Skip to main content

Young An

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."

PHOTO

G. NEWMAN LOWRANCE/GETTY IMAGES (AN)