by Simon Daish
Acting as a celebration of what has been another thrilling year on the international table tennis scene, the 2019 ITTF Star Awards will bring together players and coaches from all over the globe to acknowledge their standout efforts over the course of the past year.
Of the seven awards lined-up for the 2019 ITTF Star Awards ceremony, nominations for three of the awards have been unveiled. Here’s the list of nominees:
The nominees for the Male Table Tennis Star presented by DHS, as nominated by the ITTF Athletes’ Commission:
Mattias Falck (Sweden)
- Runner up at the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships
- First Swedish player in 22 years to make the World Championships final
- First Swedish player in the top 10 since 2002
Xu Xin (China)
- 2019 Japan, Korea & Australia Open Champion
- 2019 Mixed Doubles World Champion
- 2019 Asian Singles, Mixed Doubles & Team Champion
Ma Long (China)
- 2019 Singles and doubles World Champion
- 2019 Qatar & China Open Champion
- 2019 Team World Cup Champion
Lin Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei)
- 2019 Czech & Oman Open Champion
- Twice World Tour Mixed Doubles Champion at the 2019 China and 2019 Hong Kong Open
- Youngest ever Chinese Taipei Male Player to make the Top 10 in the World
The nominees for the Female Star Award presented by Nittaku, as nominated by the ITTF Athletes’ Commission:
Chen Meng (China)
- 2019 Hungarian, China, Korea & Swedish Open Champion
- Runner up at the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships
- 2019 Team World Cup Champion
Sun Yingsha (China)
- 2019 Japan, Australian & German Open Champion
- 2019 Doubles World Champion
- 2019 Asian Singles & Team Champion
Liu Shiwen (China)
- 2019 Singles & mixed doubles World Champion
- 2019 Women’s World Cup Champion
- 2019 Team World Cup Champion
Mima Ito (Japan)
- 2019 Hong Kong, Swedish & German Open Runner-up
- 2019 Team World Cup runner up
- Became the highest ranked Japanese female player in 2019
The nominees for the Star Point Award presented by Stiga:
Timo Boll vs Ma Long (2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open)
Xu Xin & Fan Zhendong vs Dang Qui & Benedikt Duda (2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Japan Open)
Lily Zhang vs Miu Hirano (2019 ITTF Women’s World Cup)
Gaston Alto vs Vitor Ishiy (2019 ITTF Pan America Championships)
Christian Pletea vs Yu Heyi (2018 ITTF World Junior Table Tennis Championships)
Have your say, vote for your favourite
Want to be a part of the 2019 ITTF Star Awards action? Vote now for your favourite nominees for three of the awards. Voting closes on 24th November 2019.
What about the other awards
The nominees for the Male Para Star, Female Para Star, Star Coach and Breakthrough Star will be announced in the coming days. Keep peeled on the ITTF social pages or head to the Star Awards page to find out which of your favourite players were nominated for this year’s Star Awards!
