Sports Bulletin Report
Busan (Korea): The arrangements have been given final touches, as the eagerly awaited ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals Busan 2024 will get underway on February 16, 2024 here at the Busan e-Sports Arena, Korea Republic. The prestigious table tennis event will be concluded on February 25 at the same venue
The defending champions, China, occupy the top-seeded positions in both the men's and women's team events at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals Busan 2024. In the Women's Teams draw, China is placed in Group 1 with Hungary, India, Spain, and Uzbekistan. While Hungary has a long history of medalling in the championships, they will be hard-pressed to get past the defending champions. Led by World No.1 Sun Yingsha, Team China is chasing their 23rd title in the event and are frontrunners to top the podium once again.
On the Men's Teams front, the world's top two players, Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin will spearhead China's campaign. Their first hurdles back to the podium have been set, with Croatia, Hungary, Belgium and Cuba all fighting for a place in the main draw. Croatia will prove the toughest task for World No.1 China, with the outfit led by Andrej Gacina looking for an upset win to sure up their spot in the knockout rounds.
In the Men's Teams, hometown heroes Korea Republic landed in Group 3 with India, Poland, Chile, and New Zealand. The local stars will be eyeing to improve on their bronze medals won at the 2022 edition in Chengdu.
Both the Men's and Women's Teams events will see eight groups of five teams looking to advance to the knockout rounds. Each match is decided by best of five singles matches, with individual matches being best of five games. Each group will play a round-robin, meaning each team faces off against the other four teams in their group. After the round-robin is completed, the top three teams from each group advance to the knockout phase. 24 teams advance in total, getting a final shot at the title. Group winners will receive seeded positions, with the rest drawn into the knockout rounds in a way that ensures teams from the same group won't meet again in the first round.
