Victory would effectively secure his place at the Seamaster ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Astana, Kazakhstan, later this year.

It would also move him level with China's Ma Lin at fourth place in the all-time list of World Tour winners.

Boll has played in three ITTF World Tour tournaments this year and he needs to play in five to meet the basic criteria.

Olomouc will be his fourth event, and later in the year he will undoubtedly be on duty on home soil in Magdeburg.

Meanwhile the Czech Open second seed Kenta Matsudaira, runner-up to Boll's compatriot Dimitrij Ovtcharov in last week's Bulgaria Open, is seeking his second ITTF World Tour men's singles title.

Also seeking a second World Tour win is Hugo Calderano of Brazil, the number nine seed at the Omega Sport Center.

Two places below Calderano in the seedings is the Japanese player who earned a shock win here a year ago when seeded sixth - Yuto Muramatsu.

Meanwhile the winner of the women’s singles title at the Bulgaria Open, top-seeded Japanese player Kasumi Ishikawa, is seeking to maintain her momentum.

None of the players seeded second, third and fourth - respectively Han Ying of Germany, and Japan's Mima Ito and Hitomi Sato - has yet reached the Czech Open final.

Elizabeta Samara, seeded seventh, is one of two former winners in the main draw, the other being Viktoria Pavlovich of Belarus.