by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTF)
TeamUSA had a tough fight to get through the Group Stage of the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup in Chengdu. With China in their group, there was no question as to which team would finish first, and only two teams would advance. TeamUSA was one of the remaining three teams (USA, India, Australia) that finished with the same 1-2 record. USA had won handily in their opening group match over India (8-3), but then lost to Australia (7-8). And India topped Australia 8-6. In the end, TeamUSA won the tie breaker and advanced – moving into the second group round which involved the final 8 teams.
TeamUSA did not defeat any of the other squads in Stage 2. They did manage to win 12 games (losing 56) as they matched up against 7 of the toughest teams in the world (China, Korea, Hong Kong, Romania, Japan, Germany, and France). When the dust settled, it was China, Korea, Hong Kong, and Romania that advanced to the Knock Out Round.
In the final matches, it was China over Romania 8-1 and Korea over Hong Kong 8-5. China then sealed the win with an 8-1 victory in the Final (and Hong Kong finished third with an 8-2 win over Romania).
For China, it was another dominant performance to close out a dominant 2024. This was not their most dominant year overall, but their men finished in the Top 2 ranking slots (6 of the Top 10) and their women finished in the Top 5 ranking slots – so despite some upsets in major events this year, China has figured prominently in every major event (and with their best players present at this mixed event, it would be difficult to imagine anything except a win for China in Chengdu). For the other top finishing teams, they also their best players present Romania had Ionescu and Szos playing, Hong Kong had Doo and Wong, Korea had Shin, Cho and Oh.
For some of the other top squads, their best players just finished a long year with a lot of travel and those players did not extend their season into December with this extra event in China. Japan, for instance, did not send the Harimotos or their other top players, Germany did not send any of their top men, and France did not have the Lebrun brothers. Instead, many teams chose to fill their rosters largely with young players. This was also the case with the United States, who managed these great results without Lily Zhang or Kanak Zha or Amy Wang. Our squad of Nandan Naresh, Jishan Liang, Jessica Reyes Lai, Sid Naresh, Sally Moyland, Tiffany Ke, XiangJing Zhang, and Kayla Goodwin held their own. For TeamUSA, the goal is continue to develop, and the next step is to stay relevant. Finishing in the top 8 achieves that goal. Giving young players a chance to travel and play on a big stage is great, having solid results (“relevant” results) is a win-win.
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