<Herald>Thirteen-year-old Ho youngest NZ champ

Herald on Sunday
28-09-2025

Thirteen-year-old Ho youngest NZ champ

Some of the best-known names in New Zealand table tennis continue to excel at the national championships but two teenagers claimed the main titles in Auckland this week.

Thirteen-year-old Eli Ho became the youngest men’s singles winner in the history of the New Zealand Open Championships, beating 17-year-old Timothy Choi 4-3 in a final that went the distance.

“It feels amazing to win my first New Zealand Open title,” said Ho.
“I knew it was going to be tough against some of the country’s best players and the final was one of the hardest matches I’ve ever played.
I just tried to stay focused on every point. To come through and make a bit of history at the same time is special.”

Ho has already experienced success at international level, last year winning the ITTF World Hopes Week Challenge boys’ singles title.

The men’s field included 32-year-old Teng Teng Liu, a seven-time champion who reached the semi-finals, and 61-year-old Barry Griffiths, an eight-time national singles title holder who contested the 1988 Seoul Olympics and reached the round of 16 this week.

The women’s singles was won by 19-year-old Hannah Li, who beat Gina Liu 4-0 in the final after beating 63-year-old Li Chunli in the semifinals.
Li competed at four Olympics, the first at Barcelona in 1992, and won four medals aged 40 when table tennis was introduced to the Commonwealth Games at Manchester in
2002. These remain the only table tennis medals New Zealand has won at the Commonwealth Games.

The New Zealand Open ChampionShips featured 22 events across team, singles, doubles and mixed doubles categories, attracting more than 135 teams and 320 singles and doubles entries.

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On Sunday, September 28, 2025, the Herald reported that thirteen-year-old Ho became the youngest champion of the New Zealand table tennis championships, marking a significant achievement in the country’s sporting history.

Eli Ho’s victory stands out both for his youth and for his impressive performance against older competitors, drawing widespread attention within the national sports community and earning recognition as a rising star in table tennis. This accomplishment is celebrated not only for its record-setting nature but also for inspiring young athletes across New Zealand to pursue excellence in competitive sports.