by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
Notably she is supported by Huang Fanzhen, Wang Tianyi and Chen Yi; all players who have a track record of success.
Earlier this year in the Czech Republic, Huang Fanzhen was the runner up in the Junior Girls’ Singles event, Chen Yi was crowned Cadet Girls’ Singles champion; meanwhile, Wang Tianyi was a Junior Girls’ Singles bronze medallist last year on soil at the 2017 Taicang Junior and Cadet Open.
Huang Fanzhen, Wang Tianyi and Chen Yi are undoubtedly challengers for honours in Bangkok but they do not appear amongst the leading names; Chinese Taipei’s Su Pei-Ling, making her first appearance of the year on the ITTF World Junior Circuit, is the next in line followed by Hong Kong’s Chau Wing Sze and the host nation’s Jinnipa Sawettabut. India’s Archana Girish Kamath and Croatia’s Andrea Pavlovich followed by Hong Kong’s Lee Ka Yee and Selena Selvakumar, like Archana Girish Kamath from India, complete the top eight names.
Chau Wing Sze and Lee Ka Yee are the players in search of a good performance; on duty in April in Belgium and France, both departed proceedings in the early stages.
Somewhat conversely, Jinippa Sawettabut has enjoyed success. She was the runner up in Oman in the first ITTF World Junior Circuit tournament of the year; in a somewhat similar vein Selena Selvakumar reached the penultimate round in Côte d’Ivoire, Archana Girish Kamath was a quarter-finalist in the Czech Republic.
However, the player in form and with a liking for Bangkok is Andrea Pavlovich; on the eve of the tournament she won the Women’s Singles title at the Road to Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games tournament.
Play commences with the team events; the Junior Boys’ Singles and Junior Girls’ Singles events begin on Friday 11th May.
