ITTF Junior
Circuit Tournament
It was my pleasure to work with the US Junior and Cadet Teams
at the recent ITTF Junior Circuit Tournament held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada this past August. All the junior players were wonderful and
they made me feel so young, just as if I was one of the players. We all really
worked well together, we displayed a lot of team spirit
and camaraderie. Everyone supported everyone else in all matches that were
played no matter which division they had played in. Cadets supported the Juniors and the Juniors
supported the Cadets.
Dennis Davis and I were the only two coaches, during the tournament we could not coach every
player, so some of the matches were coached by the players themselves.
Adam Hugh coached the junior boys against the Korean number
two team and they won 3-2. Mark, Han and
Misha and the whole Junior and Cadet girls teams gave
Adam full support during his singles’ semi finals.
All the girls Whitney, Kathy,
Jackie and Sophie show great fight in all their matches, never once
did I see them give up.
Mark Hazinski and Han Xiao not only played well but showed
great sportsmanship throughout their matches
I remember one match that Mark was playing in, where the other player
must have got a least eight nets during one game, Mark
never complained and kept on playing with great concentration.
The is first time our juniors
defeated the Koreans in Team competition.
Adam and Misha defeated the Korean number two team on their way to a
bronze medal in the Cadet doubles and team events. Judy and
Lani also took one point against the Korean number one Team in the
finals of the team event.
Judy and Lani played very well in doubles
and won a bronze medal in that event.
I am also so proud of Judy
for her wonderful comebacks in the singles, being down 8-10 in the
fifth game of the semi finals to the Korean #2 player and then
defeating the Canadian #1 player in the finals 3-0.
I am very proud of our Junior and
Cadet Teams. I
believe this new generation is the best ever.
Sincerely,
Lily Yip