Youth Contender Events in Europe
3 to 9 November 2022
Our Canadian Juniors gained valuable experience at a European tour of WTT Youth Contender tournaments in Italy (Boys), Hungary (Boys and Girls) and Slovakia (Girls only).
At the initiative of the Quebec Table Tennis Federation, the following players participated in Italy and Hungary:
DESMEULES Joakim (self-funded with assistance)
JUTRAS Laurent (self-funded with assistance)
MARTIN Simeon (self-funded with assistance)
SAMOILA Steven (self-funded)
Coach: Maxime Surprenant
They were joined by Alberta’s HERATH Sanuka (self-funded)
TTCAN selected the following girls to participate in Hungary and Slovakia:
FU Ching Nam
XU Jessie
Coach: Anqi Luo
They were joined by Ontario’s Michelle WANG (self-funded).
Here are some of Coach Luo’s comments:
“The girls have definitely gained valuable experience and developed a more mature game sense through this trip.”
“Szombathely, Hungary – Gina and Jessie both reached round of 32 in u17 girls by advancing from the group and winning their first knock out match. Jessie continued her momentum in u15 girls and advanced to round of 16. They have brought back excellent results for Canada in an international competition of over 170 entries in girls category.
Senec, Slovakia – Gina reached the round of 64 in both u17 and u19 girls before losing to Taipei in a close 2:3 match in u17 and 1:3 in u19 knock out. Michelle also recorded her first win at international competition in u19 girls category.”
TTCAN’s President, Adham Sharara, stated:
“It is obvious that we still have some way to go before our young players can win internationally. Our players are very talented and have a great future. Now we must be more selective in the type of tournaments we enter them and make sure that they compete in as many tournaments as possible in Canada and the USA to be ready for international competition.”
