Table tennis ace eyed for YOG

Filipino-Japanese Rizumu Ono, a 12-year-old prodigy who played in the recent World Table Tennis Championship in Germany, did not make the cut for this year’s Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur.

But Tom Carrasco, a member of the Philippine Olympic Committee-Philippine Sports Commission joint selection group, wants Ono for next year’s Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Argentina.

“She’s too young,” said Carrasco. “She would be better off playing in the YOG.”

Ono’s mother, Sally Lozares-Ono, through table tennis chair, Jay Omila recently offered her daughter to play for the national team. But Ono failed to go through the proper selection process.

Ono nearly defeated six-time Olympian Olufunke Oshonaike of Nigeria before losing to the perennial champion in six sets.