Time flies and we are now halfway through the Olympic qualification for the continental team quotas. Coming up this week, from 15 to 22 September, the 2019 Asian Championships touches down Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Winners of the men's team and women's team in the Champion Division will qualify a full team to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Medal Summary
With quite a number of table tennis powerhouses in Asia, the Asian Championships has been arguably one of the most captivating continental table tennis tournaments. In the last edition (2017), Miu Hirano of Japan shocked the world of table tennis by knocking out 3 top Chinese players and crowned the women's singles champion. Will there be more surprises this year when it is not just a continental championships but an Olympic qualifier?
The answer can be both yes and no. It is no surprise that the Chinese are very likely to dominate this year's Championships like they did before. The Chinese have been winning every Asian team titles since 2007. Throughout the 47 years of the Asian Championships history, the Chinese men only lost the team title in 1996 (to Korea) and 1972 (to Japan), while the women missed theirs in 1974 (to Japan), 1976 (to DPR. Korea), 1988, 1990 (to Korea) and 1992, 2005 (to Hong Kong). Yet, there are still some concerns being raised:
1. Can the Chinese men top the podium without Ma Long?
3-time men's singles world champion Ma Long was assigned to compete in one event, the team event, according to the first nominative roster announced by CTTA BUT he was not on the Asian Championships squad in the later versions. There are no news about Ma Long's condition nor the reasons of him sitting out the Championships and many believe he is healing his injuries. Ma Long's absence may not narrow China's chance of winning the team title significantly; after all, the team has incredible depth but the pressure is there. Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin have been fantastic for most of the time but have not looked as sharp at the World Championships this year. Have they ironed out those issues in time for Yogyakarta?
2. Can Xu Xin handle all 4 events?
Xu Xin is the only player from Team China to compete in all 4 events. Although being the top seed of every event means he can skip the group stage of the team event and avoid playing against high-ranked players in the early round, doing 4 events at a Championships can be demanding, especially for players who are likely to make all the way to the finals in every event. We have seen him excelled in World Tours where he won 3 World Tour titles back-to-back at Japan Open and Australia Open. Let's see if he can keep it up at Yogyakarta!
3. Will the Korean men break the domination?
The Korean picked their squad in June when they held the trials in a round-robin format. Players competing at Yogyakarta are among the strongest in the Korean team and they know how to fight hard and shock out the big names. Let's not forget Jeoung Youngsik upset Fan Zhendong 4-2 a few months ago at the Korea Open. The Korean men's team seeded no. 2 is definitely the team to watch. The Korean women's team is in contention for the podium as well. Keep an eye on the promising 14-year-old, Shin Yubin. She has a bright future ahead.
4. Will Japan play above and beyond with nothing to lose?
It is quite surprising that Japan did not send their strongest squad to the Asian Championships. Koki Niwa sits out the Championships opting for earning more world rankings points at the Paraguay Open but he bowed out in the first round to Zhang Kai representing the USA. The backbone of the team, Jun Mizutani, is not competing at the Championships as well. The team would count on 16-year-old Harimoto Tomoakazu to step up to the plate and lead the team to vie for a podium finish. Similarly, the Japanese women's team is missing Ito Mima on their roster. This will definitely affect their competitiveness. However, given Japan is the host country of the upcoming Olympics and will be granted Olympic spots automatically, they do not have the pressure of qualifying a team to the Olympics. Perhaps this is a privileged for the team and a great opportunity for them to let other young players gain international competition experiences.
5. Other surprises outside the podium
Chinese Taipei has experienced some hiccups right before the tournament. Their veteran Chuang Chih-Yuan requested for the permission of sitting out the team event because he would like to break after the Paraguay Open which ended on the same date of the commencement of the Asian Championships but after communication between him and the national team coaches, both sides failed to reach an agreement. As a result, Chuang Chih-Yuan decided to withdraw both tournaments and will possibly not participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics selection process. When it rains, it pours. A few days later, Chinese Taipei's wonder kid Lin Yun-Ju withdrew from the Asian Championships due to a shoulder injury. The loss of 2 pivotal players will be a big blow to the team.
In the women's field, the absence of Ito Mima might have left the field clear for China to claim the title. Will China put Wang Manyu and Sun Yingsha to the test and get them play in the finals; or the coaches rather count on the veterans to avoid another 2010-Moscow upset? Either way, the lineup for the women's team finals (if they make to the finals) might be a tough decision for the Chinese coaches but a playful puzzle for onlookers like us.
The major contenders aside, new emerging powers such as the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion, the Indian men's team and women's team, the Iranian men's team led by 2018 Asian Games men's singles bronze medalist Noshad Alamian and the mysterious DPR. Korea team are also some exciting teams to watch.
6. The 'Different' Old System of Play
Unlike other Olympic qualifiers which adopted the New Olympic system of play, the team event of the 2019 Asian Championships sticks to the New Swaythling Cup system, 5 singles, the good old format played at the World Championships. Whereas, the singles and doubles events (the Championships consists of 7 events) will play in best of 5 games in all stages, a shorter game compared to the best of 7 games adopted in most international tournaments. These are not entirely new system of play but the slight differences can probably make a twist, if not surprises, at the tournament.
In short, many will bank on the Chinese defending their titles and bringing home the tickets to Tokyo but the competition field is deep and competitive at the Asian Championships. It will be filled with excitement and drama. Blink and you will miss it!
Team Seeding List
For more details check ATTU and ITTF website!
Revisit: 2017 Asian Championships Must-Watch Matches
How to Watch (GMT+7)
Actions from the Asian Championships will be available live on ITTF's Youtube channel and Chinese media CCTV will stream the tournament live throughout 17 to 22 September as follow:
17 Sep (Tue)
10:00 Women's Team Semifinals [CCTV5]
12:00 Women's Team Semifinals [CCTV5]
19:00 Women's Team Finals [CCTV apps]
19:30 Women's Team Finals [CCTV5]
18 Sep (Wed)
10:00 Men's Team Semifinals [CCTV5]
12:00 Men's Team Semifinals [CCTV app]
19:00 Men's Team Finals [CCTV5]
19 Sep (Thu)
18:30 Mixed Doubles Semifinals & Men's Singles R32 [CCTV apps]
19:30 Mixed Doubles Semifinals & Men's Singles R32 [CCTV5+]
20 Sep (Fri)
18:30 Women's Singles & Men's Singles Quarterfinals [CCTV apps]
19:30 Women's Singles & Men's Singles Quarterfinals [CCTV5]
21 Sep (Sat)
12:55 Men's Doubles & Women's Singles Semifinals [CCTV5]
18:00 Mixed Doubles & Men's Doubles & Women's Singles Semifinals [CCTV5]
22 Sep (Sun)
13:00 Women's Doubles & Men's Singles Semifinals [CCTV5+]
17:00 Women's Doubles & Men's Singles Finals [CCTV5]
Last but not least, since many Asian countries have the tradition of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival (or the Moon Festival), from far away, I hope to share this moment with you all and wish you a happy moon festival!
Wow,excellent preview
ReplyDeleteThank you! What is your top pick for the podium?
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