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According to the prospectus for the 2020 Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament (Singles), it states that "7.8 Players of the same NOC shall be separated in different groups during Stage 1 (if applicable) and in different halves (if possible) in the knock-out stage." Thoughts? Seems likely that separation by association will still apply to Tokyo Olympics?
If you read the ITTF handbook, no. I think qualification is a different story and for obvious reasons (getting into the Olympics is a big deal and you don't want to be eliminated early by your countrymen especially since there are only 2 spots).
We reviewed the handbook at mytabletennis recently and packable pointed out the changes that seem to say the agyer the preliminary rounds, there is no more separation by association. Mima Ito has thrown a wrench into the CNT operations that they have 5 months to fix.