On this year's May Day, I didn't go anywhere, just watched the WTT Saudi Grand Slam at home. Since there are no qualifying players in the national table tennis, the qualifying tournament from May 1 to 3 will be light. I have to feel that the table tennis events are too intensive, so I sent away the Macau World Cup and ushered in the Grand Slam held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This time, the five tigers of the national table tennis men's team will add one Lin Shidong, and the five golden flowers of the national table tennis women's team will add one Qian Tianyi, which is currently the strongest strength of national table tennis.
1. The special significance of the Saudi Grand Slam to the national table tennis
The Paris Olympics will open on July 26, and there are about 90 days to go, but the national table tennis Olympic lineup has not yet been determined, and the Saudi Grand Slam will be the last stop of the national table tennis Paris assessment. Although after the Macau World Cup, the Olympic prototype of the men's team: Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, and the Olympic prototype of the women's team: Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Chen Meng, are becoming more and more formed, but about the ownership of the second singles candidate for the Olympics, whether it is the women's team's Manyu Dream or the men's team's Little Fat Dragon, the final real release will still be revealed after May 11.
Therefore, the Saudi Grand Slam is of great significance to the national table tennis, and it is also the last big training before the Olympics. Through this competition, the national table tennis coaching staff will make up their minds to clarify the second singles that has been hesitant and unable to decide, so as to officially start the comprehensive preparation for the Olympic Games.
2. The unobtrusive candidates for the Olympic P card are finalized
In the Olympic table tennis team event, each team has one P-card player quota to ensure the integrity of the team lineup in the event of an emergency injury, illness or other special circumstances. P card personnel can only participate in team competitions, not individual competitions. Moreover, the selection of P card candidates, each team is more focused on the next Olympic cycle, and there are outstanding young seedlings with development potential in the team.
At present, the singles list of Saudi Arabia's Grand Slams has revealed to a certain extent possible candidates for the P card, such as Liang Jingkun and Lin Shidong of the men's team and Qian Tianyi of the women's team. As for the women's team, there is also a seedling Kuo Man, due to the poor performance of the Macau World Cup, it is very likely that it has been given up by the national table tennis.
And here in the men's team, in fact, Liang Jingkun, Lin Gaoyuan, and Lin Shidong all have opportunities, but Lin Gaoyuan's erratic psychological quality, no one dares to use him. The final candidate needs to pass the competition of this station to be determined.
3. The specific schedule of the competition
The first stage: the singles qualifying stage from May 1 to 3, which will start at 15:30 every day.
The second stage: On May 4, the first round of singles will be opened to the 1/32 final stage, and the first round of mixed doubles will be opened to the 1/24 final stage, and the time will start at 18 o'clock, and the top 16 of mixed doubles will be decided today.
The third stage: on May 5, the first round of singles to the 1/16 finals, the first round of doubles to the 1/24 finals, the time will start at 15:30, and the top 32 singles will be decided today, and there is no mixed doubles arrangement today.
The fourth stage: On May 6, the second round of singles to the 1/16 finals, the second round of doubles to the 1/24 finals, and the second round of mixed doubles to the 1/8 finals will start at 15:30, and the top 16 of doubles and the top 8 of mixed doubles will be decided today.
The fifth stage: On May 7, the 1/16 finals of singles, the 1/8 finals of doubles, and the 1/4 finals of mixed doubles will be held at 15:30, and the top 16 in singles, the top 8 in doubles and the top 4 in mixed doubles will be decided today.
The sixth stage: on May 8, the 1/8 finals of singles, the 1/4 finals of doubles, and the semi-finals of mixed doubles will be held at 15:30, and the top 8 singles and 4 doubles will be decided today, and the list of mixed doubles finals will be produced.
Stage 7: May 9 will usher in the first climax of the whole event, today will be the singles quarterfinals, doubles semi-finals and mixed doubles finals, the time starts at 19 o'clock, today the mixed doubles event ushered in the championship match, so today is also the first championship day.
The eighth stage: May 10 singles semi-finals, doubles finals, time 19 o'clock start, today doubles event will usher in the final, so today is also the second championship day, singles event will start semi-finals, the game has completely entered the climax stage.
The ninth stage: The singles final will be held on May 11, and the time will start at 19 o'clock to determine the men's and women's singles champions.
Fourth, relevant instructions
First, the national table tennis sent a 12-member team this time, which has been widely advertised. Men's team: Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, Liang Jingkun, Lin Gaoyuan, Lin Shidong. Among them, Wang Chuqin/Ma Long men's doubles, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha mixed doubles. Women's team: Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Chen Meng, Wang Yidi, Chen Xingtong, Qian Tianyi. Among them, Wang Manyu/Chen Meng women's doubles.
The hardest part of this national table tennis is the iron man Wang Chuqin, who will participate in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. In addition, in women's table tennis, Sasha will participate in the women's singles and mixed doubles competitions, and Manyu and Da Meng will participate in the women's singles and women's doubles competitions. In men's table tennis, Ma Long will participate in the men's singles and men's doubles competitions.
The second is that there are 64 signatures for men's and women's singles and 24 signatures for doubles, but at present, 23 groups are registered for mixed doubles and women's doubles, and 21 groups are registered for men's doubles, so there is no qualifying tournament for doubles events.
Third, the total prize money of this Grand Slam is as high as 2 million US dollars, about 14.5 million yuan. The champion of the singles event will receive $65,000 and 2,000 points, while the doubles champion will receive $8,500 and 2,000 points.
Fourth, according to the Saudi Arabian Grand Slam schedule and competition schedule, the event will be broadcast live online on CCTV5. Among them, the competition is broadcast on CCTV5+ channel during the day, and the game is broadcast on CCTV5 channel at night. However, if there may be multiple games at the same time, CCTV can only arrange one, and the specific situation needs to refer to the live broadcast schedule in May.