China rested world number one Wang Chuqin during their group stage match against South Korea to conserve energy. Despite this, their lineup still featured top players like Lin Shidong, Liang Jingkun, and Zhou Qihao. Lin is currently ranked world number 6, Liang 21st, and Zhou 20th.

South Korea's team for the match included Kim Jang-won, Oh Jun-sung, and An Jae-hyun. An is ranked 22nd globally, Oh 30th, while Kim is not ranked by the ITTF. Similar to China, South Korea's coach Oh Sang-eun also rested team captain and world number 9 Jang Woo-jin for this match.

Lin Shidong during China's victory over England in the group stage of the World Team Table Tennis Championship in London, England on 2/5. Photo: Xinhua

In the first game, Lin easily defeated Kim 12–10, 11–5, 11–2, giving China a 1-0 lead. However, Liang then lost to Oh 11–6, 4–11, 9–11, 9–11. China then fell behind when Zhou lost to An 9–11, 9–11, 11–8, 18–20 in the third game. In the fourth game, Lin unexpectedly lost to Oh 9–11, 11–5, 10–12, 9–11. South Korea ultimately won the match 3-1, with 19-year-old Oh winning both his games.

This result was particularly surprising because South Korea had lost their opening match 0-3 to Sweden, while China had defeated host England 3-0.

This marks South Korea's first victory over China in 36 years. For China, it is their first loss at this championship since 2000, when they were defeated 2-3 by Sweden in the final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Since that defeat, China had won 23 consecutive championships, maintaining an undefeated record.

The 2026 World Team Table Tennis Championship for men features a new format with two distinct phases, designed to separate strong and weak teams early on. The 8 top teams along with host England are placed in phase 1a, divided into two groups of 4 teams each. These teams automatically qualify for the round of 32 knockout stage, with the group stage primarily determining seeding and bracket positions.

The 56 remaining teams compete in phase 1b, comprising 14 groups of four teams each. The two leading teams from each group advance, but only the 14 group winners and the six best second-place teams directly enter the round of 32 knockout stage. The eight remaining second-place teams must play an additional playoff round to secure the four final spots.

From the round of 32, the championship transitions to the familiar single-elimination format, including the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and final. Each match between two national teams consists of a maximum of 5 singles matches; the team that wins three matches first secures the overall victory. This format helps table tennis powerhouses like China, Japan, and France avoid early elimination while creating more competitive opportunities for lower-ranked teams.

Xuan Binh