TULSA, OKLA.--While Ben Martin inherited his golf genes from his father, Jim, a 7-handicapper, his fellow U.S. Amateur finalist, Byeong-Hun "Ben" An, decided to pass-up his family's vocation: table tennis.
An's father, Jae-Hyung, won a bronze medal in the doubles table tennis for South Korea during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. An's mother, Zhi Min Jiao, won silver in doubles and a bronze in single during the same games, playing for her native China. (It was at the Olympics that the two actually met.)
Jae-Hyung turned professional in the sport and served as an instructor for the Korean national team until he came to the U.S. in 2005 when his son enrolled at the David Leadbetter Academy.
"He's pretty good at it," said Jae-Hyung when asked if his son plays table tennis at all. "He can beat most of his friends."
Asked what would be more impressive, his son winning the U.S. Amateur title or the Olympic medals, Jae-Hyung played coy. "They're equal."
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