English Cadet No.1, Tin-Tin Ho, has become the latest home-grown player to be selected for the Europe Youth Top 10 tournament, which takes place in Terni (ITA) over September 20-22nd.
The 14-year-old, who will turn 15 shortly before the tournament begins, has become the first female qualifier since Joanna Parker managed to finish 6th in Mulgetta (ITA) 2005.
Her selection is no real surprise after spending the entire season in the European Top 10, even leading the rankings for a short period of time earlier in the year.
Her three medals at the recent European Youth Championships (Singles bronze, Doubles silver and Mixed silver) were a further reminder of her prodigious talent that has seen her triumph twice on the ITTF Cadet Singles circuit.
She starts the round-robin tournament as the fourth seed behind firm favourite Marie Migot of France and her fellow European team mates Adina Diaconu from Romania and Maria Malanina from Russia.
If she were to finish in her seeded position (or higher), she will beat the best overall performance by an English girl at these championships with Parker’s sixth-placed finish in 2005 the previous benchmark.
English players have experienced more success in the past in the Boy’s Singles with both Carl Prean and Paul Drinkhall emerging victorious against the cream of the European crop.
Prean, winner in San Marino 1985, and Drinkhall, winner in Latvia 2007, were both victorious when the tournament existed in its former state as the European Youth Top 12 before it changed to its current format in 2008.
There is a small chance that England’s top Junior Boy, Sam Walker, will be involved in the competition, however, as the sixth substitute for the Junior Boys it is unlikely that he will play a part.
See the full entry list and tournament prospectus here.
Written by Russell Moore (August 15, 2013)