Two grueling days of qualifications at the LIEBHERR 2013 World Table Tennis Championships has reduced 449 Men and 352 Women to 128 for the Men's and Women's main draws, which begin tomorrow in Paris, France.
The biggest surprise in the main draw is 14-year-old Marie MIGOT (FRA), world no. 355, who was inspired to a shock placing in the last 128, on the back of the local crowds' cheers and will now play Tetyana BILENKO (UKR) tomorrow.
MIGOT, playing in her first World Championships, was not overawed playing in the famous 12,000 seat Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, and managed to overcome her more fancied opponents for a dream first round berth.
Danny REED (ENG) was ecstatic after also upsetting his higher ranked rivals to secure his passage through to the main draw and a match against MATSUDAIRA Kenta (JPN): "I feel really great, tremendous especially after winning two very tough matches today."
With the qualifications over, the stars come out to play in the French capital. The no.1 seed XU Xin (CHN) has the toughest first round match facing the recently crowned German Champion Steffen MENGEL.
All the local eyes will be on French champion Simon GAUZY (FRA) as he takes on the seasoned campaigner Hyundeok SEO (KOR) in the first round.
World #1 and defending Champion Ding NING (CHN) will start her campaign against the Australian Zhenhua DEDERKO.
As the players are locked in battle in their first round matches, delegates from 162 countries will be attending the ITTF Annual General Meeting in Marriott Rive Gauche in the center of Paris.
The main point of business is the election of the ITTF Executive Committee, including the ITTF President. Incumbent Adham SHARARA (CAN), who has been the ITTF President for 14 years, will be running for his final term against current European Table Tennis Union President Stefano BOSI (ITA). Follow ITTF's official twitter @ITTFWorld to be the first to know of the result.
To learn more about the LIEBHERR 2013 World Table Tennis Championships, please download the officialITTF media guide here.
For more information, please contact ITTF's Promotion Manager Matt Pound at mpound@ittf.com or call: +33 623 91 21 29. For high resolution rights-free photos, please visit our Flickr page here.
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