A total of nine qualification places for the Tokyo Olympics will be up for grabs when the World Singles Qualification Tournament (WSQT) gets underway at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena in Doha Qatar between 14-17 March 2021. Hosted and organised by the Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA) under the auspices and authority of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) four spots will be reserved for men while another five set aside for women. The quotas for the WSQT were confirmed following the latest update of the 2021 calendar and current planning of pending qualification events. Other factors that were also taken into consideration included qualification events that were either pending or completed the number of players who have already qualified in one or multiple events (singles teams mixed doubles) and the total number of table tennis quotas that have been reserved and are available. A total of 73 and 60 entries have been received for men and women respectively so far. For the men’s singles qualification three spots will be available for qualification in stage one. Entries will be split into three knockout rounds starting from the round of 32 with the winner of each knockout round qualifying for the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics. The losing finalist and semi-finalist from each of the three knockouts will then proceed to stage two where one final spot is available. The losing finalist and semi-finalists from each of the three knockout rounds will then be drawn into one final knockout round where the winner will eventually qualify for the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics. For the women’s singles four spots are available for qualification in stage one. Entries will be split into four knockouts starting from the round of 16 with the winner of each knockout qualifying for the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics. The losing finalist from each of the four knockouts will proceed to stage two where one final spot is at stake. The losing finalist from each of the four knockouts will be drawn into one final knockout where the winner will qualify for the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.
Good day for young players at the WTT Middle East Hub – WTT Contender Doha
On the second day of play at the inaugural WTT Contender in the qualification tournament for places in men’s singles event European young players showed good shape. At the WTT Middle East Hub – WTT Contender Doha the top names from the top and the bottom half of the draw are out. Vladimir SIDORENKO of Russia overcame Omar ASSAR of Egypt in four games (11-6 11-13 9-11 13-15) whilst in the lower half of the draw Portugal’s Joao GERALDO beat Germany’s Ruwen FILUS in long distance match (11-9 5-11 14-12 7-11 13-11). On the opening day of the play GERALDO beat Thiago MONTEIRO of Brazil in straight games. WTT’s no. 144 Andreas LEVENKO of Austria also had very impressive start. He eliminated experienced Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC of Serbia ranked at the position no. 113 in the first round and then he succeeded against England’s Paul DRINKHALL currently placed at the position no. 56 (6-11 14-16 11-8 12-10 11-8). WTT’s no. 83 Alexander SHIBAEV of Russia beat Croatia’s Andrej GACINA in four games (11-13 11-8 11-6 11-5). GACINA is ranked at the position no. 47. The duel between two Slovenia’s representatives Deni KOZUL and Bojan TOKIC went in favor of KOZUL (11-4 11-9 8-11 11-2) and in the next round Deni will meet Anton KALLBERG of Sweden. Swede overcame Olajide OMOTAYO of Nigeria. In Women’s Singles EVENT Sabine WINTER of Germany overcame Szandra PERGEL of Hungary to secure her place in the third round (11-7 11-3 11-8). Yana NOSKOVA of Russia also progressed to the third day of play after success against Nastassiya LAVROVA of Kazakhstan (9-11 5-11 4-11). In the second round Tin Tin HO of England overcame Eva JURKOVA of Slovakia in straight games (11-8 11-8 11-7) and in next she will meet Sarah DE NUTTE of Luxembourg. Sarah beat KIM Nayeong of Korea 910-12 9-11 9-11). Â
