“An excellent year in many respects.” compass managing director Daniel Zwickl is satisfied with what the foundation has achieved in 2024.

Flavien Coton from France once again showed his potential by winning the Europe Youth Top 10 in the U19 category and finishing second in the singles at the European Youth Championships. Italy’s Danilo Faso topped the U15 Europe Youth Top 10 and became the U15 European Team Champion without losing a match during the tournament. Sweden’s Siri Benjegård and Turkey’s Görkem Öcal were crowned U13 European Singles Champions. Spain’s Ladimir Mayorov won the U11 title at Euro Mini Champs and also won a medal in the U13 singles at the European Championships.

“Beside all the great performances throughout the year, our supported players won 4 medals at the World Youth Championships and 7 players were among the top 10 in the World Youth Ranking in December”, Daniel Zwickl continues.

In terms of results, 2024 was a successful year for compass.

“It was also very pleasing to see Germany’s Josi Neumann perform well at the World Youth Championships in Helsingborg after a period of struggling with injuries. Our South American members Steven Moreno (Puerto Rico) and Emanuel Otalvaro (Colombia) also had good results. Emanuel, for example, finished second in the U15 doubles at the WYC with Danilo.”

“We have contributed to the development of all these players, which is very pleasing for us. We have carried out over 15 compass training activities individually or in small groups to enhance the players’ development in collaboration with our expert coaches in various international hubs such as Saarbrücken, Ochsenhausen, Budapest and Eslöv”.

compass held its third summer camp in August, bringing together most of the team compass members together with prospects and high-level sparring partners.

“I was proud of the level we maintained, working with new players, as a group and in close contact with their personal coaches. We also offered education workshop in sustainability, which is very important to us”.

Two new young members were also welcomed during the summer camp: Alyssia Bataille, France, and Arthur Stribeck, Sweden, both born in 2015.

compass has launched a new website and started to use data in a more advanced way, including strengthening its collaboration with Spinsight, which has developed a unique tool to digitally measure spin, speed, placement and trajectory over the net.

“We have also strengthened our collaboration with our partners, the National Associations, in addition, we have started to discuss some interesting projects with ITTF – the International Table Tennis Federation and ETTU, the European Table Tennis Union.”

And perhaps the best at last. 18-year-old Annett Kaufmann, a compass member since the age of ten (until she was 15) and personally coached by compass expert coach Evelyn Simon, became U19 World Singles Champion and caused table tennis fever in Germany by leading the German team to the medal match at the Olympic Games, where she defeated the top 10 ranked Miwa Harimoto in straight games.

“Annett was the first compass alumni to qualify for an Olympic Games and she played for medals in her debut. We are very proud of her and grateful to her team. In addition to Flavien Coton, who became the U15 World Champion in 2022, we are very happy to have contributed to two World Youth Champion titles and several medals at the global level so far”.

“We will continue to strive to help our sponsored athletes develop by providing the necessary resources and capabilities. We will also develop our data-driven approach, emphasising the importance of objective data measurement and implementing this approach in practice. We will increase our focus on injury prevention, recognising the demands and expectations placed on young athletes from an early age. We will strengthen our Code of Ethics and emphasise the importance of child safety in our sport. We will also finalise and begin to implement our Sustainability Action Plan to take care of our planet and our future. In addition, we aim to stay in close contact and communication with the families, personal coaches and all partners of compass. Most importantly, we will remain committed to our mission of supporting talent on their journey to fulfil their potential as athletes. Our motto remains the same: ‘Talents First!’”