(by Steve Hopkins)
The qualifying rounds are finishing and final positions are set as we enter the Knock Out Stage of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London. The top eight teams played solely for positioning – in what was called “1A Group”. The first of those groups included China, Sweden, Korea Republic, and host England and the second group was France, Japan, Germany, and Taipei. Neither group’s results were as expected.
China was the top seed in their group – and they’ll remain heavy favorites as we move into the knock out stage. That said, what has been an impenetrable wall, has been anything but “great” so far in London. China’s group had three top seeds, and the host (England). China dominated the host as expected, finishing 3-0. China then played Korea Republic where a confident (perhaps over-confident) Chinese team played without their top player Wang Chuqin. In that match, Lin Shidong won 3-1 against Kim Jang-won, but then three Chinese players fell in a row. Oh Jun-seong defeated Liang Jingkun, Ahn Jae-hyun defeated Zhou Qihao, and Oh Jun-seong defeated Lin Shidong. Korea wins 3-1.
China had not really needed that win, and a good performance in their final group match against Sweden would still secure victory and the top overall seed. China brought their three top players, Wang Chuqin, Lin Shidong, and Liang Jingkun – but they were humbled by Sweden, losing 2-3. Wang Chuqin won both of his matches, the first match against Anton Kallberg and the fourth match against Elias Ranefur. However, Chuqin’s teammates faultered – with Moregard defeating Liang Jingkun, Anton Kallberg defeating Lin Shidong, and the biggest surprise was Elias Raneful topping Lin Shidong. Sweden wins 3-2, and after all of the matches are played the group finishes with Sweden, then Korea Republic, then China, and then host England.
The second 1A Group was dominated by France who won all three of their team matches. Their 3-0 win over Taipei gave them a strong start, their 3-1 win over Germany secured one of the top two seeds, and their narrow 3-2 win over Japan secured the top spot. All three of the other teams ended up tying with one win and two losses. In the tie breakers, Japan finishes second, Germany third, and Taipei fourth. All of these squads advance – and with the shakeup in the other 1A Group, it is anyone’s guess as to who will have the easiest path to the Final in the knockout round.
American fans will get to see TeamUSA in the main draw. Unfortunately, they “backed in” as they were the top seed in their group and were upset by Singapore. Still, they were one of the four second place teams that qualified directly for the main draw (the 16 group winners, plus the 4 best records of the runners-up all qualified directly. In addition, 4 teams will qualify through an additional preliminary round. Overall, those who have already qualified through the 1B Group process include: Denmark, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, India, Croatia, Romania, Korea DPR, Kazakhstan, Poland, Austria, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, Belgium, USA, Australia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Hungary
The main news for TeamUSA is that Kanak Jha is playing very well. In their loss to 3-2 loss to Singapore, Jha won both of his matches. And Jha won his match against both of the other squads, so he is currently 4-0 in London. For the USA to make a run in the knock-out rounds, Jha will need some help from teammates Nandan Naresh and Jishan Liang – who will need to win some big matches to enable the Americans to advance.
The round of 32 starts tomorrow. The quarterfinals will be Thursday and Friday and the World Champions will be crowned next Sunday.
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