Junior Stars Ready to Shine

Watch out for the continued emergence of a crop of gifted junior players at the New Zealand Table Tennis Championships in Invercargill.

That’s the word from Table Tennis New Zealand selector Bruce Northover, who was excited about the breakthrough Kiwi success at the recent Oceania championships in Townsville in early September.

Northover, the convener of the combined national senior and junior selection panel, said New Zealand’s success in Townsville was “special’’.

“Considering we didn’t win any titles at the 2022 Oceania championships, the four we won this year were all very special,’’ Northover said.

“As were a number of other individual performances.’’

Auckland’s Joanna Yang was a standout, winning the under-19 girls’ singles and the under-21 women’s title. She will clearly be one to watch at the national championships in those events and in the coveted women’s open singles during the nine-day national championships, which started at Stadium Southland on Saturday.

Fans should also keep an eye out for North Shore’s Yelena Yi (12) and Anya Chen (13), who probably pulled off the most significant New Zealand result at the Oceania tournament by winning the under-15 girls’ teams’ title.

They dealt to Australia in the final, winning the decider 3-0. It was a victory that rounded of an emphatic teams’ event, with the duo not dropping a single individual match to qualify for the world youth championships in Slovenia.

There were other standout New Zealand junior results in Townville, which pointed to an exciting future for the sport, according to Northover.

Those top showings included Auckland 13-year-old Ayumi Moriyama-Picard reaching the quarterfinals of the under-19 girls’ singles after easily beating Australia’s outstanding Constantina Psihogios, who in 2022 won the Oceania under-15, 19 and 21 singles. And keep an eye out in Invercargill, too, for North Shore’s August Xiao (12) whose run in the under-15 Oceania boys’ singles only ended when he struck the top seed from Australia.

Auckland’s Eli Ho is another expected to shine at Stadium Southland in the under-13, 15 and 21 classes, while older Auckland teenagers Timothy Choi and Alex Liu Chao will fancy their chances in the under-19 and open events.

But of all the junior players to watch out for at the Invercargill national championships, the tournament star could well turn out to be Auckland’s Hannah Li, who only arrived in New Zealand at the beginning of the year from Hong Kong.

At the Australian open national championships in Sydney in July, Li confirmed her international class by winning the under-17, 19 and 21 singles and was also runner-up in the open women’s final.

“She is keen to play for New Zealand but won’t be eligible for New Zealand teams until the middle of 2028 at the earliest,’’ Northover said of Li, who is seeded top in all four events she’s entered in Invercargill, with the junior individuals to start on Monday.

“She can, however, play as an individual as she did at the Australian nationals.’’