by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Head coach for the proceedings was Eva Jeler, now for many years one of the principal coaches for the German Table Tennis Association; she was assisted by the host nation’s Parinya Nonsagate, now well versed in the demands of teaching such an age group.

Furthermore, he was the mentor sitting courtside at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games guiding Padasak Tanviriyavechakul and Tamolwan Khethuan to a very creditable fourth place in the Team event.

A total of 18 players, nine boys and nine girls alongside several practice partners attend the training camp; the venue being the Singapore International School of Bangkok (SISB).

“Half of the players were in the same camp last year and it was very interesting to see how they improved. The kids practised excellently, with a lot of joy and dedication. The nine coaches who were there were very motivated. Also, we had very good conditions in SISB, the training facilities there were excellent.” Eva Jeler

Quek Yong Izaac and Lin Qian emerged as the winners of the respective Boys’ Singles and Girls’ Singles events at the Challenge tournament.

“We had a successful week of training ending with the Challenge tournament. The two winners from Singapore were also the best players through the whole week.” Eva Jeler

It is step on the ladder for Quek Yong Izaac and Lin Qian, they now qualify for the Asia Hopes Week, the ultimate goal being the ITTF World Hopes Week and Challenge; an event which in 2017 when staged in Luxembourg and witnessed China’s Zhang Yining, Olympic Games gold medallist, World champion, the winner of no less than 29 ITTF World Tour Women’s Singles titles, as one of the head coaches.