Team USA had an uphill climb in the group stages of the Liebherr 2018 World Table Tennis Team Championships.  Our women’s team was the bottom seed in their group, so every other team was favored.  In the end, they defeated Egypt (the group seeded immediately above them), and pushed Hungary (the third seed) to the limit in a 3-2 loss.Among the highlights for Team USA in the loss against Hungary today was Yue Wu’s upset of Georgina Pota (3-0) and Amy Wang’s upset of Szandra Pergel.  Georgina Pota is No. 33 in the world, so a straight game win was no small feat.  And similarly, Amy Wang’s 3-2 win over World No. 69 Szandra Pergel shows real promise for another young American player.  The tournament does not end with the group stages, it is just seeding for the next round.

Team USA finishes the group stage in fifth position.  They will advance into knock-out rounds with the other teams placing 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th where they will playoff for positions 13-24.   As in the group stage, Team USA will be the underdog in facing most of the other teams.  However, these should all be very competitive matches and should provide Team USA another opportunity to showcase their strengths.

The top three in each group advance into a knock-out draw to determine the overall champion.  China, Japan, Romania, and Korea have received byes and will have the easiest path to the finals.  The other teams in the championship draw are Germany, Austria, Hong Kong, Taipei, Romania, Korea, Russia, DPR Korea, Singapore, and Ukraine.

Most of the top seeds advanced as expected, but a few teams were surprises.  Ukraine finished ahead of Hungary (a No. 4 seed over a No. 3 seed).  And DPR Korea entered their group as the fifth seed but finished first.

Visit ButterflyOnline.com for updates throughout the event.