(by Steve Hopkins)

The Junior Pan Am Games is an event for athletes between 18 and 21.  “Junior” is a misnomer for an American audience where we often use the term to refer to those 18 and under.  In this case, the event will feature the best young players of this hemisphere, and that includes USA’s Kanak Jha (who will turn 21 in June).

The event will be held in Cali, Colombia this November.  Like the Pan Am Games the Junior Pan Am Games will feature over 300 events in 27 sports.  The seven table tennis events will include singles (M/F), doubles (M/F/Mixed), and 2-person teams (M/F).

The Junior Pan Am trials took place this week in Fort Worth.  Kanak Jha qualified based upon his World Ranking, so while he’ll anchor the team, he did not compete in the trials.  He will be joined by 16 year old Jayden Zhou who won the Trials.  The alternate will be 16 year old Sid Naresh.  For the women, Amy Wang won the Trial and she will be joined by 15 year old Sarah Jalli.  The alternate will be 13 year old Yishiuan Lin.

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