Community college students are rarely considered on the same level as their more prominent cohorts, but one local student proved anybody can get served.
Yanjun Gao, a 32-year-old Flushing resident and student at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, won the men’s singles and the men’s doubles, with partner Tahl Leibovitz of Queens College, at the 2010 College Table Tennis National Championship in Wisconsin on April 19.
He was the only community college student invited to the event, which featured 64 table tennis players from 40 of the most prominent colleges and universities across the country.
Gao, a veteran of international tournaments, had never competed in a college table tennis championship until he represented LaGuardia in the games. He expressed some concern for the added stress of playing for someone other than himself.
“I was nervous because it was my first time representing the school,” said Gao. “Really it was the first time I was representing someone other than myself and I didn’t want to let them down.”
He won the singles title after an hour-long, marathon match against a student from Texas Wesleyan, a school that offers table tennis scholarships. Gao said that his in-game strategy helped him pull off the upset.
“I was down by two points and decided to take a timeout,” he said. “When we resumed play, my opponent was clearly nervous and seemed hesitant and I was able to control the pace of the game and win three straight points for the match.”
Gao’s road to Wisconsin began in the Jiang Su province in China where his brother inspired him to play table tennis at the age of seven. By the time he was 12 years old, he joined his province’s team and continued to play through his college career.
Before coming to Flushing, Gao spent nine years with his brother playing professionally in Frankfurt, Germany. During that time, he was invited to train 16-year-old table tennis players in New York at the Manhattan Table Tennis Center. It did not take Gao long to realize he had found his new home.
“In the city, people were very friendly and nice to me,” he said. “Even though it is a different culture, I like it.”
Settling in Flushing, Gao started a new life in a neighborhood whose thriving Chinese population made him feel right at home. He took English as a Second Language (ESL) and joined a table tennis center in Flushing where he gave lessons.
He decided to apply to college to pursue a degree in business administration and enrolled at LaGuardia in the fall of 2008.
Gao is now ranked among the top 15 players in the U.S.; he had been ranked in the top five, but decided to take a year off from the table tennis circuit in order to strengthen his English skills.
With his performance in Wisconsin, Gao’s ranking figures to be on the rise again. And bringing the trophy to LaGuardia, a school that he credits with much of his success in this country, is an achievement that Gao ranks in his top five.
“It was exciting to be the only community college student entered in this competition,” he said. “And to bring home the trophies makes it more exciting.”
