China's Kuai, Chen announced as host wildcard entrants for WTT Champions Chongqing

BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese paddlers Kuai Man and Chen Yuanyu were announced Tuesday as the host wildcard recipients for the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions Chongqing to be held later this month.

Kuai, who outclassed several prominent names on the way to the WTT Singapore Smash women's singles final, is set to compete on the WTT Champions stage for the first time. Due to her recent in-form play, the 21-year-old has climbed to seventh in the world rankings.

The men's host wildcard went to 19-year-old Chen, another player who will make his WTT Champions debut in Chongqing. Earlier this year, he brought home his first WTT Series singles title at the Contender Muscat.

Also announced on Tuesday are the WTT Nominations, which went to Kanak Jha of the United States and Spain's Maria Xiao, for the respective men's and women's categories.

As the first WTT Champions event of the season, the WTT Champions Chongqing will take place from March 11-16. ■