China retains title at ITTF Mixed Team World Cup

CHENGDU, 9 December (BelTA -China Daily) - China retained its title at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Mixed Team World Cup with an 8-1 victory over South Korea in the final here on Sunday.

As the season-ending tournament of global table tennis, the eight-day tournament features 16 teams. With an unbeaten record across the first nine matches, China led the standings in both the first and second stages.

The host continued its momentum in the semifinal earlier on Sunday, encountering little resistance en route to an 8-1 win over Romania. South Korea saw off China's Hong Kong 8-5 in the other semifinal.

In the opening mixed doubles match of the final on Sunday evening, Olympic champions Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha gifted China a favorable start by defeating South Korean duo Cho Dae-seong and Shin Yu-bin 11-9, 17-19, 11-4.

World No. 2 Wang Manyu put China further ahead in the women's singles event, triumphing 11-3, 11-7, 11-2 over Kim Na-yeong.

Teenager Lin Shidong secured China's title with an 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 win over Oh Jun-sung.

China's Hong Kong defeated Romania 8-2 to take a bronze medal.

Unlike the inaugural edition in 2023 that had two stages, this year's event features a three-stage format.

In the first stage, the 16 teams were divided into four groups of four, with the highest-ranked teams placed in different groups. Each group competed in a complete round-robin format.

In the second stage, the top two teams from each group in the first stage competed in a round-robin format, while teams that have already faced each other in the first stage don't play again, with their previous results carrying forward.

In the third stage, the top four teams in the standings of the second stage qualified for the knockout phase, featuring both semifinals and placement matches. The semifinal matchups were determined by ranking, with the first-placed team facing the fourth-placed one, while second played third. Each team's journey concluded with either the final or the bronze medal match.