WTT World Youth Champs in Slovenia

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Nah, he is one of the few that have another December event and they may have prioritized the Mixed World Cup event over this for his development. Sora and Lin are not going to that event as far as I know.

I know of a lot of teenagers who went "pro" in seniors, then no longer take part in junior events.
So many Japanese and like Lin Yunju as an example

junior events is really just a stepping stone, if your level is pass it, it is really pointless.
China is obvious medal hungry. Not often they will send CNT A team members to take part in B team events.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

This is what I was thinking. France might have a real chance of winning the team event if he was there.

when last did he take part in a youth event?

 

[NextLevel]

when last did he take part in a youth event?

He played this tournament last year for sure. But you could ask the same question about Lin Shidong who won it last year.

I know of a lot of teenagers who went "pro" in seniors, then no longer take part in junior events.
So many Japanese and like Lin Yunju as an example

junior events is really just a stepping stone, if your level is pass it, it is really pointless.
China is obvious medal hungry. Not often they will send CNT A team members to take part in B team events.

Yes, but WJTTC is a title that many players want when they haven't won it. Kuai Man is here for example
I am confident Felix would be here if the Mixed World Cup wasn't immediately after. It's not just medal hunger but learning to deal with the pressure of expectations when you may not feel your best. Players like Kao Cheng Jui are also here.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

He played this tournament last year for sure. But you could ask the same question about Lin Shidong who won it last year.

Yes, but WJTTC is a title that many players want when they haven't won it. Kuai Man is here for example
I am confident Felix would be here if the Mixed World Cup wasn't immediately after. It's not just medal hunger but learning to deal with the pressure of expectations when you may not feel your best. Players like Kao Cheng Jui are also here.

CNT normally sends B team members, normally once they into A team, they would stop playing in junior events (which is reserved for B team members)
When last did Felix take part in any junior event? It was all in 2022.
So he isn't taking part in juniors in 2023, so I doubt youth champs is part of his itinerary.

Kao Cheng Jui is in between junior and senior this year. With his world ranking climb, he would be able to play more contender/star contenders in seniors (even champions/smash), so you won't see him play much feeders (junior he will be out of age) next year

junior world ranking points is a waste of time and money if you are good enough for seniors (winning a star contender is only 60 points for example while WJTTC is only 75 points)

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

He played this tournament last year for sure. But you could ask the same question about Lin Shidong who won it last year.

Yes, but WJTTC is a title that many players want when they haven't won it. Kuai Man is here for example
I am confident Felix would be here if the Mixed World Cup wasn't immediately after. It's not just medal hunger but learning to deal with the pressure of expectations when you may not feel your best. Players like Kao Cheng Jui are also here.

Ugh! Another reason why the scheduling of Mixed Teams annoys me! It's denied us a potential LSD/Felix showdown for the WJTTC crown this year.

 

[zeio]

Nah, he is one of the few that have another December event and they may have prioritized the Mixed World Cup event over this for his development. Sora and Lin are not going to that event as far as I know.

And I keep hearing that XTWC is useless... LOL

No, he must've chickened out now that he is the European Games Champion. Too much to lose like Harimoto.

 

[zeio]

He played this tournament last year for sure. But you could ask the same question about Lin Shidong who won it last year.

Yes, but WJTTC is a title that many players want when they haven't won it. Kuai Man is here for example
I am confident Felix would be here if the Mixed World Cup wasn't immediately after. It's not just medal hunger but learning to deal with the pressure of expectations when you may not feel your best. Players like Kao Cheng Jui are also here.

WYC 2021 U19 GS F

 

[NextLevel]

WYC 2021 U19 GS F

It is good that I am watching so much TT now that my memories are beginning to blur.

 

[dingyibvs]

I know of a lot of teenagers who went "pro" in seniors, then no longer take part in junior events.
So many Japanese and like Lin Yunju as an example

junior events is really just a stepping stone, if your level is pass it, it is really pointless.
China is obvious medal hungry. Not often they will send CNT A team members to take part in B team events.

Keep in mind that Chinese juniors have a lack of international match experience due to COVID restrictions when compared to Western counterparts. They probably want Lin to get some more experience.

 

[John Birkin]

its a world championships, you don't choose to go or not, you need to qualify to play
if no one qualified, then you need to look at why not

https://www.ittf.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023_WYC_Qualification-System.pdf

Thanks for putting me straight there! I'm glad that the topic I broached has produced such a wide follow-up. I will follow the event and the posts with great interest, even though we have only one British player (in fact Welsh!) good enough to qualify for it. In U15 Girls Team the Chinese wall was breached 3-2 by Japan, whose Mao Takamori contributed two wins.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Thanks for putting me straight there! I'm glad that the topic I broached has produced such a wide follow-up. I will follow the event and the posts with great interest, even though we have only one British player (in fact Welsh!) good enough to qualify for it. In U15 Girls Team the Chinese wall was breached 3-2 by Japan, whose Mao Takamori contributed two wins.

I don't really follow much English players, but I do know back then there was 1 regular male and female player (Tin Tin Ho) that I saw in person.
They will only play singles, doubles (with other pairing) and mixed doubles (together).
Sadly, there doesn't seem to much youth players coming out of England these few years, and being in Europe, doesn't help too (same as in Asia - since the qualification matrix is a lot harder than any other continents)

Regarding the Welsh player, I believe Anna is doing pretty well.
Her long stay in Harbin, China really helped developed her foundation. I think she spent a year or two there when she was really young and worked with renowned Chinese coach, Ma Zhigang.
I recall few months ago, Anna took one of the top Taiwanese juniors to the decider, so Anna is progressing to that level indeed.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Keep in mind that Chinese juniors have a lack of international match experience due to COVID restrictions when compared to Western counterparts. They probably want Lin to get some more experience.

covid or not, A team members don't play in junior events.
seems to me that CNT is medal hungry
when was the last time they sent such a high world ranked senior player (a team member) to a junior event?

Lin Shidong, last played in the following 3 junior events. 2022 WJTTC, 2021 WJTTC, 2019 junior circuits.
Since 2021 WTTC, other than the 1 x WJTTC in 2022, Lin only played in senior events.

If "lack of match experience" is the reason, why don't all CNT A team players who are still U19, take part in all junior events then?
ie why didn't Lin take part in Asian Youth Championships?

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

@NextLevel

Felix also didn't' take part in European Youth or U21 championships.
clearing showing that non senior events isn't on his itinerary.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

And I keep hearing that XTWC is useless... LOL

must be a very useful tournament then
so useful that dozens of players choose to opt out.

 

[NextLevel]

@NextLevel

Felix also didn't' take part in European Youth or U21 championships.
clearing showing that non senior events isn't on his itinerary.

Continental championships are not the same as the world championships, everyone has a different priority there. So saying that a player didnt play continental events doesn't mean much. But whatever the reason Felix will be fine. Whether he decided to come back to play WJTTC is entirely up to him.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Continental championships are not the same as the world championships, everyone has a different priority there. So saying that a player didnt play continental events doesn't mean much. But whatever the reason Felix will be fine. Whether he decided to come back to play WJTTC is entirely up to him.

haha,
okay, so I guess Felix in your opinion still sees juniors as very important.
I can't really understand why you think WJTTC is so important. If it is, then surely so many more players would have taken part over the years - maybe they had to hear your sales pitch on why WJTTC is so big of a deal

However, he should actually play WJTTC, as he could of walked away with more points than the useless world cup coming up or maybe just play in a feeder and win it. lol

it is actually a stupid timing, since a bunch of young Australians for example could of took part in the world cup and if it wasn't so close to the womens finals, then maybe the world cup could be a bit more respected by the elites.

 

[GAOdp]

 

[John Birkin]

I don't really follow much English players, but I do know back then there was 1 regular male and female player (Tin Tin Ho) that I saw in person.
They will only play singles, doubles (with other pairing) and mixed doubles (together).
Sadly, there doesn't seem to much youth players coming out of England these few years, and being in Europe, doesn't help too (same as in Asia - since the qualification matrix is a lot harder than any other continents)

Regarding the Welsh player, I believe Anna is doing pretty well.
Her long stay in Harbin, China really helped developed her foundation. I think she spent a year or two there when she was really young and worked with renowned Chinese coach, Ma Zhigang.
I recall few months ago, Anna took one of the top Taiwanese juniors to the decider, so Anna is progressing to that level indeed.

She's got a good partner for U19 girls' doubles, Annett Kaufmann, and they've reached the semis, quite an achievement for Anna.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

She's got a good partner for U19 girls' doubles, Annett Kaufmann, and they've reached the semis, quite an achievement for Anna.

yes,
Anna and Annett doing very well, especially Sally and Giulia are very strong players.
I'm not sure if they trained together before, but since Anna is the only Welsh player, she would need to pair with another MA.
It is also very interesting to note there is so many mixed MA pairing in this tournament (even when you have teammates there). I guess that is a good thing.
Maybe all countries should break pairing up (it is mostly Asians still pairing traditionally)

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Table tennis must feel lucky they even get any venue
Unless you want China to host every event.

Anyway I spoke with Melania about your post & she told me she will set up a dedicated table tennis center in her native Slovenia

haha
well, you don't need a full time tt center to host a tt event.
i am sure that there must be 1 indoor sport center in every country.

List of indoor arenas in Slovenia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

it isn't about lucky or unlucky, but about money and how to get money and how to spend money.
these indoor sport centers are hireable and don't tell me that with 2 years of planning, the best is a primary school sport center (even though it does look big for a school, but coaches there isn't impressed with the facilities).

I guess TT people isn't too serious in Slovenia, so I hope the former first lady and her husband is