by Simon Daish

Since the new look ITTF World Tour structure started in January 2017 there have been three stops so far on the Tour.

The Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open in Budapest and the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour India Open in New Delhi were the opening two regular competitions of the year to take place, while the first Platinum event of the year was played out at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Qatar Open in Doha.

Now the Challenge Series will also get underway with Minsk, the capital city of Belarus, welcoming players from all over the globe to participate on the world stage.

The 2017 ITTF Challenge Series will provide players with experience of international events and will also act as a natural stepping stone to the ITTF World Tour.

Minsk is just one of the destinations for the 2017 Challenge Series with ten other locations based across four continents set to take place throughout the year, alongside the remaining five Platinum events and four regular events scheduled for the ITTF World Tour.

Similarly to the ITTF World Tour, the 2017 ITTF Challenge Belgosstrakh Belarus Open will be preceded by two days of qualification matches to be hosted on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March before the main event takes place between Friday 17th and Sunday 19th March.

Alongside the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles competitions there will also be action from the Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles events and the Under 21 Men’s Singles and Under 21 Women’s Singles tournaments.

Watch the 2017 ITTF Challenge Belgosstrakh Belarus Open unfold, follow the action live with itTV