A future rock-star of Table Tennis ; Adriana Diaz from Puerto Rico.
The ITTF World Hopes Week in Vienna , and day three of the five-day training camp. Head coach Dejan Papic brought out the test tournament sheet and run a two-hour session on , I would say critical points under pressure. With the score set at 8-8 the players were thrown into two progressive knock out draws .
The Young Hopes, more than seventy of them was not slow to respond to the challenge. If the fire, the good rallies and the energy during the upcoming tournament weekend will be anything close to what we saw in today’s session, observers as well as participating coaches are in for a real treat come Saturday and Sunday.
Now.. Who won the tests , you may ask ?
In the girls test, the Puerto Rico phenom , ten-year old Adriana Diaz came out on top. She also did it in convincing style , showcasing an improved forehand top spin and an aggressive attacking mode that overpowered her all her opponents in the first draw.
The boys also played two test tournaments from 8-8 , best of five games. Much to the surprise of the attending coaches, both “events” had the same winner ; Kunal Chodri from the USA. The young eleven year old Californian certainly impressed the gallery with a , for his age a nice blend of power and smartness.
Another two days of training camp now awaits the Hopes players before the official two-day competition ; The ITTF World Hopes Challenge opens on Saturday.
