The Wait is Over; Australian Open Starts Sunday

Qualification rounds for the prestigious $500,000 Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Australian Table Tennis Open begin on the Gold Coast on Sunday, with several Australians vying for a place in the tournament’s main draw.

The shock withdrawal of the Chinese men’s team on the eve of the event has thrown the draw wide open, and while the starting line-up still contains several Olympic and World Championship medallists, there will be new opportunities for several players.

22 Australian men, including Rio Olympian Heming Hu and his Glasgow Commonwealth Games teammate, Kane Townsend, will be in action on Sunday.

14 Australian women, headed by 2016 Olympian and Paralympian Melissa Tapper, will take part in qualifiers starting Sunday.

Players are in groups of three or four and will play in round-robin fixtures over Sunday and Monday in an attempt to win their way through to the main draw.

Australia’s five-time Olympian, Jian Fang Lay, and 2016 Olympian, David Powell, are both seeded 16 in their respective draws and are automatically through to the main competition.

Sunday will also see the start of the men’s and women’s U21 competition. There will be 12 Australians competing in the men’s draw, and seven in the women’s draw.

The U21 competitions will be a knockout format, with the finals to be played on Monday afternoon.

Teams from 22 countries will be competing at the Australian Open, which is part of the ITTF’s prestigious World Tour. It’s the first time Australia has been included on the tour, and the biggest table tennis event to be held in Australia since the Sydney Olympics.

It’s expected to attract a global television audience of 80 million, and will be played at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre.