History was made at the Copper Box as the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026 Presented by ACN kicked off in the capital today.
London 2026 is the centenary ITTF World Championships, celebrating 100 years since the first one took place in the city.
Stage 1B, featuring 56 men’s and 56 women’s teams, kicked off at the Copper Box on the iconic Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park today, each divided into 14 groups of four in this opening group stage of the competition.
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Writing their names into history were Hana Goda of Egypt who won the first point of the centenary championships, whilst it was Ukraine’s women’s team who were the first match victors.
Ukraine defeated Rwanda 3-0 in 39 minutes, with all three matches having the same 3-0 scoreline – Margaryta Pesotska only losing four points in her match against Chantal Hirwa.
On the men’s side, the notable upset of the day saw Spain (ranked 38th) defeat Slovenia (ranked 10th) 3-1, with Alvaro Robles overcoming world number 14 Darko Jorgic to seal the victory on his 4th match point.
Staying with the men, Mongolia and Madagascar met for the first time in a match that engrossed fans of both nations and many neutrals around the arena. In what was a tight-fought match, Madagascar came out on top to take the victory 3-2.
Australia recorded two simultaneous victories, the men against Morocco (3-0) and the women against Uzbekistan (3-1) to justify their seeding as the group number ones.
Marking a centenary of her own, Sarah De Nutte of Luxembourg played her 100th career World Championship match, contributing to a 3-0 team victory over Guatemala.
Brazil also completed a double with the men’s team victorious over Puerto Rico 3-1. World number 5, Hugo Calderano, recorded two 3-0 wins over Steven Moreno and Angel Naranjo. Naranjo had earlier defeated Leonardo Iizuka 3-1 after losing the first set.
In the women’s match, a pair of 3-0 wins for Bruna Takahashi along with Laura Watanabe’s 3-2 victory over Zhanerke Koshkumbayeva saw Brazil overcome Kazakhstan 3-1.
Wales completed a 3-0 victory over Nigeria thanks to 3-0 wins for Anna Hursey and Charlotte Carey, either side of a 3-2 triumph for Danielle Kelly
In one of the standout matches of the evening session, Moldova overcame Chile 3-1 but were made to work for the win. Andrei Putuntica beat Gustavo Gomez 3-2 (3-11, 11-8, 11-13, 12-10, 10-12) alongside two 3-0 wins for teammates Vladislav Ursu.
What’s happening on Day Two
Wednesday 29 April will see the play continue at the Copper Box where New Zealand and Australia will face off in the men’s competition.
Also featuring on the men’s side of things are Fiji who make their debut, with their team including the oldest player in the championships, 73 year-old Wang Qi, and 15 year-old Zirui Zhang.
Fresh from being the first to win on Day One, the Ukrainian women’s team will line up against India who recorded a 3-0 walkover result against Uganda.
