Lausanne, July 19, 2013: The International Table Tennis Federation is excited to announce that Otocec, Slovenia has been awarded the 2013 ITTF World Cadet Challenge to be held on 26th October to 3rd November 2013.
“I am very happy that the Slovenia Table Tennis Association will host the 2013 Cadet Challenge at such late notice after Turkey handed back the rights for the event,” stated ITTF President Adham Sharara.
“Slovenia has a lot of experience in staging table tennis events, and following the great editions held in Puerto Rico and then Guam has raised the level of this competition, but I am sure that Slovenia will rise to the occasion,” added Mr Sharara.
The ITTF World Cadet Challenge is the most prestigious global under-15 event, and invites 4 boys and 4 girls from continent, plus the ITTF Hopes Team and a team from the host country to battle it out in a teams-style event.
All continental teams MUST be composed of athletes representing four different national associations, with the exception of North America, which must enter two players from each of Canada and USA per gender.
Prior to the competition, there is a 3-day training camp hosted by the ITTF for all the players. Led by some of the worlds’ leading coaches, the camp is very valuable for these young players’ development.
The World Cadet Challenge debuted in 2002, where 14-year-old ZHANG Jike (CHN) was named the tournament’s “Most Valuable Player”. This title was the first of many for now 25-year-old ZHANG, as he is now one of the most celebrated table tennis players in history, winning gold at the London 2012 Olympics and back-to-back individual world titles.
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