by Simon Daish
Universal 2020 ITTF Pan American Cup
The first of three continental cup competitions in the month of February, the Universal 2020 ITTF Pan American Cup will be staged in Guaynabo City, Puerto Rico from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th February.
Tickets to the ITTF Men’s and Women’s World Cups up for grabs, the pressure will be intense right from the start as the finest players from the Americas battle it out for continental pride. Local favourite Adriana Diaz will be looking to make it back-to-back women’s singles successes, while Brazilian Hugo Calderano attempts to secure his third consecutive men’s singles crown.
CCB 2020 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup
Montreux, Switzerland will host 16 European male and female table tennis stars for a third year running as the CCB 2020 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup competition comes to town on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th February.
Dimitrij Ovtcharov has emerged men’s singles champion in five out of the past seven editions of the tournament and will be keen to add a sixth in 2020. However, he will face stiff opposition with former winners Timo Boll, Marcos Freitas and Vladimir Samsonov all set to be in attendance.
Last year’s finalists and former champions themselves, Petrissa Solja and Bernadette Szocs are the two players to watch in the women’s singles race.
2020 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open
The second stop on the 2020 ITTF World Tour calendar, the capital city of Budapest is the destination for the 2020 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open scheduled to take place between 20-23 February.
Players representing Japan lead the way in the singles seeding lists with Tomokazu Harimoto and Mima Ito the players to beat. Japan hasn’t won the men’s and women’s singles titles on offer in Hungary, since respectively Jun Mizutani prevailed in 2010 and Misako Wakamiya in 2015. Fierce competition awaits the Japanese teenage aces in Budapest – will Japan’s wait for Hungarian Open success finally draw to a close in 2020?
2020 ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup
Following the same format as the continental cup competitions being hosted in Guaynabo and Montreux earlier in the month, Tunis, Tunisia welcomes the 16 best African table tennis players in the men’s and women’s games for the 2020 ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup from 24-26 February.
Dina Meshref is up for a potential eighth women’s singles gold on the Africa Top 16 stage, but to do so she will need to negotiate a difficult field which includes the runners-up from 2018 and 2019: Sarah Hanffou and Yousra Helmy.
In the men’s singles, Omar Assar and Quadri Aruna are set to reignite their famous rivalry while 2019 African Games champion Olajide Omotayo will also offer up his best table tennis.
Full Schedule: February 2020
- ITTF Fa20 Egypt Para Open 2020, Alexandria (EGY): 1-4 Feb (
- ITTF Challenge Spanish Open, Granada (ESP): 4-8 Feb
- Universal ITTF Pan America Cup, Guaynabo City (PUR): 7-9 Feb
- CCB 2020 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup, Montreux (SUI): 8-9 Feb
- ITTF Challenge Plus Portugal Open, Lisbon (POR): 12-16 Feb
- ITTF World Junior Circuit Premium Czech Junior & Cadet Open, Hodonín (CZE): 12-16 Feb
- ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open, Budapest (HUN): 18-23 Feb
- ITTF World Junior Circuit Swedish Junior & Cadet Open, Örebro (SWE): 19-23 Feb
- ITTF Fa20 Polish Para Open, Wladyslawowo (POL): 20-22 Feb
- ITTF-Africa Top 16 Cup, Tunis (TUN): 24-26 Feb
- Western Asia Olympic Qualification Tournament, Amman (JOR): 23-26 Feb
- IWAS World Games 2020 (Fa20), Nakhon Ratchasima (THA): 25-27 Feb
- African Singles and Mixed Doubles Olympic Qualification Tournament, Tunis (TUN): 27-29 Feb