13th Asian Junior Championships

(25-30 July 2007  Hoengseong, Korea)

FULL RESULT

Traditional forces were in motion when the Cadet Age players took the floor for the singles competition on day four of the 13 Th Asian Championships in Hoengseung, Korea.
Japan, Korea, and China muscled through seven athletes to the quarterfinal stage of the Cadet Boys singles leaving Sourav Saha from India as the only outsider when the battle for a spot on the Asian Cadet Boys Team bound for the 2007 ITTF World Cadet Challenge continues Sunday morning.

The match of the day in the boy's event was the encounter between the top seeded Korean Jung Young Sik and the unseeded?!  Chinese prospect Yan An. Jung,  who already reached the semifinal in the unforgettable World Cadet Challenge in Santo Domingo- Dominican Republic 2005,    fell behind from the beginning of the match and had to use much of his energy to chase down a fast and versatile opponent. A bad start, 0-4 in the fifth and deciding game, finally drove the best Korean hope out of the tournament much to the disappointment of his loud and loyal supporters in the stands.

Favorites to reach the final four are now the two Chinese ;  Yan An and Song Hongyan , both with a similar aggressive and offensive playing style. Korea's best remaining hope is the small sized forehand virtuous Lee Seung Jun who squeezed out of his group with the narrowest of margins. Two Japanese boys are also in the hunt for success with the left-handed Tayio Nomura standing strong on his top seeded position.
 
Mikael Andersson
ITTF Global Junior Programme Manager
2211 Riverside Drive, Suite 400
Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 7X5
CANADA

 Email: mikael@ittf.com
 http://www.ittf.com/junior_link_main.html
 

A young girl from Thailand - 13 year old Suthasinee Sawettabutfaces Sunday morning the toughest test so far in her carrier. In order to qualify for the Asian cadet girl's team she will have to overcome Chinas best Cadet Girl - Chen Meng in the quarterfinal.
Young Sawettabut who made an impressive debut in the 2006 WCC in Serbia made however a strong statement in the group stages of the Cadet girls singles event in Hoengseung. She won her group in convincing style and left her opponents from Hong Kong and Korea wondering what hit them.
 
No doubt at all that Suthasinee Sawettabut is one of the most refreshing sights in the world of Asian female table tennis for the moment. Despite coming from a non traditional table tennis country the young girl is loaded with both physical stature, technical talent and a wonderful mental poise.
 
Another tough test awaits the defending 2006 WCC singles champion -Misaki Morizono from Japan who from her top seeded position happens to run into the second Chinese girl -  Tian Minwei in her quarterfinal.
In the two remaining matches Lee Ho Ching from Hong Kong and Yang Ha Eun from the host association will Sunday morning enter the courts in the Hoengseung Gymnasium as the clear favorites.
 
Mikael Andersson
ITTF Global Junior Programme Manager
2211 Riverside Drive, Suite 400
Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 7X5
CANADA
 
Email: mikael@ittf.com
http://www.ittf.com/junior_link_main.html