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ITTF World Tour 2020
The ITTF World Tour 2020.
Where the best players in the world compete for the biggest money prizes
By Martin Hughes
Owner and Editor
IMPORTANT UPDATE
With the spread of COVID-19 across the world, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) had to cancel most of the 2020 World Tour events and Grand Finals.
However a new 2020 ITTF Finals was organised for the best players in the World.
The new 2020 ITTF Finals consisted of Men's Singles and Women's Singles only.
The top 16 Men and Women according to the 2020 April World Ranking, with a maximum of 4 players per National Association were invited.
I'll be focussing here on the Men's Singles (MS) event only.
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 2020 ITTF World Tour work?
Newer Format, Better Organisation
The 2020 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 2020?
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$1,001,000 is up for grabs.
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So what happened in 2020?
12 Tournaments around the World
In 2020 the ITTF World Tour is limited to 12 high quality events.
The top rated events are the World Tour Platinum series whilst the regular events are named - ITTF World Tour.
There are 6 Platinum series events and 6 regular events.
The minimum prize money offered at each Platinum event is US$ 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...
2020 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
The number of players at the 2020 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 World Tour tournaments- including one Platinum event.
- The ITTF will also invite one man and one woman from the association hosting the 2020 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 2020 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) event only.
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Here are the events which made up the...
ITTF World Tour 2020
Update
With the spread of COVID-19 across the world, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) had to cancel most of these events.
However a new 2020 ITTF Finals was organised for the best players in the World.
The new 2020 ITTF Finals consisted of Men's Singles and Women's Singles only.
The top 16 Men and Women according to the 2020 April World Ranking, with a maximum of 4 players per National Association were invited.
I'll be focussing here on the Men's Singles (MS) event only.
| DATES | WORLD TOUR EVENTS 2020 | MS WINNERS |
|---|---|---|
| WORLD TOUR PLATINUM SERIES | ||
| 28 Jan-2 Feb | German Open (Magdeburg, Germany) | Xu Xin (China) |
| 3-8 March | Qatar Open (Doha, Qatar) | Fan Zhendong (China) |
| Japan Open (Kitakyushu, Japan) | CANCELLED | |
| China Open (Shenzhen, China) | POSTPONED | |
| Australian Open (Geelong, Australia) | CANCELLED | |
| Austrian Open (Linz, Austria) | CANCELLED | |
| WORLD TOUR | ||
| 18-23 Feb | Hungarian Open (Budapest, Hungary) | Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan) |
| Hong Kong Open (Hong Kong) | CANCELLED | |
| Korean Open (Busan, South Korea) | CANCELLED | |
| Czech Open (Olomouc, Czech Republic) | CANCELLED | |
| Bulgaria Open (Panagyurishte, Bulgaria) | CANCELLED | |
| Swedish Open (Stockholm, Sweden) | CANCELLED | |
| ITTF World Tour Grand Finals | CANCELLED | |
| 19-22 Nov | 2020 ITTF Finals (Zhengzhou, China) (replacement for Grand Finals) |
Ma Long (China) |
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So when and where are the Grand Finals being staged?
The Finals
The ITTF World Tour Grand Finals were due be held from 10-13 December 2020 but, due to Coronavirus, they were cancelled.
In its place, a different event was organised in Zhengzhou, China from 19-22 November 2020.
It was named "The 2020 ITTF Finals" and was sponsored by the Bank of Communications.
The top 16 players on the World Ranking list were invited, with a maximum of four players per Association.
Here's a list of the men who were invited...
| Seed | World Ranking |
Player (Family Name, Given Name) | Association |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | FAN, Zhendong | China |
| 2 | 2 | XU, Xin | China |
| 3 | 3 | MA, Long | China |
| 4 | 4 | HARIMOTO, Tomokazu | Japan |
| 5 | 5 | LIN, Gaoyuan | China |
| 6 | 6 | CALDERANO, Hugo | Brazil |
| 7 | 7 | LIN, Yun-Ju | Chinese Taipei |
| 8 | 9 | FALCK, Mattias | Sweden |
| 9 | 11 | OVTCHAROV, Dimitrij | Germany |
| 10 | 13 | NIWA, Koki | Japan |
| 11 | 14 | JEOUNG, Youngsik | South Korea |
| 12 | 15 | PITCHFORD, Liam | England |
| 13 | 16 | FRANZISKA, Patrick | Germany |
| 14 | 18 | JANG, Woojin | South Korea |
| 15 | 19 | GAUZY, Simon | France |
| 16 | 20 | ARUNA, Quadri | Nigeria |
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So what was the...
Playing format for the 2020 ITTF Finals
The events are played on a knockout basis.
The seeding of the players was determined by the latest World Rankings (April 2020).
All matches, best of 7 games.
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And what is the...
Prize Money
The total prize money at the 2020 ITTF Finals is $1,000,000
For the men's singles, the breakdown is as follows:
| Position | Amount (US $) |
|---|---|
| Winner | 50,000 |
| Runner-up | 30,000 |
| Losing Semi-Finalists | 20,000 |
| Losing Quarter Finalists | 16,500 |
| Last 16 | 8,000 |
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And the...
Equipment used
The equipment used for the 2020 ITTF Finals will be...
- Tables - Double Fish Volant King (Blue)
- Balls - Double Happiness DJ40+ 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 18 November 2020 at 11:00 hours.
First Round
Thursday/Friday
19/20 November 2020
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| FAN, Zhendong | 4-0 | JEOUNG, Youngsik |
| 11-6, 11-2, 11-5, 11-7 | ||
| CALDERANO, Hugo | 4-0 | PITCHFORD, Liam |
| 11-4, 11-4, 13-11, 12-10 | ||
| LIN, Gaoyuan | 4-0 | NIWA, Koki |
| 11-9, 11-3, 11-4, 11-9 | ||
| JANG, Woojin | 4-3 | HARIMOTO, Tomokazu |
| 6-11, 2-11, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10, 11-2, 11-5 | ||
| MA, Long | 4-0 | FRANZISKA, Patrick |
| 12-10, 11-1, 11-6, 11-4 | ||
| FALCK, Mattias | 4-3 | GAUZY, Simon |
| 11-4, 11-9, 5-11, 7-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7 | ||
| LIN, Yun-Ju | 4-2 | OVTCHAROV, Dimitrij |
| 8-11, 11-3, 4-11, 11-9, 11-6, 12-10 | ||
| XU, Xin | 4-0 | ARUNA, Quadri |
| 12-10, 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 |
Ma Long v Patrick Franziska
Xu Xin v Quadri Aruna
Mattias Falck v Simon Gauzy
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Quarter Finals
Friday
20 November 2020
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| FAN, Zhendong | 4-1 | CALDERANO, Hugo |
| 11-6, 13-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 | ||
| JANG, Woojin | 4-3 | LIN, Gaoyuan |
| 11-7, 10-12, 1-11, 11-7, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6 | ||
| MA, Long | 4-2 | FALCK, Mattias |
| 11-5, 7-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 13-11 | ||
| XU, Xin | 4-2 | LIN, Yun-Ju |
| 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-3 |
Hugo Calderano
Lin Gaoyuan
Mattias Falck
Lin Yun-Ju
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Semi Finals
Saturday 21 November 2020
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| FAN, Zhendong | 4-1 | JANG, Woojin |
| 11-8, 11-4, 13-15, 11-8, 11-5 | ||
| MA, Long | 4-1 | XU, Xin |
| 11-13, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 |
Jang Woojin
Xu Xin
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Final
Sunday 22 November 2020
| Winner | Result | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| MA, Long | 4-1 | FAN, Zhendong |
| 13-11, 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8 |
2020 ITTF Finals Winner - Ma Long
Runner-up - Fan Zhendong
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