The ITTF Pro Tour Swedish Open begins tomorrow with the qualifying rounds ahead of the main event.
This is the last tour event before the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals in November and many of the top players are attending to ensure themselves of a place at ExCeL in London next month.
Our hopes rest again with the giant-killing teenager Liam Pitchford after his heroics at the INTERSPORT European Table Tennis Championships in Poland.
Joining him is Andrew Baggaley, who recently achieved his best world ranking of 139, just two places behind England number one, Paul Drinkhall, who will not be attending.
We also have Darius Knight, Daniel Reed and Gavin Evans attending in a busy tournament for the English boys with all but two of them also competing in the Under 21 competition. Knight and Pitchford are seeded for the Under 21 event.
Seventeen year old Joshua Band from Jersey will also be making an appearance on the Pro Tour circuit in Sweden this week in both events.
In the Women’s event, Emily Bates, fresh from her team promotion with the England ladies in Poland, will compete in both the Women’s and Under 21s events.
She is joined by Hannah Hicks and Alice Loveridge in both competitions while Naomi Owen and Na Liu will compete in the Women’s qualifiers.
The pick of the qualifying groups sees British pair Loveridge and Bates face world number 136 Kinga Stefanska in the Women’s draw while Baggaley and Pitchford will join forces in the doubles to face a tough looking William Henzell and Sharath Kamal Achanta pair.
The full draw is listed below:
Men’s singles qualifying groups (selected):
Mattias Karlsson (SWE) (159)
Soumyajit Ghosh (IND) (282)
Gavin Evans (ENG) (569)
Jesus Cantero (ESP) (164)
Daniel Reed (ENG) (292)
Florent Lambiet (BEL) (638)
Andrew Baggaley (ENG) (139)
Fabian Akerstrom (SWE) (287)
Tobias Lau (DEN) (707)
Maharu Yoshimura (166)
Liam Pitchford (ENG) (269)
Pauli Kietikko (FIN) (1031)
Simon Gauzy (FRA) (216)
Darius Knight (ENG) (239)
Genadiy Zakladniy (UKR) (u/r)
Miroslav Horejsi (CZE) (177)
Romain Lorentz (FRA) (260)
Josh Band (JEY) (u/r)
Women’s singles qualifying groups (selected):
Sabine Walker (GER) (138)
Daniela Moskovits (SWE) (530)
Hannah Hicks (ENG) (560)
Kinga Stefanska (POL) (136)
Alice Loveridge (GGY) (498)
Emily Bates (ENG) (558)
Liu Na (IRL) (213)
Iryna Motsyk (UKR) (356)
Henrika Punnonen (FIN) (897)
Eun Chong Yoo (KOR) (227)
Naomi Owen (WAL) (393)
Sarah Her-Lee (NZL) (906)
Boys’ Under 21s qualifying groups (selected):
(Darius Knight & Liam Pitchford seeded for main draw)
Asuka Sakai (JPN) (319)
Robin Devos (BEL) (486)
Gavin Evans (ENG) (569)
Thomas Le Breton (FRA) (401)
Mikkel Hindersson (DEN) (430)
Pauli Hietikko (FIN) (1031)
Josh Band (JEY) (u/r)
Girls’ Under 21s qualifying groups (selected):
Maja Krzewicka (POL) (410)
Emily Bates (ENG) (558)
Michaela Karlsson (SWE) (583)
Jennifer Jonsson (SWE) (447)
Hannah Hicks (ENG) (560)
Linn Sandstrom (SWE) (624)
Jannika Oksanen (FIN) (1009)
Sandra Wabik (POL) (455)
Ida Soderlund (SWE) (626)
Alice Loveridge (GGY) (498)
Josefin Lund (SWE) (633)
Men’s doubles:
Darius Knight/Daniel Reed (ENG) v Tobias Lau/Morten Rasmussen (NOR)
Andrew Baggaley/Liam Pitchford (ENG) v William Henzell (AUS)/Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)
Women’s doubles:
Alice Loveridge (GGY)/Mallika Bhandarkar (IND) v Pinja Eriksson/Sannamari Bolenius (FIN)
Kinga Stefanska (POL)/Linda Creemers (NED) v Emily Bates/Hannah Hicks (ENG)
Stefanska/Creemers or Bates/Hicks v Liu Na (IRL)/Naomi Owen (WAL)