Gathering 617 table tennis stars from 108 countries around the globe, the Liebherr 2017 World Championships also welcomed first time participants from Afghanistan, Oman, Palestine and Tahiti for the first time in World Championships history, making the event truly a table tennis extravaganza for table tennis enthusiasts globally.
Countries from far and wide were on show in the impressive stadium in Düsseldorf, French Polynesia v Panama and Turkmenistan v Congo Republic were just some of the interesting match ups on show today.
Emotions ran high on the opening day as qualifiers in all five events (Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles & Mixed Doubles) gave in their best efforts to battle their way through to the main draw against the top seeded players and keep their dream of becoming World Champion alive.
Being the only Chinese player having to play qualification, 2015 World Championships Women’s Singles bronze medalist MU Zi breezed through both her matches against Maria LORENZOTTI (URU) & Rita FINS (POR) 4-0 to confirm her spot in the Women’s Singles main draw of 128.
After her successful start MU Zi stated: “I was nervous at the start, as I got a lot of media attention before and during the match. I tried to think about my matches here as a smaller event to take the pressure of myself and to relax. It worked, as I managed to win my match and kept my tournament alive.”
Qualification for the remaining 64 positions available in the singles main draw of 128 & 32 spots in the doubles events will continue tomorrow 29 May 2017, with the main draw starting 31 May.
Quick Link:
- World Table Tennis Championships
- Media Guide
- Men’s Singles Top 128 Full Draw
- Women’s Singles Top 128 Full Draw
- Men’s Singles Seeding
- Women’s Singles Seeding
- Men’s Doubles Seeding
- Women’s Doubles Seeding
- Mixed Doubles Seeding
- Editorial Photos
- Flash Quotes