DAY 4 - MEDIA NOTES - WTT STAR CONTENDER DOHA 2021

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WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 Main Draw: 08 - 13 March

USD 400,000

DAY 4 - MEDIA NOTES

WTT STAR CONTENDER DOHA 2021 OVERVIEW CITY: Doha, QATAR SITE: Lusail Sports Arena DATES: 8 – 13 March 2021 TABLE BRAND: Double Fish BALL BRAND: DHS FLOOR BRAND: Gerflor MEDIA CONTACT: [email protected] PRIZE MONEY: USD 400,000 Welcome to World Table Tennis (WTT). This is the first edition of WTT Star Contender and is the

second official event of the WTT era. Players competing in WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 are

vying for a total prize purse of USD 400,000. The event is being played in the Lusail Sports Arena.

Opened in 2014, the multi-purpose hall has hosted several major sporting events and has been

transformed into the brand new WTT arena where it is set to showcase the sport like never seen

before. Top stars including Japanese 17-year-old wonderkid, Tomokazu Harimoto and trailblazer

Lily Zhang are joined by international athletes from all around the world such as Hugo Calderano,

Mattias Falck, Mima Ito, Adriana Diaz and more.

DAY THREE HIGHLIGHTS • Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic contributed one of the shocks of the day after successfully

fighting back from two games down to stun Brazil’s Hugo Calderano 3-2 (8-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-7, 13-11).

• Saving two match points against the number two seed, Jorgic advances to the men’s singles quarter-finals where he will meet Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson, who also caused an upset, beating French number 12 seed Simon Gauzy (11-6, 11-7, 11-6).

• Crowned champion at WTT Contender Doha, Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who won last week’s WTT Contender Doha, confirmed his place in the last eight with a 3-0 victory over India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta (11-9, 11-8, 11-6).

• Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju also remains in the title hunt when he beat Austria’s Robert Gardos 3-1 (7-11, 11-5, 11-5, 15-13). Lin will take on another European opposition in the

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shape of Germany’s Ruwen Filus, who took down Japan’s Jun Mizutani 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-8).

• Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching, the number two seed, failed to reach the women’s singles quarter-finals after falling to Japan’s Hina Hayata (11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8).

• Number three seed Kasumi Ishikawa of Japan also fell to Romania’s Elizabeta Samara after losing (13-11, 11-9, 12-10).

• In the women’s doubles match, Japanese teenagers Satsuki Odo and Sakura Yokoi, both 16 years of age, combined effectively to beat Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu and Cheng Hsien-Tzu in straight games (11-9, 11-6, 11-8).

• Spain’s Alvaro Robles and Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu produced another strong performance in the men’s doubles quarter-finals as the 2019 World Championships silver medallists delivered a commanding knockout blow to Iran’s Nima Alamian and Noshad Alamiyan (11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9).

LOOKING AHEAD • Top seed Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan will take his imperious run of form into the

quarter-final where he will meet Korea Republic’s Jeoung Youngsik.

• Harimoto and Jeoung commence their battle for a place in the semi-final of the men’s singles at 14:00pm (local time) on table one.

• The 17-year-old Japanese has made a stunning impact this week since receiving a bye in the first round, crushing India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-8) in the round of 32 before whitewashing Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna 3-0 (11-4, 13-11, 11-7).

• Jeoung meanwhile sealed his passage into his showdown with Harimoto after coming back from a game down to beat Brazil’s Gustavo Tsuboi 3-1 (6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-3).

• Singapore’s Feng Tianwei will meet Japan’s Hina Hayata for the third time in the women’s singles quarter-final, scheduled to start at 10:00am (local time) on table one.

• Feng has played against Hayata twice, winning one of their previous encounters. The last time Feng made it into the top eight of a women's singles competition was at last March's ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open in Doha, where she eventually lost to Japan's Mima Ito.

• Hayata, who finished runner-up in last week’s WTT Contender Doha, made light work of Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching, defeating her 3-1 (11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8) while Feng

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secured her spot in quarter-final after beating Chinese Taipei's Chen Szu-yu 3-2 (11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 8-11, 11-9).

• Japan’s Mima Ito and Adriana Diaz, who is the first female table tennis player to represent Puerto Rico on the Olympic stage in 2016, go head-to-head on table one at 12:00 (local time).

EVENT - FAST FACTS

• The WTT Star Contender Series features the Play Down Restriction (PDR) rule, which limits

the maximum number of top 20 players allowed to compete in the events.

• At WTT Star Contender Doha 2021, the Play Down Restriction is increased due to COVID-19 and that it has been almost 12 months since international competition has been available to all players.

• The Play Down Top 20 Restriction was increased from 4 to 8 for WTT Star Contender Doha 2021

• The Mixed Doubles main draw was increased from 8 to 16 pairs to provide players the

opportunity to earn rankings points in a bid to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

• The draw structure has also been revamped to make the competitions fairer, more exciting and more competitive.

• WTT may elect to nominate a player to participate in the event - this player is known as a

WTT Nomination and entered into the entry list as a wildcard.

• Men’s Singles: Liam PITCHFORD/Simon GAUZY • Women’s Singles: Adriana DIAZ

• Wild Cards are determined 7 days prior to event

• Men’s Singles: FRANZISKA Patrick, NIWA Koki, MIZUTANI Jun, AL-MOHANNADI

Ahmad Khalil • Women’s Singles: Maria XIAO • Men’s Doubles: Mohammed ABDULWAHHAB/Ahmed Khalil AL-MOHANNADI • Women’s Doubles: Maha FARAMARZI/Ala MOHAMED & Maha ALI/Maryam ALI

• Key changes to the Draw include:

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• More players automatically entered into event instead of having to play qualifying

• Ranking Points earned for playing both Qualifying + Main Draw KEY DATES / TIMES 11 March 2021, 10:00 @ Lusail Sports Arena – Quarterfinal 12 March 2021, 14:00 @ Lusail Sports Arena – Semi Finals 13 March 2021, 10:00 @ Lusail Sports Arena – Finals EVENT DISCIPLINES As a WTT Star Contender event, 5 different discipline will be contested: - Men’s Singles - Women’s Singles - Men’s Doubles - Women’s Doubles - Mixed Doubles PLAYING SYSTEM The Main Draw matches will be conducted in a knockout format. Main Draw: The Main Draw for the 2021 WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 will involve the following: - 48-Draw Men’s Singles - 48-Draw Women’s Singles - 16-Draw Men’s Doubles - 16-Draw Women’s Doubles - 16-Draw Mixed Doubles MATCH FORMAT / SCORING The event will be played in accordance with the Laws of Table Tennis and the Regulations for International Competitions. Singles Main Draw to Quarterfinals:

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- Best of 5 games/11 points - Winner need to win by 2 for all games Semi-finals and Final - Best of 7 games/11 points - Winner need to win by 2 for all games Doubles All Matches: - Best of 5 games/11 points - Winner need to win by 2 for all games TOP SEEDS Men’s Singles: Tomokazu HARIMOTO (JPN)

Women’s Singles: Mima ITO (JPN)

Men’s Doubles: LEE Sangsu / JEOUNG Youngsik (KOR)

Women’s Doubles: Kasumi ISHIKAWA / Miu HIRANO (JPN)

Mixed Doubles: Jun MIZUTANI / Mima ITO (JPN)

PLAYERS – FAST FACTS Youngest men’s singles player: Tomokazu HARIMOTO (JPN) (17) Oldest men’s singles player: Vladimir SAMSONOV (BEL) (45) Youngest women’s singles player: KIM Nayeong (KOR) (15) Oldest women’s singles player: SHAN Xiaona (GER) (38)

Men’s Doubles Pair Oldest Pairing: Robert GARDOS & Daniel HABESOHN (18 years)

Women’s Doubles Pair Oldest Pairing: MONTEIRO DODEAN Daniela

& SAMARA Elizabeta (17 years)

• Seeded at No. 2, LIN and CHENG are ranked World No. 1 for Women’s Doubles. • The youngest players in this event all hail from Korea or Japan.

• Korea: KIM Nayeong (16 years old), SHIN Yubin (17 years old), CHO Daeseong (18 years old)

• Japan: Miyuu KIHARA (16 years old), Satsuki ODO (16 years old), Tomokazu HARIMOTO (17 years old)

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EVENT SCHEDULE

11 MARCH DAY FOUR SESSION 1

Starting At: 10:00 Women’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Women’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Women’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Women’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS

SESSION 2 14:00 Men’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS

followed by Men’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Men’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Men’s Singles – QUARTERFINALS

SESSION 3 Not before 19:00 Mixed Doubles – QUARTERFINALS

followed by Mixed Doubles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Mixed Doubles – QUARTERFINALS followed by Mixed Doubles – QUARTERFINALS

End of Day

12 MARCH DAY FIVE SESSION 1

Starting At: 14:00 Women’s Singles – SEMIFINALS followed by Women’s Singles – SEMIFINALS followed by Men’s Singles – SEMIFINALS followed by Men’s Singles – SEMIFINALS

SESSION 3 Not before 19:00 Mixed Doubles – SEMIFINALS

followed by Mixed Doubles – SEMIFINALS End of Day

13 MARCH DAY SIX SESSION 1

Starting At: 10:00 Women’s Doubles –FINALS followed by Men’s Doubles – FINALS

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USD 400,000

followed by Mixed Doubles – FINALS 15:00 Women’s Singles – FINALS 15:45 Men’s Singles – FINALS

End of Day PRIZE MONEY & WR POINTS Total Prize Purse: US$ 400,000 / US$ 196,000 per gender (+ US$ 8,000 XD) Distribution by Event Singles: US$ 166,000 Singles Qualification: US$ 10,000 Doubles: US$ 20,000 Mixed: US$ 8,000 Distribution - Singles Winner: US$ 25,000 Finalist: US$ 19,000 Semis: US$ 11,000 Quarters: US$ 5,000 R-16: US$ 3,000 R-32: US$ 2,000 R-48: US$ 1,500 Distribution - Doubles Winner: US$ 5,000 Finalist: US$ 3,100 Semis: US$ 1,750 Quarters: US$ 900 R-16: US$ 600 Distribution – Mixed Doubles Winner: US$ 1,400 Finalist: US$ 1,000 Semis: US$ 700

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Quarters: US$ 450 R-16: US$ 300

Singles Prize Money (USD$) WR Points

Winner 25,000 600

Finalist 19,000 420

Semis 11,000 210

Quarters 5,000 105

R-16 3,000 55

R-32 2,000 25

R-48 1,500 5

Doubles Prize Money (USD$) WR Points

Winner 5,000 600

Finalist 3,100 420

Semis 1,750 210

Quarters 900 105

R-16 600 5

Mixed Doubles Prize Money (USD$) WR Points

Winner 1,400 600

Finalist 1,000 420

Semis 700 210

Quarters 450 105

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R-16 300 5

MAIN DRAW - NATIONAL ASSOCIATION BREAKDOWN (40 National Associations in total) AUSTRIA (2) GARDOS Robert, HABESOHN Daniel BELARUS (3) Vladimir SAMSONOV, Daria TRIGOLOS, Aleksandr KHANIN BELGIUM (3) ALLEGRO Martin, LAMBIET Florent, NUYTUNCK Cedric BRAZIL (4) CALDERANO Hugo, TAKAHASHI Bruna, TSUBOI Gustavo,

ISHIY Vitor CANADA (1) ZHANG Mo CHINESE TAIPEI (6) LIN Yun-Ju, CHUANG Chih-Yuan, CHENG I-CHING, CHEN Szu-Yu,

CHEN Chien-An, CHENG Hsien-Tzu CHILE (1) Paulina VEGA CROATIA (2) PUCAR Tomislav, Andrej GACINA CZECH REPUBLIC (2) MATELOVA Hana, SIRUCEK Pavel DENMARK (1) GROTH Jonathan EGYPT (3) MESHREF Dina, ASSAR Omar, Ahmed SALEH ENGLAND (1) PITCHFORD Liam FRANCE (5) LEBESSON Emmanuel, GAUZY Simon, YUAN Jia Nan,

Tristan FLORE, Prithika PAVADE GERMANY (8) DUDA Benedikt, OVTCHAROV Dimitrij, MITTELHAM Nina,

SHAN Xiaona, Qiu Dang, FRANZISKA Patrick, Ruwen FILUS, HAN Ying

HUNGARY (4) SZUDI Adam, ECSEKI Nandor, PERGEL Szandra, MADARASZ Dora INDIA (3) ACHANTA Sharath Kamal,

GNANASEKARAN Sathiyan, Manika BATRA IRAN (2) ALAMIYAN Noshad, ALAMIAN Nima ITALY (4) STOYANOV Niagol, PICCOLIN Giorgia, Debora VIVARELLI

BOBOCICA Mihai JAPAN (13) HARIMOTO Tomokazu, UDA Yukiya, ITO Mima, HAYATA Hina,

ISHIKAWA Kasumi, HIRANO Miu, KIHARA Miyuu, YOKOI Sakura, ODO Satsuki, MORIZONO Masataka, Koki NIWA, Jun MIZUTANI, Mizuki OIKAWA

KAZAKHSTAN (1) Kirill GERASSIMENKO KOREA (14) LEE Sangsu, AN Jaehyun, JEON Jihee, SUH Hyowon,

CHO Daeseong, YANG Haeun, LEE Zion, CHOI Hyojoo, JANG Woojin, JEOUNG Youngsik, SHIN Yubin, LIM Jonghoon,

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KIM Nayeong, KIM Hayeong, LUXEMBOURG (1) Sarah DE NUTTE MEXICO (2) Yadira SILVA, Marcos MADRID MONACO (1) YANG Xiaoxin, NETHERLANDS (1) EERLAAND Britt NIGERIA (1) ARUNA Quadri PORTUGAL (2) FREITAS Marcos, MONTEIRO João PUERTO RICO (3) DIAZ Adriana, DIAZ Melanie, Brian AFANADOR QATAR (6) ABDULWAHHAB Mohammed, Ahmad Khalil AL-MOHANNADI,

MOHAMED Aia, ALI Maryam, FARAMARZI Maha, ALI Maha ROMANIA (5) IONESCU Ovidiu, SZOCS Bernadette, SAMARA Elizabeta,

MONTEIRO DODEAN Daniela, SZCOS Hunor RUSSIA (3) MIKHAILOVA Polina, NOSKOVA Yana, VOROBEVA Olga SINGAPORE (4) FENG Tianwei, LIN Ye, YU Mengyu, ZENG Jian SLOVENIA (1) JORGIC Darko SERBIA (2) KARAKASEVIC Aleksandar, LUPULESKU Izabela SLOVAKIA (3) WANG Yang, PISTEJ Lubomir, BALAZOVA Barbora SPAIN (2) ROBLES Alvaro, XIAO Maria SWEDEN (5) KARLSSON Kristian, FALCK Mattias, KALLBERG Anton,

Jon PERSSONI, Christina KALLBERG THAILAND (2) SAWETTABUT Suthasini, PARANANG Orawan UKRAINE (2) PESOTSKA Margaryta, GAPONOVA Ganna USA (1) ZHANG Lily

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Men’s Singles Main Draw

Seed Name Assoc WR Highest WR Years Pro

Playing hand Grip Style Age Events

Won 2020

Matches/Wins

Career Matches

Career Wins

Career Win %

#1 HARIMOTO Tomokazu JPN 5 #3 (2019/1) 6 R Shakehand Attacker 17 5 12/8 148 100 67.6

#3 LIN Yun-Ju TPE 7 #6 (2020/3) 6 L Shakehand Attacker 19 3 6/3 140 102 72.9

#6 OVTCHAROV Dimitrij GER 12 #1 (2018/2) 17 R Shakehand Attacker 32 13 11/7 432 298 69.0

#7 JEONG Youngsik KOR 13 #7 (2017/2) 13 R Shakehand Attacker 29 2 7/3 268 171 63.8 #14 KARLSSON Kristian SWE 29 #17 (2018/3) 14 L Shakehand Attacker 29 0 5/3 224 129 57.6 #16 JORGIC Darko SLO 31 #31 (2020/12) 7 R Shakehand Attacker 22 0 13/8 149 93 62.4 #27 Ruwen FILUS GER 42 #18 (2018/1) 17 R Shakehand Defender 33 1 0/0 259 167 64.5 Q KALLBERG Anton SWE 58 #54 (2015/12) 8 R Shakehand Attacker 23 1 13/9 153 100 65.4

Women’s Singles Main Draw

Seed Name Assoc WR Highest WR Years Pro

Playing hand Grip Style Age Events

Won 2020

Matches/Wins

Career Matches

Career Wins

Career Win %

#1 ITO Mima JPN 3 #2 (2020/11) 9 R Shakehand Attacker 20 10 20/16 285 195 68.4 #5 FENG Tianwei SGP 12 #2 (2011/8) 14 R Shakehand Attacker 34 14 6/2 438 295 67.4 #6 JEON Jihee KOR 16 #11 (2016/9) 10 L Shakehand Attacker 28 4 4/1 259 166 64.1

WTT NOM DIAZ Adriana PUR 18 #18 (2020/12) 6 R Shakehand Attacker 20 0 8/3 100 56 56.0 #12 HAYATA Hina JPN 29 #11 (2018/1) 7 L Shakehand Attacker 20 7 3/3 210 147 70.0 #15 SAMARA Elizabeta ROU 34 #13 (2014/9) 17 L Shakehand Attacker 31 3 6/3 308 192 62.3 Q SHIN Yubin KOR 94 #79 (2019/10) 6 R Shakehand Attacker 16 0 1/0 82 44 53.7 Q KIM Hayeong KOR 122 #74 (2020/3) 3 R Shakehand Attacker 23 0 0/0 46 29 63.0

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Men’s Doubles Main Draw

Seed Name 1 Assoc 1 Name 2 Assoc 2 WR

Years Togethe

r Events Won Career Matches Career

Wins Career Win %

#1 LEE Sangsu KOR JEOUNG Youngsik KOR 2 8 8 110 84 76.4 #3 CHEN Chien-An TPE CHUANG Chih-Yuan TPE 8 9 1 83 46 55.4 #5 IONESCU Ovidiu ROU ROBLES Alvaro ESP 10 3 0 30 20 66.7

#16 Mizuki OIKAWA JPN Yukiya UDA JPN 0 0 2 2 100.0

Women’s Doubles Main Draw

Seed Name 1 Assoc 1 Name 2 Assoc 2 WR

Years Togethe

r Events Won Career Matches Career

Wins Career Win %

#1 ISHIKAWA Kasumi JPN HIRANO Miu JPN 2 4 2 40 30 75.0 #3 HAYATA Hina JPN KIHARA Miyuu JPN 1 0 5 4 80.0 #4 JEON Jihee KOR SHIN Yubin KOR 69 2 0 6 5 83.3

#13 ODO Satsuki JPN YOKOI Sakura JPN 0 0 3 2 66.7

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Mixed Doubles Main Draw

Seed Name 1 Assoc 1

Gender 1 Name 2 Assoc 2 Gender

2 World

Ranking Years

Together Events

Won Career

Matches Career Wins

Career Win %

#1 MIZUTANI Jun JPN M Mima ITO JPN W 3 2 2 35 27 77.1 #2 CHENG I-Ching TPE W LIN Yun-Ju TPE M 1 2 4 41 31 75.6 #3 BALAZOVA Barbora SVK W PISTEJ Lubomir SVK M 6 8 1 53 26 49.1 #4 LEE Sangsu KOR M JEON Jihee KOR W 8 3 1 33 19 57.6 #7 LEBESSON Emmanuel FRA M YUAN Jia Nan FRA W 15 2 1 24 17 70.8 #8 KARAKASEVIC Aleksandar SRB M LUPULESKU Izabela SRB W 16 3 0 40 22 55.0 Q Bruna TAKAHASHI BRA W Vitor ISHIY BRA M 64 2 0 8 4 50.0 Q Tristan FLORE FRA M Prithika PAVADE FRA W 0 0 1 1 100

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MEN’S SINGLES Tomokazu HARIMOTO:

● The Japanese star has defied the odds and forced the world to take notice since

becoming the youngest ever World Tour winner at the age of 14, at the 2017 Czech

Open, and the youngest World Tour Grand Finals champion aged 15.

● Tomokazu is the real deal and will continue to impress in years to come. Born to former

table tennis professionals, Tomokazu started playing at the age of two and by 12, he

was already breaking records on the international scene. Beating players several years

his senior, his talents were obvious from the start.

● Part of the new generation of stars in Japan, Tomokazu is quickly becoming the focal

point of attention every time he takes to the table.

Dimitrij OVTCHAROV: ● “Dima”, as he is affectionately known by the table tennis community, knows what it is

like to sit atop the world.

● With his trademark backhand and iconic serve, the German has the ability to take down

the best in the business. An Olympic bronze medallist at the London 2012 Olympic

Games, Dima’s career hit new heights in 2017 when he won four World Tour Titles, the

Men’s World Cup, the Europe Top 16 Cup and became world no. 1 in early 2018.

● As one of the leading lights of the German men’s national team, Dima continues to

compete at the highest level and is always in the mix for glory. ● With the 1st WTT Contender Series Men’s Singles title from Doha now under his belt,

Dima is certainly looking to continue his scintillating form at the WTT Star Contender

Doha 2021!

JEOUNG Youngsik • A larger than life character, Jeoung Youngsik is one of the most vibrant personalities on

the international circuit!

• Showing great promise from an early age, Jeoung has more than lived up to

expectations, earning his rightful place among Korea Republic’s star players. Known for

his unwavering determination, Jeoung’s fanbase continues to grow all over the globe

following stints in the top leagues in China and Japan.

• To this day, the Korean continues to push the titans of the sport in his pursuit of

greatness. Jeoung has built up a solid collection of medals as part of Korea Republic’s

World Team Championships efforts and he has also helped his country to a silver medal

finish at the Team World Cup.

Kristian KARLSSON • Carrying on the proud tradition of Swedish table tennis is Kristian Karlsson, who was key

to his nation’s exploits on home soil at the 2018 World Championships in Halmstad.

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Kristian helped the Swedish men’s team to a bronze medal in front of a jubilant home

crowd, ending a 19-year podium drought.

• Honing his skills in Trollhättan, Sweden, until he turned 16, Kristian’s ability quickly

caught the eyes of the table tennis community, picking up his first senior medal at the

2012 European Championships in men’s doubles.

Darko JORGIC

• Prolific as a junior, winning multiple titles, Darko has worked himself up the ranks and is

ready to make his mark in the senior game.

• Biding his time and honing his skills, Darko’s potential was clear to all and it manifested

in a big way when Darko strode through the competition at the 2020 Europe Top-16 Cup

and narrowly missed out on gold to the legendary Timo Boll in the final. A first Men’s

World Cup experience beckoned where he once again exceeded expectations by making

the main draw and threatened to upset Ma Long in the round of 16.

Ruwen FILUS • While the modern era has made defensive play a rare trade, Filus Ruwen is more than

happy to show off his defensive capabilities and prove any naysayers wrong.

• Part of a strong German line-up, Filus is a four-time European men’s team champion and

was involved in their runner-up finish at the 2018 World Championships.

• With his consistency, supreme fitness and sheer determination, expect Filus to light up

any game and show off the art of defence!

WOMEN’S SINGLES Mima ITO:

● Winner of the 1st WTT Contender Women’s Singles title in Doha in 2021, Mima burst

onto the international scene at just 13 years of age when she, together with compatriot

Miu Hirano, became the youngest ever champions at a World Tour event, winning

women’s doubles at the 2014 German Open.

● The pair followed that up with gold at the 2014 World Tour Grand Finals in Thailand.

● Mima’s early success saw her recognised with the 2015 Breakthrough Star Award and at

the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, she helped Japan to a bronze medal in the women’s team

event.

● On a personal level, she has won six senior women’s singles titles on the World Tour,

underlining her status as one of the very best female athletes of the current era.

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Adriana DIAZ: ● Table Tennis runs in the Diaz family. Her sister Melanie is a professional player and her

father Bladimir is a decorated coach in the sport. This support has offered Adriana a

great springboard towards her rapid rise up the global standings.

● From a Pan American outlook, she has won it all and was the first female table tennis

player to represent Puerto Rico on the Olympic stage in 2016.

● She also made history at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, playing a significant

role in guiding the island to its first gold medal successes in the event’s history.

● In 2020, Adriana’s outstanding achievements saw her voted “Athlete of the Decade” in

Puerto Rico.

FENG Tianwei:

● Now in her 30s, she remains one of the biggest threats to the top Chinese and Japanese

stars of the game.

● A two-time Commonwealth Games singles champion, Feng also boasts three Olympic

medals to her name.

● Her crowning moment came at the 2010 World Team Championships in Moscow as she

led Singapore to its first-ever gold in table tennis with a stunning victory over favourites

China.

● Finishing 2010 on a high, Feng went on to secure women’s singles gold at the prestigious

Grand Finals in Seoul to confirm her iconic status.

JEON Jihee:

● Born in Langfang, China, the early years of Jeon’s rise to stardom came with the support

of her father who passed down important fundamentals of the sport.

● Moving to Korea Republic aged 16, Jeon is now considered a key part in the country’s

plans to reach the summit of international table tennis.

● A podium finisher at some of the sport’s most prestigious events, including the Asian

Games and the Grand Finals, Jeon also collected a historic bronze medal as part of the

Unified Korea team at the 2018 World Team Championships in Halmstad, Sweden.

Hina HAYATA: • Hina is the most successful player in the history of the Challenge Series with six titles,

starting at the 2017 Spanish Open before a mesmeric 2019 in which she took gold in

Portugal, Oman, Serbia, Paraguay and Belarus.

• On her day, Hina can beat the world’s best. She defeated both Mima Ito and Kasumi

Ishikawa en route to her victory at the 2020 All Japan Table Tennis Championships. • Deadly in the doubles, she won bronze alongside Mima Ito at the 2017 World

Championships in Germany, before the pair took silver in 2019 in Hungary.

Elizabeta SAMARA:

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• Having enjoyed great success on the junior circuit in the earlier days of her career,

Elizabeta has lived up to expectations to earn her place in the Romanian senior team,

playing a crucial role in her nation’s gold medal finishes at the European Team

Championships in 2017 and 2019.

• Elizabeta rose to prominence after she became the first non-Asian player to reach the

final of the Women’s World Cup in 2012. The Constanta-born star moved on to claim

three World Tour titles (2013 Brazil Open, 2014 Czech Open, 2015 Qatar Open) and

became European champion in 2015.

• She is equally strong in a partnership, claiming several women’s doubles and mixed

doubles titles in Europe.

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DAY 4 - MEDIA NOTES - WTT STAR CONTENDER DOHA 2021