2023 Continental Youth Grants
In 2022, 49 athletes received support that facilitated their training process and participation in the WTT Youth Series: 37 athletes in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania under the Continental Youth Grants incentive and 12 athletes who benefitted through the European Scholarships as part of the European Development Program.
The Youth Grant recipients achieved remarkable results during the 2022 WTT Youth Series events, amongst them Mao Takamori (JPN). She successfully secured the gold medal in the U15 Girls event of the WTT Youth Contender Senec (SVK), in addition to two medals (silver and bronze) in the U15 and U17 girls event of the WTT Youth Contender Szombathely (HUN). USA’s Sally Moyland also had a successful run in Hungary, winning gold in the U17 girls’ event and a bronze medal in the U15 girls’ event of the WTT Youth Contender Vila Nova de Gala (POR). Emanuel Otalvaro (COL) secured a silver medal in the U13 boys of the WTT Youth Contender Szombathely and a bronze medal in the U13 boys event of the WTT Youth Contender Senec (SVK). Australia’s Hwan and Won Bae had a successful run in the WTT Youth Contender Darwin (AUS) with Hwan coming in second in the U19 and Won winning the bronze medal in the U17. Won Bae and fellow Australian grant recipient Chulong Nie also won bronze in the U15 boys’ doubles at the 2022 World Youth Championships.
This year, the incentive continues to aim at identifying talented youth athletes and providing them with financial and technical assistance to enhance and advance their development, in addition to supporting them in gaining international exposure by participating in the WTT Youth Series.
The selection of athletes runs through an online application process and follows specific criteria such as the latest Youth World Ranking, athletes’ performance in major events, WTT Youth Series, and an activity plan to be submitted as part of the application.
The incentive will also be available to Oceania’s athletes in due course.
2023 Para Table Tennis Grants:
The program aims to assist Member Associations by providing dedicated support to promising and talented Para Table Tennis athletes of all classes and this way enhance their training process and/or boost their participation in international PTT sanctioned events in 2023, having in mind the qualification period for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
After the success of the first PTT Athlete Grants initiative in 2022, which focused on strengthening Para Table Tennis and working towards reaching diversity and inclusion, 8 PTT athletes from 7 Member Associations (ARG, BRA, COL, CHI, ESA, EGY, IRI) used the grant to cover their athletes’ participation in 7 different para table tennis events, Fa40 Slovenia Para Open, Fa20 Brazilian Para Open, Fa20 Copa Cristina Hoffmann, Fa20 Costa Brava Spanish Para Open, Fa20 Czech Para Open, Fa20 Al-Watani Para Open, and Fa40 Thailand Para Open, achieving a total of 15 medals – 8 gold, 5 silver, and 3 bronze.
Applications for the 2023 edition will run online, and selection will be made following specific criteria like the PTT World Ranking, the athletes’ performance at ITTF sanctioned events, and their 2023 activity plan that needs to be submitted as part of the application process.
Member Associations are invited to select and propose four athletes, two boys and two girls for the 2023 Continental Youth Grants and four PTT athletes for the 2023 Para Table Tennis Grants, preferably 2 men and 2 women, to benefit from the incentives and are invited to apply through the following links:
- 2023 Youth Grants: https://forms.ittf.com/form/2023_continental_youth_grant_application_form_en
- 2023 Para Table Tennis Grants: https://forms.ittf.com/form/2023_ptt_grant_application_form_en