[floatr][/floatr]ITTF: The New Face of Japan Captures the Hearts on the Opening Day in Geelong
Japan made a successful start in their quest for medals on the first day of the play at the Australian Junior Open in Geelong on Wednesday 5th July 2006. The country's first teams, in both the Boys' and Girls' Team event, remained unbeaten...Glenn Tepper, ITTF Development Manager... is most certainly impressed by the Japanese contingent. "Japan is certainly making a huge impact worldwide on the junior scene", he said. "They won the Boys' Team title at the World Junior Championships in 2005 with their star players Jun Mizutani, Seiya Kishikawa and Taku Takakiwa; also they have the winner of the Boys' Singles event at the World Cadet Challenge, Kenta Matsudaira who two weeks ago beat Michael Maze, the man ranked twenty-two in the world!" The efforts of Matsudaira at the ITTF Pro Tour tournament in Kunshan, China were simply staggering; he played with a maturity beyond his tender years...more...
Not to be confused with this bloke.