China, Oct 30, 2016 – After claiming the Cadet Boys’ team Gold with the Asian team in tjenchampionship, Korea Republic’s CHO Daeseong proceeded to bag the Boys’ Singles and Mixed Doubles Gold today, 29 October, to end his fruitful trip at the World Cadet Challenge in Shanghai, China.
The World Cadet Challenge is the international tournament for world’s best under-15 players to fight for the honor of their continents, and has long been a budding ground for young talents around the world. Many World Champions, such as Grand Slam Champions ZHANG Jike, MA Long and DING Ning, all started their debut on the international arena at the World Cadet Challenge.
CHO battled his teammate and Boys’ Doubles partner Yukiya UDA (JPN) in the Singles final. to win the top seed in six games (8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 17-15, 6-11, 11-6).
“I didn’t expect I’ll win the finals. But I did better in handling the crucial moments. UDA wasn’t fully focused at the beginning of this match, so I got the opportunity,” stated CHO after his victory.
The 15-year-old added “I was well prepared for this match mentally and in terms of all the strategies. I played the Mixed Doubles final and the Boys’ Doubles final before this, it’s been an exhausting day, it’s hard to recover from the fatigue.I enjoyed these seven days. I think the competition is well organized, and I made lots of friend here.”
Same as the case of the Boys’ Singles final, the Girls’ Singles Gold medal match was a hot contest between 2 teammates within the Asian team.
Favorite for the title, Japan’s Miyuu KIHARA seized the Girls’ Singles crown with a convincing 4-1 (11-9, 11-6, 2-11, 11-6, 11-9) victory over her good friend LEE Ka Yee (HKG).
In the Girls’ Doubles matchup, Girls’ Singles rivals LEE and KIHARA teamed up against HUANG Yingqi (CHN) and RYU Hanna (KOR), whom they won the team Gold with, to fight for the title. Familiar with the opponent pair’s strengths and weaknesses, the quad pushed each other to the full distance, and it was HUANG and RYU who recovered from 1-2 game down to take the Gold medal 3-2 (11-8, 5-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7).
2015 Boys’ Team Champion Europe avenged their loss to the Asian team in the team semifinals with Maciej KOLODZIEJCZYK (AUT) and Vladimir SIDORENKO (RUS) upsetting top seeded pair CHO Daeseong and Yukiya UDA 3-2 (13-11, 7-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6).
Finishing fifth in the Singles event to miss out on a spot on the podium, fourth seeded Amy WANG paired with Singles Champion CHO to defeat UDA and 11-year-old Elena ZAHARIA from the ITTF Hopes team 2-1 (11-7, 6-11, 11-4) to claim the Mixed Doubles title, and secure the first ever Gold medal for North America.
The Asian team with their outstanding performance, took home the title as the Overall Standing Champion.
