Rio, August 3, 2016 – The seeding for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Table Tennis event has been determined after the announcement of the ITTF August 2016 World Rankings, with reigning World Champions MA Long and DING Nong, all Chinese leading the seeding in the Men’s and Women’s Singles event respectively.
World number one MA, who has swept all major Men’s Singles titles in 2015, has his eyes set on Gold on his Olympic Singles debut in Rio, to become the fifth male table tennis Grand Slam Champion in history.
The road to Gold will not be a smooth one for MA, as he will have to fend off tough challengers, including teammate, Current Olympic Champion ZHANG Jike who will be the second seed in Rio. The world number four will be aiming for a consecutive Olympic Gold to complete his second table tennis Grand Slam.
Hot contenders for the Olympic medals, Germany’s Dimitrij OVTCHAROV, Japan’s Jun MIZUTANI and Chinese Taipei’s CHUANG Chih-Yuan filled up the remaining spots in the top five seeding, and will be looking to topple the Chinese’s dominance in Rio.
In the Women’s Singles, World number two DING will look to avenge her loss in the Women’s Singles Final at the London 2012 Olympic Games against compatriot LI Xiaoxia, to earn her first Grand Slam title.
2010 World Team Champion and world number four FENG Tianwei (SIN) takes the one place ahead of the third seeded reigning Olympic Champion LI Xiaoxia (CHN).
Japan’s Kasumi ISHIKAWA and Ai FUKUHARA occupies the fourth and sixth seeding places respectively, while Germany’s HAN Ying taking the fifth seed on her first quest for an Olympic medal.
All 70 Men’s and 70 Women’s Olympians will be drawn at the Draw Ceremony set to take place on 3 August, 12:00 local time at Riocentro Pavilion 4. A press conference will be held immediately after the draw at 14:00.
