! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Liebherr 2016 ITTF Men’s World Cup Player Biographies #ITTFWorldCup Page 1 ! ! FAN Zhendong (CHN) Qualification: Substitute Current World Ranking: 2 Seed: 1 Age: 19 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 2 Best WC Result: 2015 Silver Highlights of career: 2012 Junior World Champion, 2014 Youth Olympic Champion, 2014 & 2016 World Team Champion, 7 ITTF World Tour titles Playing info: Attack/Right/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: Mandarin Interesting story: Despite missing out on the singles spot for the Rio Olympic Games, Fan proved himself that he is not a force to be reckoned with by beating the Olympic Champion Ma Long 4-0 at the China Open last month. #ITTFWorldCup Page 2 ! ! XU Xin (CHN) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-Asian Cup Champion Current World Ranking: 3 Seed: 2 Age: 26 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 3 Best WC Result: 2013 Champion Highlights of career: 2015 Mixed Doubles & Men’s Doubles World Champion, Rio 2016 Olympic Team Champion Playing info: Attack/Left/Penhold Language(s) spoken: Mandarin Interesting story: At the recent China National Championships, Xu Xin led the Shanghai team to win the team event. He also publicly revealed his girlfriend of 7 years, after the Rio Olympics. #ITTFWorldCup Page 3 ! ! Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-European Cup Champion Current World Ranking: 6 Seed: 3 Age: 28 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 9 Best WC Result: 2013 & 2015 Bronze Highlights of career: 2015 European Games Men’s Singles Champion, 2012 Olympic Games Men’s Singles Bronze Playing info: Attack/Right/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: German, English Interesting story: Born in Ukraine, Ovtcharov moved to Germany following the Chernobyl disaster. Ovtcharov swept all major titles in Europe in 2015. His wife gave birth to a baby girl after the Rio Olympic Games. #ITTFWorldCup Page 4 ! ! WONG Chun Ting (HKG) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-Asian Cup Bronze Current World Ranking: 7 Seed: 4 Age: 25 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 1 Best WC Result: - Highlights of career: 2016 ITTF-Asian Cup Bronze, 2015 World Championships Mixed Doubles Bronze Playing info: Attack/Right/Penhold Language(s) spoken: Cantonese, Mandarin, English Interesting story: Wong won his first ITTF World Tour title at the Czech Open last year, and also a bronze medal from the World Championships in mixed doubles. Wong is expected to lead the Hong Kong team to greater heights in 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. #ITTFWorldCup Page 5 ! ! Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-European Cup 5th place Current World Ranking: 9 Seed: 5 Age: 40 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 16 Best WC Result: 2009 Champion Highlights of career: 26 ITTF World Tour titles, 1998 World Championships Silver Playing info: Attack/Right/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: Russian, German, Serbian, English, French, Spanish Interesting story: Samsonov advanced into the Men’s Singles semi-final of the 2016 Olympic Games for the first time in Rio, before losing the bronze medal to Jun Mizutani (JPN). Samsonov is also the Chairman of the ITTF Athletes’ Commission. #ITTFWorldCup Page 6 ! ! JEOUNG Youngsik (KOR) Qualification: Wild Card Current World Ranking: 10 Seed: 6 Age: 24 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 2 Best WC Result: 2013 Qual. Groups Highlights of career: 2 ITTF World Tour titles, 2011 World Championships Men’s Doubles Bronze Playing info: Attack/Right/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: Korean Interesting story: Jeoung nearly caused an upset at the 2016 Rio Olympic Gamess, when he threatened the current World Champion Ma Long by having a 2-0 lead. Jeoung’s ultimate goal in table tennis is to win the Olympic Games. #ITTFWorldCup Page 7 ! ! Tiago APOLONIA (POR) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-European Cup 7th place Current World Ranking: 18 Seed: 7 Age: 30 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 3 Best WC Result: 2014 Quarterfinalist Highlights of career: 2014 European Team Champion Playing info: Attack/Right/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: Portuguese, English Interesting story: Apolonia married in July with German table tennis player Zhenqi Barthel. #ITTFWorldCup Page 8 ! ! GAUZY Simon (FRA) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-European Cup 9th place Current World Ranking: 19 Seed: 8 Age: 21 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 2 Best WC Result: 2015 Round of 16 Highlights of career: 2015 European Games Team Silver Playing info: Attack/Right/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: French, English Interesting story: His younger brother Paul also plays table tennis and is currently ranked 269th in the world. Roger Federer is Gauzy’s idol, he hopes to meet him soon. #ITTFWorldCup Page 9 ! ! LEE Sangsu (KOR) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-Asian Cup 6th place Current World Ranking: 20 Seed: 9 Age: 26 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 1 Best WC Result: - Highlights of career: 2013 World Championships Mixed Doubles Silver Playing info: Attack/Right/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: Korean Interesting story: In 2010, Lee created history by being the first player to advance from the qualification stage the main draw and win the ITTF World Tour Slovenian Open title. Lee took part in his first Olympic Games in Rio. #ITTFWorldCup Page 10 ! ! Bastian STEGER (GER) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-European Cup 8th place Current World Ranking: 20 Seed: 10 Age: 35 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 1 Best WC Result: - Highlights of career: 2012 & 2016 Olympic Games Team Bronze Playing info: Attack/Right/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: German, English Interesting story: One of the experienced players in the German team, Steger was chosen as the third player for the Olympic team event over his younger teammate Franziska Patrick. #ITTFWorldCup Page 11 ! ! Stefan FEGERL (AUT) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-European Cup 6th place Current World Ranking: 22 Seed: 11 Age: 28 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 1 Best WC Result: - Highlights of career: 2015 European Team Champion Playing info: Attack/Right/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: German, English, Mandarin Interesting story: Stefan started playing table tennis when he was two years old, but only began focusing on becoming a professional player at the age of 17. His father-in-law coached his role model Wang Liqin (CHN), he is married to Austrian table tennis player Li Qiangbing. #ITTFWorldCup Page 12 ! ! Quadri ARUNA (NGR) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-African Cup Champion Current World Ranking: 25 Seed: 12 Age: 28 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 3 Best WC Result: 2014 Quarterfinalist Highlights of career: Rio 2016 Olympics Men’s Singles Quarterfinalist, 2014 ITTF Male Table Tennis Star & Star Point Winner Playing info: Attack/Right/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: English Interesting story: After reaching the quarterfinals of the 2014 Men’s World Cup, Aruna proved his abilities again at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, eliminating famous names such as Timo Boll (GER) and Chuang Chih-Yuan (TPE) to reach the quarterfinals. #ITTFWorldCup Page 13 ! ! Alexander SHIBAEV (RUS) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-European Cup Bronze Current World Ranking: 26 Seed: 13 Age: 26 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 2 Best WC Result: 2014 Qualification Stage Highlights of career: 2008 European Youth Championships Silver, 2011 European Championships Men’s Doubles Silver Playing info: Attack/Right/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: Russian, English Interesting story: An outstanding youth player, Shibaev broke into the Top 30 in March 2016, and will be looking for a breakthrough into the Top 20. #ITTFWorldCup Page 14 ! ! Kristian KARLSSON (SWE) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-European Cup 4th place Current World Ranking: 29 Seed: 14 Age: 25 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 2 Best WC Result: 2015 Round of 16 Highlights of career: 2012 European Championships Doubles Silver, 2014 Champions League Winner with Pontoise Playing info: Attack/Left/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: Swedish, English Interesting story: Karlsson trained in Trollhättan until he was 16, subsequently he moved away from home to go to high school. During his high school years, Karlsson had 10 training sessions a week. #ITTFWorldCup Page 15 ! ! Hugo CALDERANO (BRA) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-Latin American Cup Champion Current World Ranking: 31 Seed: 15 Age: 20 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 1 Best WC Result: - Highlights of career: 2015 Pan American Games Champion, 3 time Latin American Champion, 2014 Youth Olympic Games Bronze Playing info: Attack/Right/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: Portuguese, English Interesting story: Calderano underwent a hand surgery in 2013, and as a result he started solving the Rubik’s cube non-stop. He now plays in the Bundesliga (Germany) representing Liebherr Ochsenhausen. #ITTFWorldCup Page 16 ! ! GAO Ning (SIN) Qualification: 2016 ITTF-Asian Cup 4th place Current World Ranking: 41 Seed: 16 Age: 33 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 4 Best WC Result: 2007 Quarterfinalist Highlights of career: 2015 Southeast Asian Games Champion, 2007 Asian Cup Champion, 2008 & 2012 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Men’s Doubles Champion Playing info: Attack/Right/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: Mandarin Interesting story: The most senior player on the Singapore men’s team, Gao was named the Singapore Sportsman of the year in 2008. #ITTFWorldCup Page 17 ! ! Par GERELL (SWE) Qualification: Substitute Current World Ranking: 43 Seed: 17 Age: 34 MWC Appearances (incl. 2016): 1 Best WC Result: - Highlights of career: 2015 ITTF-European Championships Bronze Playing info: Attack/Left/Shakehand Language(s) spoken: Swedish, English Interesting story: Gerell is regarded as having one of the best service ever. At the Czech Open last year, together with opponent Adrien Mattenet, they entertained the crowd with a rally that lasted 91 shots. #ITTFWorldCup