New Zealand’s Eli Ho has made history, becoming the first player from Oceania to win the ITTF World Hopes Challenge. On his way to claiming gold in the Boy’s Singles event, Ho won multiple matches including against players from Bulgaria, Italy and Spain. Also joining Ho on duty were compatriot Angel Han and Australia’s Alice Xia. Both Han and Xia performed admirably, finishing in 5th and 6th positions respectively in the Girl’s Singles event.
Ho’s gold medal run came at the end of a very productive 2025 ITTF World Hopes Week & Challenge, held in Paraguay from 1-7 November. More than 30 athletes from all over the world, who are 12 years of age or younger, came together for intensive training and education sessions, followed by the competition on the final day. The event also serves as an excellent development opportunity for coaches, with New Zealand’s coaches being Liting Guo and Roger Wang, while Paralympic Champion Lina Lei was coaching for Australia.
Ho and Xia were present in Paraguay by virtue of winning the ITTF-Oceania Hopes Challenge in Melbourne in September, while Han received an ITTF Wild Card entry following her runner-up result at the ITTF-Oceania Hopes Challenge.
ITTF-Oceania congratulates Eli, Alice and Angel for flying the Oceania flag on the global stage with distinction. ITTF-Oceania acknowledges the time and effort that both Table Tennis New Zealand and Table Tennis Australia have put into building up their Hopes programs at national level in recent years and we look forward to working with all Oceania members to build up Hopes programs in 2025 and beyond.
ITTF-Oceania thanks ITTF for driving and running the Hopes Program globally. This is a crucial talent ID initiative with multiple players over many years using it as a springboard to greater heights at senior level. ITTF-Oceania looks forward to continuing to contribute to the success of the ITTF Hopes Program in the years ahead.