World Championships | 28 Sep 2022

First Stage Draw Completed in Chengdu

Photo: Courtesy ITTF

Defending champions China occupy the top seeded positions in both the men's and women's team events at the 2022 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals Presented by China Telecom; the initial stage groups being determined at the draw ceremony on Wednesday 28th September. Overall, 32 teams compete in the men's event, 28 in the women's competition.

In the men's team event Germany, the second seeds, are in the same group as France; for Germany DANG Qiu, the recently crowned European champion, leads the line. Brothers Alexis and Felix LEBRUN appear for France. None were under serious first team consideration four years ago in Halmstad.

Similarly, at the Liebherr 2018 World Team Championships, Truls MOREGARD played just one match; he is now a key player for Sweden, the fifth seeds. In their group the next rated outfit is England; the team Sweden beat in Halmstad to gain a semi-final place. Mattias FALCK is pivotal to Swedish success as is Tomokazu HARIMOTO for Japan. They are in the same group as Hong Kong, China, and Romania. Promoting youth, Eduard Ionescu, winner of the Under 19 Boys' Singles title at the European Youth Championships, appears in the Romanian squad.

In the women's team event, Japan, the second seeds, face European opposition in the guise of Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The Land of the Rising Sun includes Hina HAYATA, Miyuu KIHARA and Miyu NAGASAKI, all players born this century, they make their World Team Championships debuts.

Germany, the fifth seeds, the staunch defensive skills of HAN Ying at the head of the order, are drawn in the same group as teams that in recent years have made immense progress. It is a chance for Egypt and India to shine.

Completing to top six teams, Romania includes Bernadette SZOCS and Elizabeta SAMARA. They appear in the same group as Chinese Taipei, likewise a team with experienced players. Cheng I-Ching and Chen Szu-Yu were both members of Chinese Taipei's bronze medal winning outfit at the Perfect 2016 World Team Championships in Kuala Lumpur.

Overall, 16 teams in each of the men's and women's events qualify for the knockout stage; play starting on Wednesday 5 October. Teams finishing in first position in each group will be drawn in the seeded positions; second placed team will be drawn randomly against a group winner or into unfilled seeded positions; additional places will be filled by the highest-ranked third-place group finishers.

Men's Team
Group 1: China, Slovenia, United States, Puerto Rico, Thailand
Group 2: Germany, France, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
Group 3: Japan; Hong Kong, China; Romania; Iran; Hungary
Group 4: Republic of Korea, Egypt, Czech Republic, Canada, Saudi Arabia
Group 5: Sweden, England, Australia, Poland
Group 6: Brazil, Portugal, Denmark, Slovakia
Group 7: Chinese Taipei, Croatia, Belgium, Singapore

Women's Team
Group 1: China, United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Malaysia
Group 2: Japan, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Uzbekistan
Group 3: Hong Kong, China; Brazil; France; Italy; South Africa
Group 4: Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Luxembourg, Iran
Group 5: Germany, Egypt, India, Czech Republic
Group 6: Romania, Chinese Taipei, Sweden, Portugal