Olympic debut set for Westridge’s Erica Wu Friday

Having spent much of the last week preparing for the opening ceremonies and cheering on her friends and teammates in the women’s singles portion of the table tennis event, Erica Wu’s now ready to contribute.

The 16-year-old, who will be a junior this fall at Westridge School, makes her Olympic debut on Friday as the United States takes on Japan in the opening round at 2 a.m. Pacific (10 a.m. in London) at ExCeL, the largest competition venue at this year’s London Games.

Wu joins teammates Ariel Hsing and Lily Zhang, forming a trio of 16-year-olds from California, who are coached by former European professional and Romanian national team member Doru Gheorghe.

Wu’s introduction to the Olympics comes a little more than three months after learning at the North American Table Tennis Trials that she had qualified to represent her country.

“The first time I really sat down to think about it was when I got back to the hotel [that night] and I just kind of sat in my bed and I was like, ‘I just made it to the Olympics.’ It’s an amazing feeling,” she said. “Sometimes it’s randomly out of nowhere — when I’m walking then I’ll suddenly have that thought and be completely happy and excited.”

The women’s team event runs daily through Tuesday, when winners are awarded medals. If the U.S. wins Friday, it would advance to play either Germany or Australia on Saturday.

While Wu has yet to compete, her teammates have spent the past week playing singles.

Hsing is coming off an impressive showing. Ranked No. 115 in the world, she nearly pulled off a stunning upset over the No. 2 seed, China’s Li Xiaxoia, who’s 24, in the third round. Li, who came up with a 4-2 decision, wound up capturing a gold medal.

Since table tennis became an Olympic sport in 1988, China has tallied 20 of 24 gold medals.

Wu realizes she faces steep challenges ahead. As the last of her three teammates to qualify for the Olympics, she’s ranked third in the nation. But her world ranking lingers around 500, she said.

There’s also age and experience to consider. Wu recently turned 16. In singles competition this past week, Hsing faced a player that was 23 years older than her.

Despite the odds, Wu said she would enjoy her time in London, hoping to make new friends and meet some of her favorite athletes, like Michael Phelps.

“Making the team was the biggest goal for me,” she said. “I’m going to the Olympics basically for the experience and seeing what I could learn from other people.”

Though table tennis is scored differently than tennis, it features much of the same fundamental principles. It follows a knockout format in which teams progress through the draw until the finals.

Teams are comprised of three players. They play four singles matches and one doubles match. Team matches end when one team wins three matches in a best-of-five series.

In doubles play, players take turns hitting the ball — one hit each before alternating. It’s different from tennis, where a player serves the entire time. In table tennis, the service alternates every two points scored. Upon reaching 10-10, the serve changes after every point.

In the event that a player touches the table or net, performs an illegal serve or if a doubles player strikes the ball out of order, the opposition can earn a point from the violation.

Two players from each team play at a time. In all, 172 people (86 men, 86 women) compete in table tennis, spread over four medal events (men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s team).

Upon being selected to the Olympics, Wu said she would consider not playing competitively after this year’s games. Because the opportunities to play professionally in the U.S. are scarce in comparison to Europe or Asia, she said she would focus on school and her goal of becoming a veterinarian.

But as the games drew closer, Wu appeared to be leaning the opposite way.

“I’d like to be able to play as much as possible,” she said. “I’ll train less [when the next Olympics come around] because of college. [But] four years from now, if I’m in the running for the Olympics, I’ll definitely try again.”