by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
They reserve the last two available places in the Men’s Singles event; in effect a total of 15 spots being on offer; Kirill Gerassimenko is eligible to compete as the host nation representative.
Similarly, in the Women’s Singles event Japan’s Hitomi Sato and Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching gain the two places that were in doubt prior to play commencing in Stockholm. In Sweden’s capital city, Hitomi Sato experienced a first round defeat at the hands of Turkey’s Hu Melek, one round later after beating China’s Li Jiayi, Cheng I-Ching suffered at the hands of Gu Yuting, also from China.
Meanwhile, as a result of reaching the quarter-final stage in Stockholm, Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson and Mattias Karlsson gain the last Men’s Doubles place; similarly the combination of Slovakia’s Barbora Balazova and the Czech Republic’s Hana Matelova reserve the ultimate Women’s Doubles position in Astana.
In Stockholm, Kristian Karlsson and Mattias Karlsson beat the French pairing of Andrea Landrieu and Romain Lorentz, prior to losing to China’s Fan Zhendong and Xin Xin; Barbora Balazova and Hana Matelova accounted for Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chia-Chih and Wang Yi-Ju before China’s Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling ended progress.
Qualifiers for Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
Men’s Singles: Dimitrij Ovtcharov (Germany), Timo Boll (Germany), Fan Zhendong (China), Lin Gaoyuan (China), Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan), Simon Gauzy (France), Vladimir Samsonov (Belarus), Kenta Matsudaira (Japan), Fang Bo (China), Koki Niwa (Japan), Wong Chun Ting (Hong Kong), Xu Xin (China), Masaki Yoshida (Japan), Yuya Oshima (Japan), Chuang Chih-Yuan (Chinese Taipei), Kirill Gerassimenko (Kazakhstan)
Women’s Singles: Chen Meng (China), Wang Manyu (China), Kasumi Ishikawa (Japan), Mima Ito (Japan), Gu Yuting (China), Zhu Yuling (China), Feng Tianwei (Singapore), Chen Xingtong (China), Sakura Mori (Japan), Shan Xiaona (Germany), Hina Hayata (Japan), Miu Hirano (Japan), Han Ying (Germany), Doo Hoi Kem (Hong Kong), Hitomi Sato (Japan), Cheng I-Ching (Chinese Taipei)
Men’s Doubles: Jin Ueda / Maharu Yoshimura (Japan), Masataka Morizono / Yuya Oshima (Japan), Ruwen Filus / Ricardo Walther (Germany), Patrick Franziska / Jonathan Groth (Germany / Denmark), Tomokazu Harimoto / Yuto Kizukuru (Japan), Ho Kwan Kit / Wong Chun Ting (Hong Kong), Chen Chien-An / Chiang Hung-Chieh (Chinese Taipei), Kristian Karlsson / Mattias Karlsson (Sweden)
Women’s Doubles: Matilda Ekholm / Georgina Pota (Sweden / Hungary), Chen Meng / Zhu Yuling (China), Jeon Jihee / Yang Haeun (Korea), Hina Hayata / Mima Ito (Japan), Doo Hoi Kem / Lee Ho Ching (Hong Kong), Honoka Hashimoto / Hitomi Sato (Japan), Chen Szu-Yu / Cheng I-Ching (Chinese Taipei), Barbora Balazova / Hana Matelova (Slovakia / Czech Republic)
To qualify for Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals; in the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles events a player must have competed in a minimum five Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour tournaments, for the Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles it is four appearances as a partnership.
Sunday 19th November: Final Standings after Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open