Yesterday, the Paddle Palace Club in Tigard, Oregon commenced the 2020 Oregon State Championships. On the first day of action, the hardware stayed in house as head coach Jiwei Xia claimed his third straight Open Singles title and club director Jen Beeler nabbed her first Women's Singles championship. Today, action concluded with two age events, one for the young and one for the (ahem) formerly young. Juniors RR The top seed was Kevin Nguyen, the 13-year-old defending champion rated 2062. Kevin could have been forgiven a touch of overconfidence when he saw the yawning chasm in rating points between himself and those who stood in the way of a second straight state title. The field consisted of Nate Wilkinson (925), Eden Choi (772) and Ben Zhang (500, estimated). 16-year-old Nate Wilkinson possesses a solid attacking game, using backhand jabs to set up forehand haymakers. If pushed off the table, he has the all-around game to stay in the point, but is always looking for the counterattack. 12-year-old Eden Choi, who displayed masterful defense in yesterday's Women's Singles, came out with a more aggressive mindset today. Not about to let any boys bully her around, she liberally peppered her chops with pick hits and loop kills. 9-year-old Ben Zhang is a promising young player employing an advanced arsenal of shots, including the newfangled "banana flick." Although it was a little on the unripe side, as Ben himself is still quite green, this commitment to learning modern tactics will make him very dangerous with a few years of practice. Nguyen, one of many success stories to emerge from the Paddle Palace youth program, has developed a technically sound tactical game punctuated by a huge forehand loop. Despite his huge advantage in firepower, however, the high school freshman was careful not to overlook anyone. "I try to think of them as the same level so I don't underestimate them," says the wise Nguyen. Perhaps he managed to photoshop a portrait of an equitable opponent such as 16-year-old Open Singles finalist Dean Schultz, absent from today's contest, onto his opponents. Whatever the method, it worked, as Kevin Nguyen stayed focused and won every match in straight sets to claim his second straight state title to date. In what amounted to the title match, Nguyen the tactician kept pressure on Wilkinson with a merciless barrage of forehand loops to his backhand. Nate Wilkinson finished runner-up, fearlessly going toe-to-toe with Nguyen at every opportunity. Although attendance was low this year due to COVID-19, there is nonetheless a promising procession of precocious players in Portland. In order to improve the level of competition for the Paddle Palace juniors program, coach Jiwei Xia has been working with fellow coach Lingshuai Meng in Seattle. Meng, like Xia a Chinese expatriate, works in junior development with the USATT Hopes Program. Xia and Meng have engaged their students in what they call a "conversation," or an ongoing series of joint training camps ping-ponging back and forth between the cities. With two such dedicated coaches, there is no limit to where this "conversation" could lead these talented juniors in a few years. Over 40 RR After witnessing the next generation at work in the morning, the afternoon's attention shifted to the exploits of those born before the Reagan Administration. Eight players formed two round-robin groups, with the top two finishers in each progressing to the semifinals. The top seed in Group 1 was Duc Nguyen (pictured, right), a stubborn defender who chops with long pips on the backhand and looks to smash with the forehand. Group 2 was headlined by Nikos Antoniadis (pictured, left), the very portrait of aggression who never hesitates to unleash a mean forehand loop. The groups were vigorously contested, top seeds facing many spirited challenges, but ultimately finished according to seeding. Second seeds Sarit Roy and Kevin Young also advanced to the semifinals. In Sarit Roy, Duc Nguyen faced his doppelgänger: an impregnable wall of long-pips backhand defense, interrupted only by forehand attacks as unpredictable as they are unreturnable. The key difference in their playing philosophies was that, instead of chopping with his long pips away from the table like Nguyen, Roy uses his to chop-block right off the bounce. In the end, Nguyen's more traditional style chopped Roy down, but not without a good fight. In the other semifinal, Kevin Young threw everything but the kitchen sink at Antoniadis. Young fired a fusillade of left-handed mid-range loops like vintage Mikael Appelgren, but ultimately to no avail. "I give him all the credit in the world," Young graciously said of Antoniadis afterward. "He played stronger shots when it counted." This set up the final that Las Vegas predicted: Duc Nguyen and Nikos Antoniadis, the two top seeds. The first game was all Antoniadis. Painting the corners with his forehand loop like a Clayton Kershaw slider, he cruised to an easy 11-4 win. In game two, however, Nguyen began to frustrate Antoniadis with his spin variations. They marched in lockstep, 6-6, 8-8, 10-10, until Antoniadis pulled ahead with a third ball attack to the forehand. Then, after a long rally, it was the suddenly more patient Antoniadis who forced an error, forging a 2-0 lead. Down but not out, Nguyen further fine-tuned the adjustments he made in game two to build a 9-5 lead in game three. Antoniadis, suddenly on the ropes against Nguyen's attacks, buys some time with a defensive topspin. Nguyen ends the comeback attempt with an inside-out forehand smash to get on the board, winning game three 11-9. In game four, Antoniadis jumped out to a 5-1 lead with his trademark forehand attacks to the corners. Nguyen fought back to tie it at 9-all, and seized the early initiative in the next point with an over-the-table backhand attack with the long pips. When Antoniadis defended with a weak backhand topspin, Nguyen had a chance to claim game point with an attack. Instead, Nguyen chopped the moonball back with his pips, all but inviting Antoniadis to attack. Two forehand bullets later, and Antoniadis held match point. He converted on the first opportunity when his defensive topspin led to Nguyen missing a forehand smash. "I attack as much as possible to get him in distress," explained the victorious Over 40 champion, Nikos Antoniadis. "I played my game." After the thrilling finish, the masked competitors blended into the pleasant din of regular Sunday afternoon open play. Such is the beauty of our sport, that a newcomer could never guess by appearance alone who is a champion.

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