by Olalekan Okusan, ITTF-Africa Press Officer
In the Junior Boys’ Team event he lines up alongside colleague Youssef Ben Attia, they are the no.5 seeds; listed at no.51 on the current Under 18 Boys’ World Rankings, he is the tenth highest rated player on Junior Boys’ Singles duty.
“I know it is a big challenge ahead of me as the number one junior player in Tunisia because we have top class players from top playing table tennis nations competing in this tournament. I don’t think I have any pressure on me. My mission is to win a medal for my country and I am really prepared to do my country proud,” Aboubaker Bourass.
The youngster from Tataouine, a city located in southern Tunisia, some 507 kilometres from Tunis, is beaming with optimism ahead of the Junior Boys’ Singles event which commences on Wednesday 21st March.
“I am so excited that we are staging this competition again and this has indeed afforded the opportunity to play against the best; this year, we have more players taking part and we will surely gain from playing some of these top players. For the first time, we have a Chinese team competing in the tournament. I am so excited and I am looking forward to showing what I can do against these top players.” Aboubaker Bourass
An entry from China, experience suggests a strong team but none have previous international experience; note the names of Wang Yihao, Zhang Boao and Zhang Shangzheng.
