BUDAPEST, April 20 -- Four out of five Chinese men's singles paddlers are slated in top half, and China and Japan are ready for possible women's singles quarterfinal duels at the ITTF World Championships following the draw here on Saturday.
Men's singles two-time defending champion Ma Long, just coming back from an eight-month absence to injury, is scheduled to take on Brazilian promise Hugo Calderano in round of 16 and his teammate Lin Gaoyuan in quarterfinals, but Lin needs to get past Japan's Jun Mizutani before that.
"It's already a success for me to stand here for this competition following the injury. I hope to perform myself on this world stage," commented Ma.
World No. 1 Fan Zhendong, slated on position one, can expect challenge from another Chinese paddler Liang Jingkun, Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Koki Niwa of Japan en route to his possible semifinal clash with Ma.
Second-seeded Xu Xin, the only Chinese player positioned in bottom half, is possible to take on Liam Pitchford of England and South Korean Lee Sang-su prior to his semifinal encounter with Japanese talent Tomokazu Harimoto.
For women's side, all-round contention between Chinese and Japanese paddlers can be expected on the quarterfinal stage, as top-ranked Ding Ning is among top four seeds along with fellow Chinese Chen Meng, Wang Manyu and Liu Shiwen, while Japanese trio of Kasumi Ishikawa, Mima Ito and Miu Hirano are among fifth to eighth seeds.
A possible quarterfinal clash is expected between Ding Ning and Hirano. Ito can expect to meet Wang Manyu in last eight after her possible match with another Chinese player Sun Yingsha. Ishikawa and Chen Meng will go in direction for their quarterfinal clash.
"Actually I didn't make any special preparation for the World Championships, as I've tried my best in every match. Hopefully I can get a good result here," Ding pointed out.
The Chinese team has dispatched Xu Xin/Liu Shiwen and Fan Zhendong/Ding Ning for mixed doubles, the other Olympic table tennis event on the World Championships. Fan and Ding will start their campaign from preliminary on Sunday morning.
Elsewhere, Ma Long and Wang Chuqin will play men's doubles matches along with Liang Jingkun and Lin Gaoyuan.
Chen Meng/Zhu Yuling and Wang Manyu/Sun Yingsha will feature in women's doubles contention.
The ITTF World Championships will curtain up on Sunday, with men's and women's singles main draw matches to kick off next Tuesday.