Drexel University is proud to host the 2008 United States Olympic & National Team Trials. The event, held from January 10-13, 2008, will be brought to the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Drexel’s campus by USA Table Tennis (USATT), the national organizing body for table tennis in the United States.
The U.S. Olympic & National Team Trials is expected to draw the elite 24 table tennis athletes from across the country with 12 athletes competing in men’s singles and 12 athletes competing in women’s singles in a round-robin format to help determine who will represent the United States in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Drexel University is honored to host the 2008 United States Olympic & National Team Trials along with the following corporate sponsors:
Ticket Information
The 2008 United States Olympic & National Team Trials is open to the public. Admission is free for Thursday’s qualifying action. Tickets are $10 for a one-day pass for Friday, Saturday or Sunday with a three-day pass available for $20.
Starting December 10, tickets can be purchased by calling 1-866-4-DREXEL or by visiting the Drexel Athletics Ticket Office at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
Hotel Information for Visitors
Friends & Family Rate for Olympic Trials
Crowne Plaza Hotel (formally Holiday Inn City Line)
PHILADELPHIA-CITY LINE
4100 PRESIDENTIAL BLVD.
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19131
Contact: Jennifer Woodeshick (215) 477-0200
Directions to the Daskalakis Athletic Center
Click here for directions to the Daskalakis Athletic Center
Qualifying Information
The 2008 United States Olympic & National Team Trials will begin on Thursday, January 10, 2008 with a qualifying competition. The top two finishers from the open qualification in each of men’s and women’s singles will advance to their respective trials and will join the top 10 rated entrants for each gender in a round-robin competition starting on Friday, Jan. 11 and continuing through Sunday, Jan. 13.
The format for Qualifications will be as follows:
If there are five or fewer entrants per gender, a round robin will be held. The top two finishers will advance.
If there are more than five but fewer than nine, two round robins with crossovers will be held. The top two finishers will advance.
If there are nine or more entrants per gender, a single elimination event will be conducted. The finalists will advance.
Click here for a qualification entry form
Information for Competitors
The Local Organizing Committee has provided hotel rooms from January 11-13 for all players in the Trials.
Tournament hotel is:
Sheraton University City Hotel
3549 Chestnut Street (36th & Chestnut Streets)
Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 387-8000
The $200 entry fee, which must accompany entry, will be refunded to all players advancing to the Continental Trials, in Vancouver.
Taxi vouchers will be given to all players flying in for the event. Parking will be provided to all players arriving by car.
Executive management is as follows:
Tournament Chairman – Bob Fox, 2008 Olympic Team Leader; Co-Chairman, Elite Athletes Committee
Tournament Director – Richard Lee, North American Table Tennis, President
Tournament Manager – Dan Simmons, Associate Athletic Director, Drexel University
Tournament Referee – Wendell Dillon
Details regarding equipment will be posted as they are determined
Schedule of Events
Click here for the tournament schedule
Alumni and Friends Reception
Drexel will be hosting a lunch reception for alumni and friends on Saturday, Jan. 12 at 12:30 p.m. at the Paul Peck Alumni Center at 32nd and Market Streets. The cost is $15 and includes lunch and a ticket for all of Saturday's trial action.
Tickets are limited. To reserve a ticket for the event, register at www.drexel.edu/alumni or call 1-888-DU-GRADS.
About Table Tennis
Table tennis has come a long way since its introduction as a genteel, after-dinner alternative to lawn tennis in 1890s England. Today, players compete for big money, wield high-tech rackets and volley the ball at speeds up to 160 kilometers per hour. Table tennis has become the world's largest participation sport, with 40 million competitive players worldwide and countless millions playing recreationally.
The game, which debuted in the Olympic Games in 1988 at Seoul, began with cigar-box lids for rackets and a carved champagne cork for a ball. Today, players use specially developed rubber-coated wooden and carbon-fiber rackets and a lightweight, hollow celluloid ball. Various rubber compounds and glues are applied on the rackets to impart greater spin or speed.
Sponsorship Information