Mission accomplished, on Sunday 9th October, China, the top seeds, beat Germany, the no.2 seeds, to win the men’s team title at the 2022 ITTF World Team Championships Finals Chengdu Presented by China Telecom.
A 3-0 margin of victory; Fan Zhendong beat Benedikt Duda (11-8, 11-8, 11-9), Ma Long overcame Dang Qiu (11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-1), before Wang Chuqin accounted for Kay Stumper (11-7, 11-8, 11-4) to bring matters to a conclusion.
The curtain now closes on the 2022 ITTF World Team Championships Finals after 10 days of exciting table tennis action.
“I want to thank the Chinese Table Tennis Association, the Local Organising Committee, and the City of Chengdu for such a successful event,” said Petra Sörling, ITTF President.
Farewell to Chengdu, the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals will return next year being staged in Durban, South Africa; the second occasion when the continent has held the global event, the previous gathering being in 1939 in Cairo.
Five titles on offer – men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles – just one year prior to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the best players on planet earth will contest the prestigious titles.
“We cannot wait to go to Durban and bring the enthusiasm generated in Chengdu to a new location,” continued President Sörling. “South Africa has already proven to be an incredible partner to the ITTF. In Durban, we will expand the Federation’s horizons and reach new audiences while showcasing the diversity of the table tennis family.”
The 2023 championships will take place from 22 to 28 May 2023, in the Durban International Convention Centre. As part of the goal to leave a social legacy for the event, the South African Table Tennis Board is planning to host a series of events that will focus on promoting social cohesion throughout all communities, using table tennis as the medium.
Players from over 200 member associations will participate in the continental qualifying process before the 2023 World Championships Finals, solidifying the global reach of table tennis and its commitment to growing the sport throughout the world.
Before the end of the 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals Chengdu, the ITTF held an executive board meeting to recap the event.
Now, as the Federation departs Chengdu, it is important to note the closed-loop management system helped prevent COVID-19 from spreading among athletes and allowed for a safe, effective World Team Championships to transpire.
The ITTF adopted a similar measure to that at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games to safely transport athletes in and out of the country, no contact with the public. Once inside the closed loop, athletes were tested regularly, allowing for play to be the focus.
Broadcasters beamed the World Team Championships to over 120 countries and provided 4k quality broadcasts for the Chinese market. The cumulated reach exceeded the one billion mark. Notably, on the penultimate day of play, the women’s final had a 51.4 million reach on Chinese television, the best audience in the year for table tennis.
