by Simon Daish

Mima Ito enters the Women’s Singles draw as the top seed and is very much the player to beat in Czestochowa with the Japanese star arriving at the event off the back of a title win achieved at the Seamaster 2017 Czech Open.

Up first for the top seed is a meeting with Norway’s Ilka Doval, who finished as a group runner up in the two-day qualification tournament, and Mima Ito will be keen to make a bright start to her campaign in Poland.

Ni Xialian recently set a new record for the longest professional match in recent history, requiring one hour and 34 minutes to see off Honoka Hashimoto at the Seamaster 2017 Austrian Open.

The Luxembourg competitor will be hoping to negotiate her opening round encounter in Poland in a shorter time frame, but will remain just as cautious knowing the threat that her opponent Audrey Zarif possesses.

Spain’s Galia Dvorak has been handed somewhat of an unpredictable fixture against Korea Republic’s Choi Moonyoung, who impressed in the qualification tournament, while the host nation’s Li Qian faces Mercedes Nagyvaradi of Hungary.

Samuel Walker booked his spot in the main draw of the Men’s Singles competition following a positive outing in the qualification event, but the Englishman has been handed a tough opening fixture in the main competition against Daniel Habesohn.

Austria’s Daniel Habesohn enters the match as the seeded player and will be expected to progress from the tie, however, Samuel Walker has shown at past events that he is more than capable of causing an upset and will have confidence on his side following his qualification success.

Further down the draw Quentin Robinot of France takes on Hong Kong’s Ng Pak Nam in what could potentially be a highly entertaining fast-paced encounter, while the Nigerian top seed Quadri Aruna begins his campaign against Poland’s Patryk Zatowka.

Follow the action unfold live, watch the 2017 ITTF Challenge Polish Open on itTV