Winner in Lausanne in 2014 on the last occasion the tournament was known as the Europe Top 12, as opposed to the following year becoming the Europe Top 16, Portugal’s Marcos Freitas is the top seed in the men’s singles event.

Accepted we are only in the very early months of the year but he has yet to excel; at the recent 2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open in Doha, he did not enjoy the best of draws, in the opening round he was beaten by China’s Wang Chuqin, a very hungry teenager with a point to prove. He had just returned from three month’s suspension.

It is somewhat the same for the next in line, Denmark’s Jonathan Groth, Egypt’s Omar Assar and India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta. All have all enjoyed notable successes but the time span since halcyon days is becoming greater.

Past success

The most recent on the list to gain notable success is Jonathan Groth, last June he was the men’s singles runner up at the Minsk 2019 European Games. Rather differently, for Omar Assar we must go back to 2014 when he won on the ITTF World Tour in Nigeria, the same year as Marcos Freitas prevailed in the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, for Sharath Kamal Achanta it is necessary to turn the clock back a decade; on the ITTF World Tour he won in 2010 in India.

All have yet to shine this year, as has the next on the list; a semi-finalist in 2018 in Slovenia, Slovakia’s Wang Yang is the no.5 seed. He is followed by Frenchman Emmanuel Lebesson, Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu and Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia.

Notably, partnering Yuan Ji Nan, Emmanuel Lebesson secured mixed doubles gold in February in Portugal but he has yet the replicate the form this year that saw him become European champion in 2016 in Budapest and the winner last year at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Belarus Open.

It is no different for Ovidiu Ionescu, the silver medallist in Alicante at the 2018 European Championships. Equally, turning back time much further, Tiago Apolonia won on the ITTF World Tour in 2010 in Austria but in this year has encountered troubled times.

Making a mark

Nothing outstanding in 2020 but scroll further down the list and note the names of Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gerassimenko and Portugal’s João Geraldo. Both enjoyed success in February, Kirill Gerassimenko won in Spain, on home soil João Geraldo was the runner up in Lisbon. In Muscat, Kirill Gerassimenko is the no.10 seed, João Geraldo, the no.22 seed.

Making a mark this year, amongst the leading names in the women’s singles event, Japan’s Honoka Hashimoto and Monaco’s Yang Xiaoxin have made their mark. In Spain Honoka Hashimoto accounted for Yang Xiaoxin in the final.

Honoka Hashimoto is the no.4 seed, Yang Xiaoxin, the no.6 seed, in an event that witnesses a strong Japanese presence. Hitomi Sato, with four ITTF Challenge Series women’s singles titles to her name, is the top seed, Miyu Kato is the no.3 seed, Maki Shiomi is the no.11 seed.

National honour

Very much they are charged with upholding national honour, since ITTF Challenge Series tournaments became entities in their own right in 2017, as opposed to members of the ITTF World Tour, of the 36 tournaments, Japan has prevailed on 22 occasions

Recent success for Honoka Hashimoto but like the leading men, seeking better fortunes this year, Romania’s Bernadette Szocs in the no.2 seed, Slovakia’s Barbora Balazova, the no.5 seed. Singapore’s Lin Ye and Russia’s Yana Noskova complete the top eight names.

Similarly, Japan is prominent in the women’s doubles, six times Challenge Series tournament winners, Honoka Hashimoto and Hitomi Sato occupy the top seeded spot; in the counterpart men’s doubles event the honour belongs to Belgium’s Martin Allegro and Florent Lambiet, Challenge Series runners up last year in both Croatia and Canada.

Silver medallists in Canada, for Slovakia’s Lubomir Pistej and Barbora Balazova, it was gold; in Muscat they are the mixed doubles top seeds.

A full itinerary, in the under 21 men’s singles, India’s Manav Vikash Thakkar heads the list, in the counterpart under 21 women’s singles, Maki Shiomi is the name at the top of the order. Significantly both have enjoyed recent ITTF Challenge Series success; in December Manav Vikash Thakkar won in Canada, just over one month ago Maki Shioni prevailed in Spain.