WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 DAY 3 - 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 is vying for a total prize purse of USD 400,000. The event is played in the Lusail Sports Arena. Opened in 2014, the multi-purpose hall has hosted several major sporting events and is transformed into the brand new WTT arena, set to showcase the sport as never seen before. Top stars including Japanese 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 TWO HIGHLIGHTS • Korea Republic’s An Jaehyun exacted revenge over Sweden’s Mattias Flack, beating him 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-7) in their men’s singles clash. Costly errors played a major role in the match with a visibly frustrated Falck hurling his racket at the table following the close of game two. • Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi upset Romanian 11th seed Bernadette Szocs with Takahashi striking the perfect balance of attack and counter-hit to prevail over Szocs, 3-1 (11-7, 8- 11, 11-3, 11-9) in the women’s singles. • Korea Republic teenager, Shin Yubin (aged 16) put up another mature performance when the qualifier took down number 15 seed Margaryta Pesotska of Ukraine, 3-1 (11- 3, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8). #WTTDOHA 1 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 • Spain’s Alvaro Robles and Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu will be the pair to watch in the men’s doubles after they whitewashed the German pairing of Patrick Franziska and Qiu Dang 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-6). In a one-way traffic contest, the German pairing struggled to keep up with Robles and Ionescu with the Spanish/Romanian combination rarely troubled. LOOKING AHEAD • Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching and Japan’s Hina Hayata are poised for another intriguing battle with their opening women’s singles clash set to start at 10:00am (local time) on table one. • Second seed Cheng made an early exit in her women’s singles opening round at the WTT Contender Doha last week. In the mixed doubes, however, she was in unstoppable form, striking a formidable partnership with her younger compatriot, Lin Yun-Ju to win the event. • Hayata has been on an impressive run at the WTT Middle East Hub where she went on a blistering run at the WTT Contender Doha, falling short only to eventual champion Mima Ito in the final last week. • It will be an all-Japanese affair in the round of 16 as Mima Ito takes on Satsuki Odo at 10:40 on table one. • Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi will be aiming to continue her amazing run, having dispatched Romania’s number 11 seed Bernadette Szocs. The Brazilian takes on sixth seed, Jeon Jihee of Korea Republic on table four at 10:55. • Japan’s number one seed, Tomokazu Harimoto will go head-to-head against Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna in the men’s singles at 11:20 on table one. 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. • 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 #WTTDOHA 2 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 • 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 10 March 2021, 10:00 @ Lusail Sports Arena – Main Draw Day 3 11 March 2021, 10:00 @ Lusail Sports Arena – Quarterfinal 12 March 2021, 14:00 @ Lusail Sports Arena – Semi Finals 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 - Women’s Singles - Men’s Doubles - Women’s Doubles - Mixed Doubles #WTTDOHA 3 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 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 TOP SEEDS Men’s Singles: Tomokazu HARIMOTO (JPN) Women’s Singles: Mima ITO (JPN) #WTTDOHA 4 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 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 10 MARCH DAY THREE SESSION 1 Starting At: 10:00 Women’s Singles – ROUND OF 16 followed by Women’s Singles – ROUND OF 16 followed by Men’s Singles – ROUND OF 16 followed by Men’s Singles – ROUND OF 16 SESSION 2 Not before 14:00 Women’s Singles – ROUND OF 16 followed by Women’s Singles – ROUND OF 16 followed by Men’s Singles – ROUND OF 16 followed by Men’s Singles – ROUND OF 16 SESSION 3 Not before 18:00 Women’s Doubles – QUARTERFINALS #WTTDOHA 5 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 followed by Women’s Doubles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Men’s Doubles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Men’s Doubles – QUARTERFINALS End of Day 11 MARCH DAY FOUR SESSION 1 Starting At: 10:00 Women’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Women’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Women’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Women’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS SESSION 2 14:00 Men’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Men’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Men’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Men’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS SESSION 3 Not before 19:00 Mixed Doubles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Mixed Doubles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Mixed Doubles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Mixed Doubles – QUARTERFINALS End of Day 12 MARCH DAY FIVE SESSION 1 Starting At: 14:00 Women’s Singles – SEMIFINALS followed by Women’s Singles – SEMIFINALS followed by Men’s Singles – SEMIFINALS followed by Men’s Singles – SEMIFINALS SESSION 3 Not before 19:00 Mixed Doubles – SEMIFINALS followed by Mixed Doubles – SEMIFINALS End of Day 13 MARCH DAY SIX #WTTDOHA 6 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 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 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 #WTTDOHA 7 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 Finalist: US$ 1,000 Semis: US$ 700 Quarters: US$ 450 R-16: US$ 300 Singles Prize