U19 to U11 singles, mixed doubles, and more over four days, with 400 participants from 19 countries

The 2025 WTT Youth Contender Gangneung International Table Tennis Tournament (WTT Youth Contender Gangneung 2025 Presented by SeAH) was launched on the 19th at the Gangneung Arena in Gangwon Province.

This tournament is an international tour event for youth athletes organized by World Table Tennis (WTT), which falls under the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). It is the third WTT Youth Series held in Korea following the tournaments in Cheongyang in August 2023 and in Gangneung in May last year. Like last year, SeAH is the presenting partner, and the Korea Table Tennis Association (Chairman Lee Tae-seong) is in charge, with support from Gangwon Province, Gangneung City, Axiom, and Mizuno.

The WTT Youth Contender can be seen as similar to the previous transfer circuit that was directly organized by the ITTF. Even after restructuring the Contender Series, WTT has been holding numerous youth tournaments, and Korean table tennis is actively participating in this trend. The hosting of the Contender in Korea is particularly significant in that it allows more athletes to gain international experience.

Unlike the previous circuits that simply distinguished between junior and cadet levels, the Contender provides opportunities to a much larger number of athletes through age classifications segmented from U11 to U19. Even elementary-level Hope players are given practical opportunities. In this tournament, taking place over four days until the 22nd, about 400 players from a total of 19 countries, mainly table tennis powerhouses such as Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, are competing. Of course, promising Korean athletes of a wide age range have also begun competing.

The tournament held at the same venue last year received praise for its smooth operation, but the performance of Korean players was not very satisfactory. They were evaluated as relatively underperforming compared to Japan, which swept all women's categories, and Taiwan, which won the most attention by claiming the U19 men's singles title.

With victories in two categories, men's U15 (Lee Seung-soo) and U11 (Park Chan-yong), there was some satisfaction. However, the lack of experience before the failure to win was pointed out as the cause of the overall underperformance, leaving a sense of regret. This is why promising Korean athletes represented by Lee Jeong-mok (Daejeon Dongsan High School), Ma Young-min (Junggok Middle School), Yoo Ye-rin (Hwaseong City Corporation), and Choi Na-hyun (Hosudon High School) are burning with the will to aim for higher results. Athletes who have been steadily participating in Youth Contender tournaments hosted in various countries are looking to turn things around at this second Youth Contender in Gangneung.

This tournament is scheduled to run for four days until the 22nd. The qualifiers for the men’s and women’s U13 and U17 categories began on the 19th, with the finals taking place immediately from the 20th. The finals for U13 and U17 men's and women's singles will conclude on the 20th, followed by U15 and U19 mixed doubles on the 21st, and U11, U15, and U19 men's and women's singles finals on the 22nd.

Attendance at this tournament is free. Visitors can directly witness the potential of the future stars of table tennis at the Gangneung Arena, an oval-shaped gym suitable for table tennis viewing. Gangneung City, also the host city for the 2026 World Masters Table Tennis Championships, offers various services to enhance viewing convenience. Live streams are also available through WTT Youtube (World Table Tennis).

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