Dynasty.
What else can you call the 65 national championships Texas Wesleyan’s table tennis program has won in the past 15 years?
Wesleyan’s domination of college table tennis continued earlier this month, with the program winning five of a possible six titles at the 2017 TMS College Table Tennis National Championships; the wins included the team taking its 13th coed team championship, according to ramsports.net.
In addition to the coed team title, Wesleyan won women’s team, men’s single, men’s doubles and women’s doubles at the tournament, which was held April 7-9 in Eau Claire, Wis.
The tournament included 250 players from more than 40 universities. Both the coed and women’s teams won their titles for the second year in a row.
Jishan Liang, who on April 8 became the sixth player to win one of the program’s 11 national men’s singles titles, said he “will treasure this moment for a long time.”
“I’m so proud of my university, and I feel as if I am part of a very big family,” said Jishan Liang, who on April 8 became the sixth player to win one of the program’s 11 national men’s singles titles. “My teammates and everyone in my university are so perfect, and I really mean it. I appreciate this so much.”
Liang said that his teammates inspire him to continue to work hard as part of a champion-caliber team.
and players and we all push each other to be better,” said Liang, who along with Zhe Fang captured the men’s doubles title. “Wherever we go to play, we need to keep our level and try to get better so we can perform well. I love table tennis and feel lucky to get a support of university to study and play table tennis.”
Yue Wu said that this year’s competition was “very strong.”
“We had a couple of Olympians participating as well as world champions in different events,” said Wu, who along with Chen Wang won the women’s doubles title. “Going there, I was not sure what to expect but I knew that I need to try my best.”
Wu and Liang personify a largely international roster that includes players from, among other countries, China, Brazil, Jordan, Nepal, and England. At the same time, there are a few Texans, including Bedford’s Adrian Rodriguez.