Japan’s Joseph Sebatindira and Kaede Neya were the champions as the Challenge competition brought the curtain down on the ITTF World Hopes Week in Sheffield.
Photos by Michael Loveder
The Elite Training Center hosted 40 of the world’s best under-12 players – 20 boys and 20 girls – plus their coaches from around the world.
The week started with a training element, spread over five intensive days, led by ITTF head coaches Eva Jeler and Magnus Mallander. Sessions focused on technical progress, physical improvements and consistency.
This was complemented by an engaging strength and conditioning workshop led by Dave Hembrough from Table Tennis England partner Sheffield Hallam University, who later also led a game-based warm-up for the players.
Players and coaches also benefited from a special educational session designed to extend learning beyond the table. Paralympian Martin Perry, ITTF Planet Ambassador, gave an inspiring talk on sustainability and food waste, linking sport with environmental responsibility and community impact.
The week ended with the Challenge competition, where Sebatindira and Neya came out on top.
Sebatinidira defeated USA’s Jacob Kordus in the final and they were joined on stage by defeated semi-finalists Lucas Alexandre (New Zealand) and Chirag Pradhan (USA).
Neya defeated Zhi Yu Eng of Malaysia in the final, with the bronze medals going to Olivia Wang of Canada and Emma Yang of the US.
There were no quarter-final places for the English trio of competitors, who dropped out in the group stage. In the group matches, the young people played four matches, making a draw possible.
Amber Lemmon finished sixth out of nine in Group B of the girls competition. The group was won by Neya.
Lemmon drew 2-2 (3-11, 11-5, 11-10, 8-11) against Patience Anyango of the US and also drew against Karen Looi of New Zealand.
Her best results were a 4-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7) success against Romania’s Teodora Sardeni and a 3-1 (11-2, 11-5, 11-4, 6-11) win over Italy’s Serena Rossati.
Jayden Xuan Chen and Dimitar Dimitrov both finished eighth in their groups. Chen’s best result was 2-2 (11-10, 8-11, 11-9, 5-11) against Filip Arosell of Sweden, while Dimitrov defeated Leo Sayegh of French Polynesia 3-1 (11-7, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8) and drew 2-2 against Kordus, Joshua Samson of Nigeria and Krish Vinodh of India.
As part of ITTF’s talent identification process, players’ performances were assessed not only on their results, but also on their technical skills, training attitude and competitive approach.
The four highest rated players per gender will be selected for the Hopes Team, an accelerated route to the High Performance pathway, unlocking scholarships and additional funded training and competition opportunities.
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