by Ian Marshall, Editor

At the quarter-final stage of the boys’ team event, lining up alongside Tai Ming-Wei and Huang Yu-Jen, Feng Yi-Hsin was the guiding hand for Chinese Taipei, the no.2 seeds, as they recorded a 3-2 win against the no.10 seeds, the United States combination of Michael Minh Tran, Nikhil Kumar and Victor Liu.

He accounted for Michael Minh Tran in the opening match of the fixture (11-7, 11-9, 12-10), before in the fourth contest overcoming Nikhil Kumar (10-12, 11-4, 11-3, 13-11). Thus he set the scene for Tai Ming-Wei to complete the victory. Imposingly, he overcame Michael Minh Tran in three straight games (11-7, 11-6, 11-5).

Playing in same positions

Likewise, in the girls’ team event, supported by Chien Tung-Chuan and Cai Fong-En, Yu Hsui-Ting was the backbone of a 3-2 success for Chinese Taipei, the no.4 seeds, in opposition to the no.8 seeds, the German trio comprising Anastasia Bondareva, Franziska Schreiner and Sophia Klee.

Playing in the same matches as Feng Yi-Hsin, she accounted for Anastasia Bondareva (11-7, 11-7, 11-9) and Franziska Schreiner (8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6), to set the stage for Chien Tung-Chuan to be the heroine. She overcame Anastasia Bondareva (11-5, 11-5, 11-5) to seal the victory.

Step by step

Success for Chinese Taipei and success for two players who live in the shadows of the likes of Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching but are making their presence felt on the international scene.

Neither has burst on the scene like Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto, when only 11 years old, he reached the men’s singles final in the elite event at the Safir International tournament in Sweden; Feng Yi-Hsin and Yu Hsiu-Ting are progressing step by step.

Feng Yi-Hsin has been a prominent figure this year at ITTF Challenge Series tournaments, most notably he won the under 21 men’s singles title in both DPR Korea and in Slovenia; on the ITTF World Junior Circuit, he was a quarter-finalist in Belgium, a semi-finalist in Croatia.

ITTF World Junior Circuit success

Yet to establish herself at ITTF Challenge Series tournaments, her best the later rounds of the both the women’s singles and under 21 women’s singles events in Thailand, Yu Hsiu-Ting has impressed on this year’s ITTF World Junior Circuit.

She was a junior girls’ singles quarter-finalist in Thailand, a semi-finalist in Hong Kong, the runner up on home soil in Taipei City, the winner in Australia.

In Korat, the experience gained from the travels paid dividends, the reward a medal at the NSDF World Junior Championships.