DOHA, March 6, 2018-The ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open will begin at Ali bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena on March 6, 2018، The tournament will bring together world's top players from 43 countries. Doha is the first stopover of the six Platinum events, which was only a part of ITTF World Tour, and Qatar will be hosting the 23rd edition at the Ali bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena from March 8-11, with qualifying rounds on March 6-7، China's Olympic champion Ma Long won the men's singles title last year, beating compatriot and No.2 seed Fan Zhendong 11-8, 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 6-11, 11-4 in a gruelling final.
Among the women, Chen Meng defeated Wang Manyu 12-10, 11-9, 11-6, 2-11, 11-6 in an all-China final. Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov will lead the men's pack in Ma's absence، Zhendong and Timo Boll are seeded second and third respectively، In the women's category, Chen and Zhu Yuling are the top two seeds followed by Singapore's Feng Tianwei, Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa and Wang.