(by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor)
Final places decided, Astana list complete
Disappointment for Japan’s Yuya Oshima and Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan at the recently completed Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open in Stockholm but places in the forthcoming Grand Finals to be staged in Astana, Kazakhstan from Thursday 14th to Sunday 17th December are assured.

Both suffered first round Men’s Singles exits, Yuya Oshima at the expense of Germany’s Benedikt Duda, Chuang Chih-Yuan when facing China’s Zhou Yu.

hey reserve the last two available places in the Men’s Singles event; in effect a total of 15 spots being on offer;  Kirill Gerassimenko is eligible to compete as the host nation representative.

Similarly, in the Women’s Singles event Japan’s Hitomi Sato and Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching gain the two places that were in doubt prior to play commencing in Stockholm. In Sweden’s capital city, Hitomi Sato experienced a first round defeat at the hands of Turkey’s Hu Melek, one round later after beating China’s Li Jiayi, Cheng I-Ching suffered at the hands of Gu Yuting, also from China.

Meanwhile, as a result of reaching the quarter-final stage in Stockholm, Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson and Mattias Karlsson gain the last Men’s Doubles place; similarly the combination of Slovakia’s Barbora Balazova and the Czech Republic’s Hana Matelova reserve the ultimate Women’s Doubles position in Astana.

In Stockholm, Kristian Karlsson and Mattias Karlsson beat the French pairing of Andrea Landrieu and Romain Lorentz, prior to losing to China’s Fan Zhendong and Xin Xin; Barbora Balazova and Hana Matelova accounted for Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chia-Chih and Wang Yi-Ju before China’s Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling ended progress.

Qualifiers for Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals

Men’s Singles: Dimitrij Ovtcharov (Germany), Timo Boll (Germany), Fan Zhendong (China), Lin Gaoyuan (China), Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan), Simon Gauzy (France), Vladimir Samsonov (Belarus), Kenta Matsudaira (Japan), Fang Bo (China), Koki Niwa (Japan), Wong Chun Ting (Hong Kong), Xu Xin (China), Masaki Yoshida (Japan), Yuya Oshima (Japan), Chuang Chih-Yuan (Chinese Taipei), Kirill Gerassimenko (Kazakhstan)

Women’s Singles: Chen Meng (China), Wang Manyu (China), Kasumi Ishikawa (Japan), Mima Ito (Japan), Gu Yuting (China), Zhu Yuling (China), Feng Tianwei (Singapore), Chen Xingtong (China), Sakura Mori (Japan), Shan Xiaona (Germany), Hina Hayata (Japan), Miu Hirano (Japan), Han Ying (Germany), Doo Hoi Kem (Hong Kong), Hitomi Sato (Japan), Cheng I-Ching (Chinese Taipei)

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