by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Partnering Egypt’s Marwan Abdelwahab; the African duo caused a major upset in the first round of the Boys’ Doubles event. They recovered from a two games to nil deficit to beat China’s Fan Langyu and Gao Shentong by the very narrowest of margins in a tense five games contest (6-11, 3-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-9).

Alas from an African perspective, one day later at the quarter-final stage it was to be defeat; they were beaten by the partnership formed Sharon Alguetti and Victor Liu of the United States (12-10, 8-11, 11-3, 15-13).

Meanwhile, on the penultimate day of action in the second stage of the Boys’ Singles event, it was somewhat mixed fortunes.

He experienced defeat at the hands of Australia’s Zaki Zenaidee (4-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5), before overcoming Egypt’s Mohamed Sameh (11-4, 12-10, 11-8) and Finn Luu, like Zaki Zenaidee from Australia (11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11), prior to experiencing defeat in his concluding contest of the day when opposing New Zealand’s Zhao Yanglun (12-10, 5-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7).

“When I was young, I saw my brother playing the table tennis and I became interested”, said Aboubaker Bourass. “My brother taught me how to serve and receive the ball; gradually, I started to attend training and took part in every competition in my country.”

Now 15 year old Aboubaker Bourass is a seasoned competitor having been playing now for some six years.

“I learned to play table tennis when I was nine, at the beginning, it was difficult for me but my brother encouraged me all the time; now I can beat him”, smiled Aboubaker Bourass. “In my country, there are only a few people who play table tennis, you don’t see people standing beside the table and waiting to play; it’s necessary to develop table tennis in our country.”

Develop the sport but in Africa, Tunisia is one of the most prominent nations; at the current 2016 ITTF-Africa Championships in Agadir they secured silver in the Women’s Team event. It was their first ever time in the final.

Impressive in Agadir; Aboubaker Bourass has been inspired in Shanghai.

“I’m impressed with this competition”, he concluded. “There are many good players; the organization is pretty good; I liked the training camp, it can help me improve my skills and tactics, I hope I can have opportunities to join a competition like this in the future.”

Maybe it will happen; it happened for Adem Hmam; he progressed to compete in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

Furthermore partnering Gu Yuting he was bronze in the Mixed Teams event; does same await for Aboubaker Bourass.

2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Schedule of Play
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Boys’ Teams and Girls’ Teams

2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Boys’ Team – First Stage Results
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Girls’ Team – First Stage Results

2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Boys’ Team – Main Draw
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Girls’ Team – Main Draw

2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Boys’ Singles – Groups
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Boys’ Singles – Positions 1-16
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Boys’ Singles – Positions 17-32

2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Girls’ Singles – Groups
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Girls’ Singles – Positions 1-16
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Girls’ Singles – Positions 17-32

2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Boys’ Doubles
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Girls’ Doubles
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Mixed Doubles