by Ian Marshall, Editor

It is just one of several intriguing contests possible in the fourth round; equally, Ma Long could face colleague Xu Xin, Germany’s Timo Boll could confront compatriot Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus could face any of them!

All have one factor in common, at some stage during their illustrious careers all have occupied the top spot on the world rankings.

Seeding is based on the world rankings for April; Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin occupy the top respective places, Timo Boll appears at no.5, Ma Long at no.11, Dimitrij Ovtcharov at no.12. Further down the order is Vladimir Samsonov at no.19, for seeding purposes one place higher, as the name of Lim Jonghoon, ranked no.17, does not appear on the Korea Republic entry.

Next in line to Xu Xin is colleague Lin Gaoyuan, followed by Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto; they are ahead of Timo Boll. Korea Republic’s Lee Sangsu is listed at no.6, followed immediately by Brazil’s Hugo Calderano and Koki Niwa.

Any top eight name that advances to the fourth round (the last 16) could well facing Ma Long, the defending champion.

Main draw: men’s singles and women’s singles events

…………the first round comprises 128 players, matters proceeding on a knock-out basis

…………a total of 64 players are seeded and receive a direct entry to the first round, the remaining places are filled by 64 players from the qualification tournament

…………on Friday 19th April, players seeded no.17 to no.64 will be drawn at random into the appropriate positions in the draw

…………on Saturday 20th April, players seeded no.1 to no.16 will be draw into the appropriate positions in the draw

…………following the conclusion of the qualification tournament on Tuesday 22nd April, the players who emerged successful will be drawn into the 64 remaining places

Main draw: men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles

…………the first round in each of the men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles events comprises 64 pairs, matters proceeding on a knock-out basis

…………on Friday 19th April, pairs seeded no.1 to no.32 in each event will be drawn into the appropriate positions in the draw

…………following the conclusion of the qualification tournament on Tuesday 22nd April, the pairs who emerged successful will be drawn into the 32 remaining places

Qualification: men’s singles

…………in the first stage of proceedings there are 80 groups, in each group play being on an all-play-all basis

…………players finishing in first places in group no.1 to group no.48 advance to the main draw

…………players finishing in first places in group no.49 to group no.80 progress to a preliminary round; the preliminary round winners advance to the main draw

Qualification: women’s singles

…………in the first stage of proceedings there are 60 groups, in each group play being on an all-play-all basis

…………players finishing in first place in each group advance to the main draw

…………four “Lucky Losers” are drawn at random from the second placed players in each group in order to complete the 64 qualification places

Qualification: men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles

…………throughout play takes place on a knock-out basis in all doubles events to determine the 32 qualifiers

…………a total of 101 pairs compete in the men’s doubles first stage, two rounds will be played

…………a total of 64 pairs compete in the women’s doubles first stage, one round will be played

…………a total of 112 pairs compete in the mixed doubles first stage, two rounds will be played