(by Steve Hopkins)
Earlier this week, ITTF announced the 21 male and 21 female athletes who will participate in the RESTART events in November. Three major events will be held in China, including the 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup, the 2020 ITTF Men’s World Cup, and the 2020 ITTF Finals.

The Women’s World Cup will run first, with event dates from November 8-10. The Men’s World Cup will follow the following week, and the ITTF Finals will begin immediately – running from November 19-22.

Running all three events in the same Country in consecutive weeks gives the elite of the ITTF a bubble to help insulate the players from the COVID-19 virus. The World Cup events will feature players who qualified through World Ranking (including World Champion) or Continental Qualifier. A few players have been selected to replace athletes unable to take part in the events. There is a maximum of two players per national association in World Cup events. The ITTF Finals will include the top 16 ranked players (per men’s and women’s event). In the ITTF Finals, there is a cap of four players per national association.

In the Men’s World Cup, USA will be represented by Kanak Jha (earning his spot by finishing third in the Pan Am Cup).  In the Women’s World Cup, USA will be represented by Lily Zhang and Jennifer Wu.  The Women’s World Cup will also see popular regional players Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico and Mo Zhang of Canada.

Visit ButterflyOnline.com during the events for coverage and results.

The selected players are as follows:

MEN
MA Long (CHN 1) World Champion
SALEH Ahmed Africa Cup Winner
FAN Zhendong (CHN 2) Highest WR from Asian Cup list
CALDERANO Hugo (BRA 1) Pan Am Cup Winner
TSUBOI Gustavo (BRA 2) Pan Am Cup (2nd player)
HU Heming (AUS 1) Oceania Highest Ranked Player
BOLL Timo (GER 1) Europe Cup Winner
HARIMOTO Tomokazu (JPN 1) 3rd Asian Cup
LIN Yun-Ju (TPE 1) 4th Asian Cup
JORGIC Darko (SLO 1) Europe Cup 2nd place (2nd Qualifier)
GARDOS Robert (AUT 1) Europe Cup 3rd place (3rd Qualifier)
NIWA Koki (JPN 2) 5th Asian Cup
JEOUNG Youngsik (KOR 1) 6th Asian Cup
JANG Woojin (KOR 2) 7th Asian Cup
ARUNA Quadri (NGR 1) Africa Cup 2nd place
WONG Chun Ting (HKG 1) 8th Asian Cup
JHA Kanak (USA 1) Pan Am Cup 3rd place
CHUANG Chih-Yuan (TPE 2) 9th Asian Cup list
PUCAR Tomislav (CRO 1) Europe Cup 4th place
OVTCHAROV Dimitrij (GER 2) Wild Card
FALCK Mattias (SWE 1) Replacement
PITCHFORD Liam (ENG 1) Replacement

WOMEN

MESHREF Dina (EGY 1) African Cup Winner
ITO Mima (JPN 1) Highest WR from Asian Cup list
DIAZ Adriana (PUR 1) Pan Am Cup Winner
ZHANG Lily (USA 1) Pan Am Cup (2nd player)
LAY Jian Fang (AUS 1) Oceania Highest Ranked Player
SOLJA Petrissa (GER 1) Europe Cup Winner
ZHU Yuling (CHN 2) 3rd Highest WR from Asian Cup list
CHENG I-Ching (TPE 1) 4th Highest WR from Asian Cup list
EERLAND Britt (NED 1) Europe Cup 2nd place (2nd Qualifier)
POLCANOVA Sofia (AUT 1) Europe Cup 3rd place (3rd Qualifier)
FENG Tianwei (SGP 1) 5th Highest WR from Asian Cup list
ISHIKAWA Kasumi (JPN 2) 6th Highest WR from Asian Cup list
DOO Hoi Kem (HKG 1) 7th Highest WR from Asian Cup list
JEON Jihee (KOR 1) 8th Highest WR from Asian Cup list
WU Yue (USA 2) Pan Am Cup 3rd place
ZHANG Mo (CAN 1) Pan Am Cup 4th place
PESOTSKA Margaryta (UKR 1) Europe Cup 4th place
SAWETTABUT Suthasini (THA 1) Original Host of 2020 WWC
SZOCS Bernadette (ROU 1) Wild card
TAPPER Melissa (AUS 1) Oceania Replacement
CHEN Meng (CHN 1) Replacement
SUH Hyowon (KOR 2) Replacement