by Simon Daish
Where and when is it?
The action will take place at the Geelong Arena located in North Geelong. South-west of Melbourne, the port city of Geelong is the second-largest city in the state of Victoria and played host to last year’s event.
Tuesday 9th to Wednesday 10th of July sees the unseeded entries take to the tables for the two-day qualification tournament with the seeded players joining the successful qualifiers in the main event from Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th July.
All-star cast on show
Many of the world’s biggest names will be on display at the 2019 Australian Open including World champions Ma Long and Liu Shiwen.
World no.1s Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng will also be present, as will the likes of Tomokazu Harimoto, Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Ding Ning and Mima Ito. Take a look at the full singles entry lists below:
10 times Down Under
Making its ITTF World Tour debut in 1996, the Australian Open has welcomed the world’s finest players on nine occasions – in just under a couple of weeks’ time, the event will be played out for a tenth!
In recent years the Australian Open has produced a range of eye-catching stories: three years back in 2016, Japan swept all six titles up for grabs and one year later Vladimir Samsonov won his 27th ITTF World Tour men’s singles title, a record at the time.
Last year in Geelong, China celebrated success in both singles categories with Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen claiming the titles. Korea Republic’s Lee Sangsu took home two trophies, partnering Jeoung Youngsik and Jeon Jihee to men’s doubles and mixed doubles gold respectively, while the women’s doubles prize went to Japanese teenagers Hina Hayata and Mima Ito.
Can I still grab tickets?
Yes! Tickets are still available – you can either grab a single session pass or why not treat yourself to an all sessions pass? There is also a VIP all sessions pass option if that takes your fancy.
Purchase your tickets for the Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Australian Open below:
