The draw for the competition, which is due to last until May 20, took place in the French capital's prestigious City Hall.

It saw defending women's world champion Ding Ning of China handed a difficult draw as she was place in the same half as Olympic champion Li Xiaoxia, who beat her in the final at London 2012.

It means that there will be no repeat of either the London 2012 final or the 2011 World Championships in Rotterdam with the two sport's two dominant forces seemingly destined to meet in the semi-finals.


"Being the defending world champion is both equally a burden as it is a motivation," said Ning.

"It's motivation to do a better job."

On the men's side, China's reigning Olympic and world champion Zhang Jike also received a tough draw as he is scheduled be against London 2012 bronze medallist Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany in the quarter-finals if the event goes to seedings.

Should he win that, he will the likely have face compatriot and world number one Xu Xin in the semi-finals just to make the gold medal match.

"I am not concerned about not being ranked number one," said Zhang

"The important thing is to win the match, not the ranking.

The full draw is available to view by clicking here. 

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