1998 Boston Open
Upsets are the order of the day!

T-shirts, featuring the 1998 Boston Open logo seen on this page, are still available for sale. Cost is $14/shirt, with proceeds going towards funding next year's Boston Open. Help us raise money so we can offer a larger prize next year, and hopefully draw even better players! Contact Chris Lawrence or Andrew Kao for more information.

Press coverage: The New England Sports Network (NESN) came out to the Boston Open to do a couple of interviews and take a few shots of what was going on. This will be online soon!

Sponsors: We were able to offer $2,000 in prize money this year, thanks to our sponsors. This prize money was a significant factor in attracting the large number of participants, from as far away as Arizona and Ontario, Canada. Thanks again to these sponsors:

• Andy Chong - ready for action
• Andy Chong - perfect form to win doubles and mixed doubles; also singles finalist
• High flying Chibing Wu - singles winner & doubles finalist
• Peng Hoong Chung - finalist in doubles
• Tracey Thompson - singles winner
• Carol Tamaru - singles finalist
• Tough men's doubles semifinals featuring Andy Chong & Kington Hooi vs Kyle Hunter & Lance Hunter
• Chibing Wu & Peng Hoong Chung - finalists in doubles
• Vyjayanthi Ratnam & Barbara Whitlock - ladies doubles consolation winners

Those who came out to watch the tournament were treated to some really exciting matches and upsets. Only mens singles, with number 1 seed Chibing Wu (NY) prevailing over number 2 seed Andy Chong (MA); and senior mens doubles, with the duo of Laszlo Drimusz (MA)/Wee Khin Tam (MA) winning over Clint Hart (MA)/Dick McKinley (MA), had finals that went as predicted. The following is a quick synopsis of what happened, but the full tournament draws are available online.

There were so many entries for MENS SINGLES, a QUALIFYING ROUND had to be held on the night before the main draw. The number 5/8 seed, Kyle Hunter (CAN), upset the 3/4 seed, Radu Milevschi (ROM), with scores of 15-5, 15-7. The other 5/8 seed, Lance Hunter (CAN), upset the 3/4 seed, Woody Seriporn (MA), 15-11, 15-5. Finals saw Chibing Wu defeat Andy Chong in an amazing game: 15-8, 15-9. The CONSOLATION ROUND also saw some surprises, with newcomer Ademola Ogunseye (RI, recently come from Nigeria) defeat Kirill Boyarin (MA).

In LADIES SINGLES, unseeded Robin Kim (ME) upset the 3/4 seed, Jenny Payne with scores of 11-8, 11-7. Another unseeded player, Tracey Thompson (MA, recently come from South Africa - see profile), upset the 3/4 seed Janie Lee (NY) 11-4, 11-0, the number 2 seed, Ulrika Von Pfaler (PA) 8-11, 12-10, 11-7 and finally the number 1 seed, Carol Tamaru (MA) 11-5, 11-2 to win it all. The CONSOLATION ROUND featured two juniors from the Gut 'n Feathers club, with Emily Noyes defeating Ryan McManus 11-3, 4-11, 11-4.

A QUALIFYING ROUND was also held for LADIES DOUBLES the night before the main event. The 3/4 seeds of Barbara McKinley (MA) and Birgitte Patel (CT) upset the number 2 seeds Vivian Tam (NY) and Carol Tamaru (MA) 15-9, 18-13. Similarly, the 3/4 seeds of Daphne Chang (NJ) and Ulrika Von Pfaler (PA) upset the number 1 seeds, Charlotte Ackerman (CT) and Liz Wilson (CT) 17-14, 15-3. Daphne Chang (NJ) and Ulrika Von Pfaler (PA) went on to win it all in a 3 game cliff-hanger over Barbara McKinley (MA) and Birgitte Patel (CT), 15-13, 11-15, 15-11. The CONSOLATION ROUND featured Barbara Whitlock (Harvard) and Vyjayanthi Ratnam (Harvard) winning over Jade Wong (NY) and Hilary Bramwell (NY) 18-13, 15-5.

MENS DOUBLES had some truly thrilling matches and upsets. The unseeded pair of Kirill Boyarin (MA) and Sreeram Chakrapani struck early in the second round, upsetting the 5/8 seeds, Gabriel Jeronimo (CT) and Radu Milevschi (ROM) 12-15, 15-12, 15-5. In the quarterfinals, the Canadian pair of Kyle Hunter and Lance Hunter (seeded 5/8) pushed the number 2 seeds, Andy Chong (FL)/Kington Hooi (FL) to 3 exciting game semifinal: 15-8, 9-15, 18-15. Andy and Kington went on to beat the number 1 seeded team of Peng Hoong Chung (PA) and Chibing Wu (NY) in another 3 gamer in the finals, 9-15, 15-12, 15-12. The CONSOLATION of mens doubles was won by Trevor Lai (MA) and Ravi Raveendran (MA) over Jimmy Ng (AZ) and Ning Qi (MA) with scores of 15-10, 15-11.

MIXED DOUBLES was also full of surprises. Unseeded Nadim Raja (MD) and Julia Tayts (NY) upset the  5/8 seed of Patrick Boey (MA) and Vivian Tam (NY), 4-15, 15-4, 15-9. More surprises were in store, when the unseeded pair of Ademola Ogunseye (RI) and Tracey Thompson (MA) upset the number 2 seeds, Ganesh Balasubramanian (MA) and Liz Wilson (CT), in the second round: 15-12, 15-12. This pair subsequently went on to topple the 5/8 seeds, Mark Ahbe (VA) and Phyllis Lyght (MD), 15-4, 15-3. Meanwhile, another unseeded pair, the Canadian duo of Kyle Hunter and Allison Hatton was making waves, upsetting the number 3/4 seeded pair of Peng Hoong Chung (PA) and Ulrika Von Pfaler (PA) 15-10, 13-18, 15-12 in the second round, followed by the 5/8 seeds Jacek Maciborek (CT) and Birgitte Patel (CT) 15-9, 15-2 in the 3rd round, and then taking out the wildcards Ademola Ogunseye and Tracey Thompson to advance to the finals. In the bottom half of the draw, 3/4 seeds Andy Chong and Emily Noyes (junior from MA) upset number 1 seeds Radu Milevschi (ROM) and Charlotte Ackerman (CT) in the semifinals, 15-7, 15-10, and then went on to win it all in the finals over Kyle Hunter and Allison Hatton 15-1, 15-5. In the CONSOLATION DRAW, Bogdan Pytlik and Daphne Young triumphed over Jayesh Amin and Jyotsna Iyer.