Westchester TTC Hosts the World's Best Youth in the World Table Tennis Youth Contender Competition

by Warren Rosenberg, MetroSports Magazine June 30, 2024

The World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Contender tournament held four days of competition in Westchester County at the Westchester Table Tennis Center in Pleasantville, NY.

Operating under the auspices of the International Table Tennis Federation, (ITTF) the WTT Youth Contender series hosts competitions around the world with current or upcoming contests taking place in Almaty Kazakhstan, Amman Jordan, Bangkok Thailand; Benghazi Libya’, Hong Kong China, Sulaymaniyah Iraq, and Tunis Tunisia to name just a few.

Above: The U19 Mixed Doubles Quarterfinal with Edmarie Leon and Jerall Montijo of Puerto Rico (foreground) taking on and defeating Canada's Louise Fan and Zong Gang Li. Photo credit - Warren Rosenberg www.nyspg.com

Scheduled to compete in the Westchester event held on June 25-28, 2024, were 11 through 19 year old established and upcoming table tennis prodigies from the United States, Australia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Luxembourg, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Ukraine and Viet Nam.

After four days of preliminary competition and championship matches, the following athletes claimed championship titles in their final matches..

U19 Boys Singles Yu-An Chang of Taipei defeated Austraila’s Aditya Sareen, 3-0

U19 Girls Singles Kheith Cruz of the Philippines defeated the USA’s Lichen Chen, 3-1

U19 Mixed Doubles  The team of Nandan Naresh and Rachel Wang, USA, defeated the team of Bosman Botha (USA) and Kheith Cruz of the Philippines, 3-2                                          

U17 Boys Singles             Hao-Jen Yang from Taipei defeated Australia’s Aditya Sareen, 3-0

U17 Girls Singles              Amoolya Menon of the USA defeated USA’s Rachel Wang, 3-2

U15 Boys Singles             Charles Shen of the USA defeated country mate Kevin Doyle, 3-1

U15 Girls Singles              Mandy Yu of the USA defeated Valentina Davila of Puerto Rico, 3-1.

U15 Mixed Doubles William Feng and Mandy Yu of the USA defeated the team of Jaden Jia and Abigail Yu                                          

U13 Boys Singles             Jaden Jia of the USA defeated USA’s Liren Zhang, 3-2

U13 Girls Singles              Abigail Yu of the USA defeated USA’s Isabella Luo, 3-1

U11 Boys Singles             Saivaishnav Senthilkumar of the USA defeated USA’s Baron Zhang, 3-2

U11 Girls Singles              Cindy Zhu of Canada defeated the USA’s Isabella Joseph, 3-0

Above: Girls U13 Singles Champion, Abigail Yu of the USA. Photo credit - Warren Rosenberg www.nyspg.com Below: Boys U19 Singles Champion, Yu-An Chang of Taipei. Photo credit - Warren Rosenberg www.nyspg.com

World Table Tennis is the commercial and events arm of the ITTF as look to become the “global table tennis commercial leader by transforming the table tennis experience and how it is delivered internationally through world-class entertainment events, engaging fan-centric content and enhancements to ensure table tennis will have a profound impact on everyone’s lives worldwide.”

Above: Girls U17 Singles Champion, Amoolya Menon of the USA. Photo credit - Warren Rosenberg www.nyspg.com

Below: Girls U19 Singles Champion,  Kheith Cruz of the Philippines. Photo credit - Warren Rosenberg www.nyspg.com

The Westchester Table Tennis Center is one of the country’s premier venues for the sport. Since its opening in 2011, the WTTC has hosted numerous tournaments including those of the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association, International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) North America Cup, New York State Table Tennis Championships, and has hosted dozens of Olympic competitors and National Team members from countries around the world.

Above: Doan Kien Tan Nguyen, Boys U17 competitor from Viet Nam. Photo credit - Warren Rosenberg www.nyspg.com