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China Open 2019 Preview
As the prestigious 2019 China Open commences from 28th May, Indian paddlers will be looking to make a comeback after the disappointing outing at the World Championships. The World Tour Platinum competition will be held at the Bao’an stadium, Shenzhen. While the first stage starts on 28th May, the main event will start on 30th May.
As always, India’s hopes will be pinned to the country’s No.1 paddler Gnanasekaran Sathyan. The talented player became the first Indian to break into the top 25 table tennis of world rankings earlier last month.
Reigning World champion Ma Long will again look forward to further extend his dominance in the competition, having won the China Open title for a record 7 times.
Time to take on the big guns?
Arrived in Shenzhen (China) for the toughest protour event of ITTF international calendar ,
ITTF World Tour Platinum China open 2019?Looking forward to have a great experience playing this premium event for the first time here in China✌️ pic.twitter.com/dVLlgZ7yZY
— Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (@sathiyantt) May 26, 2019
Who’s in Fray?
G Sathiyan (Men’s Singles & Men’s Doubles)
Dani Mudit (Men’s Singles)
Schedule
The Preliminary rounds 1, 2, 3, and 4 will take place on 28th and 29th May. Winning here will qualify the paddlers for the round of 32.
Both the Indian table tennis players – G Sathiyan and Dani Mudit – will be fighting in round 2 of the competition. G Sathiyan will be playing against Sweden’s Kallberg Anton on Tuesday 28, 13:45 onwards.
The paddler will also be partnering with USA’s Jha Kanak in the Men’s doubles category. The duo play their Preliminary Round 1 match 20:50 onwards on Wednesday, 29th May.
On the other hand, Mudit’s match against Sweden’s Persson Jon is scheduled on 19:30, May 28.
Schedule for the main draw is as follows:
Round of 32
Thursday, 30th May
Round of 16
Friday, 31st May
Quarterfinals
Saturday, 1st June
Semifinals
Sunday, 2nd June
Finals
Sunday, 2nd June (22:20)
Form
This has been a breakthrough season for G Sathiyan. The 26-year-old paddler has been performing consistently for the better part of the year. He oversaw an impressive sixth place finish at the Asia Cup in Yokohama. That made him eligible for the World Cup in Chengdu to be held from October 25 to 27.
He followed that with being the sole Indian to reach the round of 32 in the 2019 World Championships Hungary. On his way to there, the talented paddler beat Cristian Pletea of Romania in sets of 11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6.
However, Sathiyan’s brilliant performances in the competition were cut short in the round of 32, when Brazil’s World No. 7, Hugo Calderano defeated him in rounds of 11-6, 11-3, 11-9, 11-9.
Nonetheless, he was still rewarded for his impressive show with elevations in his ITTF world rankings. In fact, the paddler rose to an unprecedented ITTF rank of 24 last month, becoming the first Indian to break into the top 25.
Much will be expected from the engineer-turned-table tennis player.
Tickets
Tickets for the China Open can be brought at the official page.
About China Open
Being a platinum station in the ITTF world tour tournament, China open will have 5 individual competitions: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. There is a bonus of $400,000 and 2250 singles championship points. The competition is expected to attract over 200 top table tennis players competing in Shenzhen.
