compass-supported Jeffrey Wei won his second Youth Contender singles title when the 13-year-old German player defeated Simon Clin of France in the U13 final in Szombathely, Hungary.

It was a thrilling final, with Jeffrey showing stronger nerves to finally win the fifth and decisive game 11:8. Danilo Faso also grabbed a title in the U17 event.

“This is a very good achievement by Jeffrey,” commented compass expert coach Oliver Alke. “It’s an especially good achievement mentally, since Jeffrey lost another final to Clin at the WTT in Luxembourg in September this year. Now he’s had his revenge, which he’s been longing for ever since the former loss.”

Jeffrey started the knockout stage by defeating Lavi Natishanski of Israel (3:1) and Noah Lebrasser of France (3:1). He then beat Reah Krol of Israel 3:1 in the quarterfinal and Tim Escudier of France 3:2 in the semifinal. Jeffrey lost the first game 2:11, but managed to turn it around in the second and third games, winning 11:5 and 13:11 respectively. The fourth game went to Clin, 9:11, but Jeffrey was stronger in the fifth and final game, winning 11:8.

Danilo Faso from Italy, who is supported by compass, also won a title in Hungary. In the U17 category, the 15-year-old defeated the host nation’s Lenard Szabo in straight games in the second round of the knockout stage. Danilo then went on to defeat Lukas Wang of Germany 3:0, 13-year-old Chinese player Cui Zijun 3:1 and Zhou Kaien of China 3:2 (12:10 in the decider). Finally, in the final, he beat Ukraine’s talented defender Nazar Soiodyk, 17, in straight fast games – 11:3, 11:8, 11:2!

“I am very satisfied with my performance,” said Danilo after the victory. “I played good table tennis, and I’m glad I defeated two Chinese players so close to the World Youth Championships, which will be held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, from 23rd to 30th November. It’s perfect preparation!”

Ladimir Mayorov, the reigning U13 European singles champion, reached the quarterfinals of the U15 event. He overcame Hungary’s Lenard Szabo 11:7 in the fifth game in the round of 16, but then lost 1:3 to Min Ming of China, who is one year older than Ladimir.

Three WTT Youth Contender events took place in November. The first took place in Senec, Slovakia, and the second in Lignano, Italy. In Senec, compass-supported Adela Brhelová from the Czechia played impressively in the U13 event. She made it all the way to the finals after defeating Gu Xintian of Singapore (3:0), Bianca Bascones of Slovakia (3:1), and Barbora Gaussardo of Slovakia (3:2) in the semifinal, having been 0:2 down. Afterwards in the final, she lost to Bianca Borges of Brazil 1:3.

In the U15 category, where the players were up to three years older than her, Adela reached the top eight, defeating Europe’s number three in the category, Siri Benjegard, with a score of 3:1, before losing to Lisa Zhao of France in straight games.

Siri Benjegard performed well in the U17 event in Lignano, reaching the top four after overcoming Laura Alba Pinna of Italy (3:1), Irina Gimeno of Spain (3:0) and Veronika Polakova of Slovakia (3:2), who is ranked seventh in Europe in the U17 category. In the semifinal, Siri faced Constantina Psihogios, the number 56 in the world among seniors and the eventual winner of the event, and lost in four games.

Danilo Faso also performed well in Lignano, reaching the semifinal of the U17 singles event. He won against an Israeli and an Italian compatriot before encountering the 13-year-old Chinese player Zhou Kaien, winning 11:9 in the deciding game. In the quarterfinals, Danilo defeated Rija Warin of France in four games, but his winning streak ended in the semifinals when he lost to Frenchman Nathan Pilard in the fifth and decisive game, 11:8.

compass-supported U13 player Jean Marin from France made it to the top eight in the U15 event, achieving victories against Jake Davidson from England and two of his compatriots, Tim Escudier and Raphael Cammas, in straight games. In the quarterfinal, Jean lost to China’s Li Shangjun 2:3. He was down 0:2, turned it around to 2:2, but lost the final game 7:11.