29 May - 5 June 2017 Düsseldorf ()

MEDIA GUIDE #ITTFWorlds2017 Check out latest event news & updates on ITTF.com cn.ITTF.com

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@ITTFWorld @ITTFChannel @ITTFWorld2014 2 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 3 CONTENT

ITTF Overview 4 History of 4 Basic Table Tennis Rules 5 Host City & 2017 WTTC Venue 7 2017 WTTC Key Dates 8 2017 WTTC Time Schedule 8 2017 WTTC Playing System 10 Check out latest event news & updates on Men's Singles • Players To Watch Out For 12 ITTF.com • Top 64 Seeds Player Information 18 cn.ITTF.com Women's Singles • Players To Watch Out For 22 • Top 64 Seeds Player Information 28 Doubles Seeding 32 WTTC Trophies & History 36 BE PART OF THE Reigning World Champions 37 Current World and Olympic Medalists 38 CONVERSATION Past World Team Champions (1926 - 2015) 39 Seamaster 2017 World Tour Winners 40 Upcoming Major Events 41 2017 WTTC Table 43 2017 WTTC Interesting Facts 44 Media Guidelines 46 General Information 50 Venue Map 52 Mixed Zone Detailed Map 54 Join millions of fans around the world in following Media Access 55 the best table tennis players & world class events! Photography Positions 56 Media Tools 58 @ITTFWorld ITTF Media Contacts 58 @ITTFChannel @ITTFWorld2014 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 3 ITTF OVERVIEW

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the international governing body of Table Tennis and has 222 affiliated member associations; the most of any International Sports Federation.

The ITTF holds over 80 events a year, seen live on TV in over 110 countries and currently has over 1.8 million social media followers which makes it one of the most followed sports on the planet.

The ITTF was initiated in Berlin, Germany and became formalized in in 1926.

Table tennis became an Olympic discipline at the 1988 Summer and a Paralympic Discipline in 1960 .

The current ITTF President is Mr Thomas WEIKERT (GER) who was appointed in 2014.

HISTORY OF TABLE TENNIS

Table tennis started as a parlour game in Victorian England; it was after dinner entertainment for the upper class society.

Gradually, the sport grew from a parlour game to a highly competitive activity. Interest began to fade around 1904, and it was not until its revival in the early 1920s that competition resumed on an ever-growing scale.

However, for the game to advance as a serious international sport, standards had to be developed, hence the formation of the ITTF in 1926, along with the first World Championships.

The first Championships were organised, in London in 1926, originally as a European Championships. There was one problem; a group of players from India wanted to compete; hastily just before play began, the name was changed to World Championships but the poster advertising the event remain as European Championships.

The game of Table Tennis has since gone from strength to strength, first appearing in the Olympic Games and now is the second most played sport in the world.

For further history look at the table tennis historical timeline here: ITTF.com/media/History/Timeline_History.pdf.

4 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 5 BASIC TABLE TENNIS RULES

SCORING In the World Championships, each singles match is best of 7 games; doubles matches are best of 5 games in the qualification, and best of 7 games in the main draw.

The first player to reach 11 points wins the game, however a game must be won by at least a two-point margin.

The edges of the table are part of the legal table surface, but not the sides.

FLOW OF THE MATCH Each player serves two points in a row; then the service changes. However, if a score of 10-10 is reached in any game, then the service is alternate. After each game, the players change ends. In the final game (7th game), the players change ends when one player reaches five points.

LEGAL SERVICE The ball must rest on an open hand palm. It must be thrown vertically at least six inches and struck as the ball falls. The ball must bounce on the server’s side and then the opponent’s side of the table.

If the serve is legal except that it touches the net, it is called a let serve and the serve is done again.

EQUIPMENT The racket must have a red and a black side. The ball must be white and 40 mm in diameter. The table is 2.74 meters long, 1.525 m wide, and 0.76 m high.

DID YOU KNOW? • A player’s racket is tested randomly before each match, and opponents have the right to look at each other’s rackets. • If a game lasts for more than 10 minutes, the expedite rule comes into action. Serving is alternate, if the receiver returns the 13th stroke in the rally, the receiver has won the point. • If a player strikes the ball below the wrist of the hand that is holding the racket, the point is legal. • If a player hits the ball around the net and it still lands legally on the table, the shot is valid.

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 5 DÜSSELDORF

Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the seventh most populous city in Germany. Düsseldorf is an international business and financial centre, renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Düsseldorf's table tennis team is Borussia Düsseldorf, the most successful team in Germany with , Kristian

Karlsson, Anton Källberg and . Düsseldorf is also known for its football team Fortuna Düsseldorf, which won the 1933 German championship, the German Cup in 1979 and 1980, and were finalists in the European Cup Winners Cup in 1979. Other sports in Düsseldorf are ice hockey & American football. The Düsseldorf Panther are one of the most successful teams in Germany with six German Bowl titles and the Eurobowl victory in 1995.

6 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 7 HOST CITY & 2017 WTTC VENUE

Messe Düsseldorf Messe Düsseldorf is a trade fair ground and organizer that occupies a total exhibition area of 306,000 m2 in Düsseldorf, that will be home to the Liebherr 2017 World Table Tennis Championships. Messe Düsseldorf organises nearly one fifth of Düsseldorf's premier trade shows.

LOCATION Messehallen Düsseldorf Messeplatz - Entrance North 40474 Düsseldorf, Germany

ACCESS Trade fair shuttle from A44 motorway, Junction 29, "Messe/Arena" or Take an underground tram (no. U78 or U79) or bus number 722 to get from the central station (Düsseldorf Hbf) to the exhibition centre in about 20 minutes.

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 7 2017 WTTC KEY DATES

27 May - First Initial Stage Draw 28 May 15:45 - Opening Ceremony @ ESPRIT Arena - Second Initial Stage Draw 18:00 - Press Conference 31 May 09:00 - Annual General Meeting (AGM) 03 Jun 10:00 - Mixed Doubles Semifinals 12:30 - Women's Singles Semifinals 15:00 - Mixed Doubles Final & Award Ceremony 17:30 - Men's Doubles Semifinals 04 Jun 13:30 - Women's Singles Final & Award Ceremony 16:30 - Men's Doubles Final & Award Ceremony 05 Jun 10:00 - Men's Singles Semifinals 12:00 - Women's Doubles Semifinals 14:30 - Men's Singles Final 15:30 - Women's Doubles Final 16:30 - Men's Singles & Women's Doubles Award Ceremony

2017 WTTC TIME SCHEDULE*

29 May 10:00 - Qualification (Day 1) 30 May 10:00 - Qualification (Day 2) 18:30 - Mixed Doubles First Round 19:30 - Women's Doubles First Round 20:15 - Men's Doubles First Round 21:15 - Mixed Doubles Second Round 31 May 10:00 - Women's Singles First Round (Day 3) 14:00 - Men's Singles First Round 18:00 - Women's Doubles Second Round 18:45 - Men's Doubles Second Round 19:30 - Women's Singles Second Round

* All timing in local time +2 GMT

8 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 9 2017 WTTC TIME SCHEDULE*

01 Jun 10:00 - Mixed Doubles Third Round (Day 4) 11:15 - Women's Doubles Third Round 12:15 - Men's Doubles Third Round 13:15 - Women's Singles Third Round 14:15 - Men's Singles Second Round 16:15 - Women's Singles Third Round 18:00 - Mixed Doubles Quarterfinals 19:30 - Men's Singles Second Round 02 Jun 10:00 - Women's Singles Fourth Round (Day 5) 12:30 - Men's Doubles Quarterfinals 13:30 - Women's Doubles Quarterfinals 14:30 - Men's Singles Third Round 15:45 - Women's Singles Quarterfinals 18:30 - Men's Singles Third Round 03 Jun 10:00 - Mixed Doubles Semifinals (Day 6) 11:15 - Men's Singles Fourth Round 12:30 - Women's Singles Semifinals 15:00 - Mixed Doubles Final & Award Ceremony 17:30 - Men's Doubles Semifinals 19:15 - Men's Singles Fourth Round 04 Jun 10:00 - Men's Singles Fourth Round (Day 7) 12:15 - Men's Singles Quarterfinals 13:30 - Women's Singles Final & Award Ceremony 15:00 - Men's Singles Quarterfinals 16:30 - Men's Doubles Final & Award Ceremony 19:00 - Men's Singles Quarterfinals 05 Jun 10:00 - Men's Singles Semifinals (Day 8) 12:00 - Women's Doubles Semifinals 14:30 - Men's Singles Final 15:30 - Women's Doubles Final 16:30 - Men's Singles & Women's Doubles Award Ceremony

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 9 2017 WTTC PLAYING SYSTEM

1. STRUCTURE 1.1 There will be 5 individual events – Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles. 1.2 The first round proper of Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles will have 128 places and the first round proper of Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles will have 64 places. 1.3 Singles events will have 64 seeded players, 32 direct entries and 32 qualifiers. Doubles events will have 32 seeded pairs, 16 direct entries and 16 qualifiers. 1.4 Qualification or f singles will initially comprise groups followed by one or two knockout rounds. 1.5 Qualification for doubles will be yb knockout. 1.6 All singles matches will be best of 7 games. Doubles matches will be best of 5 games in qualification matches and best of 7 games in the main draw. 2. DRAW 2.1 Singles 2.1.1 Singles groups will comprise 3 (or 4) players with each group winner proceeding to the qualification knockout draw or first round proper. The draw for the groups will use a snake system. 2.1.2 The draw for the first round proper will have 2 stages with the first stage split. The initial first stage draw will take place on May 27 and draw the players seeded 17 – 32 and 33 - 64 into appropriate positions at random. The final first stage draw will occur on May 28 (but separately from the initial first stage draw) when seeds 1 – 16 will be drawn. Seeds 9 – 16 will be drawn first, followed by seeds 5 – 8, then seeds 3 – 4 and finally seeds 1 and 2. 2.1.3 The second stage draw of direct entries and qualifiers will be drawn following the completion of the qualification rounds and be drawn at random into the remaining 64 positions, subject to clause 2.3. 2.2 Doubles 2.2.1 The initial draw for the first round proper will take place on May 27 when the seeded pairs will be drawn at random into appropriate positions. 2.2.2 The second stage draw of direct entries and qualifiers will be drawn following the completion of the qualification rounds and be drawn at random into the remaining 32 positions, subject to clause 2.3. 2.3 Players of the same Association shall be separated according to 3.6.3.1, 3.6.3.3, 3.6.3.4 and 3.6.3.5 only in preliminary rounds and groups and in the first round of the draw but not in further rounds. 2.4 The World Ranking list which will be used for seeding and for the draw shall be the WR to be published in May 2017 (No.5).

10 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 11 After winning the Men's Singles crown at the Qoros 2015 World Table Tennis Championships, (CHN) went on to take several more major international titles including the Olympic Gold in . Can the reigning World & Olympic Champion stay victorious in Düsseldorf to claim his second World Championships Singles title?

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 11 PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR - MEN

#1: MA Long (CHN) WR: 1 Age: 28 Nickname: Captain Long Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Champion (2015) Interesting Story: Known as Captain Long, Ma achieved status in 2016 as he finally won the Olympic Games Singles title in Rio. Ma won the 2016 Best Male Athlete of the year at the CCTV Sports Personality Awards.

#2: (CHN) WR: 2 Age: 20 Nickname: Little Chubby Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Semifinal (2015) Interesting Story: Fan won his first major singles world title at the 2016 Men's World Cup, and has set his sights to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in . At the Chinese "Marvellous 12" trials, the 2014 Youth Olympic Champion qualified for the WTTC in the first round.

#3: (CHN) WR: 3 Age: 27 Nickname: The Anaconda Playing Style: Left handed attacking penhold Best WTTC Singles Result: Semifinal (2013) Interesting Story: After claiming the Team title at the 2016 Olympic Games, Xu proposed to his long time girlfriend Yao Yan at a concert in .

#4: (CHN) WR: 4 Age: 29 Nickname: Tibetan Mastiff Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Champion (2011, 2013) Interesting Story: Zhang was awarded the 2016 Hottest Personality on Weibo, after his popularity surged after the 2016 Olympic Games.

12 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 13 PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR - MEN

#5: (GER) WR: 5 Age: 28 Nickname: Dima Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 16 (2009, 2011 & 2013) Interesting Story: Besides table tennis, Ovtcharov practises yoga & meditation to start his day. The 2012 Olympic Bronze medallist became a father last year, after his daugher Emma was born right after the Rio Olympic Games.

#6: (JPN) WR: 6 Age: 27 Nickname: Mijun Playing Style: Left handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Quarterfinal (2011, 2015) Interesting Story: Mizutani become the first Japanese table tennis player to win an Olympic singles medal when he won a bronze medal in Rio last year.

#7: (HKG) WR: 7 Age: 25 Nickname: Big Ear Tutu Playing Style: Right handed attacking penhold Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 16 (2015) Interesting Story: Wong was recognized for his outstanding achievements in 2016 at the Samsung 2016 Sports Star Awards, bringing home the outstanding sportsmen award.

#8: Timo BOLL (GER) WR: 8 Age: 36 Nickname: Bolli, Bollinger Playing Style: Left handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Semifinal (2011) Interesting Story: Boll has 19th World Tour titles under his belt, with his most recent win recorded at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour . Boll will pair with Olympic Champion Ma Long in the Men's Doubles event.

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 13 PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR - MEN

#9: CHUANG Chih-Yuan (TPE) WR: 10 Age: 36 Nickname: Chuany Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 16 (2003, 2007, 2013) Interesting Story: Considered as the veteran player in the Chinese team, Chuang is still one of the players who posseses a threat towards the Chinese team due to his speed and agility on court.

#11: JEOUNG Youngsik (KOR) WR: 12 Age: 25 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 32 (2015) Interesting Story: Jeong's strong performance at the 2016 Olympic Games gave Ma Long a run for his money, as he led 2-0 and eventually losing 2-4 to the Olympic Champion. Jeoung played in the 2016 Chinese Super League for the Shanghai Team, alongside Xu Xin.

#12: (BLR) WR: 13 Age: 41 Nickname: Vladi Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Finalist (1997) Interesting Story: In end April, Samsonov was awarded the order of honour by the President of in recognition of Samsonov's achievement in sports. Samsonov is also the chairman of the ITTF Athletes' Commission and has won 26 World Tour titles.

#13: Simon GAUZY (FRA) WR: 15 Age: 22 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 64 (2013, 2015) Interesting Story: Gauzy achieved his first major breakthrough when he reached the Men's Singles Final at the 2016 ITTF- European Championships for the first time. He impressed again this year at the ITTF-Europe Cup, clinching a bronze medal and qualifying for the 2017 Men's World Cup.

14 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 15 PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR - MEN

#14: (POR) WR: 16 Age: 29 Playing Style: Left handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 16 (2013) Interesting Story: Freitas first represented Portugal when he was 11, and led the Portuguese team to Gold at the 2014 ITTF- European Team Championships. He is also in a relationship with Luxembourg player, Sarah de Nutte.

#17: LEE Sangsu (KOR) WR: 20 Age: 26 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 16 (2015) Interesting Story: Lee is now serving the Korean army since February, and will be serving his stint for 22 months. Alongside with Jeoung, Lee is also considered as one of the top players in the next generation of Korean players.

#18: Stefan FEGERL (AUT) WR: 21 Age: 28 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 32 (2015) Interesting Story: Prior to 2016 Olympic Games, Fegerl's wife Li Qiangbing gave birth to a daughter. As his wife is Chinese, Fegerl is known to speak fluent Chinese. Fegerl's father-in-law is Li Xiaodong, who used to coach World Champions Liqin and in the Chinese National Team.

#19: (SWE) WR: 23 Age: 25 Playing Style: Left handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 64 (2015) Interesting Story: At the 2016 Men's World Cup, Karlsson eli- miniated home crowd favourite Dimitrij Ovtcharov and even- tually reached the semi-final for the first time.

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 15 PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR - MEN

#21: Hugo CALDERANO (BRA) WR: 25 Age: 20 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 64 (2015) Interesting Story: Calderano claimed Latin America's first Olympic table tennis medal when he took bronze at the in 2014. He is Latin America's biggest talent, sweeping several major continental titles, and can solve the Rubik's Cube within 15 seconds.

#30: (NGR) WR: 37 Age: 28 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 128 (2015) Interesting Story: Aruna shocked several big names during the 2016 Olympic Games, to become the first man from Africa to reach the Quarterfinal stage of the Men's Singles. He won the Male Table Tennis Star award at the 2014 ITTF Star Awards.

#33: (CHN) WR: 40 Age: 22 Playing Style: Left handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Debut Interesting Story: Lin became the shock qualifier of the Men's Team as he upset teammates Xu Xin and to earned his place in the singles event at the "Marvellous 12" qualification event. He was also three time Boys’ Singles runner up at World Junior Championships.

#53: (JPN) WR: 70 Age: 13 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Debut Interesting Story: 13 year old Harimoto has been regarded as the prodigy as he became the youngest to win the World Junior Champion title last year. Harimoto is known for his screams after he wins a point.

16 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 17 Hugo CALDERANO (BRA) made history at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games when he claimed bronze in the Boys' Singles event to bring home Latin America's first ever Olympic table tennis medal. The Brazilian was also the local hero at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, eliminating several higher ranked plpayers to finish top 16! Can the 20-year-old make more history in Düsseldorf to bring more pride to Latin America?

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 17 PLAYER INFORMATION - 64 MEN'S SEEDS

Seed Player Assoc. Age WR Playing Style

1 MA Long CHN 28 1 Right, Shakehand, Attack

2 FAN Zhendong CHN 20 2 Right, Shakehand, Attack

3 XU Xin CHN 27 3 Left, Penhold, Attack

4 ZHANG Jike CHN 29 4 Right, Shakehand, Attack

5 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV GER 28 5 Right, Shakehand, Attack

6 Jun MIZUTANI JPN 27 6 Left, Shakehand, Attack

7 WONG Chun Ting HKG 25 7 Right, Penhold, Attack

8 Timo BOLL GER 36 8 Left, Shakehand, Attack

9 CHUANG Chih-Yuan TPE 36 10 Right, Shakehand, Attack

10 JPN 22 11 Left, Shakehand, Attack

11 JEOUNG Youngsik KOR 25 12 Right, Shakehand, Attack

12 Vladimir SAMSONOV BLR 41 13 Right, Shakehand, Attack

13 Simon GAUZY FRA 22 15 Right, Shakehand, Attack

14 Marcos FREITAS POR 29 16 Left, Shakehand, Attack

15 JPN 26 18 Right, Shakehand, Attack

16 Tiago APOLONIA POR 30 19 Right, Shakehand, Attack

17 LEE Sangsu KOR 26 20 Right, Shakehand, Attack

18 Stefan FEGERL AUT 28 21 Right, Shakehand, Attack

19 Kristian KARLSSON SWE 25 23 Left, Shakehand, Attack

20 KOU Lei UKR 29 24 Right, Shakehand, Attack

21 Hugo CALDERANO BRA 20 25 Right, Shakehand, Attack

22 GER 36 25 Right, Shakehand, Attack

23 Mattias KARLSSON SWE 25 27 Right, Shakehand, Attack

24 Yuto MURAMATSU JPN 20 28 Right, Shakehand, Defense

18 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 19 PLAYER INFORMATION - 64 MEN'S SEEDS

Seed Player Assoc. Age WR Playing Style

25 CHEN Chien-An TPE 25 31 Left, Shakehand, Attack

26 GER 29 32 Right, Shakehand, Defense

27 Alexander SHIBAEV RUS 26 34 Right, Shakehand, Attack

28 FRA 29 35 Left, Shakehand, Attack

29 Panagiotis GIONIS GRE 37 36 Right, Shakehand, Defense

30 Quadri ARUNA NGR 28 37 Right, Shakehand, Attack

31 Andrej GACINA CRO 31 38 Right, Shakehand, Attack

32 JANG Woojin KOR 21 39 Right, Shakehand, Attack

33 LIN Gaoyuan CHN 22 40 Left, Shakehand, Attack

34 DEN 24 42 Left, Shakehand, Attack

35 SGP 34 43 Right, Shakehand, Attack

36 Par GERELL SWE 34 44 Left, Shakehand, Attack

37 ENG 27 46 Right, Shakehand, Attack

38 GER 24 47 Right, Shakehand, Attack

39 Joao MONTEIRO POR 33 49 Left, Shakehand, Attack

40 Ricardo WALTHER GER 25 50 Right, Shakehand, Attack

41 ENG 23 51 Right, Shakehand, Attack

42 AUT 38 53 Right, Shakehand, Attack

43 Sharath Kamal ACHANTA IND 34 54 Right, Shakehand, Attack

44 JEONG Sangeun KOR 27 55 Right, Shakehand, Attack

45 Bojan TOKIC SLO 36 55 Right, Shakehand, Attack

46 Jakub DYJAS POL 21 57 Right, Shakehand, Attack

47 HKG 29 59 Left, Shakehand, Attack

48 HO Kwan Kit HKG 20 60 Left, Shakehand, Attack

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 19 PLAYER INFORMATION - 64 MEN'S SEEDS

Seed Player Assoc. Age WR Playing Style

49 POL 33 61 Right, Penhold, Attack

50 Omar ASSAR EGY 25 62 Right, Shakehand, Attack

51 WANG Yang SVK 22 65 Right, Shakehand, Defense

52 Adrian CRISAN ROU 37 67 Right, Shakehand, Attack

53 Tomokazu HARIMOTO JPN 13 69 Right, Shakehand, Attack

54 Tomas KONECNY CZE 31 70 Right, Shakehand, Attack

55 AUT 35 71 Right, Shakehand, Defense

56 ROU 27 74 Right, Shakehand, Attack

57 Noshad ALAMIYAN IRI 25 76 Left, Shakehand, Attack

58 Joao GERALDO POR 21 78 Left, Shakehand, Attack

59 Grigory VLASOV RUS 32 79 Right, Shakehand, Attack

60 Tomislav PUCAR CRO 21 80 Right, Shakehand, Attack

61 Hunor SZOCS HUN 25 82 Right, Shakehand, Attack

62 Soumyajit GHOSH IND 24 83 Right, Shakehand, Attack

63 Benedek OLAH FIN 26 85 Right, Shakehand, Attack 64 CHO Seungmin KOR 19 86 Left, Shakehand, Attack

20 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 21 World number 1 (CHN) had to battle an ankle injury in her seven-games thriller against compatriot Shiwen in the Women's Singles final to claim her second singles crown in 2015. Can the reigning World & Olympic Champion be successful in her outing to Düsseldorf to claim her third title?

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 21 PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR - WOMEN

#1: DING Ning (CHN) WR: 1 Age: 26 Nickname: Big Baby Playing Style: Left handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Champion (2011, 2015) Interesting Story: After winning the Olympic Singles title in Rio last year, Ding becomes the 5th woman to complete a Grand Slam. Ding will be attempting to win the title in Düsseldorf for the third time.

#2: (CHN) WR: 2 Age: 26 Nickname: Little Date Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Finalist (2013, 2015) Interesting Story: Despite being 4-time Women's World Cup Champion, Liu has yet to win a World Championships Singles title. Her closest attempt was in 2015, where she lost to teammate Ding Ning in a seven games thriller. She will aim for her first World Championships singles title here in Düsseldorf.

#3: (CHN) WR: 3 Age: 22 Nickname: Xiao Zhu Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Semifinal (2015) Interesting Story: Winner of the Women's Doubles in 2015, Zhu will be one of the contenders for the Women's Singles title. Zhu won the 2016 China National Championships title, which is regarded as the most difficult tournament to win.

#4: (SGP) WR: 4 Age: 30 Nickname: Joy Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Quarterfinal (2015) Interesting Story: Feng was a member of the successful team at the Liebherr 2010 World Team Championships. She proved herself to be still capable of producing results, winning the Seamaster 2017 Korea Open in April.

22 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 23 PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR - WOMEN

#5: (CHN) WR: 5 Age: 23 Nickname: Da Meng Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 16 (2013) Interesting Story: World Junior Champion in 2011, Chen has been a regular member of the Chinese team, being part of the team that won the World Team Championships in 2016. This will be Chen's second appearance in the Singles event, after missing out a spot in 2015. #6: (JPN) WR: 6 Age: 24 Playing Style: Left handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Quarter-Final (2009) Interesting Story: Ishikawa won silver in the mixed doubles event with Maharu Yoshimura in 2015, and won the silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in the team event when she was only 19. She was also part of the team that won the Women's Team Bronze in Rio last year. #7: CHENG I-Ching (TPE) WR: 7 Age: 25 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 16 (2015) Interesting Story: Cheng is the backbone of the Chinese Taipei team, leading the team to semifinals at the 2016 WTTC, losing only 1 match against Grand Slam Champion throughout the tournament. Cheng impressed again in October 2016, where she reached the Final of the Women's World Cup.

#8: (JPN) WR: 8 Age: 17 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 32 (2015) Interesting Story: Hirano made history when she won the Women's World Cup in 2016, becoming the youngest winner ever. At the 2017 Asian Championships, she shocked the world once again by defeating 3 Chinese players (including Olympic Champion Ding Ning) to win the Women's Singles title.

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 23 PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR - WOMEN

#9: Hitomi SATO (JPN) WR: 10 Age: 19 Playing Style: Right handed defensive shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Debut Interesting Story: Hitomi showed her potential in 2015 when she won 5 U21 titles, and in 2017 she has already won 3 ITTF Challenge titles (Belarus, Thailand, Slovenia). In February at the Qatar Open, Hitomi and put together a 10 minute rally, a total of 766 shot was hit.

#10: (JPN) WR: 10 Age: 16 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Quarterfinal (2015) Interesting Story: Ito became the youngest player to ever win an Olympic medal when she won the Team Bronze medal at the Rio Olympic Games for the team. She has also shown maturity beyond her age as she withstand pressure to lead Japan into the team finals at the WTTC last year.

#11: (HKG) WR: 13 Age: 20 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 32 (2015) Interesting Story: Doo's hobbies are singing and dancing. At the Hong Kong Table Tennis Association's 80th Aniversary Celebration Banquet last year, Doo sang to an audience of more than 200 people.

#12: (AUT) WR: 15 Age: 35 Nickname: Susi Playing Style: Left handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Quarterfinal (2001) Interesting Story: Having won the European Cup on three occasions (2005, 2014, 2015), Liu is one of Austria's top athletes, she had the honour of being appointed the flag bearer of Austria at the Rio Olympic Games last year. Liu is also a mother of a daughter.

24 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 25 PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR - WOMEN

#13: (GER) WR: 20 Age: 23 Nickname: Peti Playing Style: Left handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 64 (2015) Interesting Story: Solja's first breakthrough at the World stage was in 2015, when she won Bronze at the Women's World Cup beating higher ranked players like and .

#16: YANG Haeun (KOR) WR: 24 Age: 23 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 16 (2015) Interesting Story: Yang became the second Korean to win the Mixed Doubles title at the World Championships, when she won in 2015 partnering Xu Xin.

#17: Song I (PRK) WR: 26 Age: 22 Playing Style: Right handed defensive shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Debut Interesting Story: At the 2016 World Team Championships, Kim lead the Korea DPR team to a podium finish beating Singapore in a nail biting match which went the full distance. Kim won singles bronze at the Rio Olympic Games last year, eliminating top Japanese players Kasumi Ishikawa & Ai Fukuhara.

#18: Matilda EKHOLM (SWE) WR: 27 Age: 34 Nickname: Matie Playing Style: Left handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 16 (2015) Interesting Story: Pairing with Georgina Pota, the pair is seeded no. 1 in the Women's Doubles event. Ekholm also won silver at the European Championships Mixed Doubles event in partnership with Mattias Karlsson.

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 25 PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR - WOMEN

#19: Georgina POTA (HUN) WR: 28 Age: 32 Nickname: Gina Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 32 (2005) Interesting Story: Pota has been seamlessly integrated into the ranks of the great Hungarian Table Tennis ladies. She will play doubles with 's Matilda Ekholm.

#21: (ROU) WR: 31 Age: 28 Nickname: Eliza Playing Style: Left handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 32 (2015) Interesting Story: During a Champion Leagues match in January, Eliza was diagnosed with a tear in her meniscus which resulted in immediate surgery the next day. Samara's determination to recovery had her coming back to the arena in 2 months. #46: Adriana DIAZ (PUR) WR: 80 Age: 16 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 128 (2015) Interesting Story: Coming from a table tennis family, it is no surprise that Diaz is currently the highest ranked Latin American. Coached by her Dad, Diaz's 3 other sisters are also table tennis players. Diaz also represented Puerto Rico at the Rio Olympic Games last year.

#52: (USA) WR: - Age: 20 Playing Style: Right handed attacking shakehand Best WTTC Singles Result: Round of 64 (2013) Interesting Story: Lily became the first US athlete to win a medal at an Olympic level when she won the bronze at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. Early in May, Lily was invited to speak at TiEcon 2017, which is the world's largest entreprenurship conference.

26 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 27 2-time European Champion Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) has had 2 disappointing World Championships outings in 2013 & Suzhou 2015, being shocked out early in the Men's Singles event. Can the local favourite break the curse to win Gold at home?

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 27 PLAYER INFORMATION - 64 WOMEN'S SEEDS

Seed Player Assoc. Age WR Playing Style

1 DING Ning CHN 26 1 Left, Shakehand,Attack

2 LIU Shiwen CHN 26 2 Right, Shakehand, Attack

3 ZHU Yuling CHN 22 3 Right, Shakehand, Attack

4 FENG Tianwei SGP 30 4 Right, Shakehand, Attack

5 CHEN Meng CHN 23 5 Right, Shakehand, Attack

6 Kasumi ISHIKAWA JPN 24 6 Left, Shakehand, Attack

7 CHENG I-Ching TPE 25 7 Right, Shakehand, Attack

8 Miu HIRANO JPN 17 8 Right, Shakehand, Attack

9 Hitomi SATO JPN 19 10 Right, Shakehand, Defense

10 Mima ITO JPN 16 10 Right, Shakehand, Attack

11 DOO Hoi Kem HKG 20 13 Right, Shakehand, Attack

12 LIU Jia AUT 35 15 Left, Shakehand, Attack

13 Petrissa SOLJA GER 23 20 Left, Shakehand, Attack

14 LI Jie NED 33 21 Right, Shakehand, Defense

15 SGP 27 23 Right, Shakehand, Attack

16 YANG Haeun KOR 23 24 Right, Shakehand, Attack

17 KIM Song I PRK 22 26 Right, Shakehand, Defense

18 Matilda EKHOLM SWE 34 27 Left, Shakehand, Attack

19 Georgina POTA HUN 32 28 Right, Shakehand, Attack

20 SUH Hyowon KOR 30 29 Right, Shakehand, Defense

21 Elizabeta SAMARA ROU 28 31 Left, Shakehand, Attack

22 JPN 18 32 Right, Shakehand, Attack

23 LEE Ho Ching HKG 24 33 Right, Shakehand, Attack

24 LI Qian POL 30 37 Right, Shakehand, Defense

28 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 29 PLAYER INFORMATION - 64 WOMEN'S SEEDS

Seed Player Assoc. Age WR Playing Style

25 Sabine WINTER GER 24 39 Right, Shakehand, Attack

26 CHEN Szu-Yu TPE 23 45 Right, Shakehand, Attack

27 KIM Kyungah KOR 40 46 Right, Shakehand, Defense

28 Daniela MONTEIRO DODEAN ROU 29 47 Right, Shakehand, Attack

29 SOO Wai Yam Minnie HKG 19 50 Right, Shakehand, Attack

30 Polina MIKHAILOVA RUS 30 54 Right, Shakehand, Defense

31 Sofia POLCANOVA AUT 22 55 Left, Shakehand, Attack

32 Tetyana BILENKO UKR 33 56 Right, Shakehand, Defense

33 NG Wing Nam HKG 24 57 Right, Shakehand, Attack

34 BLR 39 58 Right, Shakehand, Defense

35 Bernadette SZOCS ROU 22 59 Right, Shakehand, Attack

36 Suthasini SAWETTABUT THA 23 60 Right, Shakehand, Attack

37 GER 32 62 Right, Shakehand, Attack

38 NI Xia Lian LUX 53 - Left, Penhold, Attack 39 Natalia PARTYKA POL 27 65 Left, Shakehand, Attack

40 NED 23 69 Right, Shakehand, Attack

41 ZHANG Mo CAN 28 73 Right, Shakehand, Attack

42 Katarzyna GRZYBOWSKA- POL 28 76 Right, Shakehand, Attack FRANC

43 RI Mi Gyong PRK 26 77 Left, Shakehand, Attack

44 Nanthana KOMWONG THA 36 78 Right, Shakehand, Attack

45 Adriana DIAZ PUR 16 80 Right, Shakehand, Attack

46 CHENG Hsien-Tzu TPE 24 81 Right, Shakehand, Attack

47 Adina DIACONU ROU 17 82 Right, Shakehand, Attack

48 Hana MATELOVA CZE 26 83 Right, Shakehand, Attack

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 29 PLAYER INFORMATION - 64 WOMEN'S SEEDS

Seed Player Assoc. Age WR Playing Style

49 Yana NOSKOVA RUS 23 87 Right, Shakehand, Attack

50 LEE Zion KOR 21 88 Right, Shakehand, Attack

51 Lily Zhang USA 20 - Right, Shakehand, Attack 52 Dora MADARASZ HUN 23 92 Right, Shakehand, Attack

53 Ganna GAPONOVA UKR 31 95 Right, Shakehand, Defense

54 MAK Tze Wing HKG 18 98 Right, Shakehand, Attack

55 Szandra PERGEL HUN 28 99 Left, Shakehand, Attack

56 Maria XIAO ESP 23 100 Left, Shakehand, Attack

57 LAY Jian Fang AUS 44 102 Right, Penhold, Attack

58 IND 21 103 Right, Shakehand, Attack

59 ESP 29 104 Right, Shakehand, Attack

60 Irina CIOBANU ROU 21 106 Right, Shakehand, Attack

61 Eva ODOROVA SVK 37 108 Right, Shakehand, Attack

62 YOO Eunchong KOR 23 108 Right, Shakehand, Attack

63 Ruta PASKAUSKIENE LTU 40 113 Right, Shakehand, Attack

64 Sarah DE NUTTE LUX 24 117 Right, Shakehand, Attack

30 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 31 Quadri ARUNA (NGR) become the first ever African player to reach Quarterfinals at an Olympic table tennis event, defeating top stars such as Timo BOLL (GER) at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games! Can the 2014 ITTF Male Table Tennis Star further shock the World to make more history?

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 31 MEN'S DOUBLES SEEDING

Seed Player 1 Assoc. Player 2 Assoc.

1 JPN JPN 2 Patrick FRANZISKA GER Jonathan GROTH DEN 3 FAN Zhendong CHN XU Xin CHN 4 JEOUNG Youngsik KOR LEE Sangsu KOR 5 Hugo CALDERANO BRA Gustavo TSUBOI BRA 6 Alexey LIVENTSOV RUS Mikhail PAIKOV RUS 7 HO Kwan Kit HKG WONG Chun Ting HKG 8 Kristian KARLSSON SWE Mattias KARLSSON SWE 9 Koki NIWA JPN Maharu YOSHIMURA JPN 10 Robin DEVOS BEL Cedric NUYTINCK BEL 11 Ruwen FILUS GER Ricardo WALTHER GER 12 CHEN Chien-An TPE LIAO Cheng-Ting TPE 13 JANG Woojin KOR JEONG Sangeun KOR 14 Jakub DYJAS POL Daniel GORAK POL 15 JIANG Tianyi HKG LAM Siu Hang HKG 16 Sharath Kamal Achanta IND Sathiyan GNANASEKARAN IND 17 Timo BOLL GER MA Long CHN 18 Nandor ECSEKI HUN Adam SZUDI HUN 19 Quadri ARUNA NGR Segun TORIOLA NGR 20 Tristan FLORE FRA Emmanuel LEBESSON FRA 21 GAO Ning SGP PANG Xue Jie SGP 22 Nima ALAMIAN IRI Noshad ALAMIYAN IRI 23 Par GERELL SWE Anton KALLBERG SWE 24 Gaston ALTO ARG Horacio CIFUENTES ARG 25 Tomas KONECNY CZE Tomas POLANSKY CZE 26 El-Sayed LASHIN EGY Ahmed SALEH EGY 27 Brian AFANADOR PUR Daniel GONZALES PUR 28 Cristian PLETEA ROU Hunor SZOCS ROU 29 Eric JOUTI BRA Cazuo MATSUMOTO BRA 30 Harmeet DESAI IND Soumyajit GHOSH IND 31 Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC SRB WANG Zengyi POL 32 Robert GARDOS AUT AUT

32 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 33 WOMEN'S DOUBLES SEEDING

Seed Player 1 Assoc. Player 2 Assoc.

1 Matilda EKHOLM SWE Georgina POTA HUN 2 DOO Hoi Kem HKG LEE Ho Ching HKG 3 CHEN Meng CHN ZHU Yuling CHN 4 DING Ning CHN LIU Shiwen CHN 5 LEE Zion KOR YANG Haeun KOR 6 CHEN Szu-Yu TPE CHENG I-Ching TPE 7 LI Jie NED LI Qian POL 8 HAYATA Hina JPN ITO Mima JPN 9 Polina MIKHAILOVA RUS Olga VOROBEVA Rus 10 Petrissa SOLJA GER Sabine WINTER GER 11 FENG Tianwei SGP YU Mengyu SGP 12 Dora MADARASZ HUN Szandra PERGEL HUN 13 Manika BATRA IND Mouma DAS IND 14 Katarzyna GRZYBOWSKA-FRANC POL Natalia PARTYKA POL 15 Chantal MANTZ GER WAN Yuan GER 16 Nina MITTELHAM GER Kristin SILBEREISEN GER 17 NG Wing Nam HKG SOO Wai Yam Minnie HKG 18 Yana NOSKOVA RUS Mariia TAILAKOVA RUS 19 Yousra HELMY EGY Dina MESHREF EGY 20 Gremlis ARVELO VEN Neridee NINO VEN 21 Alex GALIC SLO Rachel MORET SUI 22 Adriana DIAZ PUR Melanie DIAZ PUR 23 MONTEIRO ROU Elizabeta SAMARA ROU 24 Katherine LOW CHI Paulina VEGA CHI 25 Sarah DE NUTTE LUX NI Xia Lian LUX 26 CHENG Hsien-Tzu TPE HUANG Yu-Wen TPE 27 Hana MATELOVA CZE Katerina TOMANOVSKA CZE 28 Miu HIRANO JPN Kasumi ISHIKAWA JPN 29 KIM Kyungah KOR SUH Hyowon KOR 30 Adina DIACONU ROU Bernadette SZOCS ROU 31 Sarah HANFFOU CMR Olufunke OSHONAIKE NGR 32 Galia DVORAK ESP XIAO Maria ESP

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 33 Home favourite Timo BOLL (GER) & World number 1 MA Long (CHN) has joined forces once again to aim for the Men's Double crown. The legendary pair lost on their first World Championships partnership in Suzhou, after losing to eventual Champions XU Xin (CHN) & ZHANG Jike (CHN). Will they be successful this year in front of Boll's home crowd?

34 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 35 MIXED DOUBLES SEEDING

Seed Player 1 Assoc. Player 2 Assoc.

1 LEE Sangsu KOR YANG Haeun KOR 2 WONG Chun Ting HKG DOO Hoi Kem HKG 3 Mattias KARLSSON SWE Matilda EKHOLM SWE 4 HO Kwan Kit HKG LEE Ho Ching HKG 5 CHEN Chien-An TPE CHENG I-Ching TPE 6 Maharu YOSHIMURA JPN Kasumi ISHIKAWA JPN 7 CHN Petrissa SOLJA GER 8 Jakub DYJAS POL Katarzyna GRZYBOWSKA-FRANC POL 9 Steffen MENFEL GER Kristin SILBEREISEN GER 10 Vitor ISHIY BRA Caroline KUMAHARA BRA 11 CHUANG Chih-Yuan TPE CHEN Szu-Yu TPE 12 Omar ASSAR EGY Dina MESHREF EGY 13 Jonathan GROTH DEN FENG Yalan CHN 14 JANG Woojin KOR LEE Zion KOR 15 Gaston ALTO ARG Ana CODINA ARG 16 Grigory VLASOV RUS Yana NOSKOVA RUS 17 PANG Xue Jie SGP YU Mengyu SGP 18 Tomas KONECNY CZE Hana MATELOVA CZE 19 Segun TORIOLA NGR Olufunke OSHONAIKE NGR 20 Ovidiu IONESCU ROU Bernadette SZOCS ROU 21 PAK Sin Hyok PRK RI Hyon Sim PRK 22 Krisztian NAGY HUN Szandra PERGEL HUN 23 Mohamed EL-BEIALI EGY Yousra HELMY EGY 24 Brian AFANADOR PUR Adriana DIAZ PUR 25 Sathiyan GNANASEKARAN IND Manika BATRA IND 26 Benedikt DUDA GER Sabine WINTER GER 27 Nandor ECSEKI HUN Dora MADARASZ HUN 28 Daniel GONZALEZ PUR Melanie DIAZ PUR 29 Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC SRB Ruta PASKAUSKIENE LTU 30 Eric JOUTI BRA GUI Lin BRA 31 Padasak TANVIRIYAVECHAKUL THA Suthasini SAWETTABUT THA 32 Eric GLOD LUX Sarah DE NUTTE LUX

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 35 WTTC TROPHIES & HISTORY

MEN’S SINGLES - ST BRIDE VASE The prestigious St. Bride Vase awarded to the Men’s Singles World Champion, was donated by C. Corti Woodcock, who was member of the St. Bride Table Tennis Club in London in 1929, in honour of winning the title at the 1929 World Championships in .

WOMEN’S SINGLES - GEIST PRIZE

The Geist Prize awarded to the Women’s Singles was donated in 1931 by President of the Hungarian Table Tennis Association, Dr. Gaspar Geist.

MEN’S DOUBLES - CUP The Iran Cup awarded to the Men’s Doubles World Champions, was donated at the 1947 World Championships by the Shah of Iran.

WOMEN’S DOUBLES - W J POPE TROPHY The W.J.Pope Trophy awarded to the Women’s Doubles World Champions, was donated in 1948 by W.J. Pope of England, who at the time was the ITTF Honorary General Secretary.

MIXED DOUBLES - HEYDUSEK CUP The Heydusek Cup awarded to the Mixed Doubles World Champions was donated in 1948 by the Secretary of the Czechoslovakia Association, Zdenek Heydusek.

36 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 37 REIGNING WORLD CHAMPIONS

Men's Singles Women's Singles MA Long (CHN) DING Ning (CHN)

Men's Doubles Women's Doubles Mixed Doubles ZHANG Jike (CHN)/ ZHU Yuling (CHN)/ YANG Haeun (KOR)/ XU Xin (CHN) LIU Shiwen (CHN) XU Xin (CHN)

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 37 CURRENT WORLD & OLYMPIC MEDALLISTS

2016 Olympic Games 2015 World Championships Rio de Janeiro / Brazil Suzhou / China Men's Singles Men's Singles Gold MA Long CHN Gold MA Long CHN Silver ZHANG Jike CHN Silver FANG Bo CHN Bronze Jun MIZUTANI JPN Bronze FAN Zhendong CHN Bronze ZHANG Jike CHN Women's Singles Women's Singles Gold DING Ning CHN Silver LI Xiaoxia CHN Gold DING Ning CHN Bronze KIM Song-I PRK Silver LIU Shiwen CHN Bronze LI Xiaoxia CHN Men's Team Bronze CHN

Gold China Men's Doubles Silver Japan Bronze Germany Gold XU Xin / ZHANG Jike (CHN) Silver FAN Zhendong / ZHOU Yu (CHN) Women's Team Bronze LEE Sangsu / SEO Hyundeok (KOR) Gold China Bronze Kenta MATSUDAIRA / Silver Germany Koki NIWA (JPN) Bronze Japan Women's Doubles Gold LIU Shiwen / ZHU Yuling (CHN) Silver DING Ning / LI Xiaoxia (CHN) Bronze FENG Tianwei / YU Mengyu (SGP) Bronze LI Jie (NED) / LI Qian (POL)

Mixed Doubles Gold YANG Haeun (KOR) / XU Xin (CHN) Silver Kasumi ISHIKAWA / Maharu YOSHIMURA (JPN) Bronze / KIM Hyok-bong (PRK) Bronze DOO Hoi Kem / WONG Chun Ting (HKG)

38 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 39 PAST WORLD CHAMPIONS (1926 - 2015)

YEAR CITY MEN'S SINGLES CHAMPION ASSOC. WOMEN'S SINGLES CHAMPION ASSOC. 2015 Suzhou MA Long CHN DING Ning CHN 2013 Paris ZHANG Jike CHN LI Xiaoxia CHN 2011 ZHANG Jike CHN DING Ning CHN 2009 WANG Hao CHN CHN 2007 CHN CHN 2005 Shanghai WANG Liqin CHN ZHANG Yining CHN 2003 Paris SCHLAGER Werner AUT CHN 2001 WANG Liqin CHN WANG Nan CHN 1999 Eindhoven CHN WANG Nan CHN 1997 Manchester WALDNER Jan-Ove SWE CHN 1995 Tianjin CHN DENG Yaping CHN 1993 Gothenburg GATIEN Jean-Philippe FRA HYUN Jung Hwa KOR 1991 Chiba City PERSSON Jorgen SWE DENG Yaping CHN 1989 WALDNER Jan-Ove SWE CHN 1987 CHN CHN 1985 Gothenburg JIANG Jialiang CHN CHN 1983 Tokyo CHN CAO Yanhua CHN 1981 Novi Sad GUO Yuehua CHN CHN 1979 Pyongyang ONO Seiji JPN GE Xinai CHN 1977 Birmingham KOHNO Mitsuro JPN PAK Yung Sun PRK 1975 Calcutta JONYER Istvan HUN PAK Yung Sun PRK 1973 Sarajevo XI Enting CHN HU Yulan CHN 1971 Nagoya BENGTSSON Stellan SWE LIN Huiqing CHN 1969 Munich ITOH Shigeo JPN KOWADA Toshiko JPN 1967 HASEGAWA Nobuhiko JPN MORISAWA Sachiko JPN 1965 Ljubljana CHN FUKATSU Naoko JPN 1963 Prague ZHUANG Zedong CHN MATSUZAKI Kimiyo JPN 1961 ZHUANG Zedong CHN CHN 1959 Dortmund CHN MATSUZAKI Kimiyo JPN 1957 Stockhom TANAKA Toshiaki JPN EGUCHI Fujie JPN 1956 Tokyo OGIMURA Ichiro JPN OKADA Tomie JPN 1955 Utrecht TANAKA Toshiaki JPN ROZEANU Angelica ROU 1954 Wembley OGIMURA Ichiro JPN ROZEANU Angelica ROU 1953 Bucharest SIDO Ferenc HUN ROZEANU Angelica ROU 1952 Bombay SATOH Hiroji JPN ROZEANU Angelica ROU 1951 Vienna LEACH Johnny ENG ROZEANU Angelica ROU 1950 Budapest BERGMANN Richard ENG ROZEANU Angelica ROU 1949 Stockholm LEACH Johnny ENG FARKAS Gizella HUN 1948 Wembley BERGMANN Richard ENG FARKAS Gizella HUN 1947 Paris VANA Bohumil TCH FARKAS Gizella HUN 1939 Cairo BERGMANN Richard ENG PRITZI Trude AUT 1938 Wembley VANA Bohumil TCH AARONS Ruth / PRITZI Trude USA / AUT 1937 Baden BERGMANN Richard AUT AARONS Ruth USA 1936 Prague KOLAR Stanislav CZE AARONS Ruth USA 1935 Wembley BARNA Victor HUN KETTNEROVA Marie CZE 1934 Paris BARNA Victor HUN KETTNEROVA Marie CZE 1933 Baden BARNA Victor HUN SIPOS Anna HUN 1932 Prague BARNA Victor HUN SIPOS Anna HUN 1931 Budapest SZABADOS Miklos HUN MEDNYANSZKY Maria HUN 1930 Berlin BARNA Victor HUN MEDNYANSZKY Maria HUN 1929 Budapest PERRY Fred ENG MEDNYANSZKY Maria HUN 1928 Stockholm MECHLOVITS Zoltan HUN MEDNYANSZKY Maria HUN 1926 London JACOBI Roland HUN MEDNYANSZKY Maria HUN

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 39 SEAMASTER 2017 WORLD TOUR WINNERS

Hungarian Open India Open Budapest, HUN, 19 - 22 Jan New Delhi, IND, 16 - 19 Feb Men's Singles Men's Singles CHN Dimitrij OVTCHAROV GER Women's Singles Women's Singles CHN Mori SAKURA JPN Men's Doubles Men's Doubles FANG Bo/ZHOU Yu CHN Masataka MORIZONO / JPN Yuya OSHIMA Women's Doubles CHEN Xingtong/LI Jiayi CHN Women's Doubles Matilda EKHOLM / SWE / Gerogina POTA HUN

Qatar Open (Platinum) Korea Open , QAT, 23 - 26 Feb , KOR, 20 - 23 Feb Men's Singles Men's Singles MA Long CHN Timo BOLL GER Women's Singles Women's Singles CHEN Meng CHN FENG Tianwei SGP Men's Doubles Men's Doubles Masataka MORIZONO / JPN JANG Woojin / KOR Yuya OSHIMA JEONG Sangeun Women's Doubles Women's Doubles CHEN Meng/ CHN / GER Petrissa SOLJA

40 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 41 UPCOMING KEY EVENTS

From To Location Event 16 Jun 18 Jun Tokyo, JPN Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum, Japan Open 22 Jun 25 Jun , CHN Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum, China Open 1 Jul 3 Jul Agadir, MAR 2017 ITTF-African Cup 4 Jul 7 Jul Gold Coast, AUS Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum, Australian Open 28 Jul 30 Jul San Jose, CRC 2017 ITTF-Panam Cup 17 Aug 20 Aug Panagyurishte, Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour BUL Bulgaria Open 24 Aug 27 Aug Olomouc, CZE Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Czech Open 11 Sep 17 Sep Cartagena de 2017 ITTF-Panam Championships Indias, COL 13 Sep 17 Sep Luxembourg, 2017 ITTF-European Team Championships LUX 15 Sep 17 Sep Ahemdabad, IND 2017 ITTF-Asian cup 21 Sep 24 Sep , AUT Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum Austrian Open 20 Oct 22 Oct Liege, BEL Liebherr 2017 ITTF Men’s World Cup 27 Oct 29 Oct Markham, CAN 2017 ITTF Women’s World Cup 10 Nov 12 Nov , GER Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open 16 Nov 19 Nov Stockholm, SWE Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open 14 Dec 17 Dec TBD Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 41 World number 2 LIU Shiwen (CHN) has won the Women's World Cup title on 4 occassions to be the most successul athlete in World Cup history, but has never claimed a World Championships Singles title. Will she succeed in Düsseldorf to take the crown?

42 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 43 Themed “Black is Bold”, of the six continents at table tennis ball whilst playing! which represents the connection as well as the graceful arcs of as the graceful the as well DHS classic “Rainbow Arch” design DHS classic “Rainbow W World’s biggest table tennis event, table tennis event, biggest World’s the 2017 WTTC table features a stylish the 2017 WTTC sleek black table top while retaining the

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 43 2017 WTTC INTERESTING FACTS

• 54th edition of the World Table Tennis Championships (Individual events). • Ninth time that a World Championships has been stage where only individual events have been contested; the first was Eindhoven in 1999. • A total of 106 National Associations are being represented in Düsseldorf. • 330 male & 260 female players will be competing to become World Champions in Men's Singles & Women's Singles events respectively. • Youngest male player: Ylyas Allanazarov (TKM), who will turn 9 on 29 May 2017. Allanazarov was also part of the Turkmenistan team who competed at the World Team Championships last year in . • Oldest male player: Asim Qureshi (PAK), 50 years, 11 months and 12 days. • Youngest female player: Shahd Al-Makki (QAT), 11 year, 4 months and 16 days. • Oldest female player: (LUX), 53 years, 10 months and 26 days. • Ni Xialian (LUX) and Viktoria Pavlovich (BLR) will competing at the World Championships for a record ninteenth time this year. • There will be 14 former Junior World Champions competing to be World Champions in Düsseldorf, out of which only Ma Long & Ding Ning has successfully claimed the Senior's World Title: • Men's: Fan Zhendong (CHN), Fang Bo (CHN), Ma Long (CHN), Kenta Matsudaira (JPN), Koki Niwa (JPN), Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN), Chen Chien-An (TPE), Jang Woojin (KOR), Jeong Sangeun (KOR) • Women's: Chen Meng (CHN), Ding Ning (CHN), Feng Yalan (CHN), Zhu Yuling (CHN), Li Qian (POL) • Men's teams with 100% singles entries in top 64 seeded posisions: China, Germany, Japan, Ukraine • Women's teams with 100% singles entries in top 64 seeded positions: Hong Kong, Japan, , (China has 4 out of 5 players seeded, with Mu Zi being unranked)

44 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 45 2017 WTTC INTERESTING FACTS

• Youngest Women’s Singles Champion: Deng Yaping (CHN), 18 years and 90 days old at the 1991 WTTC. • Youngest Women’s Doubles Champion: Deng Yaping (CHN), 16 years and 63 days old at the 1989 WTTC. • Youngest Men’s Singles Champion: Kong Linghui (CHN), 19 years and 211 days old at the 1995 WTTC. • Youngest Men’s Doubles Champion: Kong Linghui (CHN), 21 years and 201 days old at the 1997 WTTC. • Youngest Mixed Doubles Champion: Guo Yue (CHN), 16 years and 294 days old at the 2005 WTTC. • Victor Barna (HUN) holds the Men’s Singles record of winning the title five times. • Angelica Rozeanu (ROU) holds the Women’s Singles record winning the title 6 consecutive times, (1950-1955). • Victor Barna and Miklos Szabados (HUN) hold the Men’s Doubles record winning the title in 6 out of 7 years beginning in 1929. Barna also won in 1933 with Sandor Glancz and again in 1939 with . • Maria Mednyanszky and Anna Sipos (HUN) hold the Women’s Doubles record winning the title at 6 consecutive World Championships (1930-1935). • Maria Mednyanszky partnered with Mechlovits (1926,1928), Szabados (1930,1931,1933) and Kelen (1933) to win the Mixed Doubles World Title a record 6 times. • China's Xu Xin & Korea Republic's Yang Haeun won the Mixed Doubles World Title on their first partnership in 2015 to become the first mixed associations pair mixed doubles pair to be crowned since 1966. • China has spawned eleven Men’s Singles World Champions, all have been right handers. • Only three lefthanded have won the World Championship in Men Singles event: (SWE) in 1971, (JPN) in 1979 and Jean-Philippe Gatien, (FRA) in 1993.

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 45 MEDIA GUIDELINES

The media is an essential part of the success of the World Championships, so the ITTF wants to create the best possible atmosphere for the media to work. In return, the ITTF asks the media to adhere to the below guidelines to ensure that the players, spectators, TV viewers and competition management will also have the best event possible. PHOTOGRAPHERS • Photographers are only allowed onto the field of play (FoP) with an official bib issued by the organizing committee. • A bib can be obtained at the welcome desk, by leaving a piece of ID as deposit. This bib must be returned at the end of each day. • Any photographers / accredited press on the FoP without a bib will be asked to leave immediately. • Only a limited number of photographers will be allowed on the FoP. This will be determined by level of importance, then a first come, first served basis. If you are unable to enter the FoP, the ITTF will provide your agency with the photos that you need. Photographers will be able to take photos from the tribune. • Only photographers with professional cameras will be given an official bib to enter the FoP. • As photographers are seen by spectators and on television, they are required to dress presentably whilst on the FoP (collared shirt / blouse, long pants / skirts and covered shoes). • Each day there will be a diagram indicating where photographers are allowed on the FoP. Photographers found outside this area will be asked to leave the FoP. • Photographers are required to bring their own stool / chairs onto the FoP and are kindly asked to sit while taking photos. • Photographers must not bring anything except their camera and one spare lens onto the FoP. No laptop and no bags are permitted. • Photographers are not allowed to move during or in between points. • Photographers can only move during time outs and in between games. • Strictly no flash photography is allowed on the FoP. • Photographers are not allowed in the mixed zone. • Photographers are only permitted to take still pictures and not videos. • The Organizing Committee ( OC) will provide secured, lockable storage for your equipment.

46 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 47 MEDIA GUIDELINES

MIXED ZONE The priority for accredited media’s access to players and officials in the mixed zone will be as follows: • Host Broadcaster • Television Rights Holders • ITTF Interviews • Television Non-rights holders TV Interviews • Radio Interviews • Written Press There will be set areas for each of the above categories, withthe higher priority media getting access to the players first.

FILMING RIGHTS FOR FIELD OF PLAY AND MIXED ZONE Please find below the explanation of the different material that ENG crews &Video Journalists can or cannot film during the World Championships:

1. All Crews Have The Right To Film: • Press conferences following the Draw and after the main matches (note all filming must be done at the back on the room on the designated platforms). • Interviews in the mixed zone. • Private interviews in the interview room. Non-rights holders may NOT film match action on the FoP. If non-TV rights holders would like to have access to match footages, they must contact ITTF’s Business Development Manager Kimberly Koh: [email protected].

2. All Crews Have The Right To Film: • Match action on the FoP, proving they have permission from the HB that they are not disrupting the world feed. • Presentations, training and warm up on the FoP. • One-to-one Interviews: • After the Draw • After each press conference • Training in the training hall. Any unauthorized filming may result in the revoking of the relevant media accreditation.

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 47 MEDIA GUIDELINES

MEDIA CENTRE AND PRESS TRIBUNE • Only accredited media are permitted into the media centre & press tribune and are not allowed to bring in guests. • As there are limited seats in the press tribune, there will be an order of priority given to media that are allowed access. • As the media centre is a place for work, media must keep the noise to a minimum. • There will be lockers provided for photographers to store their equipment in the media centre.

GENERAL • Television, radio, or written interviews may only take place in the mixed zone (after matches), in the interview room and during the press conference. • If the accredited media would like to have a one-to-one interview with a player, they must organize this through the OC press team or the ITTF Head of Communications (contact details, please see below), and should not approach the player themselves outside the mixed zone or press conference room. • The OC Media operations staff will manage all photographers onsite and be present to assist photographers with queries, photo position placement and will enforce the guidelines stated herein. • If the accredited media would like additional photographs, quotes, results, stats or general information, please ask the OC press team or the ITTF Head of Communications and they will be more than happy to help. • For clarification on any items, please email ITTF’s Head of Communications Matt Pound at [email protected].

48 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 49 Miu HIRANO (JPN) made history when she won the Women's World Cup in 2016, becoming the youngest winner ever. She continued to shock the World at the 2017 Asian Championships, defeating 3 Chinese stars, including Olympic Champion DING Ning, ZHU Yuling & CHEN Meng, to become the first non- Chinese Champion since 1996! Can the 17-year-old Japanese sensation win in Düsseldorf?

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 49 GENERAL INFORMATION

ACCREDITATION Accredited media pick up their Full Accreditation directly at the Media Centre. To get there, accredited media receive a Day Pass at the main entrance and has to change the Day Pass against the full accreditation at Media Centre Accreditation-/Info Desk.

TRAINING HALL Only the host broadcaster and TV rights holders have access to the Practice Hall. Written press and photographers do not have access.

MONEY / CURRENCY The currency of Germany is Euro. In May 2017, 1 Euro is worth: 1 Euro = 1,09 USD 1 Euro = 124 Yen 1 Euro = 7,51 Yuan

TIME ZONE The time zone in Düsseldorf during the World Table Tennis Championships will be European Summertime GMT/UTC +2.

CLIMATE During the WTTC, mild temperatures between 20 and 25 degrees are expected in Düsseldorf.

MEDIA SERVICES MEDIA CENTRE A huge gallery is surrounding the whole hall 6, the main playing hall. The media area is located on the north and west part of the gallery and will provide accredited media with access to working areas, free high-speed internet access, media tools, tea, coffee and snacks.

50 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 51 GENERAL INFORMATION

MEDIA TRIBUNE In the main arena, Hall 6, media tribune features a combination of working desk positions and standard observer seats for the media. In total there will be 226 seats available for the media (184 seats with tables and fully equipped and 42 seats without table). At each table there will be power and free wi-fi access for media use. Some of the seats will be reserved. The remaining seats will be allocated to one person per media on a first come first serve basis.

FIELD PHOTOGRAPHER To go onto the field of play, photographers must obtain a bib from the welcome desk and have to bring it back after the end of the session. A piece of ID must be given as deposit in order to receive the bib. Photographers are obliged to wear this bib at all times whilst on the field of play and must follow the accredited media guidelines. The number of photographers on the field either in the main hall as well as in venue 2 eventually has to be limited in each session.

MIXED ZONE After every match, all the players will pass through the mixed zone. This gives the accredited media the opportunity to interact one on one with the players and the teams. The first part of the mixed zone is dedicated to TV broadcasters and they have the first priority to speak to the players.

PRESS CONFERENCES The press conference room is located within the press area on the west side of the gallery. • After each match, there will be a press conference with the champion and runner up. • On 31 May after the AGM there will be a press conference. • More press conferences will be announced to the media during the competition.

TRANSPORT (MEDIA HOTEL - VENUE) The official media hotel is the Relexa Hotel, Ratingen. From 27 May to 5 June, a shuttle is arranged every hour from 7:00 to 23:30. Except the final day, the last shuttle will then go back to hotel at 22.45.

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 51

MIXED ZONE DETAILED MAP MEDIA ACCESS PHOTOGRAPHY POSITIONS

29 May - 2 Jun

3 Jun

Photography positions subjected to changes.

56 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 57 PHOTOGRAPHY POSITIONS

4 - 5 Jun

13-year-old Tomokazu HARIMOTO became the youngest World Junior Champion in 2016 after defeating more experienced athletes in the tournament. How will the Japanese sensation fare on his World Championships debut in in Düsseldorf?

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 57 MEDIA TOOLS

ITTF Media Tools To assist the world’s media coverage of the World Championships, the ITTF will provide the following to the accredited media: • Interesting stories concerning the upcoming matches • Daily statistics and fact sheet • Daily flash quotes • Upcoming schedule • Previous days results • Official ITTF daily press release • Video interviews • Daily video highlights If you require anything additional, please contact ITTF’s Head of Communications Matt Pound at [email protected], or +65 8654 4715.

MEDIA CONTACT

Matt POUND ITTF Head of Communications E : [email protected] M : +49 151 1464 0526

Manfred SCHILLINGS Head of Public Relation, Deutscher Tischtennis-Bund E : [email protected]

Benedikt PROBST Public Relations, Deutscher Tischtennis-Bund E : [email protected]

58 | #ITTFWorlds2017 29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 59 Watch the exciting action live at tv.ITTF.com and follow the live results on ITTF.com!

29 May - 5 June 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany | 59 Join in the conversation at #ITTFWorlds2017 #国际乒联世乒赛＃ #世乒赛#

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ITTF Marketing & Asia Pacific Office 301 Lor 6 Toa Payoh #01-01 Singapore 319392 T : +65 6473 8022 F : +65 6250 8692 E : [email protected]