Top paddlers for Nakheel Asian Cup

Dubai - Last major TT event before the Rio Olympics which is just 100 days away

The Nakheel Table Tennis Asian Cup, the last major ping pong event before the Rio Olympics which is just 100 days away, takes place at Zabeel Hall 1, Dubai World Trade Centre from April 28-30.
The event will see current World and Olympic champions and potential Olympic medallists competing for the ATTU Asian Cup title in the last ranking tournament before the Olympic Games.
Entry to compete is by invitation only and limited to just 16 men and 16 women, with a maximum of two per country. With Asia the global powerhouse in table tennis, spectators are guaranteed a superb field promising some of the toughest competition seen on the world tour.
A total of 11 countries will be represented, including China, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, India, Thailand, Qatar, Iran and the UAE.
The men's field features China's defending champion and three time Asian Cup winner Xu Xin, who also has seven World Championship gold medals in doubles and team competitions to his name. In March this year he added another gold to his tally, when China won the 2016 World Team Championships. Xu Xin, ranked number three in the world, is renowned as one of the most entertaining players to watch.
With Olympic singles selection on the line for China 's players, Xu's biggest competition is likely to come from his teammate and current Olympic singles champion Zhang Jike. Zhang, currently world number 4, is a formidable opponent, having won gold medals in singles and team competition at the 2012 Olympic Games, gold in the Asian Cup in 2010 and gold medals in either singles, doubles or team categories in every World Championship since 2010.
Players from the Chinese National Table Tennis Team, which has been sponsored by Dubai since 2013, will however meet tough competition from strong players from Japan, Singapore and Chinese Taipei. Japan's leading contender is Jun Mizutani, world number seven and winner of bronze medals in the 2007, 2014 and 2015 Asian Cup. Mizutani also helped his team to the silver in the team World Championships behind China in March this year. One of Singapore's representatives will be Gao Ning, who won the Asian Cup in 2007 and remains the only non-Chinese player to have won the event since 2005.
Another tough competitor will be Chinese Taipei's Chuang Chih Yuan, who is currently ranked six in the world, and won bronze in last year's Asian Cup, as well as doubles gold at the 2013 World Championships.
The women's line up is equally impressive with defending champion, Singapore's Feng Tianwei posing the greatest threat to world number one, China's Liu Shiwen. World Championships doubles gold medalist in 2015 and singles silver medallist in 2013 and 2015, Li Shiwen took silver in the 2015 Asian Cup, after collecting gold in 2010, 2012 and 2013.
Olympic bronze medallist in 2012, Feng Tianwei will be joined in the competition by the only other players to have broken the Chinese stranglehold on the Asian Cup title since 1991, Hong Kong's Jiang Huajun (2007) and Tie Yana (2004).
China's other representative will be 2012 Olympic gold medallist Li Xiaoxia, who also won silver in the 2015 Asian Cup and was World Champion in singles in 2013. After winning a slew of gold medals in World Championships, World Cup, Asian Championships, along with her Olympic gold, Li Xiaoxia will be looking to add one of the few titles she has yet to win, the Asian Cup, to her impressive list of achievements.
Dawoud Al Hajri, president, UAE Badminton and Table Tennis Association, said: "We are delighted to be welcoming so many of the world's best players to Dubai for the Nakheel Table Tennis Asian Cup. The quality of the competition will be outstanding and we are looking forward to seeing many of the players who will be vying for Olympic Glory in just 100 days' time in action.  With so much at stake, this year's Asian Cup promises to be one of the most competitive yet, and guarantees superb entertainment for the spectators."
moni@khaleejtimes.com