Table tennis players the first to secure place at Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympics

By Gary Anderson

January 24 - Eight of the top youth table tennis players have sealed their place at the upcoming 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Naning to become the first athletes to qualify for the Games.

Four boys and four girls came through the six event qualification route known as the "2013 Road to Nanjing Finals" which culminated in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.

In the girls' event, the top four seeds coming into the competition in Portugal showed why they were ranked so highly as they all made it through to the semi-finals and thus booked their spots in China.

Hong Kong's Doo Hoi Kem, Chinese Taipei's Chiu Ssu-Hua, Romania's Adina Diaconu and Japan's Miyu Kato were the players to make it through to the last four.

Kem defeated Thailand's Tamolwan Khetkhuan in her quarter-final, Chiu overcame Britain's Charlotte Carey, Diaconu proved too strong for Portugal's Natalia Bajor and Kato saw off the challenge of Canadian Anqi Luo.

"I was nervous at the start of the match, I knew that if I could win that I would qualify to play in Nanjing which would be a dream come true," said Kem.

"I was happy that I could hold my nerve and secure my position."

Top seed in the girls competition Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong will be competing in Nanjing later this year ©ITTF

On the boy's side, Hungary's Adam Szudi, David Reitspies of the Czech Republic, Chinese Taipei's Chiu Ssu-Hua and Kilian Ort of Germany secured their spot on the plane to Nanjing.

"I was nervous before the match as there was so much at stake here and that's one of the reasons I lost the first game," said the Hungarian after his quarter-final win over Hugo Calderano of Brazil.

"After that game I was more relaxed, I focused on playing short to his forehand; especially with my service."

Reitspies beat Diego Chen of Portugal in his quarter-final match while Yang overcame Southe Korean Kim Minhyeok with Ort beating Hung Ka Tak of Hong Kong.

There are 28 boys and 28 girls places still up for grabs for Nanjing 2014, with six more per gender being decided by the Road to Nanjing 2014 series, 14 each via continental qualification events, four each through the tripartite system, and three per gender via the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) under-18 world rankings.

Hosts China will also be automatically awarded one spot each for the competition at the Wutaishan Sport Complex in Nanjing, which will see a boys, girls and mixed team event taking place.

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