LONDON: China successfully defended its men’s team title at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London on Sunday, defeating longtime rivals Japan 3-0 in the final to claim the prestigious Swaythling Cup for a record-extending 24th time.
The victory marked China’s 12th consecutive men’s team title at the championships, further solidifying its dominance in world table tennis.
Despite the straight-set result, the final proved highly competitive. Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto pushed China’s Liang Jingkun to the limit in the opening match, taking a two-game lead before Liang staged a comeback to win 8-11, 4-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-8.
World No. 1 Wang Chuqin then extended China’s lead with a 3-1 victory over Japan’s teenage talent Sora Matsushima. After losing the first game, Wang recovered strongly to take the next three.
Teenage star Lin Shidong sealed the title for China by defeating Shunsuke Togami in four games.
China entered the tournament as favorites with a powerful squad that also included Lin Gaoyuan and Xue Fei. However, the team faced difficult moments during the group stage, including a narrow 3-2 win over hosts Britain and dropped matches against South Korea and Sweden.
The Chinese side regained momentum in the knockout rounds with victories over Romania, Chinese Taipei, and France before defeating Japan in the final.
Earlier on Sunday, China also retained the women’s team title by overcoming Japan to win the Corbillon Cup, completing a clean sweep of both team gold medals at the championships.
The centenary edition of the tournament returned to London, where the event was first held in 1926, once again highlighting China’s continued supremacy in international table tennis.
