Qatar's Mohammed Abdulwahab picks a player during the draw ceremony yesterday.
Doha, Qatar: World No.1 Lin Shidong will be aiming to shine in his maiden appearance at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships at the Doha 2025 edition, but the 20-year-old Chinese superstar’s path to glory will not be an easy one, the draw showed yesterday.
With the countdown entering its final stage ahead of the May 17-25 blockbuster event, the official draw ceremony took place amidst a vibrant backdrop at the Mall of Qatar yesterday as players learned their paths for the prestigious titles.
The latest ITTF world ranking determined seedings for all events, as Shidong - who is fresh from winning back-to-back WTT Grand Smash titles in China and Singapore - headlined the 128-player field.
Shidong will begin his journey with a clash against the Commonwealth Games champion Liam Pitchford of England, and is on a collision course against Brazilian Hugo Calderano, who stunned Lin to lift the ITTF Men’s World Cup 10 days ago.
China’s reigning Olympic champion and seven-time world champion, world No.2 Wang Chuqin, meanwhile, finds himself on the opposite half of the draw. If he reaches the semi-finals, the 24-year-old Chuqin could face Sweden’s Truls Moregardh (7th), in what could be a rematch of the Paris Olympics men’s singles final.
Chuqin, who is placed in the same half as Japanese World No.4 Tomokazu Harimoto, and Germany’s former World No. 1 Dimitrij Ovtcharov, begins his journey in Doha with a first-round meeting against 18-year-old American prodigy Nandan Naresh.
Qatar’s Ahmed Korani was drawn against Chinese Taipei’s rising star Kuo Guan-Hong, while Mohammed Abdulwahhab will face New Zealand’s Alfred Dela Pena. The third Qatar player in the draw, Sultan Al-Kuwari will meet three-time Belgian national champion Martin Allegro in the Round of 128.
Meanwhile, top favourite and World No.1 Sun Yingsha of China leads the women’s draw.
Yingsha, who leads her closest rival in the world rankings by more than 5000 points, will begin her journey from the second round, and will meet the winner of the Round of 128 clash between Costa Rica’s Lucia Zavaleta or North Korea’s Pyon Song Gyong.
Yingsha’s compatriot and the 2021 champion Wang Manyu is placed on the opposite end and has also been given a bye into the second round.
Qatar’s Aia Mohamed was drawn against Suban Rosalba Aguiar at yesterday’s draw, while her compatriot Maryam Ali will face Chilean veteran Zhiying Zeng who makes her Doha appearance at the age of 58.
Speaking ahead of the draw ceremony, the head of the Qatar Table Tennis Association as well as the Arab and Asian federations, and First Vice-President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), Khalil bin Ahmed Al Mohannadi said Qatar aims to deliver “one of the finest World Championships ever staged.”
“The Doha 2025 will be written in gold letters in the history of the sport. Preparations are well ahead of schedule with competition equipment to be installed at Lusail Sports Arena and the University of Doha for Science and Technology Hall within three days,” Al Mohannadi said.
“Everything will be ready by May 10, allowing us to begin welcoming participating delegations from May 11,” Al Mohannadi added as Qatar gears up to host the prestigious event for the second time following the highly successful 2004 edition.
Al Mohannadi also forecast a record turnout for the ITTF Annual General Meeting which will be held on the sidelines of the event on May 27, when the federation elects its new President.
