Tom Jarvis has been drawn against top seed and world No 3 Sora Matsushima in the first round of the WTT Champions Macao.
Jarvis (WR 45) will play Japan’s Matsushima in the round of 32 match, which is scheduled at 12.05pm UK time on Wednesday. Follow the event on the WTT YouTube channel.
Anna Hursey (WR 37) of Wales is also competing in Macao and will face the hosts’ Leong On Na, a wildcard entry who is ranked at No 475. That match is scheduled at 1.15pm UK time on Tuesday.
The winner is likely to face top seed and world No 3 Miwa Harimoto of Japan, who plays Zeng Jian of Singapore in the first round.
After the competition, both Jarvis and Hursey will stay in the Far East to compete at the WTT China Smash, which starts on 1 October. They will be joined in Beijing by Liam Pitchford, Connor Green and Tin-Tin Ho.
As well as singles, Jarvis & Green will play in the Men’s Doubles and Green & Ho in the Mixed, but there is another eye-catching doubles combination involving Hursey.
She will team up with Shi Xunyao of China, the world No 16, who may be familiar to English fans as she won the Women’s Doubles at WTT Star Contender London last year, alongside compatriot Zhang Xiangyu.
Anna said: “I’m really looking forward to playing Macao Champions and China Smash. We’ve been out in China for a few weeks because these tournaments are quite close together and I’ve been at the National Centre, so I’ve been really lucky to have good practice in between these tournaments.
“I’m very excited about the doubles with Shi Xunyao. She’s an amazing player so hopefully we can do well together, and we can also just have a bit of fun.”
Director of Performance Development Gavin Evans said: “Anna playing with Shi is a fantastic opportunity and is a real mark of a fabulous relationship that Great Britain Table Tennis and the China Table Tennis Federation have. It’s an effective and very friendly relationship that we share.
“We’re very grateful to Ma Lin and the Secretary General of China Table Tennis to select Shi to play with Anna.
“Anna will gain really strong positive experiences from this. Learning and training and playing with the best players in the world is part of our strategy and this is one of the tactics that enables that.
“Another fantastic benefit for Anna is she will be on the receiving end of Ma Lin’s coaching, along with John Murphy.
“So it’s a fabulous opportunity for Anna to listen to Ma Lin, who has won Olympic gold and multiple world medals and has that insight, and also for John to be on the bench from a coach development perspective – share the training hall with Ma Lin, share the bench with Ma Lin, and learn a lot from that experience.
“So, really positive – we thank our friends in China and hope this relationship continues in the positive and friendly spirit that it’s in.”
