World Team Championships in London: A review of the group stage

The German table tennis teams have finished the group stage of the World Team Championships in London with defeats. On Sunday afternoon, the women’s team, led by world number nine Sabine Winter, lost 1–3 to the Olympic silver medallists from Japan; in the evening, the men’s team also suffered a 1–3 defeat against Taiwan.

The group matches were merely to determine the seeding for the knockout phase, which begins on Monday, 4 May 2026. The women will face Malaysia in the round of the top 32 that evening (8.30 pm). The German men will take on Slovenia on Tuesday (8.30 pm / live and on demand on Dyn).

“Japan are very strong and, along with China, the best team at this World Cup,” said women’s national coach Tamara Boros: “We fought hard and gave our best, but they were simply better.” The German women had started the tournament on Saturday with two clear victories against World Cup bronze medallists France (3-1) and hosts England (3-0) and finished the group in second place.

Led by the outstanding Dang Qiu, the men had made a strong start with a 3–2 victory over Japan in their opening match. However, this was followed by defeats against the French team, led by Olympic bronze medallist Felix Lebrun (1–3), and now against Taiwan. The DTTB team thus finished third in the group.

Source: SID
Featured image above: Dang Qiu (Borussia Düsseldorf)