ITTF Mixed Team World Cup 2024: India drawn with China in Group A

The Indian table tennis team has been drafted into Group A along with China, Australia, and the USA for the 2024 ITTF Mixed Team World Cup, set to begin Sunday, in Chengdu, China.

With the conclusion of the WTT season, the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup, set to take place from December 1 to 8, offers one final opportunity for the world's best table tennis players to claim silverware this year.

After the successful inaugural season in 2023, the tournament is back with its unique format and is bound to keep fans and players on the edge of their seats.

Young Indian team aim to make a mark

The Indian team announced a few days back did not feature big names like Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula and Sharath Kamal.

Rather, the selectors preferred a young team comprising promising youngsters from the Indian table tennis circuit.

Manav Thakkar, Manush Shah, and Poymantee Baisya will lead the team, and it will also feature Jeet Chandra, Snehit Suravajjula, Yashaswini Ghorpade, Pritha Vartikar, and Sayali Wani.

Poymantee and Snehit also featured in the inaugural edition of the Mixed Team World Cup.

The Indian team are seeded seventh in the tournament and are going to face a tough challenge in Group A, which also features China.

As expected, China is the top seed, followed by Japan, South Korea, and France.

China will be led by World No.1 men's singles player Wang Chuqin and top women's singles player Sun Yingsha. The team will also feature Lin Shidong and Wang Manyu, the World No.2 ranked paddlers in their respective categories.

Japan and France are sending an inexperienced team, like India, and it, therefore, presents a new set of challenges for the teams, although China are huge favourites to defend their title.

The other competing teams are Chinese Taipei, Sweden, Egypt, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong China, Romania, Singapore, Canada, USA, and Poland.

Format of the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup

A total of 16 teams will feature in the competition, separated into four groups of four each.

Following a round-robin format, the top two sides of each group will qualify for the second round-robin stage, where the eight teams face one another, and the top four will qualify for the semifinals.

The unique mixed-team format was a hit last year and will be followed in this year's edition as well.

Each match will begin with a mixed doubles tie before two singles matches, first a women's singles match followed by a men's singles match.

If necessary, women's and men's doubles matches will take place, and the order will be decided by the lower-ranked team's captains.

Each tie, whether singles or doubles, will be played to a maximum of three games, meaning every match will end with a score of either 3–0 or 2–1.

The first team to win eight games overall will claim victory in the team match.

The tournament with its unique format and a pool of young talented players promises to be one of excitement and thrill, and it remains to be seen whether there is a team, that can stop the Chinese train.