Leonardo Koh Shen Yeah has his eye on the Under-18 boys category title at the Feb 28-March 2 Brunei Junior Table Tennis Championships 2014.
One of the players under the national training scheme, Leonardo Koh defeated Wafi Suhardi 9-11, 5-11, 13-11, 11-4, 11-9 to win the Under-15 boys' singles title during the last edition of the tournament last year - with his younger brother Jason Koh Hong Yeah taking one of the two bronze medals as a losing semi-finalist.
"I hope I will be able to win the Under-18 category," said Leonardo Koh in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.
"I have been preparing hard for this tournament and I am currently training four times a week.
"I must keep my good form in this tournament because we are also preparing for a bigger tournament, the SEATTA (Southeast Asian Table Tennis Association Junior Championship), which will be held in Brunei in July," he added.
Asked on who will be his challenger in the Under-18 category, the 16-year-old said he will have to watch out for two players.
"Wafi is a very good player, but my brother Jason will also be competing in category so it will be very competitive this year," said Leonardo.
Wafi won two gold medals last year after clinching the Under-21 boys' singles and doubles titles in the last edition of the tournament.
Leonardo also won silver in the Double Boys category last year.
Partnering Asyrani Suhardi, the duo lost 7-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7 to Wafi and Jason.
Leonardo said he wants to partner his brother in the Double Boys category this year, and he hopes they will be able to challenge for the title.
"I will be joining Double Boys category too, and for this year I want to partner my brother in the category," said Leonardo.
"But the thing, is I will partner Asyrani at the SEATTA in July while my brother will partner Wafi, so it is still yet to be decided who is going to be my partner.
"It is up to our coaches," he added.
Jason, 14, will be competing in two categories this year, the Under-15 and Double Boys Category - and he want to win them both.
"I was informed that players are only allowed to compete in their age group in the tournament this year, and I will be competing in two tournaments, and I want to win all of them ," he said.
Organised by the Brunei Amateur Table Tennis Association (BATTA) in cooperation with the Department of Youth and Sports, the tournament will be held at the Multipurpose Hall of the Menglait Sports Complex.
The three-day event will be contested in accordance with International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rules.
There will be three age categories contested at the meet; Under-18 (born in or after 1996), Under-15 (born in or after 1999) and Under-12 (born in or after 2002).
The Under-18 category will have all events: Boys and Girls Singles, Boys and Girls Doubles and Mixed Doubles.
Under-15 paddlers can compete in Singles and Mixed Doubles while the Under-12 category will only feature the Singles event.
Players are only allowed to compete in their age group.
Registration fee is set at $3 for the singles event and $5 for the doubles event.
Entry forms can be obtained from BATTA secretary general Anthony Liew by contacting 8781173 or emailing batta78@gmail.com.
Completed forms and entry fees are to be handed in no later than 8pm on February 21. The draw will be held at the competition venue right after.
The first stage of the Singles competition will be contested in the round-robin format in a best of three series.
The second stage will be a knockout format in a best of five series
