Young An
Rick Lipsey
September 07, 2009
On Sunday Byeong Hun An won the U.S. Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa with a 7-and-5 rout of Ben Martin, a Clemson senior, in the final. At 17, An became the Amateur's youngest champ, making good on his bloodlines. At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Byeong's father, Jae Hyung An, won a bronze in table tennis doubles, while his mother, Jiao Zhimin, of China, earned a bronze in singles and a silver in doubles. In 2005 Jae Hyung quit coaching table tennis to move with his son to the David Leadbetter Academy in Bradenton, Fla., while Zhimin took a corporate job in China to pay the bills. "Splitting up the family and coming to America was a huge decision," says Byeong, who will play at Cal in 2010. "But it has been worth it. Especially right now."
On Sunday Byeong Hun An won the U.S. Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa with a 7-and-5 rout of Ben Martin, a Clemson senior, in the final. At 17, An became the Amateur's youngest champ, making good on his bloodlines. At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Byeong's father, Jae Hyung An, won a bronze in table tennis doubles, while his mother, Jiao Zhimin, of China, earned a bronze in singles and a silver in doubles. In 2005 Jae Hyung quit coaching table tennis to move with his son to the David Leadbetter Academy in Bradenton, Fla., while Zhimin took a corporate job in China to pay the bills. "Splitting up the family and coming to America was a huge decision," says Byeong, who will play at Cal in 2010. "But it has been worth it. Especially right now."