(by Steve Hopkins)

China will face France today in the Final – and most of the press will focus on that result.  However, the 2024 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships has encapsulated a lot of great story lines – here are a few:

The best record by an individual player went to Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gerassimenko with a record of 9-0.  This tournament is a team tournament, and Kiril carried a squad of young players (one was just 17) to a second place finish in their group.  At World No. 40, he’s a solid player – but his nine wins included Ovtcharov, Dang Qiu, Drinkhall, and Pitchford.  TeamUSA might take exception to one of those team wins as it included some controversy – but Kazakhstan was already advancing to the main draw as either the No.2 or No.3.  No one can deny the great individual performance of one of the least known elite players in the world.

By the numbers, Fan Zhendong was 8-0 (the best player on the best team), Darko Jorgic was 8-0 carrying Slovenia to the Round of 16,  Lee Sang Su was 5-0 (and that included a big upset win over Ma Long in Korea’s semifinal match with China), and Wong Chun Ting was 7-0 anchoring Hong Kong into the Main Draw.  The two players with the most matches were Lin Yun-Ju of Taipei and Jonathan Groth of Denmark – both finished 9-2 and were the only players who logged more than 10 matches.  TeamUSA’s Nikhil Kumar finished 4-2, the only American player with a winning record (though Jishan Lang’s 2-3 record included a disqualification after he had won the match at the table) – the American squad topped England and Saudi Arabia and missed the Main Draw by the narrowest of margins.

On the Women’s side, the fact that the main three Chinese women each lost a match is news (Sun Yingsha was 8-1, Wang Yidi was 4-2, and Chen Meng was 7-1).  Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching finished 8-0, a feat matched by Germany’s Nina Mittelham, and Japan’s Miu Hirano.  Two players played ten matches: India’s Manika Batra finished 6-4 and Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kem finished 8-2.  Puerto Rico’s Adriana Dias finished a very strong 7-1.  TeamUSA’s young squad saw wins for all five players: Tiffany Ke at 2-3, Amber Liu at 1-0, Kayla Godwin at 1-2, Jessica Reyes Lai at 1-3, and Emily tan at 1-1

The surprising team story lines would be that China trailed at times in this tournament: Korea had a lead twice over China in the Semifinals of the Men’s draw, and on the Women’s side, both India and Japan had leads of China early on in their matches.  Ultimately, both Chinese squads won – as has been said repeatedly when your team has the top 4 or 5 players in the world all stacked on the same team, you are expected to win.  Taipei was a surprise in reaching the Semifinals in the Men’s event (defeating both Sweden and Germany along the way).  Korea’s men are peaking at just the right time and should be a strong contender for a medal in France at the Olympics this Summer.   And speaking of France, Team France has proven themselves to be the best squad in Europe again – the only Euro team to reach the Semifinals and a strong second place finish overall.

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