NSW JUNIOR PLAYER CROWNS WORLD TABLE TENNIS YOUTH TITLE IN ITALY

NSW Junior player Yangzi Liu achieved a significant milestone in her career on 30 Oct 2021. Yangzi stood out from the crowd as she took home her first World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Series title - U19 Girls Singles Champion at 2021 WTT Youth Contender Lignano, Italy.                        

National Head Coach John Murphy and Yangzi Liu - 2021 WTT Youth Contender Lignano, Italy

Negotiating the group stage without dropping a game, the Australian representative from New South Wales extended her perfect run in the main draw. The U19 Girls Singles crown was awarded to Yangzi Liu following her excellent day at Bella Italia EFA Village Sports Hall on 30 Oct 2021. The victory sees Yangzi become the first Australian female player to claim a WTT Youth Series gold medal.

                                 2021 WTT Youth Contender Lignano, Italy, 24-30 Oct 2021

WTT is gearing up to set the stage alight with its arrival in 2021 and it’s not just the senior stars who are set to benefit. WTT aims to take the sport of table tennis in an exciting and dynamic direction, putting the world’s biggest stars front and center for all to admire, and is also set to shake up the sport in the junior structure to replace the ITTF World Junior Circuit which has played a significant role in guiding some of today’s most eye-catching talents to the very top.

The new WTT Youth Series will hand the next generation of table tennis talents the perfect stage to develop and bring all closer to the future of table tennis! The new structure will be broken down into two tiers: WTT Youth Contenders and WTT Youth Star Contenders and aligns the WTT Youth Series to create a whole sport playing pathway. The WTT Youth series will include the following age categories: U11, U13, U15, U17 and U19.

                                             World Table Tennis Youth Series                  

The journey for table tennis players begins with the WTT Youth Contenders, which will open the playing field to all young, up-and-coming athletes. Up to 30 events per year are being targeted, providing plenty of opportunity for players to earn World Ranking points along the way. “It was a challenging 2021 but we believe we will have a bright 2022,” said Matt Pound, WTT Managing Director.

“We are on the right track,” said Steve Dainton, ITTF Group CEO and WTT Director. “When you do things professionally with support from reputed persons and companies, when you are transparent and open about your plans and when you work really, really hard to try and achieve the goals, then usually things will come out well in the end. This is where I believe we are at now, ready again to achieve and deliver on the objectives, strategies, and reasons why we set up WTT in the first place.”

Vice President of TTNSW, Ted Davis said “TTNSW congratulates the rising Australian stars Yangzi Liu (NSW)-Gold Medallist of U19 Girls Singles, Nicholas Lum  (VIC)-Gold Medallist  of U17 Boys Singles and Finn Luu (VIC)-Bronze Medallist of U17 Boys Singles for their great achievements at 2021 WTT Youth Contender Lignano, Italy. TTNSW wishes their good luck in the coming competitions at 2021 WTT Youth Contender Senec, Slovak Republic from 1 to 7 Nov 2021.

                               2021 WTT Youth Contender Lignano, Italy, 24 - 30 Oct 2021

David Lee and Michael Li wish to gratefully acknowledge Yangzi Liu, Table Tennis NSW, Table Tennis Australia, ITTF and World Table Tennis.