Courtesy of Tim Boggan
Angie’s always been proud of her ethnic heritage. Her father was Filipino, her mother Sioux Indian. She comes from a family of seven siblings–sister Monica and, for a time, brother Chris were good tournament players. Angie named her first child Suco after Angie’s Filipino grandmother, Suco Li. Her father, Monico, was the driving force that propelled his children into the buffeting winds of tournament table tennis. Although at one time all the Rosal children lived on the Fort Totten Indian Reservation, today all except Angie are in San Diego.
Angie (from her hometown San Diego) went to her first USOTC’s (in Detroit) at age 11, in 1967.
In both 1968 and ’69–with Patty Martinez, Wendy Hicks, and Heather Angelinetta –she was on the winning USOTC team. Although she didn’t play much, she began to get that all-important image of self as a Champion.
Angie won the ’68 U.S. Open Girls U-13 over another eventual Hall of Famer Judy Bochenski, but lost to her in ’69.
In ’69 and ’70 she won the U.S. Open Girls U-15–first from Pam Ramsey, then from Judy.
In 1970, playing in bright red headband and pigtails, she lost to Olga Soltesz in the U.S. Open U-17 semi’s.
Though Rosal wasn’t on the 1971 “Ping-Pong Diplomacy” Team that went to China, her personality and playing form surely made an impression on the Chinese during their reciprocal 1972 Grand Tour of the U.S.
Angie lost the ’72 and ’73 U.S. Open U-17 final to Judy. Off court she wore a purple mini-skirt and, uh, just-kiddin,’ dominatrix boots.
A photo at Charlie Disney’s $8,000 Minnesota Classic shows Angie talking XD secret strategy with Dell Sweeris. It didn’t help. Patty Martinez Cash and I beat them in the final.
Another photo. That’s Stellan Beng–no, oops, sorry, Carl Johan Bernhardt, winner of the ’72 CNE’s, in a Hollywood movie kiss with Rosal.
Angie was 10-1 (she lost only to Judy) in the ’72 Tryouts for our ’73 World Team.
In the spring a photo shows her jogging in Sarajevo; another has her chatting with Yugoslavia’s Miran Savnik who at that ’73 World’s had upset Li Zhenshi (certainly not at his best).
Also in ’73, at the U.S. Open, Rosal won the U-17 Girls Doubles with Judy, the U-17 Mixed Doubles with Eric Thom.
Angie dropped out her senior year in high school–trained in Detroit for the ’74 Open and ’75 World’s.
Her dedication brought her a great win in the ’74 Open Team’s–over Japan’s Abe, World #29.
At the ’74 U.S. Open, Angie said, “He [Stellan Bengtsson] makes me giggle, and I make him giggle….Anyone Stellan talks to he makes happy for however long he talks.”
Rosal was in Kingston, Jamaica in Sept., ’74. With Danny Seemiller and George Brathwaite, she won the Benson & Hedges Invitational Team event. Although she herself lost to England’s Susan Lisle, deuce in the deciding 3rd, the USA won the Team’s over England when George beat Ian Horsham in a key match. At Bengtsson’s suggestion, Angie began keeping a notebook. In one entry there in Kingston she writes: “My racket’s up. Isn’t closed. I’m so eager to hit my forehand cross shot that I’m not ready to face my racket right.” But she won the Mixed with Danny over Errol Caetano/Irena Cordas (Zlatko’s wife).
Angie/Judy (just the two of them) won the ’74 Women’s USOTC’s. They beat the team of the newly arrived Insook Na, later Bhushan (who, working for the D-J Lee T.T. Co., was wearing a D-J shirt) and Ohio’s Carol Cook.
At the ’75 Calcutta World’s Rosal got sick. Diarrhea pills made her throw up. She came back home and went into the hospital with typhoid.
In Nov., ’75, in an interview with Mary McIlwain, Angie says she’s experienced a religious conversion. Christ has come into her heart. She’s very serious about her religion. “Every time I play a match it’s a prayer,” she says. She has a “prayer list” that includes: Burt Reynolds, Elvis Presley, Scott Boggan and family, Gerald Ford, Billy Graham, and Jim with red hair and girlfriend Paula.
Angie goes to church every night of the week except one–she still plays a little table tennis. But says for two years T.T. was her God and her boyfriend. Her Calcutta sickness was a trauma. She’d hoped to do so well there because she was playing so well. But at least the sickness brought her to God. “Every day I work for the Lord,” she says.
At the ’76 CNE, with Barbara Kaminsky as Captain, Rosal for the first time–in the Team’s, in two deuce games–beats Canadian International Violetta Nesukaitis. Her powerful forehand shows to advantage. In Singles, Angie has a fine win over 1973 Canadian Champ Mariann Domonkos in the 1/4’s, deuce in the 4th, then loses to Insook in the semi’s.
In 1976 Angie wears a “Jesus Loves You With A Big Red Rose” playing shirt. Is back playing 5 times a week. Has the Brunswick Sports Co. as a sponsor. They have a manufacturing plant on “Angie’s reservation” at Ft. Totten, N.D., by Devil’s Lake in Sioux country. Angie’s active in National Indian Activities Association. She’s inducted into the Indian Hall of Fame.
Angie, wearing a Carter-Mondale button, wins the ’76 Nissen Open over Takako Trenholme.
At the ’76 U.S. Closed, Rosal gets to the final, loses to Insook. She beats Alice Green Sonne 26-24 in the 5th in the semi’s and Barbara Kaminsky in 5 in the 1/4’s. In the ’76 Tryouts for the ’77 World Team, Angie, wearing for luck one red sock and one blue one, loses to Alice and Kasia Dawidowicz, but beats Judy from down 1-0 and 20-16 match point. “Lord, please keep me humble but let me win,” she prayed.
At the ’77 Birmingham World’s, Rosal helped the U.S. women advance to the 1st Category.
She came back, married Tom Sistrunk–and didn’t play in the Hollywood ’77 U.S. Open. But she visited–was wearing a blouse that said “Baby” and showed an arrow that pointed downward. Suco is born in ’77.
At the ’78 U.S. Closed Angie lost to He-ja Lee in the semi’s of Singles, then won the first of her three U.S. Women’s Doubles titles with He-ja.
In ’78 she didn’t try out for the U.S. Team. “A World Team member has too many extraneous duties,” she said–“like being nice to people she doesn’t want to be nice to.”
Did Pancho Gonzalez hear this? He gave out trophies at the ’78 Closed–and looked at Angie as if she were a girl after his own heart.
In ’79 Angie, sponsored by Bowie Martin, played in her 13th conscutive U.S. Open. She beat a South Korean deuce in the 5th after being down 2-0. In the Team’s she got by both Swedish National, Lena Waller, 24-22 in the 3rd and Susan Matilainen, also deuce in the 3rd. “You know what I like about tournaments?” she said. “They’re like dreams–you can cut off Reality.”
At the ’80 U.S. Closed, CA State Champ Angie Sistrunk, after beating Olga Soltesz 23-21 in the 4th, lost to Carol Davidson in the 1/4’s in 4. In the Team Trials Angie again lost to Carol–had, in all, 3 losses. But her 18-6 game record made her 2nd to #1 Sheila O’Dougherty.
In ’81 Angie didn’t go to the World’s, and didn’t play in the National Sports Festival.
But in the ’81 Closed she lost to Insook in the semi’s, in 5–no mean feat.
At the ’82 July National Sports Festival, CA Open Champ Angie had trouble with her knees–had to use ice packs on them. “How old are you?” the doctor asked 26-year-old Angie. “Nineteen,” she answered. “Well,” said the doctor, “your knees sure look a lot older than that.”
At the ’82 National Sports Festival, Angie wins the Singles over Takako and the Mixed Doubles with Paul Raphel.
At the Oct.,’82 Harvard Open, she loses to Jin Na in the final, but wins the Mixed with her now regular partner Scott Boggan over Danny Seemiller/Sheila O’Dougherty (after being down 19-10 in the deciding 3rd!). The story went round that Scott, as a Rosal house guest, sleep-walked not into Mother Angie’s bed but into Angie’s Mother’s bed.
At the USOTC’s, Angie was a a member of the winning L.A.-based Korean team.
Angie won the Oct. 30-31, ’82 Duneland Open over Sheila. “Angie’s the only one at this tournament, man or woman, who uses her pips right. She goes down on the ball, cracks it with her backhand, gets underspin on the exchange.” Thus spake Scott Boggan.
In ’82 Angie lost the U.S. Closed final to Insook. In the National Amateur event, she lost the Singles to Jin Na in 5, lost the Mixed with Scott to Danny and Insook, but won the Women’s Doubles over Insook/Kasia.
At the ’83 World’s, Angie, as the 4th player, scarcely got to play Singles, and when her partner Insook twisted her ankle, she didn’t get to play Women’s Doubles at all. Thereafter, her marriage to Tom Sistrunk over, Angie went to Sweden to train….And by 1985 had married 1971 World Champion Stellan Bengtsson and, with two children by him, had left table tennis for good. Angie’s long had a family life with Stellan Bengtsson in Sweden, for their twin sons, Chris and Sam, just turned 14 in Jan. of ’99.