|
The leader on the ITTF Junior Circuit Boys’ Standings and also on the Road to Nanjing listings, Chinese Taipei’s 16 year old Yang Heng-Wei is one of several notable names on the entry list for the forthcoming Brazil Junior and Cadet Open.
An ITTF Junior Circuit Premium event and the fifth and penultimate tournament in this year’s Road to Nanjing series, matters start in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday 11th September and conclude on Sunday 15th September 2013.
It is one the most impressive entries of the year and could well claim to boast the strongest field ever seen at an ITTF Junior Circuit tournament in whole of the Pan American continent.
Impressive List
No less than nine of the top 20 names on the current ITTF Junior Boys’ Standing appear on the Rio de Janeiro entry list.
In addition to Yang Heng-Wei who won in Egypt and in Canada; Hong Kong’s in form Hung Ka Tak appears on the entry roster as does Argentina’s Fermin Tenti and the host nation’s Vitor Ishiy. All are players who have won Junior Boys’ Singles titles on the ITTF World Tour in 2013.
Hung Ka Tak, who stands at no.4 on the ITTF Junior Boys’ Standing and at no.2 on the Road to Nanjing listings, won recently in New Caledonia, whilst Fermin Tenti succeeded on home soil in Buenos Aires and Vitor Ishiy prevailed in Peru.
Presently Fermin Tenti is at no.5 on the ITTF Junior Boys’ Standings, Vitor Ishiy is at no.7.
Notable Support
A strong challenge from Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong with both Yang Heng-Wei and Hung Ka Tak having notable support. Sun Chia-Hang, the colleague Yang Heng-Wei beat to win the Egyptian title, will be on duty in Rio de Janeiro as will Hong Kong’s Lam Sui Hang and Li Hon Ming.
Sun Chia-Hang appears at no.18 on the ITTF Junior Circuit Boys’ Standings and at no.4 on the Road to Nanjing listings; Lam Sui Hang is at no.10 on the Junior Circuit Standings, Li Hon Ming at no.14.
Completing Requirements
Notably, also on duty is the Czech Republic’s David Reitspies who is clearly making a determined bid to be present in the ITTF Junior Circuit Finals in Portugal next January; currently he is named at no. 17 on the Standings but as yet has not met the basic requirement of competing in two continents.
Playing in Brazil means he has fulfilled that target.
ITTF World Tour Winner
A strong challenge from foreign shores and there is a very strong challenge from the host nation, in fact from the home city.
Hugo Calderano, who hails from Rio de Janeiro, is presently at no.19 on the ITTF Junior Circuit Boys’ Standings.
He is the defending champion; Brazil was one of the four ITTF Junior Circuit titles that saw him finish the year in first place on the ITTF Junior Circuit Boys’ Standings. In addition he won in Argentina, Poland and Mexico.
Furthermore, he is the one player on duty who has an ITTF World Tour title to his credit; one month ago on Sunday 11th August, he won the Men’s Singles title at the GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour Brazil Open in Santos beating compatriot Gustavo Tsuboi in the final.
Tougher than ITTF World Tour?
A tough task awaits Hugo Calderano if he is to repeat the Santos success.
Looking at the overall entry is the Junior Boys’ Singles event in Rio de Janeiro; is it as strong as the Men’s Singles entry in Santos?
Challengers
Also, from outside the top 20 names on the current ITTF Junior Boys’ Standings there are some very worthy opponents.
Poland’s Patryk Zatowka, at no.11, he is the leading European boy on the present Road to Nanjing Boys’ Standings, is a name to note; as is that of Puerto Rico’s Brian Afanador.
Earlier this year in June he won the Junior Boys’ Singles title at the Latin American Junior and Cadet Championships in Lima, Peru; the player he beat in the final, a certain Brazilian by the name of Vitor Ishiy.
A strong challenge from Poland and Puerto Rico, there is also a formidable challenge from Germany in the Boys’ events. Kilian Ort and Qiu Dang are both in action.
European Champion Present
However, from Germany, the strongest challenge comes in the female competitions.
Nina Mittelham, the winner of the Junior Girls’ Singles title at the European Youth Championships earlier this year in July in the Czech Republic town of Ostrava, leads a formidable outfit, she is supported by Chantal Mantz and Wan Yuan.
Chinese Taipei in Force
Equally, Chinese Taipei with both Chiu Ssu-Hua and Huang Yu-Wen named in their squad of players provides noteworthy opposition. Currently Chiu Ssu-Hua is at no.14 on the ITTF Junior Girls’ Standings and at no.7 on the Road to Nanjing lists; Huang Yu-Wen appears at no.19 on the Junior Circuit Standings.
Both Chiu Ssu-Hua and Huang Yu-Wen have proved themselves worthy adversaries on the ITTF Junior Circuit but have yet to strike gold. However, players who have ITTF Junior Circuit Girls’ Singles titles to their credit are present in Rio de Janeiro.
Champions
Most notable the host nation’s Caroline Kumahara and Leticia Nakada feature on the entry list; Leticia Nakada won earlier this year in Peru whilst Caroline Kumahara succeeded in Venezuela in 2010 and in Argentina in both 2010 and 2012.
Similarly, Charlotte Carey from Wales will be on duty in Rio de Janeiro, in April she won in Malta; as will Peru’s Francesca Vargas, the winner this year in Buenos Aires.
Much Travelled
Undoubtedly, the young ladies from South Wales and Peru are much travelled and are reaping great benefits from the ITTF Junior Circuit, as is Uruguay’s Maria-Pia Lorenzotti.
She is named on the entry list, so is Canada’s promising Anqi Luo.
Maria-Pia Lorenzotti presently stands at no.4 on the ITTF Junior Girls’ Standings having been the runner up in both Guatemala and Argentina; whilst Anqi Luo has yet to reach such heights but is at an impressive no.9 on the Road to Nanjing listings.
Singaporean Voyagers
Much travelled but few have travelled more than the Singaporean quartet of Ethan Poh Shao Feng, Lucas Dan, Darren Loy Meng Hean and Tay Ming Han Maxxe; they are the four players who formed the two Singapore outfits that contested the Cadet Boys’ Team finals in both New Caledonia and Canada.
They will be in action in Brazil
Entry
The overall entry comprises 53 boys and 33 girls, of whom 51 are junior age group players and 35 cadets.
They represent 15 national associations: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic, German, Hong Kong, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Uruguay, United States and Wales.
Article by: ITTF - Ian Marshall
Photo by: Thorsten Gohl
|
)
