WTT Youth Contender Tunis 2025:
Iranian prodigies star with triple boys’ singles golds
Iranian table tennis young guns stole the show at the WTT Youth Contender Tunis, bagging three singles gold medals across different boys’ age classes.
On Thursday, Faraz Shakiba, having beaten opponents from Bulgaria, Sweden, and France en route to the final, capped off a glittering campaign for the country in the Tunisian capital by defeating Italian Francesco Trevisan 3-1 (11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7) for the under-15 prize.
World No. 17 Benyamin Faraji, a world youth bronze medalist last November, got off to a slow start in the U17 final against Austrian Julian Rzihauschek, suffering a 11-3 loss in the first game, but fought hard to win 13-11 and restore parity before 11-6 and 11-7 wins in the third and fourth games secured yet another international medal for the Iranian.
Nikan Shirvani, the youngest of the Iranian trio, also had to come from behind to beat Andya Mohammed of Iraq – number seven in the latest ITTF World Ranking of the age category – 3-1 (11-5, 12-10, 11-6, 11-9) in the final showpiece of the under-11 contests at El Menzah Sport Palace.