World ranking points are up for grabs again in the Youth Contender Darwin event from 28th September to 1st October at Marrara Indoor Stadium. The event was a success last year with Chinese Taipei, Singapore and Australia winning the most medals. Last year, Australian players medalled in all events except <13 & <15 girls singles, winning Gold in <13 boys singles and Silver in <11, <13 and <19 boys singles. This year, China, Singapore and Malaysia have already entered teams with 10 days still to go before the entry deadline. We also expect teams from India, Hong Kong, Macau, New Zealand and Thailand, as well as players from other countries. After securing Silver behind China in the November 2022 World Junior Championships, the Australian team will be keen to show that it was not just good fortune. Local Darwin girl Renee Li will be hoping to play again this year. In the 2022 event, she secured a quarter final place in the <11 girls singles in a hot field which included the WR 1. Matches on Table 1 will be live-streamed through YouTube for the duration of the event and available on the World Table Tennis App. The Tournament will be preceded by an international training camp from 22nd to 26th September, also in Marrara Indoor Stadium. The priority focus for the camp is on Australia and SE Asia, with places offered to players ranked in in the top 20 (WR) in the first instance. From 3rd to 8th October the Oceania Hopes Challenge will also be held at Marrara Indoor Stadium. This is a 5 day training camp followed by a 1 day tournament for <11 year olds from the Oceania region.