(by Steve Hopkins)
The ITTF World Youth Championships finished this week in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. The Boys U19 title went to Lin Shidong – at the end of a dominant performance including five wins. Shidong was a strong favorite in the tournament, as he has already risen to No. 9 in the adult rankings. Lin Shidong played in two other events, and he won both of those as well. Shidong teamed with Wen Ruibo to win Boys U19 Doubles and he teamed with Kuai Man to win U19 Mixed Doubles.
Kuai Man is following a similar arc to Shidong. She has already risen to World No. 19 (among Women), so a strong performance here from the top seed is expected. She dominated the U19 Girls event winning 4-2, 4-0, 4-1, 4-1, and a 4-0 Finals victory. She then teamed with Xu Yi for the U19 Girls Doubles title, and paired with Lin Shidong for Mixed Doubles.
Japan’s Yuna Ojio dominated the U15 Girls events. She was pressed by China’s Yan Yutong in the Semifinal (4-3), but won the other four matches (including the Final) 4-0. Ojio teamed with Mao Takamori to win U15 Doubles, and she teamed with Tamito Watanabe to win U15 Mixed Doubles.
The other two titles were U15 Boys Singles that went to China’s Sun Yang and the Taipei team won U15 Boys Doubles. In the end, China took all five of the U19 titles. But, there was a mix in the rest of the younger events. Japan took three of the U15 titles, China took one, and Taipei won the remaining title. Overall, China took 6 of 10, Japan took 3, and Taipei won one.
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