Participants announced for Chinese table tennis Olympic test

BEIJING - China's national table tennis team on Monday announced its participants for the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games test competition.

The Chinese paddlers' Olympic test run will be held in Lingshui, south China's Hainan province from August 8 to 21, and aims to stay as true to the Olympic atmosphere as possible.

Apart from the absense of veterans Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen, women's player Zhu Yuling is also set to miss the competition with illness.

According to Li Sun, head coach of the Chinese women's team, Zhu was recently discovered to have an immune system disorder, and followed medical specialists' advice to stay in hospital for further observation and treatment.

Mixed doubles, women's and men's singles, women's and men's team winners will come out in turn, with participants' seedings being decided on the basis of ITTF world rankings.

Fan Zhendong is listed as the top seed in men's singles, followed by Xu Xin, Ma Long and Lin Gaoyuan.

In women's singles, the top four seeds are Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu and Wang Yidi.

Besides the top 16 seeds, several other players will advance directly to the main draw due to a requirement for different playing styles in Olympic preparation.

These include Zhou Yu, Fang Bo, Cui Qinglei, Zhang Chao and Hou Yingchao in the men's matches, and Mu Zi, Wu Yang, Che Xiaoxi, Hu Limei and Liu Xi in the women's competitions, taking their athletic results and ages into consideration.

29 male and 21 female players will go through the qualification process.

16 mixed doubles pairs will play in a knockout format, led by Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng as top seeds.

The women's team champion will be decided on August 20, followed by the men's team title a day later.

Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin are listed as the top seeds in the men's team category, while women's team top seeds are Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu.