The Hong Kong table tennis team have pulled out of the first world tour of the year after the Sports Institute refused to send players to Qatar because of safety concerns. There will be two tournaments in the Middle East Hub in March, featuring the new World Table Tennis event structure, with most of the top contenders – such as China, Japan, Taiwan and Germany – sending their players to test the waters before the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer. But not Hong Kong. “The safety measures provided by the organisers cannot meet the requirements of the Sports Institute and as a matter of fact, the area is still under great danger of the pandemic,” said head coach Chan Kong-wah. “At the moment, players’ safety is of the utmost importance and we do not want to take the risk. We have already qualified for the Olympics in all table tennis events and that remains our biggest target. We must make sure all our best players can attend the Tokyo Games without any health problem.” Hong Kong men join Tokyo 2020 table tennis party Hong Kong’s men’s and women’s teams won their Olympic spots at the World Qualification Tournament in Gondomar, Portugal, a year ago. With the team qualification, Hong Kong can also send two players to each singles competition in Tokyo, while Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi-kem sealed their Olympic place as one of the 16 mixed doubles pairs by reaching the semi-finals at the 2019 Grand Finals. Hong Kong has therefore obtained a full Olympic quota in table tennis. But the players will not be seen in the Middle East Hub that features two tiers of competition to kick off the 2021 calendar. Players will first compete at the WTT Contender Doha on March 3-6, then move onto the first WTT Star Contender event the following week, where some of the world’s leading stars will be challenged by the best up-and-coming athletes. Hong Kong table tennis duo book tickets to Tokyo 2020 China’s reigning women’s world champion Liu Shiwen will return to action in Doha after recovering from an arm injury. In the men’s event, the world power will be spearheaded by Xu Xin, who is likely to partner Liu in the mixed doubles at the Tokyo Olympics. There will be no major tour events on the International Table Tennis Federation calendar before the Olympic Games after the Doha showpiece, but coach Chan said China is planning a tournament in April and Hong Kong will send players. “They are still working on the details of the tournament but it is likely to happen,” said Chan. “China staged two World Cup finals and the world tour grand finals late last year and all proved very successful with no health problems. That will probably be our last chance of playing before the Olympic Games.” Wong and Doo appeared at the World Cup finals in China in November, while Doo also featured in the grand finals as a top 16 player in the women’s singles.