TABLE tennis whiz kid Erny Tsao has been selected for the 2012 national men’s squad and the 2012 Olympic shadow team.
Erny, who is 15 and lives in Marsfield, has also been ranked the number one under-15 and number four under-18 male player in 2011 by the sport’s national body, Table Tennis Australia.
“Erny is the youngest, and the only junior from NSW to be selected for the Olympic shadow team,” his father Chin Tong Tsao said.
“As a result, he has been invited to play in the Australian Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Sydney in mid-February.”
Erny, who turns 16 in June, was featured as a Northern District Times Junior Sports Star in August last year and is a finalist for this year’s award, the winner of which will be announced next month.
The left-handed player, who attends James Ruse Agricultural High School in Carlingford, was the youngest Chinese Australian to win the national under-18 mixed doubles championship when he was 14.
Last October, he stunned the table tennis world by beating South Korea’s top junior player to win the Australian under-15 table tennis championships.
Erny trains at the Korean Table Tennis Association Australia in Ryde.
He hopes to become the first Chinese Australian to win Olympic gold.
The 2012 London Olympic Games will be held from July 27 to August 12.
Source: Northern Times