Team BC table tennis wraps up competition with five medals

By Drew Todd, Team BC Mission Staff

Saturday signaled the end of table tennis action at the 2015 Canada Winter Games.  Team BC took home five medals to bring their entire team haul to seven.  The group took home silver in boys’ and girls’ doubles plus a bronze in mixed doubles.

The day began with an intense five gamer against Team Ontario, where Natasha Carr-Harris (Vancouver) and Ivy Liao (Vancouver) dropped a difficult match to end up with the silver.  This was Carr-Harris’s second medal of the Games after earning bronze in the team event.  “It feels like my hard work has paid off and it’s extremely satisfying” she said.  Her day was finished, but Liao still had to prepare for the girls’ singles final in the afternoon.

Next up, Michael Luo (Burnaby) and Leanne Lee (Burnaby) paired up to win bronze over Team Nova Scotia in five games.  After winning the first two, Team BC dropped the next two games to make things interesting.  “I was nervous going back for the fourth game actually,” said Lee after the match, “I knew that if we played relaxed and not tense, (the win) would happen.”

Once mixed doubles concluded, the team of Mike Yue (New Westminster) and Frank Liao (Vancouver) took on Team Ontario for boys’ doubles gold.  This match too went the distance, as Team Ontario finally prevailed in a dramatic fifth game.  With their second place finish as well in the team event, Yue and Liao (Frank) walk away from Prince George with two silver medals.

Finally, the girls’ and boys’ singles event finals took place with Team BC facing off against Team Ontario in both.  First up was Liao (Ivy) taking on a competitor five years her senior.  Even so, her doubles teammate Carr-Harris believed Liao could take it.  “First and foremost, her technical abilities are not inferior to those of her opponent,” Carr-Harris said of Liao, “so it really comes down to her mentality, and living the game.”  Liao thrilled the crowd and managed to take the first game from Team Ontario.  Unfortunately, her opponent took the next three to win the gold, but it was still a fantastic performance for Liao to end up with the silver – her third medal of the Games (team/doubles/singles).

The last match featured Team BC athlete Michael Luo up against the top ranked player in the country out of Team Ontario.  Echoing Carr-Harris’s comments about Liao (Ivy), Lee knew her mixed doubles partner Luo had the ability to pull off the upset if he focuses on the game.  “He needs to be mentally strong and not beat himself up too much,” claimed Lee, “he has the skills to win, and if he focuses really well I know he can pull through to win.”  Luo battled hard, but found his opponent was just too much to overcome and lost in the three games.  However, based on initial rankings and projections, getting on to the podium itself was a major accomplishment for the young up and comer.

Table tennis finishes the Games by adding seven medals to Team BC’s haul, earning a medal in every single discipline.

See Canada Games live streaming at www.canadagamestv.ca and follow live updates on Twitter from @GoTeamBC with the hashtag #TBCTableTennis.