Ma Long the one to beat in London
Following the conclusion of the Swedish Open – ITTF Pro Tour, the qualifiers for the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Final have been released.
Ma Long and Guo Yan's recent form would place them as clear favorites, but with a collection of the finest players in the world present the competition will be fierce.
Hosted by the English Table Tennis Association in partnership with the ITTF at the ExCel Arena, London. This year's grand finale will also act as part of the 'Preparation for London 2012' series of events and provide the competitors first hand experience of the conditions they will face at the world's biggest quadrennial festival of sport next year.
Qualifiers - Doubles
Men
Women
01 – MA Lin / ZHANG Jike, CHN
GUO Yue / LI Xiaoxia, CHN
02 – MA Long / WANG Hao, CHN
FUJII Hiroko / WAKAMIYA Misako, JPN
03 – MATSUDAIRA Kenta / NIWA Koki, JPN
FUKUHARA Ai / ISHIKAWA Kasumi, JPN
04 – YANG Zi / ZHAN Jian^^, SIN
LI Jiawei / WANG Yuegu, SIN
05 – GARDOS Robert / HABESOHN Daniel, AUT
CHENG I-Ching / HUANG Yi-Hua, TPE
06 – JIANG Tianyi / TANG Peng, HKG
SEOK Ha Jung / YANG Ha Eun, KOR
07 – APOLONIA Tiago / MONTEIRO Joao, POR
JIANG Huajun / TIE Yana, HKG
08 – BAGGALEY Andrew / PITCHFORD Liam, ENG
PARKER Joanna / SIBLEY Kelly, ENG
RESERVE DOUBLES:
RESERVE DOUBLES:
09 - CHUANG Chih-Yuan / WU Chih-Chi, TPE
ISHIGAKI Yuka / YAMANASHI Yuri, JPN
10 – LEBESSON Emmanuel / MATTENET Adrien, FRA
SUN Bei Bei / YU Mengyu, SIN
11 – CHIANG Hung-Chieh / HUANG Sheng-Sheng,TPE
KANG Mi Soon / SONG Ma Eum, KOR
Note: To qualify for the Grand Finals in doubles, the same pair has to play at least 4 events.
Boys
Girls
01 – KIM Min Seok, KOR
01 – YANG Ha Eun, KOR
02 – SEO Hyun Deok, KOR
02 – KANG MI Soon^, KOR
03 – NIWA Koki, JPN
03 – ISHIKAWA Kasumi, JPN
04 – CHEN Chien-An, TPE
04 – LEE Ho Ching, HKG
05 – SHIBAEV Alexander, RUS
05 – MORIZONO Misaki, JPN
06 – LEE Sang Su, KOR
06 – SONG Ma Eum, KOR
07 – JUNG Young Sik, KOR
07 – CHENG I-Ching, TPE
08 – UEDA Jin, JPN
08 – JEON Ji Hee^, KOR
RESERVE PLAYERS:
RESERVE PLAYERS:
09 – JEONG Sang Eun, KOR
09 – PESOTSKA Margaryta, UKR
10 – CHEN Feng ^^, SIN
10 – NG Wing Nam, HKG
11 – FRANZISKA Patrick, GER
11 – TASHIRO Saki, JPN
Note: To qualify for the Grand Finals in U21, the players have to attend 4 events in at least 2 continents.
Asian Player Eminent
Asia is the dominant force; of the 16 players on each of the Men's and Women's Singles lists, 14 are from Asia; only two are from Europe and of course in each event one player is present not by having achieved on the ITTF Pro Tour in 2011 but because they are from England.
The host nation is permitted one place in the events; 21 year old Paul Drinkhall and 24 year old Joanna Parker are the English selections for the respective Men's and Women's Singles competitions.
Germans Qualify
Only one other player in each of the events is not from Asia and they are both from Germany; in the Men's Singles event it is Dimitrij Ovtcharov, in the counterpart Women's Singles competition it is Wu Jiaduo.
Austria and Portugal
Meanwhile, in the doubles competitions the pain is slightly less for the men with two European pairs joining the English nomination of Andrew Baggaley and Liam Pitchford.
Austria's Robert Gardos and Daniel Habesohn plus the Portuguese partnership comprising Tiago Apolonia and João Monteio appear in the line-up.
Women's Doubles
However, for the women, it is seven pairs from Asia who join England's Joanna Parker and Kelly Sibley; whilst in the Under 21 events, where there is no place reserved for the host nation, the might of Asia is once more to the fore.
Under 21 Events
Russia's Alexander Shibaev is the only European representative amongst the top eight names on the Under 21 Men's Singles invitation list, for the young ladies, the Asian domination is total.
Present in Force
China, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei and Singapore will be on duty in force; for the European countries present gaining a place on the medal podium at the end of proceedings is daunting task.
For more information, contact: rpettit@ittf.com
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