tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post7123482418584170290..comments2024-03-26T09:23:26.937-04:00Comments on ZooTennis: Kostyuk, Lopatetska Give Ukraine Two Junior Orange Bowl Titles; Argentina's Tirante and China's Wang Capture Boys ChampionshipsColette Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14905215531491180014noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-67475974557329340732015-12-27T11:33:54.257-05:002015-12-27T11:33:54.257-05:00Junior Tennis Fairness,
I have no idea how old Xi...Junior Tennis Fairness,<br /><br />I have no idea how old Xiaofei Wang actually is. Maybe he's 12, maybe he's 13. The only reason I can think for the confusion in the articles (other than actually lying about his age) is that in some Asian countries, children are considered '1' year old at birth, making them a year older than they would be in America. The only way to properly identify the age would be to find out the birth year...which may/may not have been tampered with.abcnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-18443339717513698422015-12-24T09:53:04.035-05:002015-12-24T09:53:04.035-05:00I have to agree about the age cheating, while I am...I have to agree about the age cheating, while I am not familiar with cases in point, it happens here in US as well, and many of offending players play for USTA yet were born in another country. You have a 16 year old with junior ITF profile claiming 16, and the kid has Davis Cup profile claiming 18 years old but for another country? Which one is right? And how many kids have been 12 for 4 years now? Now, to be honest some countries have a funny way of counting years, like you are 12 but in your 13th year, so they might say you are 13 in a paper. From some of the pictures on zootennis, I am very surprised how mature some of 14s Orange Bowl boys look.Emnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-85572287083010813342015-12-23T18:10:16.873-05:002015-12-23T18:10:16.873-05:00For what it is worth, at some point the Orange Bow...<br />For what it is worth, at some point the Orange Bowl has got to do more to verify the true age of international players other than accepting at face value a passport or some other form of identification that is itself likely predicated on a manipulated date of birth. This "looking the other way" mentality - no doubt tolerated in order to attract international players to continue to play the Orange Bowl without undue interference or scrutiny -- is antithetical to the purpose of grouping players by age in junior tennis so that like age players can test their skills against one another. If I wanted to have my 12 year play a 13 or 14 year old, which he does already, I can do that any time. The point is that he wants to determine where he stands vis-à-vis other like 12 year olds from other countries, not where he stands against players from other countries who claim to be 12 but are really 13 or 14. Not only do many international junior players not look their stated age to any casual observer, the internet is replete with information contradicting their "represented age" as "presented to" Orange Bowl officials. The parents of American juniors spend a lot of time, money and effort to participate in this fantastic tournament, and all we ask for is a level and fair playing field where a 12 year American boy is not being matched up against an international player who is very likely 13 or 14, or even older, and is thus, unfairly physically advantaged. For example, as to the Boys 12s winner from China, not only does he not objectively or physically look like a 12 year old, he is stated to be 13 (or a "teenager") in various publicly available articles, which, if true, is simply not fair to anyone else in the tournament:<br /><br />See e.g., <br /><br />http://www.hautetime.com/longines-future-aces-2015-uncovers-raw-talent/65188/<br />("The wind has been hitting the ground hard all morning, sweeping the clay off the ground. Xiaofei Wang, 13, must adjust his serve accordingly if he stands a chance of winning the first point of the match.")<br /><br />http://www.china.org.cn/sports/2015-05/30/content_35701488.htm<br />(Chinese publication noting that "Chinese teenager Wang Xiaofei came out the winner of this year's Future Tennis Aces tournament on Saturday after beating Briton Jack Pinnington-Jones in straight sets.)<br /><br /><br />Obviously, to succeed as a professional tennis player, you need to be prepared to play and beat everyone at some point, but not when you are 12 and you are playing a tournament where you expect your opponent to be 12 (or younger) and your entry into that tournament is premised on that age equality.<br /><br />Junior Tennis Fairnessnoreply@blogger.com