ITTF World Cadet Challenge Team Finals
October 25, 2007

The European boys and coach Jarek Kolodziejczyk celebrating their victory over Asia. Photo Courtesy of ITTF

Courtesy of ITTF In spite of a fantastic performance by Song Hongyuan, the European team beat Asia in the final of the 2007 World Cadet Challenge. The 14 year old Chinese did not lose a game against the two Germans Christoph Schmidl and Patrick Franziska. However it was Schmidl in the end, who celebrated after beating the Japanese Taiyo Nomura.

Decision in the very Last Game
Europe’s victory was due to the transformation of Christoph Schmidl. The 15 year old appeared anxious and insecure for a long time but played with a lot of self confidence after winning the second game against Nomura.

"I was ridiculously nervous at the beginning because it is a world final and when the score is 2-2, all eyes are focused on you", Schmidl said after the final.

African Support for European Boys
The boys' final brought for the first time emotions from the spectators into the hall. The European girls befriended the visiting local pupils encouraging them to cheer on the team from the old continent.

The Africans were however not only good fans but also exciting players. The fourth ranked Africans and the fifth ranked boys from Latin America were the positive surprises of the boys' team event.

Asian Girls Irresistible
The multinational team from Asia won the first gold medal to be decided at the 2007 ITTF World Cadet Challenge. The girls from Hong Kong, India, Korea and Thailand overcame title holders Japan unexpectedly easily. They won 3-0.

Lee Ho Ching from Hong Kong was delighted after her team mate Suthasinee Sawettabut from Thailand won the vital point. "It turned out to be easier than we expected", she said. "Before the final, I had doubtful moments."

To win the cadet title is obviously still something special for the Asian team. The score however was an impressive answer after losing the final in Serbia 2006.

Body Language not only at the Table
For the multinational team of Asia, communication is a daily challenge. "We communicate often with body language and sometimes I try to translate into English for others", Lee Ho Ching says.

Click here to view more information on the 2007 World Cadet Challenge.