By Mike Wynn
South Carolina Bureau Chief
Article dated Feb. 25, 1996

FLINT, Mich. - With the smoke now clearing from U.S. Olympic Table Tennis Trials, the six-member men's and women's team has set its sights on what many would consider an improbable goal this summer in Atlanta: Winning a medal.

The United States hasn't come within sniffing distance of a medal since table tennis became an Olympic sport in 1988. The current world ranking for the men's national team is only No. 25, while the women are ranked No. 20.

However, U.S. table tennis officials are hoping the Atlanta Games will offer a home court advantage to the team, which includes Augustans Jim Butler and Amy Feng.

``Playing in front of a home crowd is worth five points a game,'' said Bob Allshouse, director of USA Table Tennis National Training Center in Davison, Mich. ``I wouldn't say we're favored to win a medal, but I wouldn't count us out. Jimmy and Amy have each had wins against players ranked in the top ten in the world.

``We're going for it all the way.''

Allshouse points to the recent third place finish by the U.S. at the World Team Cup in Atlanta in August - its best showing ever - as an example of the power of playing at home.

``The crowd raised our level of play and pumped us up,'' said Butler, a member on that squad along with another 1996 Olympic team member, David Zhuang.

Joining Butler and Zhuang on the men's Olympic team is Todd Sweeris. Butler, who finished undefeated at last week's Olympic Trials, will play lead singles and partner with Sweeris in the doubles. Zhuang will play the other singles.

Feng, who will play second singles for the women's squad, is joined on the team by Lily Yip and Wei Wang. Yip will play first singles and pair with Wang in doubles.

In the Olympics, the men and women will be divided in 16 groups of four players in early round-robin competition. The winners out of the groups will proceed to the final 16 and play single elimination matches.

``I don't think you can say we're a favorite to win a medal, but then again it's a shootout and anything's possible,'' said Richard McAfee, director of Olympic table tennis competition in Atlanta.

The team will begin training at the Davison center next week in preparation for the North American Championships on March 29 in Calgary, Canada, where they have a chance to gain an extra Olympic doubles spot for both squads.

The team will then take a couple weeks off before resuming training at the center up until the Olympics, Allshouse said.

``Our goal,'' he said, ``can be nothing other than a medal.''