ITTF Mixed Team World Cup: China sweeps Egypt, South Korea rallies past Chinese Taipei
Chengdu (China), Dec 1 (IANS) China beat Egypt 8-0, while South Korea came back to defeat Chinese Taipei 8-6 at the 2025 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Mixed Team World Cup here on Monday.
Chinese paddlers felt at ease in their second group match, as Kuai Man and Lin Shidong crushed Egypt’s Badr Mostafa and Marwa Alhodaby 11-3, 11-3, 11-7 in the mixed doubles, followed by world No.1 Sun Yingsha of China winning over Mariam Alhodaby 11-4, 14-12, 11-4 in the women’s singles. Top-ranked Wang Chuqin secured the victory by seeing off Youssef Abdelaziz of Egypt 11-5, 11-4 in the men’s singles.
South Korea had a tough match against Chinese Taipei. Lin Yun-ju and Cheng I-ching of Chinese Taipei won the opening mixed doubles match 12-10, 11-9, 11-9 over South Korea’s Kim Na-yeong and Park Gang-hyeon. South Korean paddlers then finished a 2-1 score line in the women’s singles, men’s singles, and women’s doubles, respectively, to tie the overall score 6-6, reports Xinhua.
In the decisive fifth match, Park and Oh Jun-sung clinched a victory 11-9, 11-9 over Lin and Kao Cheng-jui of Chinese Taipei.
In other matches on Monday, Hong Kong, China cruised past Chile 8-2, while Japan defeated India 8-4. China will face Chile on Tuesday.
The ITTF Mixed Team World Cup runs from November 30 to December 7, which adopts a different competition format from other team events, beginning with mixed doubles, followed by women’s singles and men’s singles, and then men’s and women’s doubles if required, with their order of play determined by the team captain of the lower-ranked team.
Each match consists of three games, resulting in either a 3-0 or 2-1 scoreline. Team matches continue until one side secures eight game victories.
The tournament was inaugurated in 2023, and China has won the past two editions. Since the mixed team event was included at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games earlier this year, teams would attach greater importance to the Mixed Team World Cup in their Olympic preparations.
Sixteen teams are divided into four groups, with China drawn into Group 1 alongside China’s Hong Kong, Egypt, and Chile. China faces Egypt on Monday.
–IANS
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