by Simon Daish
2020 European Under 21 Championships
Varazdin, Croatia welcomes the European continent’s brightest up-and-coming talents from Wednesday 4th to Sunday 8th March for the 2020 European Under 21 Championships.
Entering its fourth year since inception, the Under 21 Championships provides the perfect stepping stone for young stars looking to make the successful transition to the senior stage. Croatia’s very own Tomislav Pucar was a gold medallist at the 2017 event and has since gone on to become on of the continent’s most exciting players – which players will go on to enjoy a breakthrough display this time out?
2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open
At the same time as the sport’s next generation of superstars are battling it out in Varazdin, the senior pros head to Doha for the second Platinum Series event of the year with the world’s biggest stars taking to the stage for the 2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open from Thursday 5th to Sunday 8th March.
The 25th edition of the event, Ma Long and Wang Manyu head to the Qatari capital looking to defend the respective men’s and women’s singles trophies they picked up last year while other Chinese stars including Fan Zhendong, Xu Xin, Chen Meng and Ding Ning will also be present.
Fresh from their ITTF World Tour success last month in Budapest, Japanese teenager sensations Tomokazu Harimoto and Mima Ito will also be hoping to add their names to the list of title contenders in what promises to be a thrilling show at the Aspire Academy.
2020 ITTF Challenge Plus Oman Open
March also plays to the second ITTF Challenge Plus tournament of 2020 as Muscat once again provides the destination for the 2020 ITTF Challenge Plus Oman Open from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th March.
Portugal’s Marcos Freitas and Romania’s Bernadette Szocs have been named top seeded in the two singles categories amongst a vast field of fierce competitors from across the world. The stakes are high with valuable world rankings points on the line – who will grab the opportunity with both arms?
2020 ITTF Challenge Gliwice Polish Open
A regular fixture on the international table tennis calendar, the 2020 ITTF Challenge Gliwice Polish Open will run in tandem with proceedings in Muscat with the action in Gliwice taking place from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th March.
Jakub Dyjas and Natalia Partyka are both highly seeded for the singles draws and will be aiming to lead the host nation to glory. So far we’ve seen a number of first-time title winners at 2020 ITTF Challenge Series events, could we be set to see more new names added to the list?
Full Schedule: March 2020
- ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open, Doha (QAT): 3-8 Mar
- European Under 21 Championships, Varaždin (CRO): 4-8 Mar
- ITTF World Junior Circuit Congo Junior & Cadet Open, Kinshasa (COD): 4-8 Mar
- South American Junior & Cadet Championships, Lima (PER): 4-8 Mar
- ITTF Fa40 Costa Brava Para Open, Platja D’Aro (ESP): 5-8 Mar
- North American Singles & Mixed Doubles Qualification Tournament, TBD (CAN): 7-8 Mar
- ITTF World Junior Circuit Peru Junior & Cadet Open, Lima (PER): 10-14 Mar
- ITTF Challenge Plus Oman Open, Muscat (OMA): 11-15 Mar
- ITTF Challenge Polish Open, Gliwice (POL): 11-15 Mar
- ITTF World Junior Circuit Tunisia Junior & Cadet Open, Tunis (TUN): 17-21 Mar
- ITTF Fa20 12th Alwatani Para Championships, Amamn (JOR): 24-26 Mar