Paddle Prodigy

Han Xiao has a good chance of making it to the 2008 Olympics, but an ever-popular saying might be the one thing holding him back: Stay in school.

Xiao, 20, is a nationally recognized table tennis player and an undergraduate at this university. Instead of training for the Olympics full time, Xiao chooses to remain enrolled in classes. It's a decision that has raised eyebrows from coaches and one that ultimately could cost him a trip to Beijing. But it's a decision he doesn't regret.

"I try to look at the big picture, even if I don't make the Olympics I will still say, 'I tried, it was fun, I enjoyed playing,'" Xiao said. "Whereas, if I just failed at school, that's it -that's the end of the line."

Xiao said that even if he does not make the Olympics next year, table tennis is a sport in which athletes have a chance to make the team well into their 30s. Ultimately, Xiao thinks getting his degree now is more important than going to the Olympics now.

But Xiao thinks he still has a legitimate shot of making the 2008 Olympic squad while going to school. As of mid-February, Xiao's U.S. table tennis ranking slated him somewhere between No. 3 and No. 15 in the country, depending on the source. According to the USA Table Tennis Association, his current rank is No. 11, while experts see him as a top candidate for the U.S. Olympic team.

"He's definitely one of the top contenders, for sure," said Dan Seemiller, coach of the U.S. National Team. "He has a good chance. It will be tough, but if I had to name our top guys, he'd be in the top three."

However, some of Xiao's coaches say his best shot at the Olympics will come only if he eliminates the difficulties of school by dropping out for a year.

"He has a big decisions now," said Larry Hodges, Editor of USA Table Tennis Magazine and one of Xiao's mentors. "If he takes a year off and trains, most people think he has a great chance to make the Olympic team."

As a junior studying for a degree with a double major in business and computer science, Xiao excels in school during the week, competes with table tennis elites on weekends, travels the world competing in tournaments and sometimes makes appearances for the university club team, all while impressing table tennis gurus throughout the country.

He has traveled to Taiwan, Qatar and China to play in national tournaments, and just about every weekend Xiao either plays in local tournaments or trains at area clubs.

Despite the possibilities, Xiao doesn't gloat about his Olympic chances. Actually, he doesn't seem to brag about many things and when he speaks at all, his voice hovers just above the volume of a whisper.

"[Classmates] either don't know me, haven't heard of me, or both," Xiao said. "And I don't feel the need to broadcast to the world that I'm a table tennis player."

At about 5-foot-10 and very thin, Xiao's physical presence doesn't intimidate - it more cries ordinary. But those who see what he can do with his feeble frame say that his physical abilities are anything but ordinary compared to local table tennis players.

Xiao's university club teammate and longtime friend, junior operations management major Michael Shao, has known Xiao for 10 years and is still impressed with what Xiao can do on the court.

"I'm good, and I'm nowhere near him," Shao said. "Just watching him play you get a 'wow' factor."

Xiao was born in Nanjing, China, and moved to the U.S. when he was 2 years old - the age he began playing table tennis with his father.

But when the people around Xiao started to realize his natural ability, his involvement in the sport progressed. Hodges said he immediately saw Xiao's talent when the youngster first walked into the local table tennis club.

"He's the kind of player that comes around very rarely," Hodges said.

Hodges recalled one situation that confirmed Xiao's talent at a young age. As a middle school student, Xiao competed against Michael Hyatt, the Jamaican table tennis champion at the time.

For most of the match Xiao held the lead, but when Hyatt scored a point and started a comeback, he got near the young Xiao and yelled, "Yes!" The imposing gesture intimated the shy young player, and Xiao eventually lost.

But the match helped bring some attention to Xiao's talent throughout the table tennis inner circle. He worked hard and tried to perfect his game almost every day in middle school and high school. As Xiao worked on his technical skills, one of the continual gripes about his game was that he was too passive and let opposing players gain a mental advantage by getting loud.

"He's a little too quiet and too humble," Seemiller said. "When other guys fight him, he doesn't always fight back."

But the weakness seemingly hasn't deterred Xiao from winning.

He was the 2002 and 2006 U.S. Men's Doubles Champion and played on the 2004 and 2005 U.S. Men's World Championship Team.

But even if he does make the Olympic team, Xiao knows he still won't be a big-time athlete like those who play varsity football and basketball at the university. But he doesn't care.

"Those sports get a lot of attention and are more publicized, but I don't mind," Xiao said. "It would take a lot of time away if I had to deal with all of that other stuff. ... It would be fun for a while, and then it would get annoying. I'd rather just stay in my little quiet corner."

And whether he makes the Olympics now, later or never, most students will still probably see Xiao as "that guy," another student.

They will know him as the quiet guy with the near-perfect grade point average sitting in a class, the one with the white headphone wire hanging and who wears the blue winter coat.

But as Xiao plays table tennis, like he did when he was a young boy, for fun and for now, he's an Olympic hopeful who will stay in school.

Contact reporter Bryan Mann at bmanndbk@gmail.com.