The Qatar Open is the second Super Series competition of the year, and qualifying takes place today before the main draw is due to begin on Friday (February 20).

Among the top names attending the tournament is Olympic bronze medallist Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany, who missed the opening World Tour event in Kuwait with an arm injury.

The 26-year-old arrives in Doha full of confidence following his recent triumph at the ITTF-Europe Top 16 Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he claimed a stunning comeback victory over Portugal's Marcos Freitas in the final.

"I have practiced well over the past two months and have got a lot of confidence from my past few tournaments," the German said.

"My big goal here is to win my first Super Series title of the year, and I think I am well prepared to do so.

"This is a very high level event with top players.

"If I play great, then I will have a good chance to win the title, but I need to focus on ball by ball starting in the first round."

Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany is one of the headline acts in the men's competition in Qatar ©Getty Images

Ovtcharov could come up against Freitas for the second successive tournament, while Bulgaria's Vladimir Samsonov and Chih-Yuan Chuang of Taipei will all also be vying for a share of the $220,000 (£143,000/€193,000) prize.

Meanwhile, the women's competition is headlined by world number four Feng Tianwei of Singapore, who clinched four ITTF World Tour titles in 2014.

The Chinese players are not participating in the tournament, which could open the door for the likes of South Korean Seo Hyo-Won and Georgina Pota of Hungary, who enjoyed a successful 2014 as she reached the semi-finals of both the Women's World Cup and World Tour Grand Finals.

The ITTF World Tour is offering record prize money of $3,000,000 (£2 million/€2.5 million) and is set to be the most viewed in history owing to increased television coverage.

The top 16 singles and top eight doubles will then be invited to the World Tour Grand Finals later this year.

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