The Olympic qualification process begins in June 2019 when the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is about a year away. In order to better keep track of the qualification process, we have constructed an Olympic qualification events calendar, listing every tournament that matters.
Unlike the past quads where most team and singles qualification slots were allocated according to ITTF's Olympic Ranking, in 2020 there are more tournaments acting as qualifiers to the Olympic Games. This means the low-ranked teams/individuals can make to the Games if they outplay the top ones at the Olympic qualifiers. AND, most of all,we have more table tennis competitions to follow!
Does the world ranking still matter?
Yes, but it's no longer the top priority. Instead qualifying a team to the Olympics will be everyone's goal. Since each qualified team will automatically get the 2 singles spots, earning an Olympic team spot kills two birds with one stone. In order to earn the team spot, either do the teams win the continental event or vie for the remaining spots at the World Team Qualification Event.
In the mixed doubles qualification, athletes can qualify by their own merit at continental events, 2019 World Tour Grand Finals or World Tour 2020. However, given each NOC that has qualified a team can only send a maximum of 3 athletes of that gender, athletes qualified through the mixed doubles have to be part of the team quota if they want to play at the Games.
Let's take Japan as an example to make this easier to understand. Pretend Maharu Yoshimura / Kasumi Ishikawa of Japan earned the mixed doubles spot at the Asian Qualification event and let's say the Japanese team later decided to send a team with Harimoto Tomokazu, Jun Mizutani and Koki Niwa for the men and Ito Mima, Miu Hirano and Kasumi Ishikawa for the women. Since Maharu Yoshimura was not named to the Olympic squad, Maharu Yoshimura and Kasumi Ishikawa's mixed doubles qualification places would be considered as unused. And let's say Japan failed to qualify another pair of mixed doubles at the continental and world events, they can still send a pair of mixed doubles to the Games using the host nation spot but the pairs have to be athletes from the team squad, for example Koki Niwa / Ito Mima. Thus, NOCs have to form their teams strategically to maximize their chance of winning medals in multiple events.
So why does world ranking matter when it won't directly affect the qualification for the team and mixed doubles events? Although only tiny handful of athletes (1-13) can qualify to the singles event from world ranking while most athletes earn their spots through continental or world qualification events or received slots allotted to qualified teams, world ranking counts in the singles qualification. For the qualification events, athletes will be seeded according to world ranking and the seeding will determine athletes' draw position which is crucial in the one-off qualification events. After all, no one wants to be drawn into a tough half and bows out early. That's why world ranking still matters but it is not that decisive in the 2020 rules as compare to the rules of the past quads.
This may sound insanely complicated but when you break it down, it is actually quite a straightforward system. If you don't care about the specifics, just know that 16 teams of each gender and 16 pairs of mixed doubles will qualify to the Games and at least 64 and as many as 70 athletes will compete at the singles event of each gender, making a total of 86 men and 86 women taking part at the 2020 Olympics.
Hopefully, the following chart will be able to sum up what I have mentioned above and help you to follow the entire Olympic qualification process!
Qualifying to Tokyo in......
Team
The Olympic qualification for the team events runs from June 2019 to January 2020. 16 teams will qualify to the Olympic Games. 6 of them will qualify through continental tournaments with 1 team from each ITTF Continent (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania). The host country, Japan, automatically secures a spot and the remaining 9 teams will be decided at the World Team Qualification Event.
- Since details of some Olympic qualifiers for the mixed doubles and singles events are yet to be confirmed, they are indicated TBC and are subject to change. Updates will be made when further information is available. Please refer to ITTF for full information.
* Athletes who have obtained single quota places and may represent NOC which has qualified a full team to the Olympics
Mixed Doubles
The mixed doubles is a brand new event at the 2020 Olympics. 16 pairs, one pair per each NOC, will qualify to the Games. 6 pairs will qualify through continental tournaments with 1 pair from each ITTF Continent (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania). The host country, Japan, automatically secures a spot, 4 pairs earn their bids to the Games through 2019 World Tour Grand Finals and the remaining 5 pairs will make it through World Tour 2020.
Singles
The Olympic qualification for the singles events may look a wee bit complicated but it is way simpler than that in the previous quads. The continental quota takes up 22 slots, ensuring every continent gets to go to the Games. Each qualified team is allotted 2 singles quota accounting for another 32 slots. The remaining spots will be decided at the World Singles Qualification event, filled up according to the World Ranking in June 2020 and the Olympic Tripartite Commission is allowed to name one player of their choosing to an Olympic berth.
The numbers indicated above are the maximum numbers per event and gender. Unused quota are reallocated according to the official Olympic Qualification System. For more information please check ITTF website. Let us know in the comment if there's anything you don't understand or you would like to add. We are happy to help!
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