Three months ago, Sarah Jalli was crowned champion of the US Open in Las Vegas for the u11 girls' event! Just after turning 12, she entered the US National Ranking Tournament in Davie, Florida (March 29-April 1). Each player was allowed to enter up to 2 of the events - u12, u13, u15, or u18. Sarah chose to skip the u12 and enter the u13 and u15. First, she played the u15 and finished #10 in the US... not bad. Then she began dominating the u13 with 8 consecutive wins against girls from across the nation. If she finished 1st or 2nd, she would make the US National Team. With only 2 matches to go, Sarah had a devastating loss to Linda Shu from Texas 3-0. At this point in the tournament, all the top girls' had at least 1-2 losses. If Sarah lost her final match, she would have been 4th place in the tie-breaker. She started off down 0-2 to Faith Hu in the final match but was able to change tactics and come back for an amazing 3-2 victory and take home the title of u13 Girl's 2018 US National Champion!

Her next tournament is Spin & Smash, then the US Hopes, then the North American Hopes, followed by the US National Championships in Las Vegas! The Samson Dubina Table Tennis Academy is so proud of Sarah's achievements and look forward to seeing more successes in the future as she prepares for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France! If you would like to join the ranks of the Samson Dubina Table Tennis Academy, I would encourage you to attend one of our weekly leagues, come for private lessons, or even sign up for one of our Mega Camps this Summer! See you soon!