The battle to earn a coveted place at OVO Arena Wembley has been hotting up on Day Two of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026 Presented by ACN.
Head to WTT YouTube channel for live streaming of every table throughout the championships.
Watch post-match interviews from Day Two on the Table Tennis England YouTube channel.
With one match left to play for most nations (some still have two), a place in the top two in each group is at stake. Group winners go straight through to Stage 2 at Wembley, along with the six best second-placed nations. The other eight countries which finish in runners-up slots face a play-off round on Friday.
There is still plenty to play for, with a full day of group matches on Thursday and more on Friday morning, but a good number of nations are certain of a top-two place already, though still have top spot to chase.
Men’s Team – Group 3: Denmark; Group 6: Portugal, Greece; Group 7: India; Group 10: Australia, DPR Korea; Group 12: Poland, Moldova.
Women’s Team – Group 3: Egypt, Belgium; Group 4: Hong Kong; Group 5: Brazil; Group 6: India; Group 7: Sweden; Group 8: Serbia; Group 9: DPR Korea; Group 10: Portugal; Group 11: Australia, Wales.
In the Men’s Team, Slovakia (team rank 35) versus India (team rank 12) went down to the wire. Slovakia’s Wang Yang put on a defensive masterclass to beat Harmeet Desai, and remains undefeated in the qualification stage, despite India winning this encounter 3-2.
Switzerland’s Enya Hu, the youngest player at 12 years old, played her first match against Slovakia in the Women’s Team, losing 10-12 in the fourth game to Ema Labosova, a player twice her age.
Longest contest of the day: Serbia defeated Thailand 3-2 in 3 hours 17 mins to ensure qualification from Group 8 of the Women’s Team.
Saudi Arabia, under the watchful eye of multiple world champion Jorgen Persson, came close to defeating Nigeria, but Quadri Aruna won the deciding match in a deciding game against Abdulaziz Bu Shulaybi.
What to look out for on Day Three
USA men’s team will play their first match at 10am, having won by walkover against Cote d’Ivoire on Wednesday. All other teams in Stage 1B have already competed.
In Men’s Group 5, if Czechia and Slovenia win there will be a three-way tie with Spain, to be sorted out by countback – Slovenia face Bahrain, while Czechia face Spain.
Team Australia remains undefeated in both men’s and women’s competitions, an unprecedented run for the country. They will face arguably their hardest challengers DPR Korea (Men’s) and Wales (Women’s) for the top spot in their groups.
Stats by Matt Solt.
Pick of the pix
By Michael Loveder and Sam Mellish
