ITTF World Team C’ships: Manika, Sathiyan to spearhead India’s challenge in London

London: Olympians Manika Batra, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manav Thakkar, and Harmeet Desai will headline a 10-member Indian squad at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships 2026, set to begin at the OVO Arena Wembley in London on Tuesday.

The championships will feature separate men’s and women’s competitions, the Swaythling Cup and the Corbillon Cup, with each tie comprising a maximum of five singles matches. Teams need to secure three wins to clinch a tie and advance.

A total of 64 teams will compete in both categories, split into 16 groups of four. The tournament structure includes two preliminary stages before the knockout rounds.

Top-seeded sides, including the seven highest-ranked teams along with hosts England, will compete in Stage 1a, from where all eight teams will progress directly to Stage 2. While they are assured of qualification, their group-stage performances will determine seeding for the knockouts.

The remaining teams, including India, will begin in Stage 1b. From this stage, 14 group winners and the six best second-placed teams will advance directly to Stage 2. The other eight second-placed teams will contest an additional playoff round for the final four knockout berths.

The knockout phase will commence from the Round of 32 and culminate in the finals on May 10.

India’s men’s team, led by World No. 38 Manav Thakkar, has been placed in Group 7 of Stage 1b alongside Slovakia, Tunisia, and Guatemala. Meanwhile, the women’s side, captained by world No. 49 Manika Batra, will compete in Group 6 with Ukraine, Uganda, and Rwanda.

First held as an independent competition in 2000, the World Team Championships have largely been dominated by the People’s Republic of China, which has claimed most of the titles since its inception. Sweden and Singapore remain the only other nations to have broken China’s dominance, winning the men’s (2000) and women’s (2010) titles, respectively. IANS

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