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ITTF World Tour 2019
The ITTF World Tour 2019.
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 will the 2019 ITTF World Tour work?
New Format, Better Organisation
The 2019 World Tour consists of two tiers of competition together with the end-of-year Grand Finals.
The two tiers are the World Tour (maximum 6 events) and the World Tour Platinum (maximum 6 events) which feed into the end-of-year Grand Finals.
The World Tour Platinum series events are allocated to the six best bids submitted by cities/affiliated Associations, whilst the World Tour events are 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 features both top players and the up-and-coming future stars.
The World Tour Grand Finals will consist of the top 16 men and women players (singles & doubles) who earn 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 will it work in 2019?
Points mean prizes
The ITTF World Tour is a Grand Prix series in which players compete 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) are then invited to the end of year Grand Finals where a prize fund of US$1,001,000 is up for grabs.
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So what happened in 2019?
12 Tournaments around the World
In 2019 the ITTF World Tour is limited to 12 high quality events.
The top rated events are the World Tour Platinum series whilst the regular events are named - ITTF World Tour.
There are 6 Platinum series events and 6 regular events.
The minimum prize money offered at each Platinum event is US$ 120,000 whilst the minimum prize money offered at each regular event is US$ 70,000.
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So let's take a look at...
The Format
The tournaments will hold the following events:
- Men's singles
- Women's singles
- Men's doubles
- Women's doubles
- Mixed doubles
The men's and women's singles are limited to 32 players in the main draw, whilst the men's, women's and mixed doubles are limited to 16 pairs in the main draw.
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But to be invited to the Grand Finals, players have to meet ALL the qualifying criteria...
2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
The number of players at the 2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals will be as follows...
- Men's and women's singles will each have 16 players.
- Men's, women's and mixed doubles will each have 8 pairs.
And the qualifying criteria are...
SINGLES
- The top 15 men and 15 women who accumulate the most grand prix points and compete in at least 5 tournaments.
- The ITTF will also invite one man and one woman from the association hosting the 2019 World Tour Grand Finals if they have competed in at least 5 tournaments.
DOUBLES
- The top 7 men's doubles pairs, the top 7 women's doubles pairs and the top 7 mixed 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 doubles pair per event from the association hosting the 2019 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 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 here on the Men's Singles (MS) events only.
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Here are the events which make up the...
ITTF World Tour 2019
| DATES | WORLD TOUR EVENTS 2019 | MS WINNERS |
|---|---|---|
| WORLD TOUR PLATINUM SERIES | ||
| 26-31 March | Qatar Open (Doha, Qatar) | Ma Long (China) |
| 28 May-2 June | China Open (Shenzhen, China) | Ma Long (China) |
| 12-16 June | Japan Open (Sapporo, Japan) | Xu Xin (China) |
| 9-14 July | Australian Open (Geelong, Australia) | Xu Xin (China) |
| 8-13 Oct | German Open (Bremen, Germany) | Fan Zhendong (China) |
| 12-17 Nov | Austrian Open (Linz, Austria) | Fan Zhendong (China) |
| WORLD TOUR | ||
| 15-20 Jan | Hungarian Open (Budapest, Hungary) | Lin Gaoyuan (China) |
| 4-9 June | Hong Kong Open (Hong Kong) | Lin Gaoyuan (China) |
| 2-7 July | Korean Open (Busan, South Korea) | Xu Xin (China) |
| 13-18 Aug | Bulgaria Open (Panagyurishte, Bulgaria) | Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan) |
| 20-25 Aug | Czech Open (Olomouc, Czech Republic) | Lin Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei) |
| 1-6 Oct | Swedish Open (Stockholm, Sweden) | Wang Chuqin (China) |
| 12-15 Dec | ITTF World Tour Grand Finals (Zhengzhou, China) | Fan Zhendong (China) |
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So when and where are the Grand Finals being staged?
The Grand Finals
The ITTF World Tour Grand Finals are being held in Zhengzhou, China from 12-15 December 2019.
Here's a 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 2019 Grand Finals men's singles event.
| Rank | Points | Events | Player (Family Name, Given Name) | Association |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2044 | 8 | XU, Xin | China |
| 2 | 1507 | 8 | FAN, Zhendong | China |
| 3 | 1475 | 9 | LIN, Gaoyuan | China |
| 4 | 1425 | 5 | MA, Long | China |
| 5 | 930 | 11 | HARIMOTO, Tomokazu | Japan |
| 6 | 866 | 10 | LIN, Yun-Ju | Chinese Taipei |
| 7 | 819 | 10 | WANG, Chuqin | China |
| 8 | 773 | 10 | LIANG, Jingkun | China |
| 9 | 619 | 8 | CALDERANO, Hugo | Brazil |
| 10 | 544 | 6 | BOLL, Timo | Germany |
| 11 | 512 | 9 | OVTCHAROV, Dimitrij | Germany |
| 12 | 496 | 9 | FRANZISKA, Patrick | Germany |
| 13 | 489 | 8 | ZHAO, Zihao | China |
| 14 | 438 | 8 | FALCK, Mattias | Sweden |
| 15 | 404 | 9 | JEOUNG, Youngsik | South Korea |
| 16 | 402 | 11 | MIZUTANI, Jun | Japan |
| R E S E R V E S | ||||
| 17 | 363 | 12 | WONG, Chun Ting | Hong Kong China |
| 18 | 356 | 11 | NIWA, Koki | Japan |
| 19 | 323 | 9 | JANG, Woojin | South Korea |
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So what is the...
Playing format for the 2019 Grand Finals
The events are played on a knockout basis.
The seeding of the players is determined by the final order of the World Tour points standing.
All matches are the best of 7 games.
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And what is the...
Prize Money
The total prize money at the 2019 Grand Finals is $1,001,000
For the men's singles, the breakdown is 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 will be...
- 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 11 December 2019 at 11:00 hours.
First Round
Thursday/Friday
12/13 December 2019
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| XU, Xin 5-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 |
4-2 | ZHAO, Zihao |
| HARIMOTO, Tomokazu 14-12, 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 |
4-0 | FRANZISKA, Patrick |
| LIANG, Jingkun 11-4, 11-6, 11-8, 11-1 |
4-0 | WONG, Chun Ting |
| MA, Long 8-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-2, 11-7, 11-3 |
4-2 | JEOUNG, Youngsik |
| LIN, Gaoyuan 13-11, 11-9, 11-8, 4-11, 8-11, 11-4 |
4-2 | OVTCHAROV, Dimitrij |
| LIN, Yun-Ju 11-7, 11-9, 13-11, 11-9 |
4-0 | FALCK, Mattias |
| CALDERANO, Hugo 11-6, 11-9, 12-14, 11-4, 11-6 |
4-1 | MIZUTANI, Jun |
| FAN, Zhendong 11-5, 18-16, 12-10, 11-7 |
4-0 | BOLL, Timo |
Lin Gaoyuan v Dimitrij Ovtcharov
Ma Long v Jeoung Youngsik
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Quarter Finals
Friday/Saturday
13/14 December 2019
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| XU, Xin 11-6, 13-15, 11-5, 3-11, 9-11, 13-11, 13-11 |
4-3 | HARIMOTO, Tomokazu |
| MA, Long 9-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8 |
4-3 | LIANG, Jingkun |
| LIN, Gaoyuan 13-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 |
4-0 | LIN, Yun-Ju |
| FAN, Zhendong 12-10, 11-5, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9 |
4-1 | CALDERANO, Hugo |
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Semi Finals
Saturday 14 December 2019
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| MA, Long 11-7, 16-14, 11-7, 4-11, 4-11, 11-6 |
4-2 | XU, Xin |
| FAN, Zhendong 11-7, 11-13, 11-3, 11-3, 9-11, 11-3 |
4-2 | LIN, Gaoyuan |
Ma Long v Xu Xin
Fan Zhendong v Lin Gaoyuan
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Final
Sunday 15 December 2019
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| FAN, Zhendong 11-6, 12-10, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8 |
4-1 | MA, Long |
2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Winner - Fan Zhendong
2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Winner - Fan Zhendong
Runner-up - Ma Long
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