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ITTF World Tour 2018
The new, revamped ITTF World Tour 2018. 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.
And in 2017 a new format was introduced with more prize money and even better organised events.
The World Tour now consists of two tiers plus the end-of-year Grand Finals with the ITTF Challenge Series separate from the World Tour.
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So how did the 2018 ITTF World Tour work?
New Format, Better Organisation
The 2018 World Tour consisted of two tiers of competition together with the end-of-year Grand Finals.
The two tiers were the World Tour (maximum 6 events) and the World Tour Platinum (maximum 6 events) which fed into the end-of-year Grand Finals.
The World Tour Platinum series events were allocated to the six best bids submitted by cities/affiliated Associations, whilst the World Tour events were allocated to the next six best bids.
The Platinum tier attract the best players and the highest media attention whilst the competitive ITTF World Tour featured both top players and the up-and-coming future stars.
The World Tour Grand Finals consisted of the top 16 men and women players (singles & doubles) who earned enough points on the World Tour to qualify for the most important event of the tour - the exciting year-end finale.
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So how did it work in 2018?
Points mean prizes
The ITTF World Tour was a Grand Prix series in which players competed in International Open tournaments around the world to earn grand prix points and prize money according to how well they performed.
The best performers (who also meet the qualifying criteria) were then invited to the end of year Grand Finals where a prize fund of US$1,001,000 was up for grabs.
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So what happened in 2018?
12 Tournaments around the World
2018 saw the ITTF World Tour limited to 12 high quality events.
The top rated events were the World Tour Platinum series whilst the regular events were named - ITTF World Tour.
There were 6 Platinum series events and 6 regular events.
The minimum prize money offered at each Platinum event was US$ 120,000 whilst the minimum prize money offered at each regular event was US$ 70,000.
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So let's take a look at...
The Format
The tournaments held the following events:
- 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 men's and women's singles were limited to 32 players in the main draw, whilst the men's and women's doubles were limited to 16 pairs in the main draw.
The Under 21s events (where played) were limited to 32 players in the main draw.
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But to be invited to the Grand Finals, players had to meet ALL the qualifying criteria...
2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
The number of players at the 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals was as follows...
- Men's and women's singles will each have 16 players.
- Men's and women's doubles will each have 8 pairs.
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 would also invite one man and one woman from the association hosting the 2018 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 accumulated the most grand prix points, as a pair, and competed in at least 4 tournaments.
- The ITTF will also invite one man and one woman doubles pair from the association hosting the 2018 World Tour Grand Finals if they have competed in at least 4 tournaments.
Players or pairs who finished equal on points for the last positions to qualify would 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 here on the Men's Singles (MS) events only.
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Here are the events which make up the...
ITTF World Tour 2018
| DATES | WORLD TOUR EVENTS 2018 | MS WINNERS |
|---|---|---|
| WORLD TOUR PLATINUM SERIES | ||
| 8-11 March | Qatar Open (Doha, Qatar) | Fan Zhendong (China) |
| 23-25 March | German Open (Bremen, Germany) | Ma Long (China) |
| 31 May-3 June | China Open (Shenzhen, China) | Ma Long (China) |
| 19-22 July | Korean Open (Incheon, South Korea) | Jang Woojin (South Korea) |
| 26-29 July | Australian Open (Gold Coast, Australia) | Xu Xin (China) |
| 8-11 Nov | Austrian Open (Linz, Austria) | Liang Jingkun (China) |
| WORLD TOUR | ||
| 18-21 Jan | Hungarian Open (Budapest, Hungary) | Fan Zhendong (China) |
| 24-27 May | Hong Kong Open (Hong Kong) | Kazuhiro Yoshimura (Japan) |
| 7-10 June | Japan Open (Kitakyushu, Japan) | Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan) |
| 16-19 Aug | Bulgaria Open (Panagyurishte, Bulgaria) | Xu Xin (China) |
| 23-26 Aug | Czech Open (Olomouc, Czech Republic) | Zheng Peifeng (China) |
| 1-4 Nov | Swedish Open (Stockholm, Sweden) | Fan Zhendong (China) |
| 13-16 Dec | ITTF World Tour Grand Finals (Incheon, South Korea) | Tomokazu Harimoto (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 in Incheon, South Korea from 13-16 December 2018.
Here is the list of the men who accumulated sufficient Grand Prix points and meet the additional qualifying criteria of competing in at least five events (tournaments) and were therefore invited to take part in the 2018 Grand Finals men's singles event.
| Rank | Points | Events | Player (Family Name, Given Name) | Assoc |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1750 | 8 | XU, Xin | China |
| 2 | 1500 | 5 | FAN, Zhendong | China |
| 3 | 947 | 5 | LIANG, Jingkun | China |
| 909 | 10 | HARIMOTO, Tomokazu | Japan | |
| 5 | 655 | 9 | JANG, Woojin | South Korea |
| 6 | 641 | 5 | LIN, Gaoyuan | China |
| 7 | 638 | 7 | CALDERANO, Hugo | Brazil |
| 8 | 491 | 7 | MIZUTANI, Jun | Japan |
| 9 | 486 | 10 | FRANZISKA, Patrick | Germany |
| 10 | 462 | 9 | LIM, Jonghoon | South Korea |
| 11 | 444 | 8 | LEE, Sangsu | South Korea |
| 12 | 432 | 8 | WONG, Chun Ting | Hong Kong China |
| 13 | 396 | 6 | LIU, Dingshuo | China |
| 14 | 388 | 10 | NIWA, Koki | Japan |
| 15 | 363 | 5 | BOLL, Timo | Germany |
| 16 | 349 | 9 | OSHIMA, Yuya | Japan |
| R E S E R V E S | ||||
| 17 | 337 | 8 | PITCHFORD, Liam | England |
| 18 | 316 | 8 | YOSHIMURA Kazuhiro | Japan |
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So what was the...
Playing format for the 2018 Grand Finals
The events were 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 2018 Grand Finals was $1,001,000
For the men's singles, the breakdown was follows:
| Position | Amount (US $) |
|---|---|
| Winner | 100,000 |
| Runner-up | 55,000 |
| Losing Semi-Finalists | 35,000 |
| Losing Quarter Finalists | 25,000 |
| Last 16 | 15,000 |
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And the...
Equipment used
The equipment used for the Grand Finals was...
- Tables - Double Fish Volant King (Blue)
- Balls - Double Happiness 40+ Three Star (White)
- Flooring - Tinsue TLO 500R (red)
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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 Wednesday 12 December 2018 at 15:00 hours.
First Round
Thursday/Friday
13/14 December 2018
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| XU, Xin 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7 |
4-1 | WONG, Chun Ting |
| LIN, Gaoyuan 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 16-14 |
4-2 | LEE, Sangsu |
| MIZUTANI, Jun 11-9, 11-5, 11-4, 11-0 (retired) |
4-0 | LIU, Dingshuo |
| LIANG, Jingkun 11-6, 11-4, 11-7, 13-11 |
4-0 | BOLL, Timo |
| HARIMOTO, Tomokazu 11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 |
4-1 | FRANZISKA, Patrick |
| JANG, Woojin 11-5, 11-3, 11-6, 11-5 |
4-0 | LIM, Jonghoon |
| CALDERANO, Hugo 11-5, 4-11, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7 |
4-3 | OSHIMA, Yuya |
| FAN, Zhendong 11-6, 11-8, 11-5, 12-10 |
4-0 | NIWA, Koki |
Hugo Calderano defeats Yuya Oshima
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Quarter Finals
Friday/Saturday
14/15 December 2018
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| LIN, Gaoyuan 11-3, 9-11, 13-11, 11-13, 11-2, 11-9 |
4-2 | XU, Xin |
| MIZUTANI, Jun 7-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-9 |
4-2 | LIANG, Jingkun |
| HARIMOTO, Tomokazu 12-10, 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 |
4-1 | JANG, Woojin |
| CALDERANO, Hugo 11-6, 12-10, 4-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9 |
4-2 | FAN, Zhendong |
Lin Gaoyuan, winner over Xu Xin
Tomokazu Harimoto defeated Jang Woojin
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Semi Finals
Saturday 15 December 2018
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| LIN, Gaoyuan 11-5, 11-9, 11-6, 12-10 |
4-0 | MIZUTANI, Jun |
| HARIMOTO, Tomokazu 11-7, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 |
4-0 | CALDERANO, Hugo |
Lin Gaoyuan too good for Jun Mizutani
Tomokazu Harimoto fires a backhand winner against Hugo Calderano
Final
Sunday 16 December 2018
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| HARIMOTO, Tomokazu 11-4, 13-15, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 |
4-1 | LIN, Gaoyuan |
Tomokazu Harimoto after winning the final point
Tomokazu Harimoto with the winners trophy
Lin Gaoyuan and Tomokazu Harimoto receive their trophies
2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Arena
2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Arena
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