WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 DAY 5 - 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 FOUR HIGHLIGHTS • Singapore’s Feng Tianwei is through to her first-ever World Table Tennis (WTT) women’s singles semi-final after beating Japan’s Hina Hayata (12-10, 12-14, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6) • Feng will take on Romania’s Elizabeta Samara, who also needed five games to overcome Korea Republic’s Kim Hayeong (15-13, 7-11, 6-11, 11-8, 14-12). • Top seed Mima Ito of Japan came through her toughest challenge yet in Doha, beating Puerto Rican Adriana Diaz (11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8) • Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju is out of the men’s singles picture, losing to German qualifier Ruwen Filus in a shock quarter-final outcome (11-3, 13-11, 11-9). #WTTDOHA 1 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 • Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov survived a monumental scare against Swedish qualifier Anton Kallberg with the German saving six match points on his way to a dramatic comeback victory (8-11, 10-12, 15-13, 12-10, 11-9). • Latin American hopes faded later in the day as Slovakia’s Lubomir Pistej and Barbora Balazova recovered to beat Brazilian counterparts Vitor Ishiy and Bruna Takahashi to a spot in the mixed doubles semi-finals (6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8). • Kasumi Ishikawa and Miu Hirano produced a mighty comeback effort to reach the women’s doubles final, recovering from two games down to see off fellow Japanese colleagues Miyuu Kihara and Hina Hayata (6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-7). LOOKING AHEAD • Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto will lock horns with Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov as they meet again in the men’s singles semi-final of WTT Star Contender Doha on table one at 15:20pm (local time). • In a repeat of last week’s semi-final at WTT Contender Doha where the 32-year-old Ovtcharov got the better of the 17-year-old whizz kid, this match promises to deliver another scintillating table tennis spectacle with little to separate the two in the run up to their confrontation. • Harimoto has been in swashbuckling form all-week, steamrolling past his rivals starting with straight games victory over India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in the round of 31 followed by similar 3-0 wins over Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna and Korea Republic’s Jeoung Youngsik in the round of 16 and quarter-final respectively. • Ovtcharov stamped his class with convincing victories over Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh and India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta before showing character when he came back from two games down to prevail over Sweden’s Anton Kallberg 3-2 (8-11, 10-12, 15-13, 12-10, 11- 9). • In the other men’s singles semi-final scheduled for 16:00 (local time) on table one, Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic will take on Germany’s Ruwen Filus after dispatching Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson in a five-game thriller 7-11, 11-4, 5-11, 11-8, 17-15. • Jorgic had already caused a major upset when he sent second seed Hugo Calderano packing in the round of 16. • Top seed and world number two Mima Ito of Japan will meet Korea Republic’s Jeon Jihee in the first women’s singles semi-final match scheduled for 14:00 (local time) on table one. #WTTDOHA 2 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 • Singapore's world number 12 Feng Tianwei, who secured her first semi-final appearance since the 2019 ITTF Women's World Cup in Chengdu comes up against Romania’s Elizabeth Samara. • They will vie for a place in the final of Qatari showpiece, with their match commencing on table one at 14:40 (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. • 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: #WTTDOHA 3 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 • More players automatically entered into event instead of having to play qualifying • Ranking Points earned for playing both Qualifying + Main Draw KEY DATES / TIMES 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 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: #WTTDOHA 4 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 - 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) 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) #WTTDOHA 5 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 EVENT SCHEDULE 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 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 #WTTDOHA 6 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000 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$) WR Points Winner 25,000 600 Finalist 19,000 420 Semis 11,000 210 Quarters 5,000 105 R-16 3,000 55 R-32 2,000 25 R-48 1,500 5 Doubles Prize Money (USD$) WR Points Winner 5,000 600 #WTTDOHA 7 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March USD 400,000