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ITTF World Tour 2014
The ITTF World Tour 2014. Where the best players in the world compete for the biggest money prizes
By Martin Hughes
Owner and Editor
In 1996 the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) launched a brand new premier competition - The ITTF Pro Tour.
It was a huge success, so in 2012, after 15 years of solid growth, they took it to the next level and re-named it the ITTF World Tour.
The GAC Group (China-based car manufacturer Guangzhou Automobile Group) began sponsoring this event in 2012 and currently have an agreement to sponsor this event until the end of 2015.
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So how did the 2014 ITTF World Tour work?
Points mean prizes
The ITTF World Tour is a Grand Prix series in which players compete in International Open tournaments around the world and earn grand prix points and prize money according to how well they perform.
The best performers (who also meet the qualifying criteria) were then invited to the end of year Grand Finals where a prize fund of one million US dollars was up for grabs.
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So how did it work in 2014?
Tournaments around the World
2014 saw 20 events within the ITTF World Tour.
The top rated events were called the Super Series, followed by the Major Series plus the challenger series in Euro-Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania.
There were 6 Super Series events, 4 Major Series events plus 10 Challenger Series events.
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So let's take a look at...
The Format
The Super Series tournaments held events for:
- Men's singles
- Women's singles
- Men's doubles
- Women's doubles
and two optional events... - Under 21 years Men's singles
- Under 21 years Women's singles
The Major Series tournaments held events for:
- Men's singles
- Women's singles
- Men's doubles
- Women's doubles
- Under 21 years Men's singles
- Under 21 years Women's singles
And the Challenger Series tournaments held events for:
- Men's singles
- Women's singles
plus two events from... - Men's doubles
- Women's doubles
- Under 21 years Men's singles
- Under 21 years Women's singles
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So what about the...
Prize Money
The prize money for the GAC ITTF World Tour 2014 was substantial.
The total prize fund was over $2,500,000 with the Grand Finals worth $1,000,000.
Each Super Series event must offer a minimum prize fund of $200,000, whilst in the Major Series it's a minimum prize fund of $100,000, and $30,000 for the Challenger Series.
Additionally, the points awarded to the best performers were also tiered.
The winner of an event in a Challenger Series gained 100 points, whilst in the Major Series it was 200 points and in the Super Series 300 points.
And the players with the most points at the end of the season were invited to compete in the lucrative Grand Finals.
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But to be invited to the Grand Finals, players had to meet ALL the qualifying criteria...
2014 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
The number of players at the 2014 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals was as follows...
- Men's and women's singles - 16 players.
- Men's and women's doubles - 8 pairs.
- Under 21 men's and women's singles - 8 players.
And the qualifying criteria were...
SINGLES
- The top 15 men and 15 women who accumulated the most grand prix points and competed in at least 5 tournaments.
- The ITTF also invited one man and one woman from the association hosting the 2014 World Tour Grand Finals.
DOUBLES
- The top 8 men's doubles pairs and 8 women's doubles pairs who accumulated the most grand prix points, as a pair, and competed in at least 4 tournaments.
- In the case that one player appeared in two or more double pairs, only the highest qualifying pair would be considered.
UNDER 21 YEARS
- The top 8 U21 men and 8 U21 women who accumulated the largest number of grand prix points.
Players or pairs who finished equal on points for the last positions to qualify were decided by their position on the last available ITTF World Ranking list. If players or pairs were still equal, reference was made to the previous World Ranking list and so on.
I'll be focussing on the Men's Singles (MS) events only.
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Here are the events which make up the...
GAC ITTF World Tour 2014
| DATES | WORLD TOUR EVENTS 2014 | MS WINNERS |
|---|---|---|
| SUPER SERIES | ||
| 12-16 Feb | Kuwait Open (Kuwait City, Kuwait) | Fan Zhendong (China) |
| 18-23 Feb | Qatar Open (Doha, Qatar) | Xu Xin (China) |
| 26-30 Mar | German Open (Magdeburg, Germany) | Dimitrij Ovtcharov (Germany) |
| 4-8 June | China Open (Chengdu, China) | Ma Long (China) |
| 11-15 June | Korean Open (Incheon City, South Korea) | Xu Xin (China) |
| 18-22 June | Japan Open (Yokohama, Japan) | Yu Ziyang (China) |
| MAJOR SERIES | ||
| 2-6 Apr | Spanish Open (Almeria, Spain) | Paul Drinkhall (England) |
| 27-31 Aug | Czech Open (Olomouc, Czech Republic) | Marcos Freitas (Portugal) |
| 5-9 Nov | Russian Open (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia) | Koki Niwa (Japan) |
| 12-16 Nov | Swedish Open (Stockholm, Sweden) | Fan Zhendong (China) |
| EURO-AFRICA CHALLENGE SERIES | ||
| 29 Jan-1 Feb | Hungarian Open (Szombathely, Hungary) | Daniel Habesohn (Austria) |
| 21-24 May | Zagreb Open (Zagreb, Croatia) | Ricardo Walther (Germany) |
| 23-26 Jun | Lagos (Nigerian) Open (Lagos, Nigeria) | Omar Assar (Egypt) |
| 21-24 Aug | Belarus Open (Minsk, Belarus) | Vladimir Samsonov (Belarus) |
| 10-13 Sep | Flanders (Belgium) Open, De Haan (Belgium Coast) | Vladimir Samsonov (Belarus) |
| AMERICAS CHALLENGE SERIES | ||
| 10-13 Apr | Chile Open (Santiago de Chile, Chile) | Kohei Sambe (Japan) |
| 4-7 Sep | Argentina Open (Buenos Aires, Argentina) | Zhu Cheng (China) |
| 11-14 Sep | Brazil Open (Santos, Brazil) | Liu Dingshuo (China) |
| ASIAN CHALLENGE SERIES | ||
| 15-18 May | Philippines Open (Manila, Philippines) | Ho Kwan Kit (Hong Kong China) |
| OCEANIA CHALLENGE SERIES | ||
| 21-25 May | Australian Open (Sydney, Australia) | Wu Zhikang (Singapore) |
| 11-14 Dec | ITTF World Tour Grand Finals (Bangkok, Thailand) | Jun Mizutani (Japan) |
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So when and where were the Grand Finals staged?
The Grand Finals
The ITTF World Tour Grand Finals were held from 11-14 December 2014 in Thailand at the Indoor Stadium Huamark, 2088 Ramkamheang Road, Huamark, Bangkapi, Bangkok 10240.
Here is the list of the men who accumulated sufficient Grand Prix points and met the additional qualifying criteria of competing in at least five events (tournaments) and were therefore invited to take part in the 2014 Grand Finals men's singles event.
Some players accumulated sufficient Grand Prix points but didn't compete in sufficient events to be eligible to take part in the prestigious end of season grand finals (NE).
The ITTF also invited Max Poungsri from the host association (Thailand).
| Rank | Elig | Points | Events | Player (Family Name, Given Name) | Assoc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NE | 800 | 4 | XU, Xin | China | |
| NE | 594 | 4 | FAN, Zhendong | China | |
| 1 | 407 | 5 | MIZUTANI, Jun | Japan | |
| 2 | 407 | 5 | OVTCHAROV, Dimitrij | Germany | |
| NE | 338 | 3 | YU, Ziyang | China | |
| NE | 319 | 2 | MA, Long | China | |
| 3 | 303 | 8 | NIWA, Koki | Japan | |
| 4 | 300 | 5 | DRINKHALL, Paul | England | |
| 5 | 293 | 5 | FREITAS, Marcos | Portugal | |
| NE | 250 | 2 | FANG, Bo | China | |
| 6 | 241 | 5 | SAMSONOV, Vladimir | Belarus | |
| NE | 213 | 4 | BAUM, Patrick | Germany | |
| NE | 213 | 4 | YAN, An | China | |
| 7 | 207 | 5 | CHUANG, Chih-Yuan | Chinese Taipei | |
| 8 | 198 | 6 | MENGEL, Steffen | Germany | |
| 9 | 180 | 6 | MURAMATSU, Yuto | Japan | |
| 10 | 174 | 8 | MORIZONO, Masataka | Japan | |
| 11 | 171 | 6 | TANG, Peng | Hong Kong China | |
| 12 | 156 | 9 | SAMBE, Kohei | Japan | |
| 13 | 152 | 6 | APOLONIA, Tiago | Portugal | |
| 14 | 152 | 7 | CHO, Eonrae | South Korea | |
| 15 | 147 | 9 | WONG, Chun Ting | Hong Kong China | |
| 16 | POUNGSRI, Max | Thailand | |||
| R E S E R V E S | |||||
| 17 | 141 | 8 | WU, Zhikang | Singapore | |
| 18 | 134 | 6 | WALTHER, Ricardo | Germany | |
| 19 | 119 | 6 | ASSAR, Omar | Egypt | |
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So what was the...
Playing format for the 2014 Grand Finals
The event was played on a knockout basis.
The seeding of the players was determined by the final order of the World Tour points standing.
All matches were the best of 7 games.
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And what was the...
Prize Money
The total prize money at the 2014 Grand Finals was $1,000,000
For the men's singles the breakdown was as follows:
| Position | Amount (US $) |
|---|---|
| Winner | 100,000 |
| Runner-up | 60,000 |
| Semi Finals | 30,000 |
| Quarter Finals | 15,000 |
| Last 16 | 8,000 |
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And the...
Equipment used
The equipment used for the Grand Finals was...
- Tables - Double Fish
- Balls - Double Happiness 40+ Three Star
- Flooring - Tinsue (blue)
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So let's take a look at the men's singles finals...
Date of the draw
The draw was made on 9 December 2014 at 19:30 hours.
First Round
Friday 12 December 2014
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| MIZUTANI, Jun 7-11, 7-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 |
4-3 | MORIZONO, Masataka |
| MENGEL, Steffen 11-4, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 |
4-0 | POUNGSRI, Max |
| FREITAS, Marcos 12-10, 14-12, 11-8, 11-6 |
4-0 | WONG, Chun Ting |
| NIWA, Koki 7-11, 14-12, 10-12, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 |
4-2 | CHO, Eonrae |
| TANG, Peng 8-11, 11-5, 9-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-8 |
4-2 | DRINKHALL, Paul |
| SAMSONOV, Vladimir 11-5, 6-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7 |
4-2 | SAMBE, Kohei |
| CHUANG, Chih-Yuan 11-7, 11-5, 11-8, 11-2 |
4-0 | APOLONIA, Tiago |
| OVTCHAROV, Dimitrij 11-1, 11-9, 11-6, 11-4 |
4-0 | MURAMATSU, Yuto |
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Quarter Finals
Saturday 13 December 2014
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| MIZUTANI, Jun 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-3 |
4-1 | MENGEL, Steffen |
| FREITAS, Marcos 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-9 |
4-2 | NIWA, Koki |
| TANG, Peng 11-9, 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8 |
4-1 | SAMSONOV, Vladimir |
| OVTCHAROV, Dimitrij 11-8, 7-11, 9-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9 |
4-3 | CHUANG, Chih-Yuan |
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Semi Finals
Sunday 14 December 2014
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| MIZUTANI, Jun 11-9, 11-7, 11-6, 4-11, 11-9 |
4-1 | FREITAS, Marcos |
| OVTCHAROV, Dimitrij 11-6, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 |
4-0 | TANG, Peng |
Final
Sunday 14 December 2014
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| MIZUTANI, Jun 14-12, 12-10, 8-11, 11-3, 6-11, 12-14, 11-6 |
4-3 | OVTCHAROV, Dimitrij |
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