Table Tennis
10:44, 30-Apr-2019
Star-studded lineup announced for 2019 table tennis China Open
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Newly-crowned world champion Ma Long and Liu Shiwen are the drawcards in the hunt for international titles next month after being included in the lineup for the 2019 table tennis China Open.
The platinum event, which will be held from May 28 to June 2 at the Bao'an stadium in China's southern coastal city of Shenzhen, offers 400,000 U.S. dollars in prize money, with the singles champion achieving 2250 ITTF World Tour ranking points.
Ma Long celebrates his final victory over Sweden's Mattias Falck at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships 2019 in Budapest on April 28, 2019. /VCG Photo
Ma Long celebrates his final victory over Sweden's Mattias Falck at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships 2019 in Budapest on April 28, 2019. /VCG Photo
China completed a clean sweep at the ITTF World Championships in Budapest over the weekend, with Ma and Liu each clinching singles titles.
The fantastic duo will spearhead a strong Chinese team which features a host of former world champions, including Fan Zhendong, Xu Xin, Ding Ning and Chen Meng.
Japan's 15-year-old world no.5 Tomokazu Harimoto is expected to give Chinese players a fight at the China Open. /VCG Photo
Japan's 15-year-old world no.5 Tomokazu Harimoto is expected to give Chinese players a fight at the China Open. /VCG Photo
China Open will also welcome internationally renowned paddlers such as Japanese stars Tomokazu Harimoto and Jun Mizutani, South Korean veteran Suh Hyowon and Singaporean legend Feng Tianwei.
Other inclusions on the lineup who will no doubt draw big crowds include Timo Boll, Hugo Calderano and Vladimir Samsonov.