The rising stars of international table tennis will converge on Cape Town’s Good Hope Centre from October 19 to 29 when the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Cadet Challenge and the ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals are hosted in South Africa for the first time.
The World Cadet Challenge is an intercontinental event for players aged 15 and under. Each of the six continents is represented by four male and four female players, while Korea will be fielding an additional boys’ team and Japan an additional girls’ team as the two ITTF wild cards. South Africa, as host nation, will also field a boys’ and girls’ team.
The World Junior Circuit Finals will feature the top 22 players (11 male and 11 female) aged 18 years and under who have accumulated the highest points on the World Junior Pro Circuit.
As host, South Africa will be represented by a male and female player.
Hajera Kajee, vice-president: administration for the South African Table Tennis Board, said the event will have a huge impact on the sport in South Africa.
”Young talent will be identified and developed while our elite youngsters will have the opportunity to compete against the best in the world. It will certainly pave the way for the future stars of the sport. Also, the equipment that the ITTF allocated to us for the tournament will be put to good use in the development of the sport in South Africa.”
South African table tennis has made great strides over the past few years. The sport has been recognised by the government as one of its 19 core sports, and this has meant significant funding for international participation for the country’s top players at events such as the African and world championships.
Through funding provided by Sport and Recreation South Africa and the National Lottery Board, talented cadets and juniors are being identified and developed to compete in Africa and go on to represent their country.
There is also a Chinese coach based at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria working with the top players, including cadets.
The format of play for the tournament will be a team event, doubles and singles. In the team event there will be two groups of four teams in the round-robin stage, with the top two teams advancing to the semifinals. The doubles event is based on a progressive knock-out system.
In the singles, there are eight groups of four players in the round-robin stage, with the top two players advancing to the main draw and playing for positions one to 16.
The tournament will be preceded by a coaching clinic conducted by some of the top table-tennis coaches in the world. — Sapa