MALAYSIA HOSTS THE 11TH WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 11th edition of the World Junior Championships will be held in the north Malaysian city of Alor Setar from 23rd October to 1st November 2009. Twenty-two nations will participate in the 10th day event which will have two trophies up for grabs. These are the newly introduced Suhandinata Cup, awarded to the Mixed Team champions and the Bimantara Cup for the Individual events.
Competition for the Suhadinata Trophy will be held between 23-27 October while the Individual championship will begin on 28th October. A total of 109 players will participate in the two competitions.
In the Mixed Team Championship, defending champion China has been top seeded with Malaysia seeded 2. India and Thailand are joint third-fourth seeds. The grouping:
Group W: China, Indonesia, Russia, New Zealand, Macau
Group X: Thailand, Germany, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Denmark, Sri Lanka.
Group Y: India, Canada, Philippines, Chinese Taipei, England, Australia
Group Z: Malaysia, Japan, France, Singapore, Cambodia.
Since the introduction of the World Junior Championships in 1992, Chinese players have dominated. They were overwhelming superior in the Individual Championship while holding advantage over the rest of the world in the Mixed Team event.
China won the inaugural Mixed Team tournament in 2004 but lost the title to Korea two years later. The Chinese were again champions in 2007 and 2008. As in all previous years, they will continue to start firm favourites in Alor Setar this year. The Mixed Team event is decided over five matches – Boys’ Singles and Doubles, Girls’ Singles and Doubles and a Mixed Doubles.
In Individual Events, China had been somewhat dominated in the Boys Singles, Girls’ Doubles and the Mixed Event. In the other disciplines there had been a reasonable sharing of the titles.
In Boys Singles, except for a blip in 2006 when Korean Hong Ji-Hoon won the title, Chinese players won in all other years. Among the champions were some famous names - Sun Jun, Chen Gang, Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin.
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