2016 ITTF World Tour Korea Open For many of the table tennis players the 2016 ITTF World Tour Korea Open will be the last international competition before the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The Korea Open main draw which starts tomorrow 24 June 2016 in Incheon Korea will be the last chance for the Olympians to get valuable world ranking points for Rio 2016 seeding. CHUANG Chih-Yuan (TPE) who had a disappointing first round defeat at last week’s Japan Open is desperately looking for world ranking points to jump above Jun MIZUTANI (JPN). If the world number seven is able to do this he will get the valuable number four seeding position in Rio which means he won’t meet a Chinese player until the semifinals. On the Rio seeding situation CHUANG stated: “I am trying not to think about the seeding too much for the Olympic Games of course they are important but I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. I am just trying to work out what flaws are still in my game and trying to fix them before Rio.” One person who is not worried at all about Rio 2016 seeding is FAN Zhendong. The 19-year-old world number two who won the Japan Open last week was sensationally left out of the Chinese Olympic team and will be watching the event from home. Despite not going to Rio FAN is still determined to do well here in Korea: “Winning the Japan Open certainly gave me more confidence it also showed the result of my training and I hope to continue playing well in Korea.” FAN’s teammate and world number one MA Long will be using the Korea Open to get back his winning ways before Rio 2016 after losing in the semifinals in Japan. This was the World Champion’s only second loss in the past 12 months. He will be hoping it’s his last until Rio 2016 match. World Champion DING Ning (CHN) the current top seed for Olympic Singles will also be fighting to prove herself and stay on top of the rankings after her surprise defeat to Japan’s 15-year-old Mima ITO in the recent ITTF-Asia Olympic Qualification Tournament and Japan final loss to teammate LIU Shiwen. The Japanese duo of Kasumi ISHIKAWA who will be the number two seed in Rio and Ai FUKUHARA will be desperate to find some form here in Korea. The duo was knocked out very early in their home event last week so they need to win some matches to gain momentum for Rio. Qualification for the main draw of 32 started yesterday 22 June and concludes today before the knockout main draw begins on Friday 24 June and the winners will be crowned on Sunday 26 June. The Korea Open is the 12th of the 20 events on the 2016 ITTF World Tour and the fifth Super Series event of the year. The ITTF World Tour is categorized into three tiers: Super (six events) Major (six events) and Challenge (eight events). The higher the tier the higher the prize money better playing conditions and tougher competition for the title. All the players playing ITTF World Tour events are fighting for not only for prize money and world ranking points but also World Tour ranking points to qualify for the lucrative World Tour Grand Finals taking place on 8-11 December 2016 in Doha Qatar. The 2016 ITTF World Tour is set to be the most extensively followed tour in history with more events shown live throughout the world on television and all the events being shown live on ITTF’s live streaming platform ITTF.com/itTV. In addition to the men’s and women’s singles event at the Korea Open the world’s best players will also be playing men’s and women’s doubles and the stars of the future will be lining up in the men’s and women’s under 21 events.
6th table tennis open championship in memory of Brone BALAISIENE in Vilnius
17-19th of June Lithuania capital Vilnius hosted 6th Lithuanian Cadet & Mini Cadet Open in memory of Lithuanian coach Brone BALAISIENE. Traditionally held in the middle of June tournament was very successful and gathered participants from 11 countries: England Netherlands Czech Republic Israel Sweden Poland Ukraine Russia Latvia Estonia and Lithuania. Table tennis players competed in team and single events in U-15 and U-12 age category. Lithuanian table tennis association president Rimgaudas BALAISA is glad that the international tournament in honor of his mother table tennis coach Brone BALAISIENE every year attracts more and more strong players from Europe: “Certainly that raises the level of the tournament. This year we received a lot of compliments from countries such as England Israel Czech Republic and other delegations on a very high level of the tournament both regarding organizational aspects and hospitality and also strong players in all the events – said Rimgaudas BALAISA. The tournament in memory of one of the best table tennis coaches of Lithuania of all the time Brone BALAISIENE for the first time was held in 1986. It had participants only from Vilnius. Later it was organized nationally and since 2012 Lithuanian table tennis association organizes international cadet and mini cadet open championship. By Secretary General Kristina JUKNYTE FINAL STANDINGS Cadet girls team event 1st place Ukraine-1 (Veronika PEREBEINOS Oleksandra TSUIPKO) 2nd place Ukraine – 2 (Yaroslava PRYKHODKO Anastasiya YEPIFANTSEVA) 3rd place Lithuania – 1 (Kornelija RILISKYTE Emilija RILISKYTE) England (Denise PAYET Charlotte BARDSLEY) Cadet boys team event 1st place Ukraine-1 (Volodymyr LUSHNIKOV ANTON LIMONOV) 2nd place England-1 (SMITH JAMES DAI HARRY) 3rd place Israel- 1 (Karamazin YANIV Amit GOREN) Russia-2 (Nikita TIMOVEEV Andrei LATCYNA) Mini cadet girls team event 1st place Russia-3 (Karina IUSUPOVA Daria GRIGOREVA) 2nd place Russia-4 (Ekaterina MAKSIMOVA Ksenia VALOVAA) 3rd place Russia – 1 (Anastasia KAVRIGINA Svetlana DVITRIENKO) Russia-2 (Vasilisa DANILOVA Sofia KNIAZEVA) Mini cadet boys team event 1st place Russia – 1 (Mikhail BREDNIKOV Vladislav BANNIKOV) 2nd place England-Russia (Alexey PERFILYEV Jamie LIU) 3rd place Russia – 3 (Aleksandr CHERNOKNIZHNIKOV Roman VINOGRADOV) Russia – 2 (Miron VASILJEV Vsevolod IDIN) Cadet girls single event 1st place Veronika PEREBEINOS (UKR) 2nd place Oleksandra TSIUPKO (UKR) 3rd place Anna MIKLUKHA (UKR) Denise PAYET (ENG) Cadet boys single event 1st place Volodymyr LUSHNIKOV (UKR) 2nd place Shayan SIRAJ (ENG) 3rd place Anton LIMONOV (UKR) Stanislav STROGOV (UKR) Mini cadet girls single event 1st place Daria GRIGOREVA (RUS) 2nd place Kseniia VALOVA (RUS) 3rd place Ruby CHAN (ENG) Sofia KNIAZEVA (RUS) Mini cadet boys single event 1st place Sergei RYZHOV (RUS) 2nd place Denis IZUMRUDOV (RUS) 3rd place Jamie LIU (ENG) Miron VASILJEV (RUS)
ECL Women 2016/17 – 12 clubs announced
Reigning champion TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE E.V. again tops the ECLW seedings The seeding list for the 2016/17 European Champions League Women is announced involving again 12 clubs in four groups. The draw will take place in Zagreb at the European Youth Championships on the 10th July. The finalists from the previous season TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE E.V (Germany) and KTS – TARNOBRZEG (Poland) will be again no. 1 and no. 2 seeds respectively. German side triple ECLW champion should be considered as huge favorite bearing in mind that world’s no. 29 Miyu KATO joins four players who finished 2015/16 ECLW with 10-0 score and won Triple Crown last year Petrissa SOLJA (no. 13) SHAN Xiaona (no. 17) Georgina POTA (no. 40) and Yui HAMAMOTO (no. 41). This is the first time that one club has five players ranked among the best 41 at the ITTF World ranking list. Polish champion KTS – TARNOBRZEG did one change in its line-up: two times individual European champion Viktoria PAVLOVICH (current world’s no. 57) replaced Natalia PARTYKA. No. 3 seed UCAM CARTAGENA signed three well known players: world’s no. 15 CHENG I Ching no. 46 Tetyana BILENKO and no. 51 Matilda EKHOLM. CHENG led FENERBAHCE to the 2013/14 ECLW final while BILENKO and EKHOLM were SVNO STROCK` members. BURSA BÜYÜKŞEHİR BELEDİYESPOR finished on the bottom of Group A last year but this time Turkish club starts as no. 4 seed having one strong newcomer from Singapore world’s no. 16 YU Mengyu. HU Melek (no. 22) and Alexandra PRIVALOVA are other two names in the line-up. Elizabeta SAMARA (no. 30) moved from Turkey to France. Actual individual European champion is a new member of METZ TT. Double ECLW winner LINZ AG FROSCHBERG has changed its squad and this time occupies no. 8 at the seeding list. LIU Jia and Sofia POLCANOVA stayed as two best players in the line-up of 2009 and 2013 ECLW champion. Seeding list of 2016/17 TTCLM has two newcomers no. 9 ALCL TT GRAND QUEVILLY from France and no. 12 TUS BAD DRIBURG from Germany. Upcoming season gathered 19 players among the Top 50 ITTF World Ranking. They are: HAN Ying (no. 9 KTS – TARNOBRZEG) Petrissa SOLJA (no. 13 TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE E.V.) CHENG I Cheng (no. 15 UCAM CARTAGENA) YU Mengyu (no. 16 BURSA BÜYÜKŞEHİR BELEDİYESPOR) SHAN Xiaona (no. 17 TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE E.V.) HU Melek (no. 22 BURSA BÜYÜKŞEHİR BELEDİYESPOR) LI Jiao (no. 25 POSTAS SPORT EGYESÜLET) LI Qian (no. 26 KTS – TARNOBRZEG) LIU Jia (no. 27 LINZ AG FROSCHBERG) Miyu KATO (no. 29 TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE E.V.) Elizabeta SAMARA (no. 30 METZ TT) Polina MIKHAILOVA (no. 34 SZEKSZARD AC) FU Yu (no. 35 METZ TT) ZENG Jian (no. 36 TT SAINT QUENTIN) Georgina POTA (no. 40 TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE E.V.) Yui HAMAMOTO (no. 41 TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE E.V.) LI Fen (no. 45 ALCL TT GRAND QUEVILLY) Tetyana BILENKO (no. 46 UCAM CARTAGENA) Matilda EKHOLM (no. 49 UCAM CARTAGENA). ECCW 2016-2017 Seeding List 1 TTC BERLIN EASTSIDE E.V. (GER) 8495 2 KTS – TARNOBRZEG (POL) 8303 3 UCAM CARTAGENA (ESP) 8101 4 BURSA BÜYÜKŞEHİR BELEDİYESPOR (TUR) 8028 5 METZ TT (FRA) 7805 6 TT SAINT QUENTIN (FRA) 7561 7 SZEKSZARD AC (HUN) 7466 8 LINZ AG FROSCHBERG (AUT) 7460 9 ALCL TT GRAND QUEVILLY (FRA) 7139 10 POSTAS SPORT EGYESÜLET (HUN) 6951 11 SKST STAVOIMPEX HODONIN (CZE) 6792 12 TUS BAD DRIBURG (GER) 6625
Prague hosts the annual Coaching Conference
ETTU / ITTF – Europe Development Program European Table Tennis Union presents the annual Coaching Conference to be held in Prague (CZE) from Sunday 9th to Tuesday 11th October 2016. The Coaching Conference is part of the ETTU Development Program and it is primarily intended for all European coaches. The participation of coaches from other continents is welcomed too. Conference topics “Nutrition in Table Tennis” (4 hours) What to eat and drink before during and after exertion Danijel BORKOVIC (Slovenia) Dr. Med. – Medical and Nutrition consultant STTF “Coaching is a Mental Game’’ (4 hours) Presentation of mental tools: during practice and before and during competition Prodromos CHAMALIDIS (France) Ph.Dr. – University Rene Descartes Paris “A decade and half is a period of many changes in table tennis (rules materials etc.) What have we changed in daily practice?” (8 hours) Presentation and discussion Anders JOHANSSON (Sweden) – Swedish table tennis coach and manager Further details for application to the Coaching Conference will be available and communicated soon. Contact: Neven Cegnar (email: ncegnar@gmail.com)
TTCL Men 2016/17 – 16 clubs announced
FAKEL GAZPROMA ORENBURG again tops the TTCLM seedings The seeding list for the 2016/17 Table Tennis Champions League Men is announced prior the Draw which will be held on Friday 24thJune in Vienna. As last season 16 clubs in four groups will compete for the title. There are no big changes among the top placed clubs on the seeding list. Triple time champion FAKEL GAZPROMA ORENBURG (2012 2013 2015) again tops the list with his long term trio Dimitrij OVTCHAROV Vladimir SAMSONOV Alexey SMIRNOV boosted with strong newcomer transferred from UMMC Japanese Jun MIZUTANI. They will be surely huge favorite in the upcoming season being sixth consecutive time no. 1. seed. All these years FAKEL GAZPROMA ORENBURG has been following on the list by ten times TTCLM winner and record holder BORUSSIA DÜSSELDORF. German champion has two big changes: Panagiotis GIONIS (new member of K.S. DARTOM BOGORIA GRODZISK MAZOWIECKI) and Patrick FRANZISKA (1. FC SAARBRÜCKEN TT) left the club while both Stefan FEGERL and Kristian KARLSSON have signed. Timo BOLL stays as the leading player in the scheme of Coach Danny HEISTER. Reigning TTCLM champion AS PONTOISE CERGY TT stands as no. 8. seed. One Swede replaced another: Mattias KARLSSON instead of Kristian KARLSSON. WANG Jian Jun moved to SPG WALTER WELS but Marcos FREITAS and Tristan FLORE will defend both titles from previous season TTCLM and Pro A. Last season’s runner-up ESLÖVS AI BORDTENNIS is now no. 13 seed. One of the most interesting news is the comeback of Michael MAZE who announced his retirement a couple months ago. The 34-year-old Danish player fought with many injuries in last seasons having many surgeries as well but despite that he decided to return to ROSKILDE BORDTENNIS BTK 61. After many years Singaporean GAO Ning left CHARTRES ASTT and signed for K.S. DARTOM BOGORIA GRODZISK MAZOWIECKI. Polish club also signed Panagiotis GIONIS from BORUSSIA DÜSSELDORF. German club 1. FC SAARBRÜCKEN TT increases its ambition having two newcomers who wore BORUSSIA DÜSSELDORF`s jersey in TTCLM Patrick FRANZISKA and Patrick BAUM. UMMC signed Croatian Andrej GACINA ASTS “OLIMPIA-UNIA” GRUDZIĄDZ puts in its squad ESLÖVS AI BORDTENNIS` Mattias OVERSJO while TABLE TENNIS CLUB OSTRAVA 2016 starts new season with two well experienced players in TTCLM Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC and Petr KORBEL. Upcoming season gathered 23 players among the Top 50 ITTF World Ranking. They are: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (no. 5 FAKEL GAZPROMA ORENBURG) Jun MIZUTANI (6 FAKEL GAZPROMA ORENBURG) Vladimir SAMSONOV (9 FAKEL GAZPROMA ORENBURG) Timo BOLL (10 BORUSSIA DÜSSELDORF) Marcos FREITAS (12 AS PONTOISE CERGY TT) Tiago APOLONIA (17 FC SAARBRÜCKEN TT) Andrej GACINA (20 UMMC) Alexander SHIBAEV (21 UMMC) Stefan FEGERL (22 BORUSSIA DÜSSELDORF) Simon GAUZY (24 TTF LIEBHERR OCHSENHAUSEN) Panagiotis GIONIS (K.S. DARTOM BOGORIA GRODZISK MAZOWIECKI) Kristian KARLSSON (27 BORUSSIA DÜSSELDORF) Par GERELL (30 CHARTRES ASTT) GAO Ning (31 K.S. DARTOM BOGORIA GRODZISK MAZOWIECKI) Emmanuel LEBESSON (35 VS ANGERS TT) Joao MONTEIRO (38 CHARTRES ASTT) Mattias KARLSSON (41 AS PONTOISE CERGY TT) Robert GARDOS (43 CHARTRES ASTT) Bojan TOKIC (44 FC SAARBRÜCKEN TT) WANG Yang (46 ASTS “OLIMPIA-UNIA” GRUDZIĄDZ) Patrick FRANZISKA (47 FC SAARBRÜCKEN TT) Jakub DYJAS (48 TTF LIEBHERR OCHSENHAUSEN) Liam PITCHFORD (50 GV HENNEBONT TT). 1 FAKEL GAZPROMA ORENBURG RUS 8518 2 BORUSSIA DÜSSELDORF GER 7469 3 UMMC RUS 7175 4 1. FC SAARBRÜCKEN TT GER 7060 5 K.S. DARTOM BOGORIA GRODZISK MAZOWIECKI POL 7054 6 CHARTRES ASTT FRA 7041 7 TTF LIEBHERR OCHSENHAUSEN GER 7007 8 AS PONTOISE CERGY TT FRA 6974 9 VS ANGERS TT FRA 6634 10 GV HENNEBONT TT FRA 6563 11 ASTS “OLIMPIA-UNIA” GRUDZIĄDZ POL 6380 12 SPG WALTER WELS AUT 6327 13 ESLÖVS AI BORDTENNIS SWE 6299 14 TABLE TENNIS CLUB OSTRAVA 2016 CZE 6277 15 ROSKILDE BORDTENNIS BTK 61 DEN 6162 16 KST ENERGA – MANEKIN TORUŃ POL 5685
More then 1 200 athletes fights for Spanish titles
The Spanish Championships started on Friday June 17th and it concludes on Sunday June 26th. With nearly 1 200 athletes and 200 coaches and delegates a total of 9 categories will be played from sub cadets to senior level. The competiotion schedule includes the events for players with intellectual disability and with physical disabilities. The players play on 50 Butterfly tables in the Ciutat Esportiva Blanes a facility with 7 000 square meters of sports surface. Participants also have a warm up zone with 16 Butterfly tables installed. Last Sunday the first finals were played in absolute category. In teams event “La Copa” was won by UCAM Cartagena. Cartagena men beat DKV Borges Vall – 3:1. In the women category UCAM Cartagena once again clinched the title. They overcame Suris Calella 3:0.
Fan & Liu Bounces Back After Olympic Selection Disappointment
2016 ITTF World Tour Laox Japan Open in Tokyo 19-year-old FAN Zhendong has raised doubts about the Chinese Olympic table tennis team selection with his victory at the 2016 ITTF World Tour Laox Japan Open in Tokyo Japan. The 2014 Youth Olympic Games champion defeated both ZHANG Jike and XU Xin who were both selected ahead of FAN in Rio 2016 Chinese Olympic table tennis team en route to a seventh World Tour title. FAN who was motivated to prove the Chinese selectors wrong for his Rio 2016 snub was in blistering form in the final easily dispatching XU Xin 11-9 11-5 9-11 11-7 11-8 to become the 2016 Japan Open champion. XU earlier in the day had achieved the very rare feat of beating world champion and world number one MA Long who has only been beaten twice in the past 12 months in the semi final. After the final FAN reflected on his triumph and not being selected for his Olympic debut in Rio: “Today I played very well. No matter what difficulty I encountered I had the ability to overcome it which is why I became the champion. I am very satisfied. Of course I was disappointed not to be selected for Rio but I used my opportunity here in Japan to show the coaches that I am ready to play in Rio if one of the selected players get injured. My main aim now is to become the 2020 Olympic champion!” Like FAN LIU Shiwen had something to prove to the Chinese selectors as she was chosen just to play in the team’s event at Rio 2016 and not the singles despite being ranked number one in the world. The 25-year-old did this in emphatic fashion dispatching off the women who beat her in the 2015 World Championship final DING Ning 17-19 11-7 11-6 8-11 12-10 11-7to win her 11th ITTF World Tour title. A defiant LIU stated after the match: “I am very happy to be the champion it is always tough to defeat DING so of course I am excited. Every time I play in Japan the atmosphere is very good for us so it’s fun to play here.” “It is a shame that I will not be playing singles in Rio but I am still training hard so I can do my best to help China win the gold medal in the team event.” MA Long made up for being knocked out in the singles semi finals by teaming up with XU Xin to win the men’s doubles gold. The Chinese duo defeated CHUANG Chih-Yuan & HUANG Sheng-Sheng (TPE) 11-4 11-7 11-4 in the final to clinch the title. DING Ning recovered from her loss in the singles final to win the women’s doubles with team mate LI Xiaoxia defeating ZHU Yuling and LIU Shiwen in the final 11-7 11-7 11-9. The world’s best table tennis players now head to Incheon Korea for the 2016 ITTF World Tour Korea Open which begins on Wednesday 22 June 2016.
Vladimir SAMSONOV put ZHANG Jike on test
2016 ITTF World Tour Laox Open For most of the players the 2016 ITTF World Tour Laox Open will be the last tournament before the start of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. More the month before the start of the Games Chinese players once again demonstrated their power. They dominated proceedings at the quarter-final stage of the Men’s Singles event. Four Chinese players MA Long FAN Zhendong XU Xin and ZHANG Jike booked all four places that lead to the semis. It was the end of the road for Jun MIZUTANI Simon GAUZY WONG Chun Ting and Vladimir SAMSONOV. In Tokyo ZHANG Jike the no.4 seed was once again tested; he needed six games to overcome Vladimir SAMSONOV the no.8 seed (11-8 5-11 15-13 11-2 8-11 11-6). Ma Long the top seed ended the hopes of the host nation by beating Jun MIZUTANI the no.5 seed in four straight games (11-7 11-8 11-9 11-8). FAN Zhendong the no.2 seed overcame Frenchman Simon GAUZY in five games (7-11 11-5 11-5 11-6 11-8). XU Xin the no.3 seed ended the hopes of Hong Kong’s WONG Chun Ting by a similar margin (11-7 11-5 8-11 11-3 11-8). At the semi-final stage MA Long meets XU Xin ZHANG Jike opposes FAN Zhendong. In Women’s Singles event at the semi-final stage LIU Shiwen meets ZHU Yuling DING Ning opposes CHENG I-Ching.
Simon GAUZY shines in the Land of the Rising Sun
2016 ITTF World Tour Laox Japan Open in Tokyo Frenchman Simon GAUZY and Belarus Vladimir SAMSONOV reached the quarterfinal of the Men’s Singles event at the 2016 ITTF World Tour Laox Japan Open in Tokyo. At the same stage of the Women’s Singles Event there are no more European representatives. On his way to the best 8 GAUZY made the biggest upset in the first round of the Men’s Singles event when he beat Chinese Taipei’s CHUANG Chih-Yuan the no.6 seed. He continued in the same pace and beat no. 10 seed Marcos FREITAS of Portugal to reach the quarterfinal. Vladimir SAMSONOV ended the progress of Taku TAKAKIWA before he beat Stefan FEGERL of Austria for the place in last 8. In the Round of 32 Romania’s Elizabeta SAMARA also demonstrated her skill against Germany’s Han Ying the no.8 seed but in the round of 16 she suffered by the hands of Huna HAYATA of Japan. Austria’s LIU Jia caused an upset by overcoming the host nation’s Miu HIRANO the no.10 seed before she lost against LIU Shiwen of China. In the Round of 16 Chinese ZHU Yuling proved to strong for SHAN Xiaona of Germany. In Women’s Doubles DING Ning and LI Xiaoxia meet Chinese Taipei’s CHENG I-Ching and HUANG Yi-Hua; LIU Shiwen and ZHU Yuling oppose Singapore’s Yu Mengyu and Zhou Yihan. In men’s Doubles Event Hugo CALDERANO and Gustavo TSUBOI meet CHUANG Chih-Yuan and HUANG Sheng-Sheng; MA Long and XU Xin oppose FAN Zhendong and ZHANG Jike.
Newly Qualified Olympic Players Head to Laox Japan Open
The world’s best table tennis players arrive in Tokyo for the Japan Open 77 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualified players have made the trip to the 2016 ITTF World Tour Laox Japan Open which begun today in Tokyo Japan. The Japan Open is the second last major event before Rio 2016 so the world’s best are taking the opportunity for a final hit out as well as gaining Race to Doha points in their bid to qualify for the World Tour Grand Finals later in the year. The Japanese women’s Olympic team comprising of Kasumi ISHIKAWA Ai FUKUHARA and 15-year-old Mima ITO fronted a packed press conference yesterday with over 100 journalists with Olympic fever cramming into the press conference room. The trio who have high hopes for Rio 2016 also are confident of a strong showing at the Japan Open this week on home soil. FUKUHARA the number seventh seeded and 2013 champion stated: “Rio 2016 is firmly in our minds but first we plan to perform well in front of our home fans. I know how it feels like to win this big event and I wish to do it again this year. I will be trying my best in every match to make my dream a reality.” To win here in Tokyo the Japanese team will have to navigate past a full strength Chinese outfit. World number one LIU Shiwen will be looking to forget the fact that she missed out on singles Olympic selection by showing a strong performance in Tokyo. The top seed will be joined by China’s Olympic singles players World champion DING Ning and Olympic champion LI Xiaoxia here in the Tokyo Gymnasium which will be the venue of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games table tennis event. Jun MIZUTANI who is fresh from two consecutive World Tour victories at the Slovenian and Australian Open will lead the local hopes in the men’s event which has eight of the top ten men in the world competing. China who have come with the top four men in the world: MA Long FAN Zhendong defending champion XU Xin and ZHANG Jike will make it tough for MIZUTANI to make a hat trick of wins in front of his home crowd. Adding in Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR) that has a record 26 World Tour titles to his name and the evergreen CHUANG Chih-Yuan (TPE) it will be a mouth watering event! Qualification for the main draw of 32 begun today 15 June and lasts for two days before the knockout main draw begins on Friday 17 June and the winners will be crowned on Sunday 19 June. The Laox Japan Open is the 11th of the 20 events on the 2016 ITTF World Tour and the fourth Super Series event of the year. The ITTF World Tour is categorized into three tiers: Super (six events) Major (six events) and Challenge (eight events). The higher the tier the higher the prize money better playing conditions and tougher competition for the title. All the players playing ITTF World Tour events are fighting for not only for prize money and world ranking points but also World Tour ranking points to qualify for the lucrative World Tour Grand Finals taking place on 8-11 December 2016 in Doha Qatar. The 2016 ITTF World Tour is set to be the most extensively followed tour in history with more events shown live throughout the world on television and all the events being shown live on ITTF’s live streaming platform ITTF.com/itTV. In addition to the men’s and women’s singles event at the Laox Japan Open the world’s best players will also be playing men’s and women’s doubles and the stars of the future will be lining up in the men’s and women’s under 21 events.
