong equipment and gear. Butterfly will supply professional, ITTF approved Butterfly table tennis tables, net sets, barriers and Butterfly ITTF approved, 3-star balls. The professional tables used at this tournament and on the 2015 Butterfly North America Tour are for sale, reserve one today by visiting http://www.ButterflyOnline.com/Tours.