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Seventeen
year old Trent Carter from
Melbourne
, a city renowned for sport, won the Boys’ Singles title at the
Venezuelan Junior Open on Monday 5th March 2007.
In so doing he became the first ever Australian to win an ITTF World
Junior Circuit title.
Furthermore, at no stage of the event was he extended the full distance
and on the final day of play in
Valencia
he was in scintillating form.
In the
semi-finals he beat Paul Lavergne of France 11-8, 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-2
before accounting for Brazil’s, Humberto Manhani, in the final 11-4,
9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8.
The
Brazilian had reached the semi-final stage experiencing few problems but
booking his place in the last round was full of difficulties. He
succeeded but only just, beating the
Dominican Republic
’s Juan Antonio Vila in a close seven game duel. Humberto Manhani won
11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 12-10, 3-11, 7-11, 11-6.
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Tough
“The semi-final was a really tough match”, explained Trent Carter who
had been a member of the Australian team alongside Kyle Davis and Robbie
Frank at the 4th ITTD World Junior Championships in Cairo in December
2006, the team gaining a very creditable tenth place.
Backhand
Caused Problems
“Paul was good attacking when the ball was half long”, continued the
delighted Australian. “I think one of the main reasons why I won is that
he had problems when I attacked with the backhand.”
Trent Carter’s backhand is rather different to most, he uses medium
length pimples and the ball travels with a low trajectory and minimal
topspin, timing the response posed the Frenchman problems.
Pressure
“In the final I tried to keep my services short and I think Humberto
felt the pressure”, continued Trent Carter. “Throughout both the
semi-final and final I felt I served well, really well.”
Memorable
Week
The Australian most certainly had experienced the week of his life.
At beginning of the programme, at ITTF Elite Training Camp that preceded
the tournament, he’d advised the 2003 Men’s Singles World Champion,
Werner Schlager, how to throw a boomerang. At the end of the week he’d
most certainly benefited from the advice given by Werner Schlager on how
to hit a table tennis ball so that it didn’t come back!
Well
Prepared
“Most definitely I was really well prepared for this tournament”, said
Trent Carter. “The training camp was a tremendous help, I was able to
practise with good players, that plus the advice really helped.”
It was a day, a week to remember in the life of Trent Carter. “I’m so
excited”, he admitted with a smile beaming across his face; he’d every
right to be excited.
History
Trent Carter created a piece of Australian sporting history; he was the
first Australian to win an ITTF World Junior Circuit Boys’ Singles title
and certainly the first who had been a World Junior Boomerang Throwing
champion.
In the annals of sport, Trent Carter is unique; there is only one Trent
Carter!
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