ALEX TAM: Was he ever World (Swaything Cup) Champion ?
BICENBKS
1 (2?) World Championships for China? Thanks.
John Schneider
"BICENBKS" <bice...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010808030706...@mb-mh.aol.com...
> What a solid player he was. Does anyone know if he won
> 1 (2?) World Championships for China? Thanks.
>
Tam's background is legendary and was first made public in the States in an
article by USTTA Historian Leah Neuberger after he'd arrived here from Hong
Kong in 1972 and had won the Houston Invitational from such strong U.S.
players as D-J Lee, Joong Gil Park, Lim Ming Chui, Jack Howard, Dick Miles,
Dell Sweeris, Peter Pradit, and John Tannehill.
At the 1961 Peking World's, 18-year-old Tan Cho-lin (as Tam was then called)
astounded everyone by reaching the quarter's of the Singles, defeating in
the very first round the #2 seed, Zoltan Berczik, later to be Coach of the
'79 World Champion Hungarian Team that included Jonyer, Klampar, and
Gergely. Although Alex was ranked World #14 (at the same time D-J Lee was
ranked #26), he didn't play for China at the 1963 or '65 World's. In fact,
in the late '60's, he escaped from China "with his wife by swimming to Hong
Kong, where he had to change his name and became Chan Cheuk Nim." He then
played for Hong Kong in the 1971 Commonwealth Games at Singapore. Following
that, China stipulated to Koji Goto, organizer of the '71 World's, that Tan
Cho-lin not be permitted to play for Hong Kong in those Nagoya
Championships.
threestar40
here(Austin) John Miller, do you know any history on him. I think Tuan Anh
Tran used to play with him here in the fencing room at belmont at UT.
Rick =)
Jonathan E. Dorn
news:9l4njq$nb9$1...@slb7.atl.mindspring.net...
I was a "regular" player at the University Of Texas, Austin in 1979 and from
what I've heard Alex played there a few years before. I wish I'd had the
opportunity to watch him play.
(I don't think that Tuan was a member around at that time but I know that
his brother played there in the early 80's. He always talked about how good
his brother (Tuan) was. He was right!
Jon
BICENBKS
was also very level named Tuan. Did he
also move to the States permanently?
Thanks.
Mike
