WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 DAY 6 - MEDIA NOTES WTT STAR CONTENDER DOHA 2021 OVERVIEW CITY: Doha, QATAR SITE: Lusail Sports Arena DATES: 8 – 13 March 2021 TABLE BRAND: Double Fish BALL BRAND: DHS FLOOR BRAND: Gerflor MEDIA CONTACT: [email protected] PRIZE MONEY: USD 400,000 Welcome to World Table Tennis (WTT). This is the first edition of WTT Star Contender and is the second official event of the WTT era. Players competing in WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 are vying for a total prize purse of USD 400,000. The event is being played in the Lusail Sports Arena. Opened in 2014, the multi-purpose hall has hosted several major sporting events and has been transformed into the brand new WTT arena where it is set to showcase the sport like never seen before. Top stars including Japanese 17-year-old wonderkid, Tomokazu Harimoto and trailblazer Lily Zhang are joined by international athletes from all around the world such as Hugo Calderano, Mattias Falck, Mima Ito, Adriana Diaz and more. DAY FIVE HIGHLIGHTS • Germany’s Ruwen Filus, who began his journey in the qualification rounds, is through to the men’s singles final in Doha after successfully taking down Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic in six games (11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7). • In a repeat of last week’s semi-final encounter between Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto and Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtchaorv, it was now the teenage superstar Harimoto who avenged his defeat last week, taking down the German over the course of six mesmerising games (8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-13, 11-7, 11-7). • Korea Republic’s Jeon Jihee’s notable run on the singles front was halted on day five despite another commendable showing from the Korea Republic player against the top seed from Japan, Mima Ito (11-5, 17-15, 9-11, 11-5, 15-13). • Singapore’s Feng Tianwei beat Romania’s Elizabeta Samara comfortably in straight games (11-8, 11-4, 11-3, 11-5). #WTTDOHA 1 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 • Korea Republic’s Lee Sangsu and Jeon Jihee progressed to the mixed doubles final after the pair outclassed Japanese top seeds Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito. • Mizutani and Ito looked well placed early on, cruising into a one-game lead. But the momentum completely switched hands as Lee and Jeon showed great character to fight their way back to a 3-1 win (3-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-9). LOOKING AHEAD • Singapore’s Feng Tianwei takes on the might of Japan’s world number two Mima Ito in the women’s singles final at 15:00 (local time). • Ito is seeking to capture back-to-back titles after winning last week's WTT Contender Doha. She has dropped only two games in her run to her second final in a week. • Ito holds a 6-2 lead over Feng in their head-to-head meetings and the last time the Singaporean beat Ito was at the ITTF Asian Cup in Dubai in 2016. • Top seed Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan will be looking to erase last week’s heartbreak after bowing out in the semi-final at the hands of Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov. • The 17-year-old meets Germany’s Ruwen Filus, who is one win away from the ultimate glory, having started his journey in the qualification rounds. Their match will start at 15:45 (local time). • Final day action will commence with Japan’s Miu Hirano and Kasumi Ishikawa and Korea Republic’s Jeon Jihee and Shin Yubin starring in the women’s doubles final at 10:00 (local time) • This will be followed by the men’s doubles final where Spain’s Alvaro Robles and Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu take on Korea Republic’s Lee Sangsu and Jeoung Youngsik at 10:40 (local time). • In the mixed doubles final, Korea Republic’s Lee Sangsu and Jeon Jihee meet Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching at 11:20 (local time). EVENT - FAST FACTS • The WTT Star Contender Series features the Play Down Restriction (PDR) rule, which limits the maximum number of top 20 players allowed to compete in the events. #WTTDOHA 2 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 • At WTT Star Contender Doha 2021, the Play Down Restriction is increased due to COVID-19 and that it has been almost 12 months since international competition has been available to all players. • The Play Down Top 20 Restriction was increased from 4 to 8 for WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 • The Mixed Doubles main draw was increased from 8 to 16 pairs to provide players the opportunity to earn rankings points in a bid to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. • The draw structure has also been revamped to make the competitions fairer, more exciting and more competitive. • WTT may elect to nominate a player to participate in the event - this player is known as a WTT Nomination and entered into the entry list as a wildcard. • Men’s Singles: Liam PITCHFORD/Simon GAUZY • Women’s Singles: Adriana DIAZ • Wild Cards are determined 7 days prior to event • Men’s Singles: FRANZISKA Patrick, NIWA Koki, MIZUTANI Jun, AL-MOHANNADI Ahmad Khalil • Women’s Singles: Maria XIAO • Men’s Doubles: Mohammed ABDULWAHHAB/Ahmed Khalil AL-MOHANNADI • Women’s Doubles: Maha FARAMARZI/Ala MOHAMED & Maha ALI/Maryam ALI • Key changes to the Draw include: • More players automatically entered into event instead of having to play qualifying • Ranking Points earned for playing both Qualifying + Main Draw KEY DATES / TIMES 13 March 2021, 10:00 @ Lusail Sports Arena – Finals EVENT DISCIPLINES As a WTT Star Contender event, 5 different discipline will be contested: - Men’s Singles #WTTDOHA 3 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 - Women’s Singles - Men’s Doubles - Women’s Doubles - Mixed Doubles PLAYING SYSTEM The Main Draw matches will be conducted in a knockout format. Main Draw: The Main Draw for the 2021 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 will involve the following: - 48-Draw Men’s Singles - 48-Draw Women’s Singles - 16-Draw Men’s Doubles - 16-Draw Women’s Doubles - 16-Draw Mixed Doubles MATCH FORMAT / SCORING The event will be played in accordance with the Laws of Table Tennis and the Regulations for International Competitions. Singles Main Draw to Quarterfinals: - Best of 5 games/11 points - Winner need to win by 2 for all games Semi-finals and Final - Best of 7 games/11 points - Winner need to win by 2 for all games Doubles All Matches: - Best of 5 games/11 points - Winner need to win by 2 for all games #WTTDOHA 4 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 TOP SEEDS Men’s Singles: Tomokazu HARIMOTO (JPN) Women’s Singles: Mima ITO (JPN) Men’s Doubles: LEE Sangsu / JEOUNG Youngsik (KOR) Women’s Doubles: Kasumi ISHIKAWA / Miu HIRANO (JPN) Mixed Doubles: Jun MIZUTANI / Mima ITO (JPN) PLAYERS – FAST FACTS Youngest men’s singles player: Tomokazu HARIMOTO (JPN) (17) Oldest men’s singles player: Vladimir SAMSONOV (BEL) (45) Youngest women’s singles player: KIM Nayeong (KOR) (15) Oldest women’s singles player: SHAN Xiaona (GER) (38) Men’s Doubles Pair Oldest Pairing: Robert GARDOS & Daniel HABESOHN (18 years) Women’s Doubles Pair Oldest Pairing: MONTEIRO DODEAN Daniela & SAMARA Elizabeta (17 years) • Seeded at No. 2, LIN and CHENG are ranked World No. 1 for Women’s Doubles. • The youngest players in this event all hail from Korea or Japan. • Korea: KIM Nayeong (16 years old), SHIN Yubin (17 years old), CHO Daeseong (18 years old) • Japan: Miyuu KIHARA (16 years old), Satsuki ODO (16 years old), Tomokazu HARIMOTO (17 years old) EVENT SCHEDULE 13 MARCH DAY SIX SESSION 1 Starting At: 10:00 Women’s Doubles –FINALS followed by Men’s Doubles – FINALS followed by Mixed Doubles – FINALS 15:00 Women’s Singles – FINALS 15:45 Men’s Singles – FINALS End of Day #WTTDOHA 5 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 PRIZE MONEY & WR POINTS Total Prize Purse: US$ 400,000 / US$ 196,000 per gender (+ US$ 8,000 XD) Distribution by Event Singles: US$ 166,000 Singles Qualification: US$ 10,000 Doubles: US$ 20,000 Mixed: US$ 8,000 Distribution - Singles Winner: US$ 25,000 Finalist: US$ 19,000 Semis: US$ 11,000 Quarters: US$ 5,000 R-16: US$ 3,000 R-32: US$ 2,000 R-48: US$ 1,500 Distribution - Doubles Winner: US$ 5,000 Finalist: US$ 3,100 Semis: US$ 1,750 Quarters: US$ 900 R-16: US$ 600 Distribution – Mixed Doubles Winner: US$ 1,400 Finalist: US$ 1,000 Semis: US$ 700 Quarters: US$ 450 R-16: US$ 300 Singles Prize Money (USD$) WR Points Winner 25,000 600 #WTTDOHA 6 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 Finalist 19,000 420 Semis 11,000 210 Quarters 5,000 105 R-16 3,000 55 R-32 2,000 25 R-48 1,500 5 Doubles Prize Money (USD$) WR Points Winner 5,000 600 Finalist 3,100 420 Semis 1,750 210 Quarters 900 105 R-16 600 5 Mixed Doubles Prize Money (USD$) WR Points Winner 1,400 600 Finalist 1,000 420 Semis 700 210 Quarters 450 105 R-16 300 5 MAIN DRAW - NATIONAL ASSOCIATION BREAKDOWN (40 National Associations in total) #WTTDOHA 7 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 AUSTRIA (2) GARDOS Robert, HABESOHN Daniel BELARUS (3) Vladimir SAMSONOV, Daria TRIGOLOS, Aleksandr KHANIN BELGIUM (3) ALLEGRO Martin, LAMBIET Florent, NUYTUNCK Cedric BRAZIL (4) CALDERANO Hugo, TAKAHASHI Bruna, TSUBOI Gustavo, ISHIY Vitor CANADA (1) ZHANG Mo CHINESE TAIPEI (6) LIN Yun-Ju, CHUANG Chih-Yuan, CHENG I-CHING, CHEN Szu-Yu, CHEN Chien-An, CHENG Hsien-Tzu CHILE (1) Paulina VEGA CROATIA (2) PUCAR Tomislav, Andrej GACINA CZECH REPUBLIC (2) MATELOVA Hana, SIRUCEK Pavel DENMARK (1) GROTH Jonathan EGYPT (3) MESHREF Dina, ASSAR Omar, Ahmed SALEH ENGLAND (1) PITCHFORD Liam FRANCE (5) LEBESSON Emmanuel, GAUZY Simon, YUAN Jia Nan, Tristan FLORE, Prithika PAVADE GERMANY (8) DUDA Benedikt, OVTCHAROV Dimitrij,