by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

Success for Asia, Europe and Latin America but there was also success for the host continent, Oceania; runners up spot in each of the five groups also meant progress to the main draw.

New Zealand’s Nathan Xu and Daniel Jeffries both secured second places as did Australia’s Mateo Dvorani and Ben Gould; the one remaining runners up spot was secured by Aditya Godhwani of the United States, he finished next in line to Jacobo Vahnish.

Progress to the Junior Boys’ Singles main draw; it was the same for Jacobo Vahnish, Nathan Xu and Aditya Godhwani in the Cadet Boys’ Singles event. Jacobo Vahnish finished in first place in his group with Pierre Fanene from the small Pacific island of Wallis and Fotuna in second spot. Notably, Nathan Xu accounted for Aditya Godhwani (14-16, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9) to secure first place in his group.

In the remaining groups China made its presence felt; Sun Hoaran, Wang Hongxiang and Ji Xinyue duly secured pole positions, second places went to Australia’s Finn Luu, Fiji’s Vicky Wu and New Zealand’s Park Sangyong.

Meanwhile, in the Junior Boys’ Doubles competition, Owen Cathcart and Laurens Devos, the top seeds, have yet to start their campaigns; conversely for the combination of New Zealand’s Jonathan Li and Singapore’s Pang Yew En Koen, the quest has started. In the opening round they beat Petelo Luaki and Sileno Vakauliafa from Wallis and Fotuna in three straight games (11-3, 11-6, 11-4).

Likewise in the Cadet Boys’ Doubles competition, the journey for Fiji’s Jal Chauhan and Vicky Wu has yet to commence; for the combination of New Caledonia’s Emmanuel Bruchard and Australia’s Finn Luu, the no.2 seeds, the journey has commenced. In the opening round they beat the Cook Islands partnership of Jonah Moeauri and Toka Williams (11-2, 11-4, 11-3).

Play in the 2018 Cook Islands Junior and Cadet Open concludes on Thursday 7th June.