China crowned in men's team for 10th straight time at table tennis worlds

On Sunday, 9 October, China won the men's team title for the 10th time in a row and a record 22 times overall after sweeping Germany 3-0 at team table tennis worlds.

The last team having stopped China in a men's team final at worlds was Sweden in 2000, as reported by Xinhua News Agency, a partner of TV BRICS.

Sunday's final was a repeat of the 2018 version and marked the sixth time that China and Germany met in the world title contest, with China prevailing on each occasion.

Jorg Rosskopf's squad failed to triumph again, as Olympic gold medalist Ma Long came out the only Chinese having dropped a set, seeing off Germany's top paddler and newly-crowned European champion Qiu Dang 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-1.

"Qiu is a very strong opponent. He's really explosive, and his high-quality backhand strokes gave me a lot of pressure. We both played good table tennis today," said Ma, who turns 34 years old in 11 days.

World No. 1 and world reigning singles champion Fan Zhendong opened the best-of-five games final with a straight-set victory over Benedikt Duda, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9. Wang Chuqin, 22, came up in the third game and beat Kay Stumper 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 to wrap up the match.

"The championship is not just a proof of our players' hard work, but also a result of the whole Chinese Table Tennis Association staff's efforts," Wang commented.

On Saturday, 8 October, the Chinese women's team claimed its fifth straight world title after sweeping Japan 3-0. It was also a record-extending 22nd time for China to have lifted the Corbillon Cup in history.

The all-time leading Chinese team was last crowned in Halmstad, Sweden in 2018. With the 2020 tournament in Busan, South Korea being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chengdu 2022 is the sport's first team worlds in four years.

Photo: Xinhua News Agency