China's Chen seeking record fourth straight ITTF Finals crown

ZHENGZHOU - Fresh from winning the ITTF Women's World Cup, Chinese paddler Chen Meng is looking to make history at the 2020 ITTF Finals which begins here on Thursday.

Chen's World Cup triumph in Weihai, East China was her first major singles title. If she is victorious in Zhengzhou, she would be the first player to have won four titles in a row in the year-end table tennis competition.

The tournament's draw was made here on Wednesday. Chen will start her defending campaign against Miyu Kato of Japan.

Unusually, the 2020 ITTF Finals include men's and women's singles draws, with the world's top 16 ranked paddlers of each gender in contention for a total prize purse of one million U.S. dollars, with each member association restricted to entering four players.

World Cup runner-up Sun Yingsha was also drawn in the top half, with the Chinese facing a first round encounter with Jeon Ji-hee of South Korea.

Placed in the bottom half, second-seeded Mima Ito of Japan has China's Wang Manyu and Wang Yidi as potential obstacles before reaching the final.

In the men's draw, world No. 1 Fan Zhendong will fight for a quarterfinal berth against South Korea's Jeoung Young-sik, with his compatriot Lin Gaoyuan and Japanese teenager Tomokazu Harimoto also present in the top half of the draw.

The bottom half features Chinese duo of Ma Long and Xu Xin, and Lin Yun-Ju of Chinese Taipei.

As the third event of the #RESTART series, the ITTF Finals ends on Sunday.