7/3/2009 2009 Australia Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Junior Circuit

New Zealand’s 18 year old Jenny Hung wrote a new episode in her table tennis career, when on Friday 3rd July 2009 she captured her first ever ITTF Junior Circuit Girls’ Singles title by emerging successful at the Australian Junior Open.

Victory for New Zealand and in so doing Jenny Hung became the first New Zealander and the first player from Oceania to win an ITTF Junior Circuit Singles title?

Seeded no.2, she secured gold in the Queensland city of Gold Coast beating top seed, Shermaine Lam, in the final in a close seven games duel.

 7/3/2009 2009 Australia Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Junior Circuit

Japan’s 17 year old Jin Ueda, the winner of the Boys’ Singles title at the Safirs International tournament earlier in the year, won his second ITTF Junior Circuit Boys’ Singles crown of the year, when he emerged successful at the Australia Junior Open in Gold Coast on Friday 3rd July 2009.

In an event dominated by Japan, he beat Australia’s David Powell in the quarter-finals in four straight games followed by wins over two compatriots. At the semi-final stage he accounted for Masataka Morizono in five games before defeating Kaito Fujimoto in the final in a six games confrontation.

 7/2/2009 2009 Australia Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Junior Circuit

Two 14 year olds in the form of Japan’s Masataka Moriozono and New Zealand’s Kevin Wu were two of the busiest players on duty on the third day of play, Thursday 2nd July 2009, at the Australian Junior Open in Gold Coast, the latest stop on the ITTF Junior Circuit.

They competed in the group stage of both the Junior Boys’ Singles and Cadet Boys’ Singles events, they ended the day tired athletes but both had smiles on their faces. Certainly the day proved a most worthwhile experience for the two aspiring players.

 7/2/2009 2009 Australia Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Junior Circuit

Australia’s 14 year old Lily Phan was the one seeded player to experience problems in the group qualification stage of the Girls’ Singles event at the Australia Junior Open in Gold Coast on Thursday 2nd July 2009.

She suffered defeat at the hands of New Zealand’s Angie Guo, who emerged as the group winner with the Australian in second place; both beat Ana Pere of the Cook Islands and the host nation’s Kayla Coombs.

A reverse for Lily Phan in the junior event but no problems in the Cadet Girls’ Singles where she emerged in first place in her group.

 7/1/2009 2009 Australia Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Junior Circuit

The partnership of Australia’s Clarice Phan and Hong Kong’s Shermaine Lam won the Girls’ Team title at the Australian Junior Open in Gold Coast on Wednesday 1st July 2009 beating the all Australian pairing of Belinda Le and Ashleigh Stevenson in the final.

Mainstay of the success was Shermaine Lam who was beaten on only one occasion in the whole tournament; the reverse came in the semi-finals against New Zealand when beaten by Jenny Hung.

The New Zealander remained unbeaten in singles matches throughout the whole proceedings.

 7/1/2009 2009 Australia Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Junior Circuit

Japan dominated matters in the Boys’ Team event at the Australian Junior Open in Gold Coast on Wednesday 1st July 2009. They captured both gold and silver whilst having a share in the spoils in the bronze medal position.

Jin Ueda and Kaito Fujimoto, representing Japan `A’, captured the top prize beating colleagues Asuka Sakai and Kohei Morimoto of Japan `B’ in the final; the latter duo having at the penultimate stage ousted the pairing of Japan’s Masataka Morizono who partnered Hong Kong’s Anthong Wong.

 7/1/2009 2009 Australia Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Junior Circuit

Ten years old, born on 9th August 1998, New Caledonia’s Lai Van Lea is the youngest player competing in the Australian Junior Open which commenced in Gold Coast on the country’s east coast on Tuesday 30th June 2009.

She is from Noumea, the principal town in New Caledonia, a country that is French speaking but when she met Emanuel Christiansson, the ITTF Coach on duty at the Training Camp that preceded the latest tournament on the ITTF Junior Circuit, there was a surprise in store for the much travelled Swedish coach.