Iraq Junior and Cadet Open Winners Secure Top Ten Standings

March 19, 2012: Success at the Iraq Junior and Cadet Open in Sulaimaniyah, on Saturday 17th March 2012, sees Iran’s Seyed Pourya OMRANI and Sweden’s Kristina ZETTERSTRÖM clinch top ten places on the ITTF Junior Circuit Standings published by the International Table Tennis Federation on Sunday 18th March.

Winner of the Junior Boys’ Singles title, 16 year old Seyed Pourya OMRANI enters the list at no.7; whilst Helena ZETTERSTRÖM, one year older, climbs no less than 50 places.

Formerly at no.57, she is now at no.5.

Singapore’s ZHOU Yihan continues to lead the Junior Boys’ Standings with Hungary’s Adam SZUDI retaining second place, ahead of Chinese HUNG Tzu-Hsiang, Japan’s Asuka MACHI, Hong Kong’s CHIU Chung-Hei and Yuto HIGASHI, also from Japan. None of the six players ahead of Seyed Pourya OMRANI was present in Iraq.

Meanwhile, on the Junior Girls’ Standings, the players ahead of Kristina ZETTERSTRÖM are Singapore’s ZHOU Yihan and LIN Yee, who occupy the top two respective positions, with Marina BERHO of France in third place and Croatia’s Lea RAKOVAC fourth. Noticeable progress for Kristina ZETTERSTRÖM and it is the same for her compatriot, the player she beat in the final at the Iraq Junior and Cadet Open. Formerly level with Helena ZETTERSTRÖM in 57th place, Maria ENGELSON ascends to the no.8 spot.

The top 16 boys and top 16 girls on the ITTF Junior Circuit Standings at the end of the year’s programme qualify for the Finals. However the list must include one player from each continent – Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, Oceania – and one player from the host nation. The finals are planned for January 2013 at a location to be announced.

Leading Places:

Boys: 1. XIN Zhaoxu (SIN) 2. SZUDI Adam (HUN) 3. HUNG Tzu-Hsiang (TPE) & MACHI Asuka (JPN) 5. CHIU Chung Hei (HKG) 6. HIGASHI Yuto (JPN) 7. OMRANI Seyed Pourya (IRI) 8. REITSPIES David (CZE) 9. FUCEC Luka (CRO) 10. QIU Liang (GER) 11. PUCAR Tomislav (CRO) 12. CALDERANO Hugo (BRA)

Girls: 1. ZHOU Yihan (SIN) 2. LIN Ye SIN) 3. BERHO Marina (FRA) & RAKOVAC Lea (CRO) 5. ZETTERSTRÖM Kristina (SWE) 6. LI Ching Wan (HKG) 7. PFEFER Laura (FRA) 8. ENGELSON Maria (SWE) 9. KRAFT Theresa (GER) 10. BALINT Bernadett (ROU) & GUSEVA Ekaterina (RUS) 12. ADAMKOVA Karin (CZE). Photo by Katam Saleem