There is a new world ranking; for the Under 15 age group there are 218 boys and 184 girls appearing in this first ever ITTF World Cadet Ranking.
The introduction of a ranking for the youngest age category is ideal to detect new talents and is crucial for the qualification process of the first Youth Olympic Games to be held in 2010.
Furthermore, the new innovation has been well received by Mikael Andersson and Judit Farago.
"Important for the Talent Identification Process"
ITTF Global Junior Programme Manager Mikael Andersson: "To introduce the U 15 ranking is important for the ITTF talent identification process. We will launch several activities targeting international participation for the youngest age categories and from that standpoint it also becomes important to introduce the ranking element. This is purely there to motivate and inspire young players."
Judit Farago Expects another Success Story
"Cadet events will be more important for sure due to the fact that World Ranking points can be collected at these events. From next year on, all events (Team, Doubles, Singles for Juniors and Cadets) on the ITTF Junior Circuit will belong to the authorisation of the ITTF and will follow ITTF rules.
The first Youth Olympic Games in 2010 involves mainly players who are in their cadet age at the moment and results at international tournaments in the qualification process will count significantly."
Furthermore the ITTF Competition Director expects a rising interest in cadet events. "At the beginning I expect growing interest to organise cadet tournaments, with increasing participation and demand for improving and standardising the level of organisation. Exactly the same happened with the "success" story of the ITTF Junior Circuit, which started in 2002 with four events, reaching a record number of 27 in 2009."
Source: www.ittf.com
