Welcome to Table Tennis Minnesota

Junior of the Month

Nathaniel "Ming" Curran

 

By

Mitchell Seidenfeld

 

Age:                             13

Residence:                    Minneapolis, MN

Highest Rating:  1923

Current Rating: 1886

 

Equipment:                   Stiga Carbo 7.6 WRB blade

Stiga Innova 2.0 on FH

Stiga Mendo 2.0 on BH

 

Style of Play:                Lefthanded allround looper/counterdriver

Local Club:                   Table Tennis Minnesota (various locations)

Sponsor:                       Stiga and Table Tennis Pioneers

 

When you're thirteen years old, ranked in the top five nationally for boys under fourteen in both table tennis and Go, and doing college level course work, it's safe to say that you are, indeed, a few steps ahead of the game.

 

In winning a combined five medals and trophies at the 2003 Junior Olympics/Jr. Nationals in Detroit, MI, Nathaniel "Ming" Curran quickly became the most accomplished of Minnesota's new wave of junior players. Of course, when asked about his recent success, Ming was quick to add, "Table tennis is not the only thing though, and I try never to forget that there are more important things.  Family… education…helping and caring for others…but table tennis is still pretty important." Ming is the extraordinary product of two educator parents and a house full of scholarly siblings. He's been home-schooled for several years and is just as likely to be practicing his Chinese (Mandarin dialect), or Math Jamming with his brother, as practicing his loop. He reads everything from science fiction to revolutionary philosophy and even has a manifesto or two to his credit. He is passionate about word games, especially Scrabble.

In Minnesota, Ming is notorious for his good sportsmanship; sometimes arguing on behalf of his opponent that a shot ticked the edge, touched his shirt, or that his own serve was, in some way, illegal. 

 

Another of his many and varied interests is the ancient game of Go. Much like table tennis, Go is simple enough for a young child to enjoy, yet impossible for an adult to master. Ming has risen to the level of Three Dan (comparable to a 2100 USATT rating or 3^rd degree black belt). Every summer, Ming's allegiance is tested when the Junior Olympics are scheduled the same week as the Go Congress (their national convention). This year Ming was spared the difficult decision of choosing one over the other when his coach, Greg Miller, and mother, Loretta, found a way to coordinate their travel so that he could leave the Junior Olympics on Friday night, then fly to the Go Congress the next morning. After all, it was during a friendly game of ping pong at the 2000 Go Congress in Denver, CO that a young Chinese boy first complimented Ming on his side-spin, thus compelling Ming to find out what side-spin was and how he might do it again.

 

Ming's current involvement in the sport is remarkable. He plays table tennis four days a week for a total of fifteen to eighteen hours. He schedules two practice sessions with Minnesota junior team members Andrew Knips, Joe Podvin, Anders Truelson, and John Hervey. He competes in the Minnesota Super League (for players with USATT ratings above 1800). And he competes in and helps organize the round robin tournament that is held every Saturday afternoon at Northwest Athletic Club. He usually takes one hour of private coaching each week and is a regular at the Saturday morning junior team training sessions. To build up his cardio-vascular system he recently added a biking regimen. But when it comes to his mental game, there is nothing better than the hours spent playing his beloved Go which, Ming says, "is great for disciplining my mind, reading stuff out, identifying configurations, patterns and steps that eventually lead to a desired outcome." He is quick to accept a hardbat challenge from any of the club's classic table tennis players. And for the past two summers, he has worked as an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota Summer Table Tennis Youth Camp. During these camps he has helped develop the table tennis games of over sixty, nine to fourteen-year-olds.

 

Looking to the future, Ming's short-term goals are to gain the advantage in some of his friendly rivalries with top U.S. juniors like Preston Chin, Joey Cochran, Joseph Wang, and Andrew Lin.  Win the top division of our Saturday round robin tournament. And enjoy every minute of the time he spends playing table tennis. His long-term goals are to improve his rating, make the U.S. Team, and above all else, have lots of fun along the way.