ASIA DOMINATING THE WORLD JUNIOR SCENE!
Por CBTM
It's just there. Very much in black and white, or in whatever colour your web browser pulls up for the moment.
Number one on the new ITTF Boys' Under 18 World Ranking list for the month of May is the sixteen year old Japanese wonder boy Jun MIZUTANI. The left handed super talent jumped sixty one positions to number 118 on the ITTF World Ranking list following his sensational first round win against CHUAN Chih-Yuan (Chinese Taipei) at the Volkswagen 48th World Championships in Shanghai.
Even if credit for MIZUTANI's fast improvement mostly should be given to plenty of talent, excellent coaching and hard daily practice routines in the compounds of Borussia Düsseldorf in Germany, there are other factors kicking in as well.
First Steps
Jun MIZUTANI took his first, far from stumbling steps, on the international scene in the opening event of the new ITTF World Junior Circuit - Safirs International in Örebro, Sweden in 2002. He quickly hit, not only the front page of the local newspaper, but also the ITTF Junior web page where several hundred thousand fans followed the event. A star was born and later raised to World wide recognition by the coverage provided by the ITTF Global Junior Programme.
Japan is so far the number one association in terms of participation and also success in events included in the ITTF Global Junior Programme. As one of the super powers in junior table tennis, the Japanese Table Tennis Association today has three junior boys among the top twelve juniors in the world and Ai FUKUHARA leading the way for the girls.
Interesting to note is also the overall momentum shift in favour for young upcoming players in Japanese table tennis, with a clear selection priority given to the same group athletes that delighted Japanese fans with a spirited performance in the World Junior Championships in Kobe - 2004. No fewer than three junior boys were included in the five men strong Japanese team for Shanghai - Seiya KISHIKAWA, Jun MIZUTANI and Taku TAKAKIWA. Also the women's team was dominated by youth. Once again Ai FUKUHARA showed her wonderful spirit and talent by challenging the silver medallist GUO Yan (CHN) over six tough games in the round of the last thirty-two.
Together with the dominating Chinese team, the fast upcoming Chinese Taipei juniors and the always competent Koreans are very much in evidence. Asia is for the moment controlling the future of our sport, both for men and even more so for women's table tennis.
Alarm Bells
In Europe alarm bells among respected coaches have been ringing for a number of years now indicating a lack of talented players with the capacity to challenge the Asians. A quick look at the World Junior Ranking for boys gives us only two European athletes - Patrick BAUM and Dimtrij OVTCHAROV, both from Germany, among the fifteen highest ranked junior players in the world.
On the girls side Daniela DODEAN (Romania) is the highest ranked European in position eleven, followed by the defending European junior team champions Spain, checking in their top juniors, Galia DVORAK and Sara RAMIREZ, at numbers twelve and fourteen.
Developing Continents
The ITTF Global Junior Programme has no doubt put the wheels in motion and spurred a motivation in at least three developing continents - Latin America, Africa and Oceania.
Although permanent improvement in terms of the actual level of play still on the far horizon some positive signs are definitely starting to show. With the ITTF Global Junior Programme concept fully accepted participation in the yearly cadet and junior events is way up. In Africa several young cadet players will make their third consecutive start in the ITTF World Cadet Challenge later this year gaining valuable and necessary international experience.
Also in Latin America the numbers are good with the latest Latin American Table Tennis Union under 15 and 13 event in Havana drawing record participation, displaying a fast growing interest from coaches and association to access ITTF title events.
Provides Opportunities
Upon introducing the ITTF World Junior Circuit concept in 2002 discussions were running high about the need and the possible success for the project.
Today the ITTF World Junior Circuit is an integrated part of our sport, providing opportunities for young promising players to gain international experience. Although mainly in small portions the ITTF world Junior Circuit will in 2005 pay out more than US$ 75,000 in prize money and arrange for close to forty days of international training in the shape of various ITTF World Junior Elite camps offered by the organisers.
A young promising player can today, given the right financial conditions;, access well organised international competitions all around the world, more or less on a weekly basis. Planning and priorities quickly become key factors for sustainable success and improvements. Associations, coaches and finally the athletes will soon find themselves at crossroads with important decisions to be made. For many it means moving away from family and friends in the search for more competent sparring and training in order to pursue a professional table tennis career.
Increase Interest
This scenario is however not new, nor unique for our sport. The ongoing search for new practise methods and the best conditions will never come to rest in competitive sports. With a fully operative, creative and expanding ITTF Global Junior Programme the development of young talented players' world wide will gain recognition and visibility and soon enough draw a fast increasing interest from table tennis fans around the world.
Someone once said - "The best way of predicting the future is to start right away" Couldn't be phrased better - That is if you ask me of course!
With the future in mind!
Text: Mikael Andersson / ITTF website
