Qatar’s Mohamed Aia (left) and M Faramarzi in action in doubles during the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Qatar Open at the Qatar Women Sports Committee Hall. PICTURE: Jayaram

By Sports Reporter/Doha

Olympic bronze medallist Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany and Singapore’s Feng Tianwei will start as favourites in the men’s and women’s section respectively at the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Qatar Open, which will begin today at the Qatar Women Sports Committee Hall.
Qualification rounds for the US$220,000 tournament ended yesterday with the main draw starting today, where the top seeds face the lucky few that made it through.  The semi-finals and finals are scheduled for Sunday.
Ovtcharov is the one to watch out for, with the German taking part in his first World Tour event of 2015 in Qatar, after missing last week’s Kuwait Open with an arm injury. On his arrival in Doha, the 26-year-old was in a buoyant mood after his recent win at the ITTF-Europe Top 16 Cup a few weeks ago: “I have practiced well over the past two months and have got a lot of confidence from my past few tournaments, especially the ITTF-Europe Top 16 Cup. My big goal here is to win my first Super Series title of the year, and I think I am well prepared to do so,” he said.
“This is a very high level event with top players. If I play great, then I will have a good chance to win the title, but I need to focus on ball by ball starting in the first round,” Ovtcharov added.
Ovtcharov will need to be at his best to beat rivals such as Marcos Freitas of Portugal, Chuang Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei and Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus.
Meanwhile, Tianwei, who won three World Tour events in 2014, will be the hot favourite on the women’s side with no Chinese players taking part in the event. Seo Hyowon of Korea and Georgina Pota of Hungary, who had a breakthrough year in 2014 reaching the Women’s World Cup and World Tour Grand Finals semifinals, will be Tianwei’s big threat to the title in Qatar.
Meanwhile, Hungary’s Dora Madarasz booked her place in the main draw yesterday after a seven-game win over Hong Kong’s Li Ching Wan 10-12, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7.
Doo Hoi Kem, the highest rated women’s player in the preliminary stage, duly sealed her spot by beating Singapore’s Isabelle Siyun Li 11-6, 11-7, 11-4, 11-6. Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu accounted for Korea’s Yoo Eunchong 11-5, 12-10, 11-4, 9-11, 11-1.
However, it was curtains for Czech Republic’s Iveta Vacenovska and Germany’s Petrissa Solja, the respective second and third ranked players in qualification. Vacenovska was beaten by Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chia-Hui 12-10, 3-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9, while Solja lost to Ukraine’s Tetyana Bilenko 6-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-4, 11-6.
In the men’s, Poland’s Daniel Gorak caused one of the major upsets as he beat India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta in four straight games 11-7, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9 to reserve his place in the main draw. Achanta is ranked no. 50, while Gorak is at no. 68.
Korea’s Seo Hyundeok, Kim Donghyun and Russia’s Kirill Skachkov also qualified. Seo Hyundeok, who is talented but unpredictable, won in six games (5-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10, 10-12, 13-11).
Donghyun accounted for England’s Liam Pitchford in a close seven games duel 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6. Skachkov beat Poland’s Wang Zengyi 4-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-5, 6-11, 10-12, 11-4.