Former Chilean No. 8 Makes Mark in NCTTA Men's Singles

By Michael Reff
Press Committee Chair

Kentucky college athlete Felipe González Seguel made his mark at the 2025 NCTTA Championships in Rockford, IL. Seguel was flying solo during this tournament, representing his school alone as a single’s player. He was the 45th seed in the Men’s Singles event.

With a rating of 2182 and the 2nd seed in his preliminary group, Seguel stunned the #21 Handson Li (2334) of California, to advance out of this initial round and claim his spot in the championship knockout rounds.

I caught up with Seguel after his successful run in the preliminaries, asking him about his amazing upset against Li. He told me his simple yet effective philosophy: “I should think realistically, I shouldn’t have pressure”, and he will repeat “I’m not going to win.” Though seemingly counterintuitive, he says this mindset frees him up to play his best table tennis.
And best table tennis he had on the first official day of NCTTA Championships.

Seguel’s story is quite unconventional. Originally hailing from Chile, he started playing in 2003 at the age of 15. His highest national ranking was 8th. Then life happened, and he took a 9-year hiatus from table tennis. He returned to our beloved Olympic sport in 2022. He then proceeded to move his family to the USA in 2023 to start a PhD in Rehabilitation and Health Sciences at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Since moving to the USA, he has participated in at least 14 tournaments and made a name for himself, as well as became involved in college table tennis, through an International Umpire and NCTTA Volunteer, Jorge Vanegas. This led to a conversation with NCTTA President Willy Leparulo, and the rest is history!

Seguel’s trek to the NCTTA Championships was anything but easy, but not for the reasons you would think. Severe weather cancelled his flight to Chicago, so Seguel made up his mind to drive the 8 hours from Lexington to Rockford with his family and make it a tournament vacation trip.

Seguel is grateful to the local Kentucky based Tri-State Sports Commission for helping fund part of his expenses with a $200 scholarship.
After advancing to the championship matches, Seguel defeated his round of 64 opponent, #48 Herman Lee (2148) of UBC, but later lost to #15 Kevin Guo (2386) of Yale in the round of 32.

Felipe was grateful for the chance to play in the champs and satisfied with his results.

Kudos to Felipe on a great run in Rockford, IL and we wish him the best on qualifying next year, hopefully with his team!

(interview with Felipe was conducted in Spanish, and all quotes were translated by the writer of this article"

(Pic of Kentucky's Felipe in action; photo credit to Dennis Yanga)
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About 2025 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and GoRockford (Rockford Convention and Visitors Bureau). The event crowns national champions in Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, Men’s/Coed Teams, and Women’s Teams. Also this year a first in NCTTA’s history is the Collegiate National Team trials on Thursday April 3rd for the 2025 World University Games.

PongSpace, Peaka Pong, Stiga and Paddle Palace will sponsor the event.

Watch the event on live stream starting Friday, April 4th on http://www.nctta.org/champs/2025/video.html

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to promote the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org