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The World Table Tennis Championships

The World Table Tennis Championships, held since 1926, consists of five events, men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles; all are hosted in odd numbered years. Eventually, the International Table Tennis Federation split the event into individual and team in 2003. The World Team Table Tennis Championships are held in even numbered years.

table tennis World Championships in Ljubljana in 1965

In the beginning, Hungary was the team that dominated the competition, winning 12 times. Later on, China and Japan became fierce rivals. In the 1950s, Japan won eight championships. However, China eventually became the ruling country in the competition with the Chinese women team having only lost twice since 1975.

Each event has a specific trophy presented to the winners which gets returned and presented to the next winner.

• Men’s singles - St. Bride Vase
• Women’s singles - Geist Prize
• Men’s doubles - Iran Cup, for
• Women’s doubles - W.J. Pope Trophy
• Mixed doubles - Heydusek Cup

There is also the Egypt Cup which is presented to the host of the following year’s championship.

World Table Tennis Championships Hosts

From 1926 until 1997, plus in 2001, both the singles, doubles and teams events were held together. In 1999, and all years since 2003, the teams events have been held separately.

Related Pages

• About the World Team Table Tennis Championships
• Other major table tennis events
• More about the sport of Table Tennis
• Table Tennis at the Olympics

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