A total of nine qualification places for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be available at the European Singles Qualification Tournament (ESQT) on 21-25 April 2021. The tournament will be played at the Multiusos de Guimarães in the city of Guimarães.
Hosted and organised by the Federação Portuguesa de Ténis de Mesa under the authority granted by the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) and International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) five Olympic spots will be reserved for men while another four will be available for women.
A total of 38 and 41 entries have been registered for men and women respectively.
In the men’s event in phase one entries will be split into 10 groups. The top four seeded players will not play in the groups but will qualify directly for Stage 2. The winner and the runner up of each of the 10 groups will qualify for Stage 2 together with the 4 seeded players making a total of 24 players. After Stage 2 starting from the round of 32 both finalists Men and Women will qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (the final match shall not be played).
The remaining 22 players from Stage 2 will continue into Stage 3 in a direct knock out draw of 32. In the men’s event the two finalists of the Stage 3 K.O. draw will qualify for Tokyo 2020 (the final match shall not be played). In addition the winner of the match between the losers of the Stage 3 semi-finals (men) will qualify for the Olympic Games.
In the women’s event the two finalists of the Stage 3 K.O. draw will qualify for Tokyo 2020.