by Ian Marshall, Editor

Furthermore, he leads Singapore’s junior boys’ team bid for honours; the top seeds, he lines up alongside Beh Kun Ting and Josh Chua Shao Han, both no strangers to the international scene. Notably last year Josh Chua Shao Han was a junior boys’ singles semi-finalist in Canada and Serbia.

Next in line is the Belgium trio formed by Nicolas Degros, Olav Kosolosky and Adrien Rassenfosse; they are the second seeds ahead of India’s Manush Utpalbhai Shah, Raegan Alburquerque and Deepit Patil. Earlier this year both Olav Kosolosky and Adrien Rassenfosse reached the junior boys’ singles quarter-finals in France; additionally Olav Kosolosky progressed to the same round in Italy, Adrien Rassenfosse in the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile two step further, Manush Utpalbhai Shah and Raegan Alburquerque both reached finals in 2018; Manush Utpalbhai was the runner up in Jordan, as was Raegan Alburquerque in Egypt.

Strong title contenders but the strongest of all is the fourth seeded outfit, the Chinese combination of Kuang Li, Liu Yebo and Xie Congfan. No current world ranking, 17 year old Xie Congfan is a newcomer to the international scene, Kuang Li and Liu Yebo are no strangers. Both have ITTF World Junior Circuit titles to the credit; last year Kuang Li won in the junior boys’ singles event in Thailand, Liu Yebo succeeded in Hungary.

Equally Kuang Li and Liu Yebo are names to note in the junior boys’ singles event. Liu Yebo is the no.3 seed, behind Pang Yew En Koen; Kuang Li is the no.9 seed. Also the names of Olav Kosolosky and Adrien Rassenfosse appear high on the list; they are the respective fourth and fifth seeds. Thailand’s Yanapong Panagitgun followed by Josh Chua Shao Han and Chinese Taipei’s Peng Chih complete the top eight names.

China very much an outfit to note; it is the same in the cadet boys’ team competition. Chen Yuanyu, Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng form the selection; all have ITTF World Junior Circuit cadet boys’ singles titles to their name. Last year Chen Yuanyu won in Croatia, Lin Shidong in Italy; Huang Youzheng in Hungary.

Favourites for gold, they are listed ahead of the quartet formed by Peru’s Carlos Fernandez and Puerto Rico’s Angel Naranjo who join forces with Australia’s Nicholas Lum and Finn Luu. Hong Kong’s Baldwin Chan Ho Wah, Lee Pok Kwan, You Kwan To and Yu Nok occupy the no.3 seeded spot ahead of Japan’s Sora Matsushima, Haruki Michihiro and Kazuki Yoshiyama.

Notably, Sora Matsushima is the top seed in the cadet boys’ singles competition, Chen Yuanyu alongside the Czech Republic’s Simon Belik and Carlos Fernandez being the next in the order.

Play commences in Bangkok with the junior boys’ team and cadet boys’ team events.