September 29, 2010

Ranked fifth in the nation last season, Mississippi College’s table tennis team will host the Dixie Division tournament at the Baptist Healthplex in Clinton October 16.

Teams challenging the Choctaws include Mississippi State University, the University of Southern Mississippi, Alabama, Alabama-Huntsville and the University of West Florida. The fall tournament begins at 8:30 a.m. and should wrap up by 4:30 p.m.

The public is invited to the free event sponsored by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association. The tournament on Saturday is one of many events at MC’s 2010 Homecoming.

Entering its fourth season, MC defeated teams like Southern California, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin and Baruch College at the nationals held near Milwaukee in April 2010.

MC’s No. 1 player last season, Yuliang “Bill” Cai, a native of the Guandong Province in China, also excels in the classroom. Cai was among four recipients nationwide of $1,000 scholarships from Newgy Industries, the Tennessee-based manufacturer of table tennis robots and other equipment. Newgy is one of the major sponsors of the national collegiate championships.

Announced in September, other  winners in the annual scholarship program were Stephanie Shih of Columbia University, Nancy Chen of Harvard and Ye Hu of the University of Wisconsin. The contest  judges evaluate table tennis skills, essays, and classroom performance.

A marketing major, the 23-year-old Cai received his associate degree in China before coming to Mississippi College last fall. Cai returns to action  along with veteran players like captain Huan “Ken” Qiu,  Zchicheng “Johnson” Liang,  Lishun Lu and Ou Lan.

Yang Yu, who’s seeking a master’s in business administration, is a newcomer this fall who adds more depth to the team. The bulk of MC’s players are natives of China, where table tennis rules as the national sport, and students in the School of Business. Others on the Choctaws team include sophomore Ben VanHorn of Clinton, a Christian Studies major.

Mississippi College seeks to return to the nationals for the fourth year in a row, with the April 2011 tournament set for Fort Worth, Texas. There are more than 150 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada with table tennis teams competing in NCTTA tournaments.

For more information on the MC team, contact Ken Qiu at qiu@mc.edu or 601.925.7703 or sponsor Andy Kanengiser at kanengis@mc.edu or 601.925.7760.