Qatar Open 2019

[TableTennisDaily]

The first platinum World Tour of 2019 begins this week, the Qatar Open! A huge line up this week with Ma Long entering his first major ITTF event in 6 months! This is massive! The line up consists of Harimoto, Xu Xin, Timo Boll, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and many more world class players! Ding Ninig the world number 1 leads the womens singles seeing! Lets get this topic started!


Men's Singles

Ma Long enters the Qatar Open as the no.11 seed - Photo by: ITTF Flickr

01) Xu Xin
02) Lin Gaoyuan
03) Tomokazu Harimoto
04) Timo Boll
05) Hugo Calderano
06) Lee Sangsu
07) Wong Chun Ting
08) Koki Niwa
09) Jun Mizutani
10) Jang Woojin
11) Ma Long
12) Mattias Falck
13) Dimitrij Ovtcharov
14) Patrick Franziska
15) Liang Jingkun
16) Mohammed Abdulwahhab


Women's Singles

Ding Ning enters the Qatar Open as the no.1 seed - Photo by: ITTF Flickr

01) Ding Ning
02) Kasumi Ishikawa
03) Liu Shiwen
04) Wang Manyu
05) Mima Ito
06) Cheng I-Ching
07) Miu Hirano
08) Feng Tianwei
09) Hyowon Suh
10) Hitomi Sato
11) Doo Hoi Kem
12) Saki Shibata
13) Chen Xingtong
14) Jeon Jihee
15) Sofia Polcanova
16) Maha Faramarzi



Here we go table tennis World, the first platinum event of 2019 is starting off with a bang at the Qatar Open!

A fantastic event to follow, be sure to get involved on the TTD discussions.We can use this thread as a means to display all the latest results, videos and news from this spectacular World Tour event! What are your predictions from each event.

 

[Janard]

Promising Highlights

Women's Singles – Japanese hopeful Ito Mima has not met Chinese players after her successful sweep at the Swedish Open last year. Will she be able to replicate that amazing run or get booted prematurely by players from other associations again? Not to mention her long-time doubles partner Hina Hayata will surely be looking forward to match her legacy too. Interestingly, the CNT has omitted mid-generation players Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling from the roster, opting for seasoned veterans and promising youths instead. Will this be yet another titanic clash between teams China and Japan, or will we see more underdogs emerging such as the newly crowned European Queen Solja?

Men's Singles – If all goes well with his recovery, this Open will mark Ma Long's return to the international stage after months of inactivity. Particularly in the absence of Fan Zhendong, can The Dictator live up to his pedigree and prove why he is hailed as one of the greatest TT players of all time? Is fifth time the charm for Harimoto that will allow him to finally beat Xu Xin and/or is a re-match with Ma Long in the making. Ovtcharov Dimitrij seems to be getting back on track following his success at the recently concluded Europe Top 16 Cup. Can he extend that winning streak or will Calderano come out as the giant slayer once more?

Doubles – Glad to see Boll, Ma Long and Ding Ning back in this category again. Additionally, quite a number of novel pairings I'm seeing too but will they be instant successes or utter failures?

 

[Table Tennis Reborn]

Hugo for another surprise?

 

[TTHopeful]

With no fzd i think ma long will take this even though he is out of practice

 

[Vlad Celler]

I think that four Chinese women (S.Y.S., HE Xh., Yidi, Yuting) will qualify without problems ...
Most likely, Hayata will also pass ....(R64-game with the defender of Ukraine T. Bilenko, if Hayata wins, with the winner of the Zhang Mo/Yoo Eunch.,S.Korea)...

 

[Vlad Celler]

In the XD, the Chinese are very lucky ....
But Japanese couples can play each other in the second round already ....And the winner goes to a pair of Hong Kong or TPE ...

 

[Vlad Celler]

In the WS, the main draw is published ....

In the first eight - D.N., Shibata Saki, Doo Hoi Kem (recent winner of Mima Ito) and Mima Ito .....

 

[mrk]

Second round possibly Ma Long against Boll. Harimoto against Jingkun also possible in the second round. Good draw for Xu Xin.

 

[sriver_fx]

Liang Jingkun

 

[FruitLoop]

Giving hosts a seed into main draw is ridiculous in my opinion.

 

[JeffM]

Hoping to see XX vs Timo.
Very unlikely, but at least it is possible in this draw with empty slots.

 

[Garrison]

No FZD? Easy win for Timo

 

[Janard]

From the current draw, it is up to Ding Ning, Wang Manyu or Chen Xingtong to stop Ito Mima if an all Chinese finals is to be guaranteed. Of course that is assuming that none of the trio loses prematurely and that the Japanese superstar can avenge her previous loss against Doo. The chances of Liu Shiwen making it to the finals are rather high at the moment since Suh Hyowon, Jeon Jihee, Cheng I-Ching, Hirano Miu and Ishikawa have never defeated her.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that XX's chances of topping this half are higher than ML's although Boll will likely prove to be the greatest underdog. Lin Gaoyuan and Liang Jingkun are definitely being put to the test here, to ascertain if they have what it takes to successfully defend this other half given that Harimoto, Calderano and Ovtcharov are eager to prove themselves too.

 

[drunix80]

Qatar will miss FZD. As for ML, I am not sure he can go though the competition in current health. I have high hopes for LJK though.

 

[FruitLoop]

I think we may see Ma Long play a round or two, then pull out "injured" but actually mainly to rest up for WTTC. He will have proved he can play at all by winning one or two rounds without a brutal match vs LJK or someone.

 

[NextLevel]

He needs to win to keep his ranking up guys. Or else he is a dangerous floater to his compatriots in the WTTC.

 

[piligrim]

Ma Long no doubt

 

[Loopadoop]

England
Liam Pitchford
Paul Drinkhall
Sam Walker

USA
Kanak Jha
Yue Wu

 

[fais]

Without FZD or ML in his prime? How can it be anyone other than XX?

 

[Shathe]

Hugo or Liang. Ma Long may pull out again.