Nine-year-old Ylyas loses his match but enjoys his second table tennis worlds

DUSSELDORF, Germany, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Turkmenistan's Ylyas Llanazarov, the youngest player at the World Table Tennis Championship aged only 9, lost his match here on Tuesday but said he was not disappointed.

Ylyas paired with Didar Shaymanov in the first round of the men's doubles preliminary rounds, lost to Philippines' Richard Gonzales and Mari Jann Nayre 11-8, 11-5, 11-8.

"This was a lot of fun, especially playing the first match on my birthday," the boy said. "I really want to improve my game further. I just want to keep playing more and more."

It was the second time that Ylyas has played at the table tennis worlds following his debut at the 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championship in Kuala Lumpur, when he was also the youngest participant at seven years of age.

Talking about the game, he said, "My backhand is really good. Right now my blocking is strong, but I also want to get better with attack.

"My favorite player is Zhang Jike, my father takes videos of him and we watch his matches all the time at home. I love to watch him play."

His father Agamyrat, who is accompanying Ylyas at Dusseldorf, said that Ylyas will improve his technique and physical fitness and will not play many tournaments.

"He is quite lean at the moment, to compete at the world level he needs to build up muscle and gain more strength."

He added, "I am always supporting Ylyas for anything that he needs for his training. I just want him to be the best."