On the evening of May 2, Beijing time, the draw ceremony for the 2024 WTT Saudi Grand Slam was held, and the women's singles main draw was released.
A total of 6 players from the national table tennis participated in the women's singles competition, among which Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi, and Chen Meng are the top four seeds in the tournament, Sun Yingsha is in the 1/4 area, Wang Manyu is in the 4/4 area, Wang Yidi is in the 2/4 area, and Chen Meng is in the 3/4 area. The other two players of national table tennis, Chen Xingtong and Qian Tianyi, were assigned to Sun Yingsha's 1/4 area together.
Women's Singles draw results
Women's Singles Top Half Matchup Situation
Women's Singles 1/4 Zone: 3 national table tennis players Sun Yingsha, Qian Tianyi, and Chen Xingtong gathered in the district. Among them, Qian Tianyi and Chen Xing are both in the 2/8 area, and only one of them can advance to the quarterfinals, which also means that only one of the three national table tennis can advance to the semifinals.
Sun Yingsha has been in good form recently, having just won her first World Cup women's singles title. To advance to the quarterfinals this time, the overall strength of the opponents is not very strong, and the players who may make it a little difficult for her are Egypt's Meshev and South Korea's Tian Zhixi.
Women's Singles 2/4 Zone: National table tennis player Wang Yidi is alone in this zone. In the 3/8 zone where Wang Yidi is located, there are 5 European players, and Yuan Jiannan and Yang Xiaoxin are among the best.
Wang Yidi wants to advance to the semifinals, and his biggest opponent is a Japanese player. The three Japanese players Mimato Ito, Miyu Kihara, and Miyu Nagasaki are clustered in the 4/8 zone. Although Shin Yubin is ranked the highest in the world, it may be difficult to block the onslaught of Japanese players.
Women's Singles Bottom Half Matchup
Women's Singles Zone 3/4: Olympic champion Chen Meng is alone in this zone. There are a number of very impressive foreign association players in the zone, including Szokos, who defeated Chen Meng twice in the Paris Olympic cycle, and two Japanese athletes, Miu Haramoto and Miu Hirano, are also not to be underestimated. South Korea's Zhu Qianxi could also pose a possibility.
Women's Singles Zone 4/4: World Table Tennis Championships champion Wang Manyu is alone in this zone. Wang Manyu has been in good form lately, and the battle between her and Chen Meng for the women's singles qualification at the Paris Olympics has also entered a heated field, with the difference between the two Olympic points being only 1,500 points, while the Grand Slam champion has 3,000 bonus points and the runner-up is 1,500 points, and the points can be reversed at any time. Wang Manyu wants to advance to the semifinals, and the biggest opponent is Hina Hayata. The two met at the Women's World Cup in Macau last month, when Wang Manyu won 4-1.
Men's Doubles draw results
A total of 24 pairs of men's doubles pairs participated in this event, and the two pairs of national table tennis were Ma Long/Wang Chuqin and Liang Jingkun/Lin Gaoyuan. Ma Long/Wang Chuqin partnered to win the men's doubles championship at the World Table Tennis Championships as early as 2019, and they have also cooperated many times this year and have been preparing for the Olympic team competition. Among the foreign associations, South Korea's Lim Joong-hoon/Lee Sang-so, France's Lebrun brothers, Japan's Hayasuke Togami/Shinozuka Daito, and Sweden's Carlberg/Carlsen all have good strengths.
The top eight seeds in men's doubles had a first-round bye, and both pairs of national table tennis pairs were among them.
Women's doubles draw results
A total of 24 pairs of women's doubles pairs participated in this event, including two pairs of national table tennis pairs Chen Meng/Wang Manyu and Wang Yidi/Chen Xingtong, and they were all divided into the 1/4 zone. Although Chen Meng/Wang Manyu are the top seeds in the tournament, the level of the main players of national table tennis is close, and they may "overturn" if they are not careful. The top eight seeds of the tournament had a bye in the first round and directly advanced to the quarterfinals, and both pairs of national table tennis combinations were among them.
In this women's doubles competition, there are as many as 8 pairs of cross-association combinations, including the Japanese and Korean pairs of Miyu Kihara/Zhu Qianxi, Miyu Nagasaki/Kim Naying, as well as Szokos/Polkanova, Diaknu/Xiao Yaoqian, who have been partners for a long time.
Mixed Doubles draw results
A total of 24 pairs participated in the mixed doubles competition, and the national table tennis only sent Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha, who had been selected for the Olympic squad, to participate in the competition. The Paris Olympics are approaching, and each team is trying to send a combination that can participate in the Olympics to "train". At the same time, WTT arranged 3 cross-association pairs to participate in the competition, so that players from different associations can better communicate and improve together.
The top eight-seeded players in mixed doubles had a bye in the first round and directly advanced to the quarterfinals, and the "Shatou" combination, as the top seed, was of course among them. They will likely face world No. 3 Tomokazu Zhangmoto/Hina Hayada of Japan in the semi-finals and world No. 2 Koreans Lim Joong Hoon/Shin Yu Bin in the final.