http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2007-12-10-pa-table-tennis
Monday
Dec 10
Table tennis
aces to battle
190
youths from 36 countries
attend
By Banks
Albach / Daily News Staff
Writer
Serves, spins, slams and
stomps filled Maples
Pavilion at Stanford
University on Sunday as the
World Junior Table Tennis
Championships officially
began.
Roughly 190 boys and girls,
ages 18 and under, from 36
countries will compete this
week for seven world titles
in singles, doubles, mixed
doubles, and teams by
gender. It's the first time
the U.S. has hosted the
event. Egypt hosted it last
year. The championship runs
through Saturday.
"This brings together two
things that I love - sport
and youth," said Anne Warner
Cribbs, Olympic gold
medalist swimmer and
president of the Bay Area
Sports Organizing Committee,
during the opening ceremony.
After the speeches, which
included words from Palo
Alto Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto
and International Table
Tennis Federation President
Adham Sharara, eight girls'
teams took center stage in a
quarterfinal battle: Romania
against Russia, Germany
versus Poland, Chinese
Taipei against South Korea,
and No. 1 Japan versus
China. The boys' teams were
set to play later Sunday.
Even before the first serve,
the China-Japan match was
eye-catching. In the
first-four game leg, China's
Jia Wen put up a last-minute
assault against Japan's Yuka
Ishigaki, but couldn't halt
the deep spins Ishigaki
repeatedly hit, sometimes
eight feet from the table.
Ishigaki took the first
match 3-1.
For the most part, said
18-year-old Atha Fong, a
player on the U.S. girls'
team, South Korea, Japan and
China dominate the Ping-Pong
spectrum.
"We lost to China, but I got
one game off against their
No. 1 player," she said.
An 11-year veteran of the
sport, Fong said that at her
peak, she would practice
five hours a day, six days a
week.
The boys and girls on the
German team attend a table
tennis school in Dusseldorf
where, in addition to
learning reading, writing
and math, they practice the
sport for four hours each
day, said Jurgen Ahlert,
German vice president for
youth sports and a team
coach. The country boasts
about 200,000 junior
players, and the best eight
boys and girls came to
Stanford to compete.
Thirty hours a week is
average, said Alan Cooke,
assistant coach of the team
from England -- especially
if a team wants to compete
with the top ball handlers,
such as Japan and China.
One of his players,
14-year-old Gavin Evans, is
currently the top European
player under 15. Evans, who
has played for nine years,
said the game is much deeper
than people realize.
"Emotion, competition -
there's so many different
styles, and it's so quick,"
Evans said.
For more information on the
tournament, or to buy
tickets, visit
www.2007wjttc.org, or
call 415-946-8730 or the
1-800-STANFORD hotline.
E-mail Banks Albach at
balbach@dailynewsgroup.com