The ITTF GJP Blog

There is a different intensity in the hall today, as the cadets enter the last 16 phase of the tournament with a place in the first ever Youth Olympic Games in Singapore 2010 for the taking.

Some players rise to the challenge, others feel the pressure.

What is normally a winning lead can be easily lost as thoughts of the Youth Olympic Games enter the mind.

Continental Team mates working closely together as team mates through competition and training camps suddenly become adversaries.

Some of the highlights of last 16 action:

• Bernadette Szocs[ROM] vs Yana Noskova[RUS]  both of Team Europe and in fact room-mates played an extremely audible match as shouts of “chow” reverberated around the hall after most points. Szocs the winner in a tense 4-2 battle.
• Ariel Hsing[USA] vs Tsui Pao-Wen[TPE]. A classic attack vs defense match where Hsing lacked the power to finish rallies but worked her way to 3-2 and 10-8, but the 2 match points were soon gone and so was her chances in the match, as Tsui took a 10-5 lead. But wait…..the Chinese Taipei coach thinking the match was in hand moved on to another  match involving a Chinese Taipei player. Suddenly the score was 10-8 and Tsui took a time-out and stood alone, looking lost. Fortunately for Tsui, Hsing made a relatively easy mistake to end the match.
• Hampus Soderlund[SWE] vs Alexander Yao[USA]. Yao, Still eligible for th Cadet Challenge next year has been slowly improving throughout the tournament and this was clearly his best match. The lead fluctuated as Soderlund sweated and grunted his way and won more through sheer determination than clever tactics.
• Hemmng Hu[AUS] vs Philipp Kuimov[RUS]. Hu, always looking dangerous throughout the tournament but lacking the tough match experience and finesse to finish the matches. This was again the case as Kuimov scraped through at 15-13 and 4-2.
• Omar Bedair[EGY] vs Lu Po-Hsien[TPE]. Bedair looking OK in the teams event without looking spectacular, raised the level, and showed great touch and compusure at the critical stages to come from 2-3 to win 4-3.
• For more and detailed results see http://www.ittf.com/competitions/competitions2.asp?Competition_ID=1886&category=GJP 

While the dream is over for some in this years Cadet Challenge, the good news is that ITTF has setup multiple opportunities to qualify entitled “The Road to Singapore”.

This includes:

• Continental Qualification-Europe and Asia 4 places[4 boys, 4 girls], PanAmerica-3, Africa-2 and Oceania-1
• World Ranking-The top4 boys and girls not already qualified on 31 December World Junior rankings
• Junior Circuit-One World Junior Circuit event in each continent, has been targeted to have an additional Youth Olympic Games qualification event with one boys and one girls position open at each event. Targeted events include the World Junior Circuit events of Egypt, Bahrain, Italy, New Zealand, Venezuela. Open to all.
• Host-Singapore as host has one boy and one girl allocated

Remember only players born 1994 and 1995 are eligible and each National Olympic committee can qualify only one boy and one girl.

The dream lives on……

What is it about this event that makes it a favorite of ITTF staff, coaches, officials, parents and players?

The brainchild of Mikael Andersson, many thought the logistics of this event would be its downfall but here we are in 2009 with  those involved having a stronger passion for its continuation and with evolving new directions making it even stronger.

So what makes this event special?

EDUCATION

Cultural understanding and friendships are very strong.

Four players which share a common continent, but not always a common language, culture or religion must find a means of communication and work together as a team.

Friendships are formed. With this “IT Generation” where facebook and twitter are the norm, and laptops are seen everywhere between matches,developing worldwide friendships is a lot easier, and the motivation of seeing friends formed, the next year cannot be undervalued as a motivation for training also.

If there were more Cadet Challenges in the world there would be less wars.

Yes, a big statement, but when many wars are fought based on cultural or religious misunderstandings the impact of these types of events cannot be underestimated.

TEAM MANAGERS

The Continental Team Managers are a critical link in the Cadet Challenge puzzle.

We have long serving front soldiers like Khaled El-Salhy of Team Africa and Liu Yi of Team Asia, combining this year with the ”new kids on the block”- Polona Susin of Team Europe, Dejan Papic of Team PanAmerica and Scott Houston of Team Oceania.

The “new kids” are however far from being inexperienced.

Polona is already a veteran of the ITTF Development Program having conducted courses in 10 countries across 4 of the 5 continents present.

Dejan is a much travelled journeyman with long stints in Qatar and Canada and last year was the Head Coach for the Cadet Challenge Training Camp.

Scott is a young man with a maturity beyond his years and has a clear vision of what this event epitomizes.

Their role cannot be underestimated in gelling and educating their teams both on and off the court.

Last night was the now traditional ITTF Team Managers dinner, a pleasant evening of  sharing our ideas for the future, re-affirming decisions of the past and acknowledging the important role the managers play.

All Team Managers were united in their strong support of this event as a concept as well as the huge impact it has in motivating all concerned at both continental and national level.

COACHES and PLAYERS

Coaches are the floor leaders that must overcome the language barrier to bring the team together as one unit.

This doesnt happen automatically and doesnt happen just in the venue, but commences months before with communications, training camps and bonding and socialising activities that unite a team.

The coach is also the first one in the venue and the last one to leave with long hours the norm.

Hats off to this important group that are often criticised in defeat, rarely congratulated in victory, misunderstood by officials, and are happy to take the backseat to the players!

Of course we cannot forget the players, who put their energies and passion into this event, and unlike adults dont see skin color, race or religion, just new friends from new countries.

SPONSORS

Joola, Butterfly and Stag are long time supporters of this event and the Global Junior Program.

All three also support World Title and Olympic events.

Butterfly and Stag however take this one step further with their support of  developing countries where the chance of any financial return is negligible.

Stag supply their best tables to ITTF Development Program for less than the cost of the rubbers on the rackets of most players, and have provided large quantities of tables, rackets, shirts free of charge, most times without any prompting from ITTF side. The kind-hearted Kohli brothers, Vivek and Rakesh, will certainly have earned an exalted position in the next life if karma plays a part.

Butterfly at a friendly dinner 2 days ago hosted by Butterfly leader Mr Yamada, reaffirmed his company’s commitment of honoring the legacy of founding father Mr Tamusu Senior by supporting the “young Butterflies” around the world.

Special projects they have supported included: ITTF World Hopes Team; Butterfly Solidarity Scholarships; AfghanistanProject-providing large amounts of equipment when ITTF was the first International Sports Federation was the first to return post-war; Colombia Peace and Sport project targeting 3 disadvantaged areas in Colombia using table tennis as the vehicle for social change; Elite Rackets and Balls for each Continents Junior Championships; special project in South Africa’s working class regions and the list goes on…..

NEW DIRECTIONS

Maximum One Player per Country

Oceania led the way from the first Cadet Challenge by making an internal rule that players must be from 4 different countries despite the fact that they are at the lower end of the competition scale.

The development benefits and motivation generated in Oceania countries have been obvious to all and now recognised by ITTF Junior Commission by making this a rule for all.

Rabie Yousef, boys coach of Team Africa is a strong supporter of this concept and recognises the benefit of Africa as a whole, despite his home country Egypt missing out on extra places.

“There is a strong motivation at African Junior Championships to qualify for this event and it also activates previously inactive countries who now see the chance to be part of something special”

Team PanAmerica

Dejan Papic, Manager of Team PanAmerica, said “Combining the teams means that players previously qualifying without much effort, now have to fight for positions. This can only help”

Having 6 teams[5 continental teams + host] instead of 8 teams[6 continental teams + host + wild card] has made the Cadet Challenge training camp more manageable and announced by all as the best ever.

ITTF Cadet Challenge-definetely something special…..

Spare a thought for the European boy’s team.

The table tennis gods, so kind in the 2007 and 2008 Cadet Challenge deserted them this year.

In the group matches, a 3-2 loss to Japan with a match point in the crucial third match unrewarded.

In the semi final crossover match against Team Asia the 3-0 score line to Asia did not do the team justice.

All 3 matches were lost 3-2 with the first two matches by the closest possible margin.

Simon Gauzy played a match of fluctuating fortunes against Team Asia’s Kim Dong Hyun finally losing 12-10 in the fifth, curtesy of an edge ball.

Team Europe work-horse Hampus Soderlund, fought back from 0-2 in games to be cruelly beaten at 11-9 in the fifth following a long exchange with a spectacular finish.

So, no gold medals this year, but great to see them fighting hard for the 3rd place against Africa despite their earlier disappointment.

Hit Number One

Europe girls were the big winners from Day One, taking a thrilling 3-2 victory over Asia.

Since the Cadet Challenge commenced in 2002 Europe has been the benchmark with regards to working together as a team, and yesterday was no exception, as all 3 players contributed with one win each.

Hit Number Two

Koki Niwa of Japan and Yang Ha Eun, showed their class as two of the players to beat in the boy’s and girl’s event respectively. Koki taking 2 matches against Europe, in their 3-2 victory, including a demolition of the talented Simon Gauzy  8,4,4. Yang  could do no more than winning her 2 matches, as they went down 2-3 to Team Europe.

Hit Number Three

Dina Meshref showed  maturity after a disappointing start against Europe in the morning.

In the first match of the tournament she led 1-0 and 10-7 against Team Europe’s Bernadette Szocs, before going down 3-1 and then 3-0 against Petrissa Solja.

She managed to turn things around in the afternoon taking both matches against Asia including a come from behind victory in her last match against Suthasini Sawettabut of Thailand. Down 7-10 in the deciding game she took 5 straight points to take the Africa-Asia match to 2-2, something unheard of several years ago.

Near Miss Number One

Europe Boys Team…….in the crucial third match, 2-2 in games, and 10-9 Emilien Vanrossomme missed his chance agaisnt Yuto Muramatsu with Japan finally taking the match 3-2.

Near Miss Number Two

Hemming Hu, following up from a strong training camp performance, and some good practise match victories, found himself facing World No 1, Yin Hang[CHN] of Team Asia.

Being far from intimidated he led 1-0 and 10-9 in the second and 10-7 in the fourth before succumbing to the chinese might.

Near Miss Number Three

Team Africa! 3-2 losses in both boy’s and girl’s matches against Asia. While disappointing, this underlines the progress of Africa.

Miss Number One

Suthasini Sawettabut[THA] of Team Asia has impressed in previous ITTF and Asian events with her professional approach. Often seen meditating prior to matches, this didnt help yesterday. With her personal coach filming and deeply analysing each match, I am sure she was in for a long night last night, after losing 3/4 on Day one, including losses to Dina Meshref of Team Africa as Team Asia led 2-1 and Yana Noskova of Team Europe at 2-2.

I am sure we will see better from this talented young lady from Thailand as the tournament progresses.

Miss Number Two

 Adem Hmam of Team Africa. Lots of progress in the last 12 months. Lots of opportunities offered through the ITTF “With the Future in Mind” Scholarship including extended stays of the “Close with Karlsson” project in Falkenberg, Sweden. But in Tokyo…..disappointing effort levels in the training camp, and disappointing match with Team Asia. While the team lost 3-2, his matches were both lost 3-0 without the fight expected of someone of high aspirations.

Observations

• “Balance”. We have young players training long hours, with the pressure of competing at a world event for cadets, but we must remember they are all born 1994, 1995 or 1996. They are children with high aspirations but they are still children. They must still have fun. They must enjoy playing. Jarek Kolodziejczyk,  has been Team Europe coach since the Cadet Challenge inception, and for a very good reason. He has mastered the balance of having  fun and enjoyment with the hard work required on and off the table. Fun, team bonding games, social outings, dining as a team, are all critical elements, just as much as long hours of training, video analysis and physical training. Many coaches and players will never smile during a training session-the tension and pressure is always there.   You will regularly see Team Europe burst into what appears to be spontaneous laughter during a training session. In actual fact this is often a situation usually cleverly generated by Jarek to break the tension building due to a frustrating training sesion or for some other more private reason. Tension gone, players are then ready to re-focus. Team Europe winning the Cadet Challenge Boy’s Team title in the previous 2 years against [on paper] stronger Asian teams was no co-incidence……
• “Everything is Possible” Prior to the ITTF Global Junior Program and ITTF Development Program commencing the thoughts of Africa, Americas or Oceania challenging Asia or Europe were a distant dream. All three are now regularly threatening the powerhouses of Asia and Europe. ITTF is providing the opportunties. The challenge is for National Federations and players to make full use of these  opportunities. For National Federations planning and taking some initiative themselves are key issues. For the players work hard, leave nothing on the table and believe that there is no player at the tournament they cant beat[and no player at the tournament they cant lose to against lesser opponents]