WTT Champions Frankfurt starts on Tuesday with 13 first-round matches, and three of the world's top four men begin their tournaments on the opening day at the Süwag Energie Arena: Sora Matsushima, the world No 1 and top seed, Tomokazu Harimoto and Wang Chuqin, who plays for the first time since missing Montpellier injured.

Miwa Harimoto, the women's second seed and the highest-ranked woman left in the draw, opens the event against Austria's Sofia Polcanova. Play starts at 11am UK time, midday in Frankfurt, and the evening session begins at 5.30pm.

The big matches

Sofia Polcanova v Miwa Harimoto (11am UK). Harimoto, 18, is the world No 3 and the highest-ranked woman in the draw since Wang Manyu and Sun Yingsha withdrew. She reached the quarter-finals in Montpellier last week, where Kuai Man beat her in six games. Polcanova, 32, is ranked 50th. The winner meets Adriana Diaz or Joo Cheonhui in the last 16.

Anders Lind v Wang Chuqin (12.45pm UK). Wang, 26, is the fourth seed and moved up to No 4 in this week's world ranking without playing. Lind, the world No 17, lost to Félix Lebrun in 15 minutes in the first round in Montpellier. The winner plays Wen Ruibo or An Jaehyun.

Vladimir Sidorenko v Tomokazu Harimoto (1.55pm UK). The tie of the session. Sidorenko, 24 and ranked 18th, knocked out Matsushima in the last 16 in Montpellier and won two games against Hugo Calderano in the quarter-finals. Harimoto, the second seed and world No 3, lost his opening match there to Simon Gauzy in straight games.

Lin Yun-Ju v Darko Jorgic (3.05pm UK). The fifth seed against the world No 13 closes the afternoon. Lin lost 12-10 in the fifth game to Jang Woojin, the eventual champion, in the last 16 in Montpellier; Jorgic went out in the first round to Sidorenko.

Sora Matsushima v João Geraldo (6.40pm UK). Matsushima, 19, is the top seed for the second week running. In Montpellier he needed an 11-2 deciding game to beat Dang Qiu in the first round before losing to Sidorenko. Geraldo, the world No 37, lost to Lin Yun-Ju in the first round there.

Home hopes

Dang Qiu, last year's runner-up in Frankfurt and the eighth seed, starts the evening session against Sweden's Elias Ranefur at 5.30pm. Dang, the world No 11, turned 30 last week. Ranefur, ranked 27th, saved match points against Anton Källberg in Montpellier before Patrick Franziska beat him in the last 16. Dang is the only one of Germany's 10 players in action on day one.

Rematches from Montpellier

Two first-round matches repeat last week's. Diaz beat Joo 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 in Montpellier and then came from two games down to level against Kuai before losing the decider. Zhou Qihao, the 10th seed, plays France's Thibault Poret after reaching the Montpellier quarter-finals, where he beat Félix Lebrun and then lost 12-10 in the seventh game to Franziska.

Chen Xingtong, the sixth seed, faces South Korea's Kim Nayeong, the world No 32. Chen also lost a seven-game quarter-final last week, 12-10 in the decider to Wang Yidi.

Young players to watch

Miwa Harimoto is one of four 18-year-olds in action on Tuesday. Egypt's Hana Goda, the African champion, meets France's Jia Nan Yuan, who is 41, at 7.15pm. Taiwan's Peng Yu-han plays Romania's Bernadette Szőcs, who reached the last 16 in Montpellier, at 6.05pm. France's Flavien Coton, the world No 23, closes the day against Croatia's Tomislav Pucar at 7.50pm; he led Jang 2-0 in the first round in Montpellier before losing in five.

Order of play

All times UK (GMT) and approximate: matches follow one another on a single table, so they may start later if earlier matches run long.

  • 11am: Sofia Polcanova (AUT) v Miwa Harimoto (JPN), women's singles
  • 11.35am: Zhou Qihao (CHN) v Thibault Poret (FRA), men's singles
  • 12.10pm: Chen Xingtong (CHN) v Kim Nayeong (KOR), women's singles
  • 12.45pm: Anders Lind (DEN) v Wang Chuqin (CHN), men's singles
  • 1.20pm: Adriana Diaz (PUR) v Joo Cheonhui (KOR), women's singles
  • 1.55pm: Vladimir Sidorenko v Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN), men's singles
  • 2.30pm: Cheng I-Ching (TPE) v Bruna Takahashi (BRA), women's singles
  • 3.05pm: Lin Yun-Ju (TPE) v Darko Jorgic (SLO), men's singles
  • 5.30pm: Dang Qiu (GER) v Elias Ranefur (SWE), men's singles
  • 6.05pm: Peng Yu-han (TPE) v Bernadette Szőcs (ROU), women's singles
  • 6.40pm: Sora Matsushima (JPN) v João Geraldo (POR), men's singles
  • 7.15pm: Hana Goda (EGY) v Jia Nan Yuan (FRA), women's singles
  • 7.50pm: Tomislav Pucar (CRO) v Flavien Coton (FRA), men's singles

How to watch

Both sessions are streamed live on World Table Tennis's YouTube channel, and the stream is on Eleven's WTT Champions Frankfurt page and homepage, with live scores from every match. WTT Champions events are singles only and straight knockout: matches are the best of five games up to the last 16 and the best of seven from the quarter-finals.

Before the start

Six players have withdrawn from the tournament since Sunday. Wang Manyu, Lin Shidong, Alexis Lebrun and Elizabet Abraamian withdrew injured on Sunday, and Sun Yingsha pulled out on Monday, a day after winning in Montpellier. Japan's Hiroto Shinozuka is also out: South Korea's An Jaehyun takes his place against Wen Ruibo on Wednesday. Read our WTT Champions Frankfurt preview and the story of Sun Yingsha's withdrawal.