London Olympians all Former Winners, Japanese Duo Treads Illustrious Footsteps
2015 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals
Courtesy of ITTF
Proudly Jun Mizutani, Koki Niwa and Seiya Kishikawa represented Japan at the London 2012 Olympic Games; all three had graduated through the ranks to achieve senior status.
Furthermore, during their formative years, all had won the Boys’ Singles event at the ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals.
Now in 2016, two young men in the guise of Takuto Izumo and Tomokazu Harimoto have the avowed aim of following in the footsteps of their illustrious compatriots.
They are Japan’s representatives in the Boys’ Singles event at the 2015 ITTF Junior Circuit Finals to be staged in Indore, India from Friday January 22nd to Sunday January 24th; an event in which Japan has enjoyed outstanding success.
Runners Up
In 2002 in Stockholm, the first year that the tournament was staged, Ryusuke Sakamoto was beaten in the final by China Qiu Yike.
Four years later when the tournament was staged in Vrsac, Serbia, the same fate befell Kenta Matsudaira. In the gold medal contest he experienced defeat at the hands of Chinese Taipei’s Chiang Hung-Chieh.
Seven Wins
However, on the other seven occasions when a Japanese player has reached the final, it has been gold.
Seiya Kishikawa started the trend when he beat Wu Chih-Chi, like Chiang Hung-Chieh from Chinese Taipei, to win in Funchal in 2004; the following year Jun Mizutani succeeded in the Dominican Republic when he overcame Croatia’s Tomislav Kolarek to secure the top step of the podium.
Three in Succession
A gap of two years passed before Koki Niwa won in Helsingborg, Sweden, overcoming Egypt’s Omar Assar in the final.
It was a success that Jin Ueda repeated in 2009 in Tokyo when once again the Egyptian had to settle for second place. One year later in 2010, Masaki Yoshida clinched the title in Hyderabad to make it three in a row for Japan. At the final hurdle, he accounted for Hong Kong’s Chiu Chung-Hei.
Added to Total
Five titles for Japan, Masataka Morizono made it six when he won the 2012 version staged in Guatemala in early 2013, beating Portugal’s João Geraldo in the final.
A gap of one year ensued when Korea’s Kim Mihyeok won in Vilanova de Gaia but one year ago in Paraguay not only was it gold for Japan, it was also silver; Yuto Kizukuri beat Tonin Ryuzaki in the final.
The Question
Now, the question posed is as to whether the run of success can be maintained or even excelled; when Koki Niwa won in 2008 he was only 14 years old, in fact he had celebrated his birthday some three weeks before the event and was the youngest player on view.
Koki Niwa is the youngest ever winner but could that distinction now pass to Tomokazu Harimoto? In September 2015 he won in Chinese Taipei, two months after he celebrated his 12th birthday. He is the youngest player on duty in the Boys’ Singles event in Indore.
An Omen
Success in Chinese Taipei for Tomokazu Harimoto but there was to be no similar success for Takuto Izumo; consistent performances were his hallmark with runners up spot in Poland, when beaten by Korea’s An Jaehyun being his best finish.
However, he can take heart from last year’s winner Yuto Kizukuri; he had never previously won an ITTF Junior Circuit Boys’ Singles title.
Titles
Victory in Poland for An Jaehyun, in addition he won in the Slovak Republic and finished in second place on the Standings behind Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic, the year’s most successful player. He collected three titles, winning in Egypt, Serbia and Hungary.
Darko Jorgic and An Jaehyun are the leading names in the Boys’ Singles event in Indore.
Twice Champions
Two wins for An Jaehyun, it was the same for Romania’s Cristian Pletea and Zhang Kai of the United States; Cristian Pletea won in Bahrain and the Czech Republic, Zhang Kai in Canada and Portugal.
Gulf Region Represented
Players from the traditional strongholds of the sport on duty, especially where Japan and Korea are concerned but notably there are three players in action from the Gulf Region of the world.
Qatar’s Mohammed Abdulhussein and Abdulrahman Al-Naggar both appear on the entry list as does Saudi Arabia’s Ali Alkhadrawi. Impressively Mohammed Abdulhussein won in Jordan, Abdulrahman Al-Naggar in Tunisia.
Brazil and Egypt
Gold for Qatar, there was also gold for Brazil and Egypt on the 2015 ITTF Junior Circuit.
Both present in Indore, Isaac Zauli flew the flag for South America by winning in Chile, Youssef Abdel-Aziz brought smiles to African faces when he succeeded in Mauritius.
Consistency
Title holders and like Takuto Izumo, five players bereft of the pinnacle of success, have gained places in the Finals as a result of consistent performances.
Spain’s Carlos Vedriel, Germany’s Jonah Schlie, Chinese Taipei’s Tsai Chun-Yu, India’s Mudit Dani and England’s Helshan Weerasinghe will all be in action at the 2015 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals.
Two Stages
Play commences with four groups in the initial phase; players finishing in first and second places in each group advance to the quarterfinals; third and fourth compete for the lower places.
Player’s Seeding List includes Angela Guan (USA) & Zhang Kai (USA).
