UNION COUNTY, NJ — The Joola 27th annual North American Team Championships took place at the Gaylord National Resort in Washington, D.C., during the Thanksgiving weekend. A total of 846 table tennis players from 203 teams worldwide participated, including those from the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Finland, France, Jamaica, Austria, Japan and China. They competed for championships across 12 divisions, each based on the team players’ average USA Table Tennis ratings.
Two Union County high school students, Rohit Barua and Sean Chao, along with their teammates from the Union County–based New Jersey Table Tennis Club, led by head coach Xin “Jack” Gao, brought home two championship titles.
New Jersey Table Tennis Club 1, featuring Sean Chao 10th grade, Union County Vocational Technical School Magnet High School; Rohit Barua, 10th grade, Newark Academy; and Jason Mei, eighth grade, Briarcliff Middle School in Morris County, captured the Division 5 Championship out of 16 competing teams. Sean previously helped secure the Division 13 Championship in 2023.
New Jersey Table Tennis Club 5, represented by Ryan Lin, ninth grade, Holmdel High School in Monmouth County; Brian Chen, sixth grade, Staten Island Academy in Richmond County, N.Y.; and Muxin Zhong, fourth grade, Village Elementary School in Somerset County, claimed the Division 13 Championship, prevailing against seven teams in their division.
Photos Courtesy of Jie Chen
