Trio will compete in table tennis in Pittsburg, Pa. this weekend

By Jacob Wicinski | Contributor

Delta Digital News Service

Friday, June 14, 2023

JONESBORO, Ark. – Although Paris will host the 2024 Summer Olympics, three northeast Arkansas educators will compete this week in the National Senior Games in Pittsburg, Pa.

The National Senior Games is an annual event pitting thousands of 50-year-olds and over against one another in over 20 different sporting events. Northeast Arkansans Jianfeng ‘Jay’ Xu, Ph.D., a research professor at Arkansas State University, Yanhua ‘Jennifer’ Xie, Ph.D., an associate professor at the Arkansas Biosciences Institute and The New York Institute of Technology on the campus of A-State, and Anthony Tsui, a Bay High School teacher, hope to bring in the gold for the table tennis, aka ping pong, category.

Xu, Xie and Tsui left Wednesday, July 12, to compete in the games. Before leaving the trio got in a few rounds of practice at the Red Wolf Center on the campus of A-State. In discussing their passion for the game at their age, Xu stated that even though he has been playing for years, his skills had started to improve just recently.

Jacob Wicinski is a 2021 graduate of Florida State University with a bachelor’s in communication and is currently seeking a masters of science in mass communication with a specialization in journalism at Arkansas State University.

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NOTE: Featured photo – Jennifer Xie gets in some table tennis practice at the Red Wolf Center on the campus of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, July 18. Photo by Jacob Wicinski