Also earning a spot on the Olympic team was Canada’s Andre Ho, a 20 year-old from Richmond, British Columbia. Ho beat Canadian teammate Hongtao Chen in an emotional finals match-up by a score of 4-1.

In the women’s competition, Americans Lily Zhang and Erica Wu went 1-1 on the day while teammate Judy Hugh finished with an 0-1 record. All three will enter the second qualification tournament in hopes of securing another U.S. Olympic berth.

In the men’s competition, American Michael Landers finished the first qualification tournament 1-1, with a loss to Canadian Pierre Luc Hinse in the semi-finals. Teammates Barney Reed, Timmy Wang, and Adam Hugh finished the first qualification tournament with a 0-1 record.

The second men’s qualification tournament began with the quarterfinals, and saw American’s Michael Landers, Timmy Wang, and Adam Hugh all advance to the semi-finals.

Competition continues at Cary’s Bond Park Community Center through Sunday, April 22^nd. Two additional Olympic qualification men’s slots and one additional Olympic qualification women’s slot remain.

Quotes from Women's Olympic Qualifier Ariel Hsing:

“It’s like the best feeling in the world. I’ve been dreaming about it, I’ve been wishing for it, but when I actually won, it kind of hit me unexpectedly. I’ve never felt like this before.”

“I would win a point and lose a point and she started catching up,” said Hsing, clutching a bouquet of roses during a press conference after the match. “I told myself to keep calm. I tried to remind myself to be patient after every point I lost.

Quote from Men’s Olympic Qualifier Andre Ho:

“We’re very accustomed to each other’s games, and I feel like, for us, just basically who kind of executes their tactics a little bit better. And I feel like today, I executed a little bit better. I was a little bit less nervous than him.”