Busy start to ITTF World Hopes Week in Sheffield

October 15, 2025 | Paul Stimpson

Young English trio Jayden Xuan Chen, Dimitar Dimitrov and Amber Lemmon (pictured above) have joined 37 of the worldâ€s best 12-year-olds at ITTF World Hopes Week at the Elite Training Centre in Sheffield.

The players and their coaches arrived from all over the world on Sunday and started training on Monday morning with a welcome from the ITTF lead coaches.

The first exercise was a ‘top table†to establish the respective levels of the players and they have also undergone multiball training, with all the coaches supporting, including GB talent coaches who are also gaining experience during the week.

Dave Hembrough from our sports science partners Sheffield Hallam University has delivered a coach development session which also helped to break down language barriers and foster connections between the different nationalities. Dave will deliver a player session on Thursday.

Coach Ben Barlow has been asked to support the warm-ups with the players every day, while the delegations have had free time on Wednesday afternoon to look around the city.

Further training and education sessions will take place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning, building up to the Challenge event on Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Players, officials and sparring partners prepare for ITTF World Hopes Week

The coaches from around the world

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