by Ian Marshall, Editor

In Hodonin Ekaterina Zironova is the no.4 seed, Yukari Sugasawa, the no.10 seed; like Anna Wegrzyn all have more than made their presence felt on the international scene in the past 12 months.

Additional to her success in Canada, Anna Wegrzyn was a junior girls’ singles semi-finalist in Belgium and Poland; Ekaterina Zironova was a quarter-finalist in both Italy and Sweden whilst being a member of the bronze medal winning Russian outfit at the World Junior Championships in Bendigo. Similarly, Yuri Sugasawa, excelled in Slovakia, she was the silver medallist.

Worthy performances in 2018; it is very much the same amongst the other leading names in Hodonin.

Romania’s Tania Plaian, the no.2 seed, was the runner up in Serbia, Italy’s Jamila Laurenti, the no.3 seed, secured a semi-final place in Paraguay. Notably like Tania Plaian, Singapore’s Goi Rui Xuan, enjoyed success in Serbia, she advanced to the penultimate round; similarly, Zdena Blaskova, who heads the hopes of the host nation and is the no.6 seed, progressed to the quarter-final stage in Spain, the round that Poland’s Katarzyna Wegrzyn, the no.7 seed, reached in Hungary.

Meanwhile, concluding the top eight names, India’s Prithika Pavade also impressed last year; she was the junior girls’ singles runner up in Croatia and Spain, the cadet girls’ winner in Sweden.

Intense competition awaits and it is the same in the cadet girls’ singles event; the leading names are all well acquainted with international play. Romania’s Elena Zaharia heads the list and has a definite goal, one step higher; last year in Hodonin she was the cadet girls’ singles runner up.

Next in line to Elena Zaharia is Japan’s Kaho Akae and Singapore’s Zhou Jingyi, both in action at the 2018 ITTF World Cadet Challenge in Tottori; Croatia’s Hana Arapovic completes the top eight names.

A total of 79 players compete in the cadet girls’ singles event; the top 16 names receive direct entries to the main draw.