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ITTF World Tour 2016
The ITTF World Tour 2016. 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.
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So how does the 2016 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) are then invited to the end of year Grand Finals where a prize fund of US$500,000 is up for grabs.
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So how does it work in 2016?
Tournaments around the World
2016 saw 20 events within the ITTF World Tour.
The top rated events were called the Super Series, followed by the Major Series plus the challenge series in Euro-Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania.
There were 6 Super Series events, 6 Major Series events plus 8 Challenge 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 ITTF World Tour 2016 was substantial.
The total prize fund was over $2,000,000 with the Grand Finals worth $500,000.
Each Super Series event must offer a minimum prize fund of $120,000, whilst in the Major Series it's a minimum prize fund of $70,000, and $35,000 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 500 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...
2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
The number of players at the 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals were as follows...
- Men's and women's singles will each have 16 players.
- Men's and women's doubles will each have 8 pairs.
- Under 21 men's and women's singles will each have 8 players.
And the qualifying criteria were...
SINGLES
- The top 15 men and 15 women who have accumulated the most grand prix points and have competed in at least 5 tournaments.
- The ITTF will also invite one man and one woman from the association hosting the 2016 World Tour Grand Finals if they have competed in at least 5 tournaments.
DOUBLES
- The top 7 men's doubles pairs and 7 women's doubles pairs who have accumulated the most grand prix points, as a pair, and have competed in at least 4 tournaments.
- The ITTF will also invite one man and one woman doubles pair from the association hosting the 2016 World Tour Grand Finals if they have competed in at least 4 tournaments.
UNDER 21 YEARS
- The top 7 U21 men and 7 U21 women who have accumulated the largest number of grand prix points and have competed in at least 4 events in at least 2 continents.
- The ITTF will also invite one man and one woman from the association hosting the 2016 World Tour Grand Finals.
Players or pairs who finish equal on points for the last positions to qualify will be decided by their position on the last available ITTF World Ranking list. If players or pairs are still equal, reference will be 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 made up the...
ITTF World Tour 2016
| DATES | WORLD TOUR EVENTS 2016 | MS WINNERS |
|---|---|---|
| SUPER SERIES | ||
| 27-31 Jan | German Open (Berlin, Germany) | Ma Long (China) |
| 16-20 Mar | Kuwait Open (Kuwait City, Kuwait) | Zhang Jike (China) |
| 23-27 Mar | Qatar Open (Doha, Qatar) | Ma Long (China) |
| 15-19 June | Japan Open (Tokyo, Japan) | Fan Zhendong (China) |
| 22-26 June | Korean Open (Incheon, South Korea) | Xu Xin (China) |
| 14-18 Sep | China Open (Chengdu, China) | Fan Zhendong (China) |
| MAJOR SERIES | ||
| 20-24 Jan | Hungarian Open (Budapest, Hungary) | Chuang Chih-Yuan (Chinese Taipei) |
| 20-24 Apr | Polish Open (Warsaw, Poland) | Jun Mizutani (Japan) |
| 24-28 Aug | Bulgaria Open (Panagyurishte, Bulgaria) | Tomas Konecny (Czech Republic) |
| 31-4 Sep | Czech Open (Olomouc, Czech Republic) | Yuto Muramatsu (Japan) |
| 9-13 Nov | Austrian Open (Linz, Austria) | Kenta Matsudaira (Japan) |
| 16-20 Nov | Swedish Open (Stockholm, Sweden) | Yuya Oshima (Japan) |
| CHALLENGE SERIES | ||
| CANCELLED | ||
| 5-9 Apr | Chile Open (Santiago de Chile, Chile) | Antoine Hachard (France) |
| 18-22 May | Nigerian Open (Lagos, Nigeria) | Benedek Olah (Finland) |
| 24-28 May | Croatian Open (Zagreb, Croatia) | Joo Saehyuk (South Korea) |
| 1-5 June | Slovenia Open (Otocec, Slovenia) | Jun Mizutani (Japan) |
| 8-12 Jun | Australian Open (Sydney, Australia) | Jun Mizutani (Japan) |
| 29-3 July | Pyongyang Open (Pyongyang, North Korea) | Kang Wi Hun (North Korea) |
| 7-11 Sep | Belarus Open (Minsk, Belarus) | Jang Woojin (South Korea) |
| 20-24 Sep | Belgium Open (De Haan, Belgium) | Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (India) |
| 8-11 Dec | Seamaster Qatar ITTF World Tour Grand Finals (Doha, Qatar) |
Ma Long (China) |
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So when and where are the Grand Finals being staged?
The Grand Finals
The Seamaster Qatar ITTF World Tour Grand Finals were held from 15-18 December 2016 in Doha, Qatar.
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 2016 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).
| Rank | Elig | Points | Events | Player (Family Name, Given Name) | Assoc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2100 | 6 | MA, Long | China | |
| 2 | 1700 | 5 | FAN, Zhendong | China | |
| 3 | 1300 | 5 | XU, Xin | China | |
| 5 | 713 | 7 | MIZUTANI, Jun | Japan | |
| 6 | 700 | 8 | CHUANG, Chih-Yuan | Chinese Taipei | |
| 7 | 700 | 5 | SAMSONOV, Vladimir | Belarus | |
| 8 | 619 | 8 | WONG, Chun Ting | Hong Kong China | |
| 9 | 550 | 5 | OVTCHAROV, Dimitrij | Germany | |
| 10 | 401 | 8 | MATSUDAIRA, Kenta | Japan | |
| 11 | 363 | 6 | MURAMATSU, Yuto | Japan | |
| 12 | 337 | 10 | CHEN, Chien-An | Chinese Taipei | |
| NE | 300 | 4 | FANG, Bo | China | |
| 13 | 288 | 8 | JEOUNG, Youngsik | South Korea | |
| 14 | 281 | 8 | OSHIMA, Yuya | Japan | |
| 15 | 275 | 5 | TANG, Peng | Hong Kong China | |
| I N V I T E D P L A Y E R | |||||
| 16 | 134 | 5 | LI, Ping | Qatar | |
| R E S E R V E S | |||||
| 17 | 254 | 9 | NIWA, Koki | Japan | |
| 18 | 250 | 6 | FREITAS, Marcos | Portugal | |
| 19 | 234 | 9 | KONECNY, Tomas | Czech Republic | |
Fang Bo did not play in sufficient events.
Zhang Jike withdrew injured (foot injury).
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So what was the...
Playing format for the 2016 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 2016 Grand Finals was $500,000
For the men's singles the breakdown was as follows:
| Position | Amount (US $) |
|---|---|
| Winner | 60,000 |
| Runner-up | 30,000 |
| Semi Finals | 15,000 |
| Quarter Finals | 7,500 |
| Last 16 | 3,750 |
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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 (maroon)
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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 7 December 2016 at 15:00 hours.
First Round
Thursday/Friday
8/9 December 2016
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| Ma Long 4-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8 |
4-2 | Li Ping |
| Wong Chun Ting 6-11, 12-14, 11-8, 13-11, 11-9, 14-16, 11-8 |
4-3 | Kenta Matsudaira |
| Chuang Chih-Yuan 11-8, 11-7, 10-12, 4-11, 11-4, 11-9 |
4-2 | Yuya Oshima |
| Jeoung Youngsik 7-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-8, 11-13, 11-7, 11-9 |
4-3 | Jun Mizutani |
| Xu Xin 11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 |
4-0 | Chen Chien-An |
| Yuto Muramatsu 11-5, 11-7, 5-11, 6-11, 1-11, 11-9, 11-6 |
4-3 | Vladimir Samsonov |
| Dimitrij Ovtcharov 11-9, 11-5, 13-15, 14-12, 11-6 |
4-1 | Tang Peng |
| Fan Zhendong 11-6, 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4 |
4-1 | Koki Niwa |
Fan Zhendong and Koki Niwa
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Quarter Finals
Friday/Saturday
9/10 December 2016
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| Ma Long 11-4, 11-3, 11-6, 11-5 |
4-0 | Wong Chun Ting |
| Jeoung Youngsik 11-13, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 12-10, 11-1 |
4-2 | Chuang Chih-Yuan |
| Xu Xin 11-2, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 |
4-0 | Yuto Muramatsu |
| Fan Zhendong 9-11, 10-12, 15-13, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 |
4-2 | Dimitrij Ovtcharov |
Fan Zhendong and Dimitrij Ovtcharov
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Semi Finals
Saturday 10 December 2016
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| Ma Long 11-9, 11-8, 11-8, 14-12 |
4-0 | Jeoung Youngsik |
| Fan Zhendong 11-5, 5-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9 |
4-2 | Xu Xin |
Ma Long and Jeoung Youngsik
Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin
Final
Sunday 11 December 2016
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| Ma Long 11-5, 11-4, 11-9, 7-11, 12-14, 11-9 |
4-2 | Fan Zhendong |
Ma Long and Fan Zhendong
Ma Long and Fan Zhendong
Fan Zhendong - Runner-up
Ma Long - Winner
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