by Ian Marshall, Editor

In particular, it is a major opportunity for Russia; Ekaterina Zironova, 16 years old, is the top seed. She has made five appearances to date, her best being quarter-final finishes in Sweden and Italy.

She starts as the favourite but only marginally, Farida Badawy, making her third ITTF World Junior Circuit appearance of the year, is the no.2 seed; most creditably in Oman, she advanced the penultimate round.

Likewise, the Czech Republic’s Maruna Novakova was also on duty in Oman but did not advance to the later rounds; in Sharm El-Sheikh, she is the no.7 seed. She is listed behind Egypt’s Waad Ibrahim with Elisavet Terpou of Greece being the next in the order of merit, followed by the trio the duo comprising Hana Mahmoud and Mariam Abdelaziz, like Waad Ibrahim from the host nation. All are making their first appearances of the year on the ITTF World Junior Circuit.

Poland’s Emilia Skuba completes the top eight names; she has made one excursion this year competing in Canada; she departed proceedings in the group stage.

Opportunities for a landmark win but seeded players beware; note the names of the Chinese trio comprising 16 year old Wang Yidan alongside two 13 year olds, Gong Yuhui and Zhou Bingru. All are new to the international scene; one suspects their techniques are honed to perfection and could they be the players to seize the opportunity presented in Sharm El-Sheikh?

Play commences with the Junior Girls’ Team and Cadet Girls’ Team events; in the former Ekaterina Zironova, Elisavet Terpou and Martina Novakova to occupy the top seeded position, in the latter Malamantina Papadimitriou of Greece and Farida Badawy head the list.