Site Products
APOLONIA, Tiago

WTT Middle East Hub – Contender Event Qualifiers

(by Steve Hopkins)

The first ITTF event of 2021 is officially underway in Doha, Qatar.  The “Middle East Hub” is a series of four events that begin with the WTT Contender Event this week, then the WTT Star Contender Event on March 5, then the World Singles Qualification Tournament on March 14, and finally the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament on March 18. Some big names have backed out with COVID-19 concerns, including the Hong Kong and Chinese teams, but there will be a lot of star power in Doha over the next few weeks – including Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Liam Pitchford, Simon Gauzy, and Mattias Falck, and the Star Contender Event includes Patrick Franziska, Koki Niwa, and Jun Mizutani.

The Contender Event is up to the third qualifying round.  Players that have made it this far just need two more wins to advance to the Main Draw – where 8 qualifiers will play 16 seeded players.

In early action, many of the names familiar to Americans have already fallen.  Omar Assar fell to Russia’s Sidorenko, Paul Drinkhall and Aleksandar Karakasevic both fell to Austria’s Andreas Levenko, Ricardo Walther fell to Czech Republic’s Sirucek, Brian Afanador fell to Alvaro Robles, Jouti fell to Italy’s Piccolin, both Daniel Gonzalez and Marcos Madrid fell to Italy’s Bobocica, Sam Walker fell to Italy’s Stoyanov, Eugene Wang fell to Brazil’s Ishiy, Jeremy Hazin fell to Ionescu, and both Monteiro and Ruwen Filus fell to Joao Geraldo.

Among those a match away are plenty of recognizable players:  Marcelo Aguirre, Tiago Apolonia, Daniel Habesohn, Alberto Mino, Anton Kallberg, Ovidiu Ionescu, Dang Qiu, Kirill Gerassimenko, and Vitor Ishiy.  Tuesday will determine players reach the main draw (and in what order).

Once the main draw begins, we’ll see action from the top seeds – a list of allstars that starts with Harimoto, Calderano, Lin, Falck, and Ovtcharov.  We’ll also follow the women’s event in the main draw – with entries that include Mima Ito and Cheng I-Ching as the top two seeds, Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz at No. 7, USA’s Lily Zhang at No. 13, and Canada’s Mo Zhang and No. 17.

Check in with ButterflyOnline.com for news and scores as the ITTF Calendar heats up ahead of the Olympic Games this July.

 

Latest News

#2 A Skill That Is Likely To Score – Backhand Down The Line

July 7, 2025
[[Feature] [Special Feature] American Stars! Jha’s Strengths #2 A Skill That Is Likely To Score – Backhand Down… Read More

United States Smash: Tight Scores and a Big Upset in Early Action

July 7, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) Action is underway in the main round of the United States Smash, the… Read More

MLTT Featured Team: Bay Area Blasters

July 6, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT) The Bay Area Blasters plan to blast through the upcoming Major League Table… Read More

WAB CLUB FEATURE: Calgary United Sports Table Tennis Association

July 6, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) Established in 2002, Calgary United Sports Table Tennis Association (CUSTTA) is Alberta’s largest Table Tennis… Read More

Butterfly Players Shine at the 2025 US National Table Tennis Championships

July 6, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo USATT) The 2025 U.S. National Table Tennis Championships is one of the premiere annual… Read More

US Nationals Recap

July 6, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) The US National Table Tennis Championships is in the books.  One of America’s premiere events… Read More

United States Smash: Qualifiers are Finished and the Main Draw Begins Today

July 6, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo USATT) Americans made waves in the qualifying rounds of the United States Smash, the… Read More

Shorten Your Swing

July 4, 2025
WAIT FUNCTION: Serve short backspin or side backspin to Forehand or Backhand, Robot plays long 1 backspin push… Read More
View All News

Get the latest from Butterfly

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.