Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha delivered the first three points (Photo ITTF)
Hosts China opened their ITTF Mixed Team World Cup 2025 campaign with a commanding 8 – 1 victory over Hong Kong, China.
Third seeded duo Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha delivered the first three points, sweeping away the experienced pair of Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem. After a shaky start in the opening game, the Chinese pair quickly found rhythm, racing to a 2 – 0 lead and holding a 9 – 5 advantage in the third.
The fixture seemed all but sealed until a lapse of focus from Wang, on account of experimenting with his backhand, allowed Hong Kong to claw back five straight points, drawing sharp glares from coach Ma Lin, the former Olympic champion. At 9 to 10 down, a fortunate edge ball spared them, and Wang and Sun closed out the fixture to secure China’s dominance.
Kuai Man continued the winning momentum for China, as she stormed through Zhu Chengzhu with blistering pace, clinching two quick game wins. Zhu, despite flashes of exquisite forehand touch and spirited rallies, was outpaced by Kuai’s relentless attack. However, she did well to win a tense third game, salvaging pride and delivering Hong Kong’s solitary point.
A marauding Lin Shidong closed out the tie for China, dismantling Lam Siu Hang in straight games. A relaxed and confident Lin looked to be in ominous form, as he fused brute force and catlike reflexes into a destructive mix that proved overwhelming for Lam.
Germany prevailed 8-5 over Romania in the battle of European heavyweights. Romania surprised all with a bold tactical gamble.
Making full use of the mixed team format, they fielded Women’s No. 1 Bernadette Szocs in both the Mixed Doubles and Women’s Doubles, while entrusting the Women’s Singles to the experienced Elizabeta Samara.
The move paid early dividends, as Szocs and her partner Ovidiu Ionescu combined to edge Patrick Franziska and Annett Kaufmann 2–1 in the opening Mixed Doubles fixture, giving Romania the perfect start.
Germany steadied the contest with consecutive 2–1 singles victories. Sabine Winter defeated Elizabeta Samara, and Benedikt Duda fended off Eduard Ionescu, restoring momentum to the German side. Trailing 4–5, Romania looked to the Women’s Doubles to level the tie and justify their gamble of fielding Bernadette Szocs in both the doubles fixtures.
Szocs and Elizabeta Samara began brightly, edging Sabine Winter and Nina Mittelham 14–12 in a tense opener. Germany struck back to take the second, leaving the team score delicately poised at 5–6 with everything riding on the decider.
Romania surged ahead 6–3 in the decider, seemingly on course to equalize, but an inexplicable implosion from Samara—by far the most experienced player on either side—shifted momentum. Germany seized control and closed out a 2–1 win, tightening their grip on the match.
Germany, holding a 7–5 advantage, turned to Benedikt Duda and Qiu Dang in the Men’s Doubles. The pair rose to the occasion, overcoming Ovidiu Ionescu and Eduard Ionescu 11–7 in the first game, securing the decisive point and completing an 8–5 victory for Germany.
France delivered the tournament’s first whitewash, crushing Brazil 8–0 in less than an hour. Alexis Lebrun and Jia Nan Yuan powered past Lucas Romanski and Victoria Strassburger in the Mixed Doubles, Prithika Pavade followed with a confident win over Laura Watanabe, and Felix Lebrun sealed the rout by overpowering Felipe Arado.
The clash highlighted the stark gap between the two teams, though Brazil will look to bounce back and give a better account of themselves when they face Romania next.
Sixteenth seeded Croatia pulled off the tournament’s opening upset by defeating 8th-seeded India. The clash had everything – drama, momentum swings, and world-class table tennis.
In the Mixed Doubles, Diya Chitale, in the absence of the other half of her World No.8 Mixed double pairing with Manush Shah, teamed up with veteran Sathiyan Gnanasekaran against Ivor Ban and Hana Arapovic. What followed was a masterclass from Ban, who went on a backhand flick rampage, dismantling the Indian serves with ruthless accuracy.
Chitale/Gnanasekaran and the Indian team could only smile wryly at each other as they tried to wait Ban’s rampage. Such was the Croatian’s rhythm that in a moment of pure audacity, she struck a ‘behind-the-back winner’ that left the Indians stunned and the crowd gasping. Ban and Arapovic raced through the opening two games 11–2, and although the Indians managed to take one back, Ban’s brilliance had already decided the contest.
In the Women’s Singles, Lea Rakovac delivered a stirring comeback win over Manika Batra. Having lost the first game, and trailing 4–8 in the second, Rakovac refused to fold, battling back to take it 15–13. The deciding game brought more drama, as she trailed 4–6 before igniting a blistering streak of seven straight points to triumph 11–6. With that, Croatia surged ahead 4–2, the upset gathering momentum.
Tomislav Pucar approached his Men’s singles match with a clear plan, executing a well-structured display of attacking table tennis to defeat India’s Manav Thakkar in straight games. Pucar used his height and reach to telling effect, exploiting Manav Thakkar’s passive play throughout the match.
His inside-out backhands, struck from both the middle and forehand side, repeatedly unsettled Thakkar, leaving him uncertain of which angle to anticipate and unable to find rhythm. Croatia’s lead grew to 7–2, and for Tomislav Pucar the triumph was doubly sweet, serving as revenge for his loss to Manav Thakkar at the WTT Champions Frankfurt.
The drama continued though, with India mounting a comeback. Despite staring at a 2–7 deficit, India’s Women’s Doubles pairing of Diya Chitale and Yashaswini Ghorpade rose to the occasion, storming back with three straight games against Lea Rakovac and Mateja Jeger to close the gap to 5–7. Chitale was at her attacking best, capitalizing on the rhythm disruptions created by Ghorpade’s long pimple backhand rubber, and finishing rallies with her powerful forehand whenever loose balls appeared.
With hope alive for India and pressure mounting, the Men’s Doubles became a pivotal contest. India struck first, as veteran Sathiyan Gnanasekaran combined seamlessly with debutant Akash Pal, who impressed in his maiden appearance by helping secure the opening game. Yet Ivor Ban and Frane Kojic held firm, edging the second 11–8 and sparking jubilant celebrations as Croatia marked their successful debut at the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup.
Japan wasted no time asserting authority crushing Australia 8–1.
The Mixed doubles clash saw Japanese stars Hina Hayata and Shunsuke Togami win 3-0 against Jiamuwa Lu and Finn Luu. Though the Australian pair lost in straight games, they did manage to give the Japanese pairing a good match, and came close to winning the third game as well, narrowly losing it 10-12.
Miwa Harimoto carried Japan’s momentum into the Women’s Singles, winning 3-0 against Australia’s Yangzi Liu. At first, Harimoto appeared unsettled by Liu’s tricky ‘short pimple’ backhand rubber, which generated heavy backspin and disrupted her rhythm. Yet Harimoto held firm, edging the opening game 12–10. From thereon, she found her stride and unleashed her full command, conceding only three points across the next two games. With that ruthless finish, Japan surged to a commanding 6–0 lead.
Japanese World No. 5 Tomokazu Harimoto had to withstand a spirited challenge from Nicholas Lum, whose doggedness lit up the arena. Lum, the southpaw, played with fearless intent, swinging freely and hammering step-around forehand topspin shots that repeatedly unsettled Harimoto.
He never wavered, attacking without regard for the score, and his persistence paid off as he won over a capacity crowd through the sheer refusal to give up. Riding that wave of support, Lum stunned Harimoto by taking the second game, despite trailing by a few points, leading to wild cheering.
However, Harimoto regrouped quickly, shaking off the shock loss to take the fourth game 11-4 and win the tie.
The last match of the morning session saw a young USA beaten by a formidable Chinese Taipei, who won by a margin of 8-3.
Chinese Taipei opened with authority as world No. 8 duo Lin Yun Ju and Cheng I Ching swept aside Ved Sheth and Mandy Yu to race into a 3–0 lead. Tsai Yun En added to the tally with a 2–1 win over Jessica Lai Reyes in the Women’s singles.
Chinese Taipei’s surprise selection of Lin Yen Chun over Kao Cheng-Jui in the Men’s singles backfired, as USA’s Sid Naresh punished them for the gamble and lit up the arena. From 0–1 down, the American unleashed fearless stroke play, highlighted by some outrageous backhand winners away from the table, to snatch a 2–1 win and keep USA’ s hopes alive.
Yet the revival was short lived, as Tsai Yun En and Huang Yu Chiao crushed teenager Tashiya Piyadasa and Mandy Yu in the Women’s doubles, winning 2 consecutive games and sealing victory for Chinese Taipei.
Korea Republic launched their campaign in style, overpowering Sweden 8–3 in the second fixture on Table 1. Park Ganghyeon and Kim Nayeong set the tone with a gutsy 2–1 mixed doubles win against Kristian Karlsson and Christina Kallberg. They rallied from 3–6 down in the decider to snatch it 11–9.
Shin Yubin then held off a spirited performance from Swedish chopper Linda Bergstrom, whose defensive artistry thrilled the crowd, to edge a 2–1 victory and push Korea ahead 4–2. Jang Woojin showcased tactical adaptability in the men’s singles, recovering from a first game loss to beat Anton Kallberg 2–1 and extend Korea Republic’s lead to 6–3.
And as the final nail in the coffin, Park Ganghyeon returned for the Men’s doubles, partnering Oh Junsung and sealed triumph. They demolished former world championship medallists Mattias Falck and Kristian Karlsson with relentless attacks, exploiting Falck’s short pimple forehand to devastating effect.
Egypt scraped past debutants Chile 8–7. Without Hana Goda, the 7th seeds showed cracks, yet clung on as every fixture went down to the wire.
Egyptian Mixed doubles duo Youssef Abdelaziz and Mariam Alhodaby, partners on and off the court, battled to a 15–13 victory in the third game for a 2–1 win, securing Egypt’s first two points. Farida Badawy impressed by taking a game off Chile’s stalwart Paulina Vega in a 1–2 defeat, before Omar Assar displayed his class to overcome an inspired Chilean No. 1 Nicolas Burgos with a 2-1 scoreline.
Trailing 4–5, Chile’s Paulina Vega and Daniela Ortega knew the women’s doubles was do-or-die. A blistering start had them 2–0, 5–1 up against Egypt’s Mariam and Marwa Alhodaby, momentum firmly in their grasp. However, an inexplicable loss of momentum from the Chileans set the stage for and a valiant fightback by the Egyptian siblings. They clawed back from there to take the third game, and even the encounter at 6-6, leaving everything to play for in the Men’s doubles.
Mohamed Elbeiali rose to the occasion for Egypt in a nerve shredding men’s doubles against Nicolas Burgos and Gustavo Gomez. In a match that again went to the third game, he absorbed the pressure, steadied partner Youssef Abdelaziz, and delivered an extraordinary rally to close the match,already a contender for point of the tournament. An ecstatic Egyptian team watched Elbeiali sprawl on the floor in celebration, sealing a historic triumph for Egypt.
