7/31/08 Update (from ITSF):
Player qualification for World Champ.
January 8-11, 2009, in Nantes, France
There are several ways
for players to
qualify for the World Championships: ITSF Point
Race; winners of the World Championship Series and
International Series events; National Champions and
Wild Cards.
National Champions
As far as national champions are concerned, each
ITSF member federation is entitled to send its
national champions in the following categories:
- Open Singles and Doubles
- Women’s Singles and Doubles
- Junior Singles and Doubles - these players can
be male or female.
Junior players have to be under 18 years old on
December 31st, 2007; that is they must have been
born in 1990 or after (players born before 1990 are
not Juniors)
- Senior Singles and Doubles - these players
can be male or female.
Senior players have to be 50 years & over on
December 31st, 2007; that is they must have been
born before 1958 (players born in or after 1958 are
not Seniors)
All national champions must:
- either qualify in the official national qualifying
tournament in their country
- OR be announced by national
federations by October 31st, 2008, at the
latest – if there is no national
championship in their country.
When there is no qualifying event in a country, then
the selection process must take place under fair,
objective and democratic rules.
Wild Cards
As last year, all ITSF Regular Member federations
benefit from special Wild Cards to have an extra
team of players in the Men's and Women’s Doubles
categories.
ITSF Associate and Provisional Members are not
entitled to Wild Cards.
New this year: all ITSF Regular
Member federations benefit from special Wild
Cards to also have an extra team of players in the
Junior and Senior Doubles categories.
New this year: apart from these, ITSF
Regular Member federations with a membership of
more than 500 licensees benefit from extra Wild
Cards in all the Singles categories: Men's, Women’s,
Junior and Senior.
New this year: ITSF Regular Member
federations with a membership of more than 2000
licensees benefit from yet extra Wild Cards in
all Singles and Doubles categories: Men's, Women’s,
Junior and Senior.
The names of these players will also have to be
announced by national federations by October
31st, 2008 – no late submission will be
accepted after that date.
Each Regular Member federation will have to set up
clear sporting rules for determining which teams
will get the Wild Cards.
For example, the Wild Card could go to:
- the 2nd best player or team in the national
championships
- or the national federation’s best ranked player or
team in the ITSF Rankings
- etc.
These rules will have to be made clear to all the
members within each federation.
They will also have to be forwarded to ITSF.
Check the list of
already qualified players.
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