by Ian Marshall, Editor

Currently listed at no.17 on the Under 18 Girls’ World Rankings, Kristina Kazantseva has yet to win an ITTF World Junior Circuit girls’ singles title; however, she has come close, Sweden being seemingly her favourite destination.

Last year she was a junior girls’ singles quarter-finalist, the previous year a semi-finalist; meanwhile in 2016 she won the cadet girls’ singles title in Poland.

In Manama, she is listed ahead of Egypt’s Farida Badawy, India’s Swastika Ghosh and colleague Olga Vishniakova. Similarly, all are players yet to strike gold in a junior girls’ singles event on the ITTF World Junior Circuit but like Kristina Kazantseva have come close.

Last year in Egypt, Swastika Ghosh was both a junior girls’ singles and cadet girls’ singles quarter-finalist whilst also being the runner up in the cadet girls’ singles event at the Arab Championships staged in Cairo.

Progress to the latter stages, for Swastika Ghosh and Olga Vishniakova it is not too dissimilar. Last year on the ITTF World Junior Circuit, Swastika Ghosh was semi-finalist in the junior girls’ singles event in Portugal and in the cadet girls’ singles competition in Jordan. Likewise, Olga Vishniakova has enjoyed success in Jordan; in 2017 she was a junior girls’ singles semi-finalist.

Currently on the Under 18 Girls’ World Rankings, Farida Badawy is named at no.28, Swastika Ghosh at no.32 and Olga Vishniakova at no.58.

Meanwhile, in the cadet girls’ singles event, Malamatenia Papadimitrou is the top seed, followed by Farida Badawy, colleague Hana Goda and India’s Anargya Manjunath. Presently on the Under 15 Girls’ World Rankings, Malamatenia Papadimitrou is listed at no.17, Farida Badawy at no.35, Hana Goda at no.42 and Anargya Manjunath at no.50.

A total of 32 players will compete in the junior girls’ singles event; in the cadet girls’ singles competition it is 24 in number.