Last week, residents of the quiet village of Pleasantville, New York might have confusedly checked their calendars. Independence Day is almost a month away—isn't it a little early for fireworks? As it turns out, the source of both the pyrotechnics and the resultant confusion was the 2021 USATT Hall of Fame Cup Final, held June 9-10 in the Pleasantville's Westchester Table Tennis Center. Borrowing the format from the Corbillon Cup (the women's teams World Championship), the USATT Hall of Fame Cup was the inaugural edition of the new team competition. Each round followed a singles-singles-doubles-singles-singles format, the latter two only if necessary in the best-of-five competition. The prestigious, invite-only tournament offered $9,000 in prizes. Representing the NC International Table Tennis (NCITT) in Cary, North Carolina was Jishan Liang, the club's administrator, with a USATT rating of 2658. He partnered with Pleasantville's own Kai Zhang, rated 2676. In the finals, Team NCITT met the three-person team of Mishel Levinski (2601) and the Brothers Alguetti: Sharon (2719) and Adar (2595). The trio were sponsored by Nison's Table Tennis Club, where Levinski trains in Brooklyn. In the first round of the final, Kai Zhang took on Mishel Levinski. While Levinski's left-handed reverse pendulum side-underspin service, à la Timo Boll, served him well, it was ultimately no match for Zhang's two-winged attack. Zhang prevailed, 3-1, punctuating the win with a banana flick winner of Levinski's signature serve. With Team NCITT up 1-0, the second round was a seesaw battle between Jishan Liang and Adar Alguetti. While Alguetti had moments of improvisational brilliance, even throwing a snake in at one point, Liang's steady table game and crushing forehand loop kill ultimately won him the match, 3-2, and put Team NCITT on the hill. Then came the third round, which meant it was time for doubles. Nison's Table Tennis Club fielded the Alguetti brothers against the lethal righty-lefty combination of Zhang and Liang. After squandering triple championship point at 10-7 in the fourth, Zhang and Liang recovered to win game four, 12-10, and the match, 3-1, and the championship, 3-0. For their efforts, Team NCITT received a $4,000 first prize. With the elite level of talent involved in the tournament, its name will likely prove prophetic. Each player is certainly Hall of Fame material. The pyrotechnic display they produced will be a tough act to follow. Your move, 4th of July.

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