Olena Sowers: World Junior Championships
December 27, 2007

Olena Sowers

By Olena Sowers The 2007 World Junior Championships were held on campus of the Stanford University in Palo Alto, California on December 8th – 15th. This tournament was an amazing experience for me, not only because I had a chance to see the best juniors in the world, but also because I had the opportunity to meet many of them.

Some players say that those who are the best in the world are simply “table tennis robots,” and some would make an assumption that they would not talk to an “average” player. The truth is, the best players in the world are still people – they like to travel and meet people from different countries, they enjoy socializing and playing card games, they make jokes and laugh on the bus on the way back to the hotel… You might not even know that the person you are sitting next to in the lobby is going to win the world championships! What makes them different is their ability to focus when the whole entire arena is cheering against them, what makes them different is their fight to win; they want this more than anything.

This is why I enjoyed watching the final matches of this tournament. The players are great people, and are truly amazing at table tennis! I like watching the European players the most; I am fascinated by their all-around looping games. However, in my opinion, the most captivating match was the quarterfinal of the junior girl’s singles, where Germany’s Amelie Solja overcame top seeded Li Xiaodan from China. Amelie Solja’s style of play is by far the most interesting style I have ever seen. She always stays close to the table and the more her opponents attack, the faster she returns the ball. She has medium pips on her backhand and short pips on her forehand; still, she has great serves that most players have trouble receiving. She thinks and moves fast, and before you know it, she is the winner on the table.

China was invincible in Doubles and Mixed Doubles in Palo Alto, but the matches were still interesting to watch. I also enjoyed watching the finals of the Junior Girls’ and Boys’ singles. China’s Yang Yang beat Wen Jia (both from China) in the final of girls, while Korea’s Jeong Sang Eun beat China’s Xu Ruifeng in boys’ singles.

In the end, this tournament was a great place to learn new things about the game and the best players in the world. It was a truly wonderful opportunity to see those players play their best on such a high level, and it was even better to meet them.