A young 7-year-old tennis prodigy has stolen the show at the 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships with his skill.
Ylyas Allanazarov of Turkmenistan
Ylyas Allanazarov of Turkmenistan has become very noticeable at the 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, even before his competition begins.
When most of his peers are busy playing, the seven-year-old Allanazarov is getting himself ready to compete against the finest players in the world.
The youngest participant of the world championships is the fourth member of his team which hopes to win promotion from Division Four, table tennis' lowest international tier, at the tournament.
Born in 2008, Allanazarov started to play table tennis early in 2014. His daily schedule features five hours of school study in the morning and three hours of table tennis training, with only Mondays off.
Despite his poor spoken English, Allanazarov said that his idol is China's Zhang Jike, the 2012 London Olympic gold medalist.
His father Agamvrat, president of Turkmenistan's table tennis federation, was optimistic about his son.
"Table tennis is our life," Agamvrat told the International Table Tennis Federation website. "My family lives, eats, and breathes table tennis everyday. I want my son to do well in the game. I will keep supporting him always." Endit
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