by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Now 18 years old, the focus for Darko Jorgic is very much directed towards the senior scene but he is no stranger to this year’s ITTF World Junior Circuit; the Slovenia Junior and Cadet Open will be his fourth appearance.
Furthermore on his previous three outings he has enjoyed success; always he has reached the final of the Junior Boys’ Singles event. He was the runner up in the Czech Republic before winning in Qatar and in Italy.
Possibly steal show
Eyes focused on Darko Jorgic but could two much younger players steal the show in Otocec; only 14 years old, Japan’s Yu Kayama is the second seed in the Junior Boys’ Singles event, Chinese Taipei’s Feng Yi-Hsin, only 13 years of age, is the no.7 seed.
Impressively Yu Kayama will be making no less than his 10th appearance of the year on the 2016 ITTF World Junior Circuit; for Feng Yi-Hsin it will be his fourth.
Both have proved themselves most worthy opponents. Yu Kayama was the runner up in Sweden, whilst being a quarter-finalists in the Czech Republic, Portugal, Spain, Chinese Taipei and Croatia.
Similarly, last week in Croatia, Feng Yi-Hsin, on his third ITTF Junior Circuit excursion of the year, reached the last eight.
Familiar faces
A tenth appearance of the year for Yu Kayama, it is the same for colleagues Aoto Asazu and Takeru Kashiwa.
Both enjoyed their best finishes of the year in the Slovak Republic; Aoto Asazu was the runner up; Takeru Kashiwa advanced to the quarter-finals.
In Otocec, Aoto Asazu is the no.3 seed, Takeru Kashiwa is the no.5 seed; in between is Germany’s Jannik Xu, the no.4 seed, his best of the year being a semi-final finish in Poland.
Runner up in Croatia
Noteworthy challengers but the most noteworthy of all may be Chinese Taipei’s Li Hsin-Yang; he is the no.6 seed and was the runner up last week in Croatia.
Schedule
The Junior Boys’ Singles event begins on Friday 23rd September; play commences with two days of team competitions.
