The international table tennis stars have arrived; the preparatory work in the Werner Schlager Academy and the Multiversum in Schwechat is nearly complete.  It is done for the best table tennis players in the world!

Around 400 athletes from 49 nations will fight from Wednesday to Sunday for the prospects of ITTF world ranking points and $122,000 in prize money.

In the middle of the pack are Austria's young guns.  They are the generation of tomorrow and beyond.  So, before the curtain, we have:

Daniel Habesohn, Dominik Habesohn, Stefan Fegerl, Martin Storf, Dominik Plattner, Martin Heimberger, Simon Pfeffer, Stefan Leitgeb, Alexander Chen, Thomas Daxböck and Nicole Galitschitsch, Melanie Luginger, . . .

For the ÖTTV youngsters, a unique opportunity to compete in the big scene.  World number one Wang Hao (China) and Li Xiaoxia (China) are the highest classified in the draw.  Werner Schlager is number 17 in the seedings for the tournament.

Detailed information on the ITTF Pro Tour Austrian Open you can find at www.tt-austrianopen.com