DOHA (Qatar): Top paddlers will be seen in action at the WTT Middle East Hub that will be held at Lusail Sports Arena between March 3-13.
Among the world-class talent set to light up in the men’s events are Xu Xin (China, world No.2), Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan, world No.5), Hugo Calderano (Brazil, WR #6) and Lin Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei, WR #7).
Meanwhile, Sun Yingsha (China, WR #2), Mima Ito (Japan, WR #3), Liu Shiwen (China, WR #7) and Cheng I-Ching (Chinese Taipei, WR #8) will be headlining both of the women’s events.
As hosts of the Middle East Hub, the Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA) will have the opportunity to include more of the world’s leading players or local stars.
Player safety is at the forefront of all WTT events and strict COVID-19 measures will be implemented at the Middle East Hub in view of the ongoing pandemic, the ITFF said on Tuesday.
WTT Star Contender Doha will see more elite players taking to the table, including Mattias Falck (Sweden, WR #8), Jang Woojin (Korea Republic, WR #11) and Dimitrij Ovtcharov (Germany, WR #12) in the men’s draw and Kasumi Ishikawa (Japan, WR #9), Miu Hirano (Japan, WR #11) and Feng Tianwei (Singapore, WR #12) in the women’s draw.
The Middle East Hub marks the first official events of the WTT era. The brand-new event series is set to revolutionise the sport of table tennis, with players and fans positioned at the centre of WTT’s mission. The Middle East Hub will feature two tiers of the new WTT event structure.
The 2021 calendar will kick off with WTT Contender Doha before players move onto the first WTT Star Contender event the following week.
The WTT Contender event will feature a singles main draw of 32 players per gender and 16-pair doubles per gender and in the mixed doubles. The qualifying draw will feature 96 players per gender in the singles and 32 pairs in the mixed doubles.
The WTT Star Contender event will be comprised of a singles main draw of 48 players per gender and 16-pair doubles per gender and in the mixed doubles.
The qualifying draw will feature 64 players per gender in the singles and 32 pairs in the mixed doubles.
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