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One of the smaller events on the ITTF calendar is happening now, the Challenge Series Thailand Open.
There is a large contingent from China attending the event, surprisingly Liu Shiwen is the top seed of Women's Singles, it is uncommon for a Chinese A Team player to compete on the Challenge series. What surprises me more though is the level of the other players from China.
While I'm sure they are strong players in their own right, this is almost unheard of for China to send so many low level players and have so many losses at an international senior event. Altogether there are 10 men and 10 women (including Liu Shiwen). Most will be completely new names for those of us who follow international Table Tennis. Several have lost the first match in their group at the qualification stage, some quite badly. This makes me wonder what the aim is for the CNT, and if we'll see more of the same on the Challenge Series and World Tour going forward. Also why does Liu Shiwen need the points from such an event?
Interested to know the thoughts and insights from the TTD community on this. Follow the 2018 Challenge Series Thailand Open here
There is a large contingent from China attending the event, surprisingly Liu Shiwen is the top seed of Women's Singles, it is uncommon for a Chinese A Team player to compete on the Challenge series. What surprises me more though is the level of the other players from China.
While I'm sure they are strong players in their own right, this is almost unheard of for China to send so many low level players and have so many losses at an international senior event. Altogether there are 10 men and 10 women (including Liu Shiwen). Most will be completely new names for those of us who follow international Table Tennis. Several have lost the first match in their group at the qualification stage, some quite badly. This makes me wonder what the aim is for the CNT, and if we'll see more of the same on the Challenge Series and World Tour going forward. Also why does Liu Shiwen need the points from such an event?
Interested to know the thoughts and insights from the TTD community on this. Follow the 2018 Challenge Series Thailand Open here