Now that the draws are confirmed in Budapest and we are waiting for the athletes set to compete. It's time to take you through what we can expect over the next few days of competition.
Mixed Doubles: More Exciting Than Ever
Let's start with the mixed doubles which will be the first medal of the Championships. Since the mixed doubles will be played at the Olympics for the first time in 2020 Tokyo, associations are taking this event much more seriously, especially the superpower of the world of table tennis, China, making the competition more exciting than ever. Xu Xin / Liu Shiwen of China, mixed doubles champion at 2019 Hungarian Open and Qatar Open, could be looked as the true leader for the gold here. Also, a medal contender in the top half are Wong Chun Ting / Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong. The duo earned a historic mixed doubles title at the 2018 World Tour Grand Finals but they might have to contend with Ho Kwan Kit / Lee Ho Ching, the bronze medalist of 2018 Asian Games, from the same association if both pairs make to the quarterfinals. Of course, Lee Sangsu / Jeon Jihee of Korea should not be count out as the 2018 Australian Open title holders are huge contenders for the podium.
As in the bottom half, many would anticipate an all-Japan semifinals being played between 2019 All Japan champion Morizono Masataka / Ito Mima and the defending world champion Yoshimura Maharu / Kasumi Ishikawa. However, 2018 mixed doubles European runner-up Fegerl Stefan / Polcanova Sofia of Austria and runner-up of the 2019 Hungarian Open Hungary's Szudi Adam / Pergel Szandra could potentially spoil the anticipated encounter. Lastly, the favourite for the title but not seeded are Fan Zhendong / Ding Ning of China. The pairs have never competed for mixed doubles together internationally, therefore they do not acquire the points needed to be listed as seeds and have to go through the preliminary rounds. Grand-slam winner Ding Ning told the press that she got more nervous when she played mixed doubles than in the singles event because she has not played the event for quite a while and partnering with Fan Zhendong is a rather new collaboration for her.
My Pick for XD: Xu/Liu (CHN), Wong/Doo (HKG), Morizono/Ito (JPN), Fan/Ding (CHN)
Men's Doubles: Anyone's Game
The king of doubles Xu Xin is not doing the men's doubles. Sigh! The men's doubles field is wide open, I mean the widest across the 5 events. In the top half, we have the men's doubles champion from the 2017 World Tour Grand Finals, Morizono Masataka / Oshima Yuya of Japan and 2018 European champion Gardos Robert / Habesohn Daniel of Austria who are well in the mix. The other medal contenders sharing the same half are Swedish pair Falck Mattias / Karlsson Kristian who placed second after the Austrians at 2018 European Championships.
The Chinese found themselves in a loaded bottom half. The Korean duo Jeoung Youngsik / Lee Sangsu is definitely a clear favourite for the medal but watch out the 2013 world champion Chen Chien-An / Chuang Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei and 2019 All Japan champion, young and promising Harimoto Tomokazu / Kizukuri Yui of Japan. In addition, the 2019 Qatar Open champion, Hong Kong's Ho Kwan Kit / Wong Chun Ting are on our radar. Given so many solid pairs in the field, chances for the relatively new Chinese pairs to secure a spot in the semifinals are not likely. It's quite odd to predict the table tennis dictator, Ma Long (partnering Wang Chuqin 12 years younger than Ma) might bow out in the early rounds but this tells the depth of the field.
My Pick for MD: Morizono/Oshima (JPN), Falck/Karlsson (SWE), Jeoung/Lee (KOR), Ho/Wong (HKG)
Women's Doubles: Is China's Lasting Dominance Stoppable?
Looking back at history, the Chinese women keep a staggering record of winning every women's doubles world title since the 1989 World Championships. That is 15 times in a row! The Chinese are coming into the Championships strong. The top favourite for the title are Chen Meng / Zhu Yuling of China who won bronze in 2013 and silver in 2017 and adding a gold to there arsenal is surely what they are looking for at this Championships. However, they might have to face off the 2019 Qatar Open champion Sun Yingsha / Wang Manyu from their own country. So, the question is can anyone break the Chinese dominance? Japan's Hayata Hina / Ito Mima who settled for bronze in 2017 Worlds and the 2019 All Japan women's doubles title holder might come top on the list. While there are a few pairs interesting to watch and should be good enough to be in the top 16 but they may need an exceptionally good day to challenge the Chinese. They are defensive doubles from Japan Hashimoto Honoka / Sato Hitom, Doo Hoi Kem / Lee Ho Ching of Hong Kong, mixed-nation doubles Ekholm Matilda/ Pota Georgina (Gyerünk Georgina!) and 2018 European champion Lang Kristin / Mittelham Nina of Germany.
My Pick for WD: Chen/Zhu (CHN), Sun/Wang (CHN), Hayata/Ito (JPN)
Women's Singles: Asian Aggression
The women's singles field is pretty much dominance of the Chinese and Japanese players. Ding Ning of China is the defending champion. She has won the title thrice in 2011, 2015 and 2017. Strong and persistence as ever, she has a shot to earn her fourth title in Budapest. Sharing the same top quarter with her includes 2019 Europe Top 16 Cup winner Solja Pertrissa of Germany, the up-and-coming star from Hong Kong Soo Wai Yam Minnie who made a 3-0 clean victory over Ding Ning at 2018 Team World Championships and Miu Hirano of Japan who took a historic bronze medal on this event in 2017.
Liu Shiwen of China had made to the women's singles finals both in 2013 and in 2015 and settled for bronze in 2017. She has been so close to the champion and eagerly needs one to prove herself to the Chinese national team coaches but it won't be made easy with her teammate Ding Ning on the top half. However, it should not be much of a challenge for her to survive the second quarter which includes Cheng I-Ching of Chinese Taipei and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, the defender Kim Song I of DPRK.
The third quarter is loaded with promising youth power. A possible early encounter in the round of 32 between China's 18-year-old rising star Sun Yingsha and Ito Mima, Japan's national champion could potentially steal the headline of the day. Apart from that, drawn into the same quarter is 2019 Qatar Open champion, Wang Manyu who will be vying for a podium finish.
Drawn in the bottom quarter, Chen Meng of China is a major contender for the final Her performances from previous competitions have set her up leading up to the Championships. She won the 2018 World Tour Grand Finals singles title, 2019 Marvellous 12 and placed second at 2019 Asian Cup (behind Zhu Yuling who was not assigned to compete at the women's singles after some sub-par performances against China's no.1 threat Ito Mima of Japan). Japan's Ishikawa Kasumi, 2019 Asian Cup bronze medalist, would hope to contend for a medal but the head-to-head record does not favour her over Chen Meng. Similarly, Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong and Feng Tianwei of Singapore (placed 4th behind Ishikawa at 2019 Asian Cup) need to go above and beyond to shake things up.
My Pick for WS: Chen Meng (CHN), Ding Ning (CHN), Wang Manyu (CHN), Ito Mima (JPN), Liu Shiwen (CHN) this is tough...I wish there were 128 spots on the podium and everyone happily crowned the champion...
Men's Singles: Go Hung(a)ry For The Title
Do you still remember the phenomenally breath-taking, nerve-racking and jaws-dropping men's singles final from last World Championships played between Ma Long and Fan Zhendong? It is regrettably unfortunate to tell you such an extraordinary final would NOT repeat in this year's finals. Simply because four Chinese athletes, including Ma Long and Fan Zhendong, have cramped into the top half. Ma Long said it was an incredible feeling to go to the Championships as the no.5 Chinese player and the no.11 seeds of the tournament. So this is what you want, an early encounter against your super competitive Chinese teammates? Anyways, hopefully, we will still see a high-quality semifinals between them, which implies they manage to overcome the challenges posed by their compatriots Liang Jingkun, Lin Gaoyuan and competitors from other associations such as 2019 Europe Top 16 champion Ovtcharov Dimitrij of Germany, 2019 Asian Cup bronze medalist from Japan Koki Niwa, 2019 Europe Top 16 runner-up Samsonov Vladimir of Belarus, 2019 All Japan national champion Mizutani Jun, Brazil's Calderano Hugo and Jeoung Youngsik of Korea.
It is a 'China-free' third quarter and the door is open. 2018 World Tour Grand Finals champion Harimoto Tomokazu of Japan is a huge contender for the podium and if he makes the semifinals, he will create history for being the youngest World Championships medalist at the age of 15 years and 302 days old. Meanwhile, 2018 Korean Open champion Jang Woojin of Korea and 2019 German national champion Boll Timo will be watching the spot in the semifinals like a hawk. Xu Xin is the only Chinese overseeing the bottom half, meaning that he has to win all the way to the finals to ensure an all-China finals. The pressure is on his shoulder but it is also both risk and reward as if he makes to the finals, it would be a significant open sesame to the 2020 Olympics. Yet before making to the finals, he must keep an eye on Lee Sangsu of Korea who won bronze on this event in 2017, Sweden's Falck Mattias who looked improved at 2019 Qatar Open and Liam Pitchford of England.
My Pick for MS: Fan Zhendong (CHN), Ma Long (CHN), Boll Timo (GER), Harimoto Tomokazu (JPN), Lee Sangsu (KOR), Xu Xin (CHN) Let's just pretend the podium has ample of space for these amazing athletes...
The ball is round, so please take my picks with a grain of salt and never bet your life savings based on my predictions for that matter but I hope you feel knowledgeable about the playing field in Budapest after reading this preview. Tell us your podium predictions in the comment section below!
About WTTC
The World Table Tennis Championships (WTTC) was first held in 1926 at Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, London consisting of 5 events, men's and women's singles, men's doubles, mixed doubles and men's team (whereas the women's doubles was then introduced in 1928 and women's team in 1934). In order to create the best scenario to bring the best athletes of all regions, the Championships was held biennially since 1957. The World Team Table Tennis Championships was introduced in 2000 and since 2003, the team Championships and Individual Event Championships are held in alternate years. The 2019 WTTC is an individual event Championships where 5 events (men's and women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles) are played. The number of participants has reached a historical high as there will be 102 associations and 564 athletes attending the Championships in Budapest this year.
The 2019 World Table Tennis Championships is staged from 21-28 April in Budapest, Hungary (GMT+2). The mixed doubles finals will be held Friday 26 April and the other four events' finals over the weekends with men's doubles and women's singles on Saturday 27 April and women's doubles and men's singles will take place on Sunday 28 April.
You may watch the Championships live on ITTV. For more details, check ITTF website.
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