"I'm eighteen and I don't know what I want," lamented Alice Cooper in his 1970 hit, "I'm Eighteen." Despite sharing the titular tally of years, Germany's Kay Stumper (pictured) suffers from no such indecisiveness. To the contrary, the two-time European Youth Top 10 champion sees a path clearly before him. Currently ranked #1,049 in the world, Stumper can see 1,048 steps between himself and his goal. Growing up in Germany, Stumper is certainly aware of the giant shoes he must fill. All-time German great Timo Boll first reached world #1 in 2003, the year after Stumper was born. Boll again attained apex predator status in 2011 and 2018, and at 40 years of age remains a perennial medal threat at world #11. At this weekend's installment of the popular Düsseldorf Masters tournament series, Stumper proved that he is well on his way to entering an equally elite echelon. While established pros Anton Källberg and Dimitrij Ovtcharov won the first two 2021 Masters, the ever-fluctuating lineup saw no one over the age of 23 reach Sunday's semifinals. Stumper emerged from the talented field of younger players to stake his claim to mastery. In the final, Stumper outclassed world #244 Cedric Meissner, Stumper's 20-year-old countryman, in three straight games for the win. So competitive is Germany that the clearly world-class Stumper is listed outside the domestic top 20. Thus, the plan of attack is clear: today Germany, tomorrow the world. Although Alice Cooper's classic rock anthem begins with an appropriate dosage of teen angst, it concludes on a more empowered note befitting a rising star such as Kay Stumper: "I'm eighteen and I like it."

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