ARUNA, MA LONG, FAN ZHENDONG OTHERS, NOMINATED FOR ITTF 2016 STAR AWARDS

Lausanne, Switzerland – The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has announced nominees for the 2016 Male & Female Table Tennis Stars & Star Point.

The winners are to be crowned at the 2016 ITTF Star Awards in Doha, Qatar on 8 December 2016.The 2016 ITTF Star Awards, which will be in its fourth edition, will be held at the Doha’s famous and prestigious Sheraton Hotel to celebrate the world’s best table tennis players’ achievements in 2016.

Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA) President & ITTF Deputy President Khalil AL-MOHANNADI stated: “On behalf of QTTA, I am excited to be hosting the celebrations for the world’s best table tennis players in Doha, Qatar.

The nominees for the Male Table Tennis Star as nominated by the ITTF Athletes’ Commission are Quadri ARUNA (NGR): First ever African Olympic Games Quarterfinalist. Highest ever world ranked African player at 25 in the world

FAN Zhendong (CHN): 2016 Men’s World Cup champion, 2016 World Team Champion, two 2016 ITTF World Tour Super Series titles

MA Long (CHN): Rio 2016 Olympic Games Singles and Team Champion, 2016 World Team Champion, two 2016 ITTF World Tour Super Series titles

Jun MIZUTANI (JPN): Rio 2016 Olympic Games Singles Bronze Medalist and Team Silver Medalist, 2016 World Team Championships Silver Medalist, three 2016 ITTF World Tour titles

Upon the nomination, world number one and 2015 Male Table Tennis Star MA Long shared, “It’s an honor to be nominated again this year, and I am happy that table tennis has gained a lot of attention and popularity after the Olympic Games. I hope that this phenomenon will continue for our sport.”

The nominees for Female Table Tennis Star are DING Ning (CHN): Rio 2016 Olympic Games Singles and Team Champion, 2016 World Team Champion, two 2016 ITTF World Tour Super Series titles

Miu HIRANO (JPN): 2016 Women’s World Cup Champion, 2016 ITTF World Tour Polish Open Champion
Mima ITO (JPN): Rio 2016 Olympic Games Team Bronze Medalist which made her the Youngest ever table tennis Olympic Medalist, 2016 World Team Championships Silver Medalist

Kim SONG-I (PRK): Rio 2016 Olympic Games SinglesBronzeMedalist, 2016 World Team Championships Bronze Medalist, 2016 ITTF World Tour Pyongyang Open Champion

Fans can now vote for their star player of 2016 at ITTFStarAwards.com. Voting will end on 13 November 2016.

Fans’ voting results will be combined with the judging outcome by an expert panel which will include their peers and the media to determine the Table Tennis Stars of 2016!

In addition to the Male and Female Table Tennis Stars, six other awards will be handed in Doha:They are Male Para Table Tennis Star, Female Para Table Tennis Star, Table Tennis Star Coach, Table Tennis Star Point presented by Seamaster; Table Tennis Breakthrough Star presented by Monday Club and Table Tennis Fair Play Star. The nominees for these awards will be announced in the coming weeks.