Lea Rakovac stepped up for Croatia (Photo ITTF)
The ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals marked the conclusion of Stage 1B, with all 24 teams advancing to Stage 2 now confirmed in both the Men’s and Women’s events. While many of the top seeds progressed as expected, the centenary edition continued to deliver, with a mix of upsets, close finishes, and notable performances.
For context, all 14 group winners secured direct qualification to Stage 2, along with the six best-performing second-placed teams. The remaining eight runners-up were pushed into a sudden-death Preliminary Round for the final four spots, setting the stage for some of the day’s most compelling contests.
Egypt perform at the death
Egypt found themselves in the sudden-death Preliminary Round after an underwhelming Stage 1 campaign, which included a loss to Kazakhstan and a narrow win over Türkiye to finish second in Group 11.
But led by Omar Assar, they responded in style, sweeping past Nigeria 3-0 in an African heavyweight clash to secure their place in the Round of 32.
Youssef Abdelaziz set the tone with a commanding straight-games win over Olajide Omotayo. Assar then delivered in the marquee match, edging Quadri Aruna 3-2 to extend his unbeaten run since 2022 against his long-time rival and put Egypt firmly in control.
Badr Mostafa then closed out the fixture, thrashing teenager Matthew Kuti in straight sets to complete a dominant turnaround for Egypt.
Moldova authored one of the standout stories of the centenary edition of the tournament, qualifying for the main draw with a gritty 3-2 win over Greece in a high-stakes Preliminary Round clash.
Vladislav Ursu set the platform, maintaining his unbeaten run with a commanding straight-games win over Ioannis Sgouropoulos. Andrei Putuntica then doubled the lead with a performance for the ages, defeating veteran chopper Panagiotis Gionis 3-0 to put Moldova in control.
Greece, however, fought back. Georgios Stamatouros kept them alive with a dramatic five-game win over Denis Tetra, edging the decider 14-12, before Gionis bounced back to hand Ursu his first loss of the tournament and force a decider.
With the tie on the line, Putuntica rose to the occasion once again, overcoming Sgouropoulos 3-1 to seal a memorable victory and spark celebrations on the Moldovan bench.
This result marks a historic milestone for Moldova, surpassing their previous best finish of 61st place in 2008, and underlining their potential as a dangerous side heading into Stage 2.
The Preliminary Round also saw Italy and Serbia book their spots in Stage 2. Italy were clinical in a 3-0 win over an experienced Argentina, while Serbia, inspired by Dimitrije Levajac, secured a solid 3-1 victory against Mexico to wrap up proceedings.
Croatia secure their place
Croatia secured their place in Stage 2 the hard way, navigating a difficult route and surviving a series of close contests to progress.
After a shock loss to Italy in Group 13, Croatia edged past Türkiye 3-2, though not without drama. Having raced into a 2-0 lead, they allowed Türkiye back into the tie before Lea Rakovac stepped up, winning both her matches, including the decider against Sibel Altinkaya, to secure second place in the group.
Their win-loss record, however, forced them into the Preliminary Round, where they faced Australia in yet another tight encounter. Croatia once again found themselves pushed to the limit, with Yangzi Liu winning both her matches to take the tie into a decider. Rakovac delivered under pressure once more, defeating Jiamuwa Wu to seal a 3-2 win and confirm Croatia’s place in Stage 2 despite an inconsistent campaign.
Elsewhere, Fanny Doutaz starred for Switzerland, winning both her matches in a decisive 3-2 victory over Hungary. With the tie going down to the final match, Doutaz held her nerve to edge Rebeka Nagy 11-9 in the fifth and send Switzerland through.
Kazakhstan produced a dominant 3-0 win over Belgium, while Poland edged Thailand 3-2 in another closely fought contest to round off the Preliminary Round in the Women’s event.
