The 2025 ITTF Mixed Team World Cup concludes as expected. Team China adds another gold medal to its collection.
The reigning champions strike again! In front of the local fans in Chengdu, Team China claims another accolade, dominating the Mixed Team World Cup. In the final, the Chinese confidently overpowered Team Japan 8-1.
The tournament, however, saw some controversy and media criticism during the Stage 2 game between Japan and Korea. Tomokazu Harimotoâs name was mispronounced several times by the announcer, and the player hesitated to make his entry to the court. Harimoto was visibly frustrated, and afterwards, even the local Chinese media criticised the tournament organisers for disrespect towards the oppositionâs star player.
Aside from this moment of controversy, the tournament overall brought plenty of quality table tennis action. Team China won their third consecutive title in this new format of mixed teams competition. They cruised past every opponent with confidence from Stage 1 up to the final match-up against Japan, rarely losing any of the matches.
Wang Chuqin had the biggest impact on Team China’s success, playing the most matches (12) and winning 27 out of 32 total sets. His 84% win rate isnât elite, but it was good enough to bring the biggest amount of won sets to his teamâs account. Lin Shidong was also crucial in Chinaâs success, adding 25 won sets out of 30 total played.
The German team turned out to be the leading European side in this tournament, winning the bronze medals, thanks to the efforts of Dang Qiu, Benedikt Duda, and Patrick Franziska. Team Germany brought a well-balanced and experienced team to this competition. Ironically, the match for the bronze turned out to be much more interesting than the final.
They faced the Korean team, and the game had its ups and downs for both sides. Eventually, the score was 6-6 after the first four games, and the deciding match-up featured the womenâs doubles players. Luckily for Team Germany, Sabine Winter and Nina Mittelham were able to turn the situation in their favor and get a decisive 2-1 victory against Lee Eun-hye and Choi Hyo-yoo.
Other leading European sides lacked that balance to get into the medal contention. Team France finished in fifth place, the Croatians were sixth, and Team Sweden had a disappointing run, losing all of their games in Stage 2, finishing in the 8th place. The absence of Truls MöregÄrdh lowered their chances of getting anywhere higher in the final rankings.
This tournament once again showed that in this format of the World Cup, the balanced roster is a key to success. A team might have two or even three excellent male players, but if their female counterparts cannot keep up with high expectations, the overall result gonna suffer a lot. Team France was a good example of this.
The Lebrun brothers had a solid run, bringing plenty of wins for the French. Felix Lebrun led his team with a 70% win rate, while Alexis Lebrun had a 61% win rate. However, the womenâs side could provide significantly fewer wins for Team France. Only 36% by Prithika Pavade and 33% by Jia Nan-yuan.
Overall, the credit must be given to ITTF for this format of competition. The fact that every set matters really makes every player give 110% effort in every point. In singles competitions, one set sometimes does not change anything in a larger picture, but in this format, it can be crucial.
RESULTS OF 2025 ITTF MIXED TEAM WORLD CUP
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