World Cadet Challenge heads to Sharm El-Sheikh

Lausanne, July 2, 2015: The Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh has been confirmed as the host for the 13th World Cadet Challenge from 23 – 31 October 2015.

This marks the second time an African country has hosted the prestigious event since its inauguration in the Hungarian city of Tiszaujvaros in 2002, where reigning Olympics Champion ZHANG Jike won the Boy’s Singles title on his debut.

Upon the announcement, ITTF Deputy CEO Glenn TEPPER stated “The World Cadet Challenge has long been a favourite due to the unique combination of development, education and competition aspects. The event has now been confirmed in Sham El-Sheikh, one of the world’s leading tourist destinations.”

“Egypt has an excellent history of organizing great events, and finally returning to Africa after they last hosted in 2007 in South Africa is a great bonus, and we look forward to an excellent event,” added Mr. Tepper.

Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Alaa MESHREF, President of the Egypt Table Tennis Federation, and Khaled EL-SALHY, President of ITTF-Africa, the tournament now returns to Africa.

The 2015 edition will consist of a three day training camp from 23-25 October, Team event from 26-27 October, following by a cultural day (28 Oct) and Singles event on 29-31 October.

As an important component of the World Cadet Challenge, the training camp allows teams to train at least once every other team, as well as hold educational sessions for coaches each evening. Attending coaches are also empowered to take on an active role in the training camp headed by World Doubles and World Team Gold Medalist, Peter KARLSSON (SWE).

Mr. Karlsson already works closely with the ITTF in the “Close to Karlsson” project as part of the ITTF’s “With the Future in Mind” scholarship program, and his inspirational style of coaching is sure to motivate a new generation of champions.

There will be eight teams vying for gold at the World Cadet Challenge in Sharm El-Sheikh: one team from each of the six continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, Oceania), a Hopes team (comprised of the best young talent around the world), and Egypt as the Host team, with 4 boys and 4 girls in each team.

Mr. Tepper shared, “There’s a maximum of one player per country in the continental teams event, so teams must learn to co-operate together while learning each other’s culture and language, creating a great life learning experience in addition to the obvious table tennis benefits.”
Who will be the next Olympic Champion to come from the World Cadet Challenge? —- ITTF