19-year old Pierre-Luc Theriault celebrated his biggest title in his young table tennis career defeating compatriot and training partner Andre Ho in the Finals of the ITTF North America Cup.

Despite the absence of Canada's top three ranked athletes - Eugene Zhen Wang, Hongtao Chen are not (yet) eligible for this competition and Pierre-Luc Hinse due to injury - Canada's Men's Team did not disappoint. The group lead by Coach Yongjun Duan refused the US Team a place in the finals.

Pierre-Luc Theriault made it look easy en route to the finals, blowing out his semi-finals opponent Timothy Wang, who qualified for the London Games only 5 weeks earlier, by a score of 4-0 (10,7,1,7). 

In the finals, however, it was a different story; it turned into a battle of will and stamina.

Ho had been on a rise during the year, reserving his ticket to the London Olympic Games as the top North American qualifier; Theriault failed to qualify. 

But never make the mistake to write off the youngster from St. Fabien, QC. Poised, determined, composed and fighting, Theriault played every point with one goal in mind - Liverpool, the site of the Men's World Cup for which this event served as the qualifier. 

In a match full of drama and tension, Theriault emerged the winner after a 1-3 game deficit by a score of 4-3 (-8,9,-9,7,8,7)

In the semi-finals, Andre Ho defeated Adam Hugh in a cliff hanger. Down 1-3, and 4-8, Ho managed to turn the match around winning game 4 by score of 13-11, game 5 13-11, and the final game 7 11-8.

A notable result came from Ontario's 16-year old Max Xia who defeated US Team member Michael Landers and finished 9th in the senior competition. 

On the women's side, the US Team dominated with Ariel Hsing repeating as Cup winner by defeating Mo Zhang in a closely fought match by a score of 4-3 (10,11,-5,9,-4,-4,10). Zhang was unable to convert two match points.

The matches will be available for viewing shortly on itTV <http://www. ittf. com/ittv/ in the continental events section.