| | | | Fireworks expected following main draw ceremony at WTT Contender Budapest
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The stage has been set for an explosive week of world-class table tennis action in Budapest, with the main draw made for WTT Contender Budapest- the first-ever WTT Series event to be held in Europe.
An exciting battle awaits when England’s Liam Pitchford, the number one seed clashes with Hungary’s Adam Szudi in the opening match of the Men’s Singles while Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna, the number two seed, takes on Austria’s Andreas Levenko on the other side of the draw.
Germany’s Ruwen Filus, who enjoyed a runner-up finish at his first WTT event in Doha earlier this year, returns as the number three seed and faces his first test against Thomas Polansky of the Czech Republic at the Budapest Olympic Sports Hall.
In the Women’s Singles, top seed Yang Xiaoxin of Monaco opens her campaign against Hungary’s Bernadett Balint, whilst Chile’s Paulina Vega and Russia’s Yana Noskova, who featured at the recent Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, will face Italy’s Giorgia Piccolin and India’s Archana Girish Kamath respectively.
Hungary’s Nandor Eceki and Szudi, the top seeds in the Men’s Doubles, take on compatriots Oliver Both and Akos Kishegyi in their opening round of 16. Russia’s Vladimir Sidorenko and Kirill Skachkov, the number two seeds, open their accounts against Patrik Juhasz and Csaba Andras of Hungary.
Russian top seeds Olga Vorobeva and Noskova will clash with Leonie Hartbrich and Leila Imre from the host nation in their opening contest of the Women’s Doubles. A victory over the Hungarians will see them progress to the quarter-final to meet the winners of the match between Germany’s Yuan Wan, Chantal Mantz and Belarus’ Daria Trigolos, who will be partnering Serbia’s Andrea Todorovic.
It will be an interesting all-Indian affair in the Mixed Doubles Round of 16 when Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra take on Archana Girish Kamath and Manav Vikash Thakkar where the winners will face a potential quarter-final date with top seeds Barbora Balazova and Lubomir Pistej of Slovakia, who open their accounts against Hungary’s Bernadett Balint and Patrik Juhasz.
WTT Contender Budapest is a fourth-tier event within the WTT Series structure. It offers a total prize purse of US$75,000 and 400 ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking Points across men's and women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles competitions.
The full draw can be accessed here while you can find details of where to watch WTT Contender Budapest 2021 here.
Table tennis fans worldwide are now also able to get the latest news on WTT Contender Budapest at their fingertips with the new WTT App, the first global app to be made available for table tennis.
The WTT App is available for free on both the Apple and Android platforms:
Download for iPhone
Download for Android
Fans can also search “World Table Tennis App” directly to find the app in their preferred platform.
About WTT Contender Series
The WTT Contender Series, with its distinctive black and blue branding, features two event tiers – WTT Star Contender and WTT Contender. Players will battle it out for ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking points, as up-and-coming stars of the sport also look to rise up the ladder.
WTT Contender Series events will be the heartbeat of the WTT Series and provide a critical pathway for players to progress through the rankings and the new structure into WTT Champions and Grand Smash events.
WTT Contender events will deliver four days of action, with each event featuring men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles competitions
About World Table Tennis
Successfully launched in 2021, WTT heralds a new era for professional table tennis with the new WTT Series showcasing the sport’s best and up-and-coming table tennis players in up to 34 events worldwide. The WTT Series features four Grand Smashes as the pillars of the support. Eight single-table, single-gender WTT Champions events, the WTT Contender Series and the season-ending WTT Cup Finals, all of which will entertain fans and inspire future generations of table tennis players. Complemented by the global WTT Youth Series and WTT Feeder Series, WTT creates a pathway that showcases the journey of a player from day one to World No. 1 through the ITTF Table Tennis World Rankings. For more information, please visit worldtabletennis.com. |
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