Olympic Table Tennis Asian Qualifying Tournament

Winners of every event there is to offer at a World Championships, Wang Liqin and Wang Nan head the list of entrants for the Asian Olympic Qualification General Zone tournament, which commenced in Hong Kong on Thursday 6th March and concludes on Sunday 9th March 2008.

Both Wang Liqin and Wang Nan belong to the very select group of players who have won the singles title at a World Championships on three occasions.

Wang Liqin is the current holder of the Men’s Singles title having won in 2001, 2005 and 2007 whilst Wang Nan clinched the counterpart female title in 1999, 2001 and 2003.

No Room for Li Xiaoxia
The appearance of Wang Nan in Hong Kong means that there is no room in the Olympic Games in Beijing for the player currently ranked number two on the ITTF Women’s World Ranking list, Li Xiaoxia, the winner of the Women’s Singles title at the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals in Beijing in December 2007.

Once again, the awesome strength of Chinese female table tennis is underlined.

Group
Wang Nan appears in a group of four players alongside North Korea’s Kim Mi Yoong, Thailand’s Anissara Muangsuk and India’s Poulomi Ghatak.

Seeded two is Japan’s Haruna Fukuoka with Hong Kong’s Zhang Rui occupying the third seeded place and Chinese Taipei’s Huang I-Hwa fourth.

Wang Liqin
Meanwhile, in the men’s event Wang Liqin confronts Korea’s Yoon Jae Young, Singapore’s Cai Xiao Li, India’s Soumyadeep Roy and Iran’s Mohammedreza Akhlaghpasand.

Japan’s Jun Mizutani is seeded two, Hong Kong’s Cheung Yuk three and Chinese Taipei’s Chiang Peng-Lung four.

Men’s Singles
Group One: Wang Liqin (CHN), Yoon Jae Young (KOR), Cai Xiao Li (SIN), Soumyadeep Roy (IND), Mohammedreza Akhlaghpasand (IRI)

Group Two: Jun Mizutani (JPN), Chang Yen-Shu (TPE), Ri Chol Guk (PRK), Subhajit Saha (IND), Nam Nguyen Hai (VIE)

Group Three: Cheung Yuk (HKG), Jang Song Man (PRK), Phakpoom Sanguansin (THA), Lkhagvadorj Altantulga (MGL), Sirodjiddin Ismailov (TJK)

Group Four: Chiang Peng-Lung (TPE), Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND), Kim Hyon Bong (PRK), Phuchong Sanguansin (THA), Mehran Ahadi (IRI), Zorigt Turbold (MGL)

Women’s Singles
Group One: Wang Nan (CHN), Kim Mi Yong (PRK), Anissara Muangsuk (THA) Poulomi Ghatak (IND)

Group Two: Haruna Fukuoka (JPN), Lu Yun-Feng (TPE), Hyon Ryon Hui (PRK), Mouma Das (IND)

Group Three: Zhang Rui (HKG), Kim Jong (PRK), Pan Li Chun (TPE), Ng Sock Khim (MAS), Batsaikhan Batkhishig (MGL)

Group Four: Huang I-Hwa (TPE), Nanthana Komwong (THA), Beh Lee Wei (MAS), Neha Aggarwal (IND), Dang Ye Seo (KOR)